Advantage of multirotor

[Goldenhour]

Balance.

[R_Lefebvre]

??

[Craneman]

I guess he just had one those moments.......

[Goldenhour]

All the work I do balancing the single rotor for a sweet hover is a done deal with a multi. One of the motors just picks up the slack. Is this not so?

[R_Lefebvre]

When you say balancing for hover, you must mean servo linkages, etc? And then you mention a motor, so this must be what you're talking about.

All that goes away with a flight controller on a heli. I can't tell you the last time I even thought about a linkage, other than blade pitch links which are still needed for tracking. Even then, I just use a calliper to adjust them and that seems to be spot-on. I really haven't needed to adjust the tracking on my two latest helis.

It's what I keep saying... 90% of the "advantages" that most people assign to multirotors, can be had on helis if you just use a flight controller like the one the multirotors use.

[Goldenhour]

I am very happy with my single rotor. Reliable as my Honda Si. I've worked out all rotor vibration. Taken it on many vacations and out on weekends. Just seems like multirotors are no brainers. Money, money, money and joe blow has a reliable video platform right out of the box. That IS a good thing. Maybe I'm a little pissed at all the work I've had to put it to get what I have. I've lost many weekends with loved ones. The entire last Summer I spent most of my free time working and adjusting on the copter. No doubt it was a work of love.

[R_Lefebvre]

Multirotors are not always happy happy fun land. They have their own idiosyncrasies. SimonK motor sync issues. ESC's blowing up for no reason. Electrical contact problems. They are massive to transport. If you buy a folding frame, then the folding mechanism is flimsy and leads to vibration. Limited flight time and payload. Etc.

[Carapau]

35mph with my multi, 75 with my single. Enough said hehe

[Mapoff]

Golden, you need to cheer up. Multirotors are annoying. Single rotors have great lift, speed, and look awesome. I just greased up the flybar head and put on a stretch 800 kit with 800 blades and its so smooth its ridiculous. The align blades are dead on it. I initially started with a F3C model and it was silky smooth from the beginning. I was also flying and there was a bridge nearby and someone yelled loud out the window, "that's cool as s56t".

My 700 handles wind better than a multirotor. The brushless gimbals fix most of the bouncing around. I have the advantage of smooth platform to start with. I love my flybar too. It handles wind so much better.

[pc3associate]

We believe they both have their place. We have 2 700 size single rotors 1 FB 1 FBL. These are used on any open shots with lots of room. These never are used anywhere near people or anywhere where liability is a concern. My favorite to use is the FB 700. Yes they require a huge amount of time and TLC to setup, but worth it.

We have a Carbon core hex, and a Y6 as well. These both run xoar wooden props and are used in tight locations and anywhere liability may be a concern. They require a good bit of time as well, but it is all wiring, soldering, and gain fine tuning. My confidence in most available electronics is not that great.

I feel you should go ahead and bite the bullet and get a multi, but out of the box quality results is not likely. You will be much better qualified to safely fly them with your skills on the single rotor.

Just keep enjoying every step of your journey achieving what you are after.

[R_Lefebvre]

The discussion about FB vs. FBL for AP applications is interesting. I've been spending some time on the control algorithm, and I'm just not totally satisfied with the pitch stability I'm getting out of the FBL. Don't get me wrong... I was flying my test 450 in 30-40km/h winds without any trouble. It's just the pitch axis is a little bouncier than I'd like. I wonder if a flybar would be more stable.

[xfc3dcd]

At this point in time multirotors have no advantages for me whatsoever. I still prefer my FB helis over my FBL ones and they are crazy stable, even in 25+ mph winds. I prefer to fly 100% manual as it forces me to constantly become a better pilot which keeps me challenged. With the Movi M10 I can fly using 70-100mm glass which allows staying a safe distance from talent while still getting tight shots safely.

[Goldenhour]

You guys truly made my day. Kinda feel like I'd been crying in my beer. Despair I guess.
I took it out for 8 flights yesterday. Test, test, test and modify, modify, modify. Got a vacation to my favorite hot spot at the coast in two weeks.
It seems, but I could be wrong, In spite of my head, blades, TT timing, tail blades, main gear all being in close to perfect balance my main bearings get slop after about 20 flights. Its not a big deal to replace them and I've gone to using two stacked on the top in the KDE trust bearing block. I'm going to try a needle bearing 10x14x10 for the top main bearing with a custom spacer around the bearing for the 2.5mm on either side. Bearing block is 19mm ID.
I'm wondering if the extra contact surface of the needles will not wear as fast.

[xfc3dcd]

You should not be needing to change main bearings that often. My heaviest helis are 40 lbs. and I can go a whole year between swapping out main bearings.

[R_Lefebvre]

Details on these needle bearings?

What kind of slop are you getting? There is no way bearings are wearing like that. It's impossible. Ball bearings do not wear and get slop. They spall out, leading to roughness, not looseness.

What you might be experiencing is the silliness of trying to use two radial bearings to control a precision shaft. It's not a good design. Align does it, but it's not good. And the thrust bearings don't help.

[Goldenhour]

Thrust bearing only on the bottom. Top not needed.
If xfc can go a year rockin a 40 pound heli I'm pretty sure the apparent side to side play I feel at the top bearings are something else.

[Mapoff]

I've got the f3c 700 frame and they have provisions for a third bearing. You will not get any movement at all with the third bearing. Do it if you can. Also go dual shocks on your FMTS. It evens the load out.

[Sailingeric]

For me, it is toughness of multirotor. You can tip one over on take off or landing and odds are you going to turn it over and fly. This crash I had was zero damage other than a paint smudge on the camera case. Try that with a helicopter

Taken Down (0 min 45 sec)

[Goldenhour]

Sailingeric! I just thought of a place I am going to video, do stills and write a story on!!

Heres a short look at .....................

You know Chute park on the left coming into Hillsboro? The one with the Indian totem. 1973 I was working putting in drainage pipe with a crew about 1500 feet west of the totem. One Friday at the end of the day we found a grave. Small child with adornments and leather. Of course the crew looted the jewelry and I took the skull and hair. The next morning at 3 am Gary Bones of Bones construction(Aloha, Oregon) went in with a large track hoe and had two of his men seal off the entrances. He dug up about 20 graves and buried them all in a hole as deep as the hoe could reach. He then called the police to report the one grave. The police made us all take back the loot. My dentist said it was a 3 or 4 year old child with severely worn molars. That one remains is the ONLY thing left of the Tualitan Indians who once numbered 6,000 in that area and were decimated by a "flu" epidemic. You can see that one childs remains at the Washington County Museum. That subdivision that we worked on sat growing weeds for almost 4 years.
Funny thing, Mr. DiMeo of Hillsboro(DiMeo oil, DiMeo realestate ect.) who bankrolled Gary Bones to start the company was the one who graciously paid for, put up and had a ceremony for the Totem pole. White mans guilt I guess. This is all true stuff.

[R_Lefebvre]

Originally Posted by Sailingeric

For me, it is toughness of multirotor. You can tip one over on take off or landing and odds are you going to turn it over and fly. This crash I had was zero damage other than a paint smudge on the camera case. Try that with a helicopter

Yep, this is a great point I've made many times. Tip a heli over on take-off, and you'll be busy for a day. Do the same thing to a multirotor, worst case, you're changing a prop and you'll be flying again in 5 minutes.

I do most of my really experimental code writing on my my crash test quad. Only when I get it right do I attempt it on the heli.