Tricopter 3.0 - New and Improved But Still not Right!
Used: December 2012
Tricopter 3.0 Complete
Specification
Manufacturer: Homemade
Model: Tricopter 3.0
Materials: G10 Fibreglass and Wooden Arms
Size: 550mm Motor Centre
Weight Frame Only: 540 grams
Price for Frame: Not Very Much
Equipment Installed / Setup
Motors: RCTimer BL-2830/14 750Kv
ESC's: Turnigy Plush 18amp v3.1
Controller: OpenPilot CopterControl and KKBlack Board
Firmware: Tricopter v2.4
Blades: 10x4.7 SF E-Prop
Tail Servo: BMS-385DMAX
Batteries: Turnigy Nano-Tech 3 Cell 2200mah 25-50C
Reciever: Spektrum AR6210 DSMX
AUW: 1463 grams
Flight Times: 7-8 Minutes
Camera: GoPro Hero HD
Hobby King LEDS Installed with Switch
Tricopter 3.0 was doomed before it even go in the air but there were a lot of lessons learned and I personally will never make the same mistakes again.
Nearly all the parts apart from the frame was recovered from past Tricopters which had come to a crashing end including my favorite "Tricopter 2.0" which crashed due to an unknown fault that was out with my control i.e not pilot error. When this happened I should of tested EVERYTHING prior to sticking it all in this one instead of rushing about getting it ready for the snow fall in Aberdeen.
I also around the sametime purchased a Spektrum DX8 Radio to upgrade my now ageing DX7, I too had some of the same issues everyone all over the internet have been reporting including Gimbal and Range issues which caused myself to send it to Horizon Hobby for a health check who turned it around in 8 days saying it had been repaired but due to the way three of my helicopters have crashed I can't eliminate the DX8 as a factor.
Strange Crash Number One
Thursday 15th December 2011
Tricopter 3.0 With LED's
Conditions were perfect for testing my just finished night flying LED's at the Duthie Park in Aberdeen. Took off, flicked the lights on and decided to do some figure eights with a big smile on my face! I just couldn't believe how bright the LED's were so once I was happy I asked the girl friend if she would be so kind to film using her Iphone. About 25 Seconds after that I decided to take her up to a nice height to see how cool they looked from far away when all of a sudden the left arm dropped by about 14-16 inches then the right causing it to flip over upside down. I had no control whats so ever during the fall only leaving gravity to do its best.....THUD. once home I fired everything up and it worked fine, the only damage was the rear yaw mechanism. Video can be found below.
Strange Crash Number Two
Sunday 18th December 2011
3rd Photo Taken Before Crash
A nice bed of snow had settled through the night so decided to head to Duthie Park again to get some really nice Chrismas photo's of Aberdeen but it didn't go too well. Took off and did me normal 360 spin and figure of eights to make sure everything was working as it should and then took her about 40-50 meters up where again I was putting inputs but the Tricopter was falling out the sky flipping/rolling. Couldn't of hit the ground at a worse angle, upside down/slightly nose down....exactly where the GoPro Hero HD and KKBoard was sitting.
Tricopter 3.0 Crash Damage - Not Worth Repairing With This Amount
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