I have built a lot of quads and hexes using Ardupilot. But now I want to try a fixed-wing. I DO NOT need VTOL at this time, but long range and the ability to carry a CUBE autopilot and Raspberry pi companion are mandatory. I prefer balsa over foam, but I am open to anything at this time. So what plane should I start with?
Look up Painless360 on Youtube. He’s got some great reviews. If this is your first plane I would stay away from flying wings, and go for a more traditional wing & tail. Wings can be a lot of fun but they tend to be faster and very sensitive to centre of gravity.
Volantex Ranger is a good example of a traditional configuration. If you can find the larger 1.5 or 2m those will be good with a cube. The plastic fuselage has a ton of space for gear and it’s pretty resistant to abuse. Once in the air they are reasonably efficient and I was able to get ~30 minutes on a 3S 3000MAh battery. If I had put even a bit of effort into better battery configuration and overall weight reduction I’m sure I could have hit an hour. But this plane is older now so I’m sure there’s some ZOHD, MFB or SonicModel planes that will beat it.