I was going to put some batteries through this bird this evening, but I just found out from V-22 that the Matek R24-D rx I have in this thing is one of the rx models that has or might have that crystal offset issue.

I crash enough on my own, I don’t need to take any additional chances with hardware- so it looks like I’ll be disassembling and removing a couple caps from the rx before I get it in the air. I’ll also probably just go ahead and replace the bearings in the seized motor on my Sohei as well while I’m at the bench.

I might still manage to get some flights in before dusk, but if not, I’ll probably do some whoop night flying.

I managed to get a flight in tonight at dusk, just prior to dark.

I'd forgotten just how nice it is to fly when I can actually see where I'm going.

The good news is that days are slowly getting longer, so from this point on I'll be able to get in more flights in the light after 5pm.
May only be a flight or two for the next couple weeks, but that will eventually become 3 flights, 4 flights, and then hours of flights before dark.

I'm not sure what's going on with my encoder. I'm using VLC Media Player like I have been for the last year or so to convert my avi files to mp4, but for some reason the last month or two it's decided to start my playback after conversion 10+ seconds into my recording when I'm already in the air. I dunno if I accidently modified a setting or what, but if any of you have any suggestions for windows based freeware video conversion software, I'd appreciate it. EDIT- wait, maybe not. playing it back via youtube shows takeoff. I dunno why playback from the converted file on my laptop jumps ahead. whatever. I'd still appreciate some freeware software suggestions.

Anyhow. I was having fun doing some short throttle punches and quick dives.
And then I was like, hey, let's do a quick snap roll. It's a basic acro move that I've been doing regularly even in the dark.

If I could have kept my head out of it and just continued to flow, it wouldn't have been a problem.
Instead, right as I started to move my stick to roll- my brain was like, "Hey! This 4" bird doesn't respond the same as the 1.6" and 2" birds you've been flying for the last few months! You better not rely on muscle memory!"

F-you, brain. I re-centered my roll stick faster than I usually would, and found myself upside down because I only did a half roll.

Now, I'm going on 2 years of flying quads. You might think at this point that I would know not to panic and overcorrect, and just gently ease my sticks to recover- or hit my disarm switch if it was clear that I couldn't recover.

Well, apparently not. I straight panicked, overcorrected, and crashed into one of my pear trees.

Still, I had fun, and those last few seconds certainly got my heartrate up. I'm pretty sure I've already got my treehugger badge- and thanks to it being winter and that tree having no leaves, I managed to tumble out of it onto the ground instead of having to precariously perch on a ladder to retrieve my quad.

I’ve been bit by the 4” bug..props seem to be very limited.. also with the mounting. I love the Avan (schimtsr) props but they only come in 3mm mounting I think any ones u like?

Over here, to get the props you want is very hit and miss, so I kind of follow the philosophy of buy some props, if it flies on them badly it is still better than not flying. Like I would like some tri blades props for my Meteor 75, it seems to be a nightmare to find tri blade props in the UK for a 75mm. i can get bi blades and 4 blade props, but tri blade in a smaller size with a 1.5mm shaft, is a pain. So I managed to buy a few packs of (I think) 40mm bi blades when I built the M75, they fly well and I don't really have any complaints with them, but everyone tells me tri might be better.

(24-Jan-2023, 01:20 PM)Rob Axel Wrote: I’ve been bit by the 4” bug..props seem to be very limited.. also with the mounting. I love the Avan (schimtsr) props but they only come in 3mm mounting I think any ones u like?

There is not a lot of options when it comes to 4” t-mount props. I’m flying HQ T4x2x3 on this bird, and I like them. They’re not as high of a pitch as I usually prefer, but, these motors can’t handle anything higher- and as I go up in prop size I find that I don’t need a super aggressive pitch.
These HQ’s produce ample thrust, and with the lower pitch they’re actually quieter in the air than my 2” and 3” birds.

Pathfinder- keep your eye out for Gemfan 1635. They’re 40mm tri-blades with a 1.5mm shaft hole. They’re usually available everywhere, at least here- even on Amazon. I like them on 75mm ducted/whoop builds. On open prop I tend to break them more often so I prefer the Gemfan 1636 which are quad-blades.

im with both you guys, I liked the avan props, they are 'aggressive' and they only come in 3mm. The gemfans with the adapter will accommodate both 3mm and t-prop. Im finding its not performance with props, but durability. Bent props will fly, broken ones, not so much.
I also have to say, I like the battery size for a 4" compared to 5". I get just as much time and aggressive flying with my 4" on a 4s 650mh as my 5" on a 1300 4s. yeah, I dont have the "fling" weight, but im not that great of a pilot. Plus that is less weight hitting the asphalt / concrete at full speed.

I’m a fan of the Avan scimitars as well. They do make a 3.5” t-mount version.

Durability is important to me as well. I crash. A lot.

But these HQ’s have eaten cement, gravel, tree… and they’re holding up well.

4” is pretty much as large as I’m willing to fly these days. I’ve got a 5” hangar queen that’s just too big for my property. I tend to be going smaller and smaller, 1.6” to 3” is kinda my sweet spot.

Although, I do have a 4” RoninUAV frame on my shelf that I need to get around to building..

Yeah, got a few 5” rigs and quite a few 30x30 stacks .. wish they made a 4” rig that wil fit them..rather fly 3”& 4” rather than 5”

(25-Jan-2023, 02:36 AM)Rob Axel Wrote: Yeah, got a few 5” rigs and quite a few 30x30 stacks .. wish they made a 4” rig that wil fit them..rather fly 3”& 4” rather than 5”

Nothing is more convenient than flying on your own property. 5" flying sessions are more like trek out somewhere for me.

Isn't it funny how quads look like rocky boats in waves when you lose it, mine look like that too, all the overcorrections. lol...

So many over corrections. Y’know, I’ve got angle and horizon on a 3 position switch with acro in between. I wonder if I can train myself to switch flight modes when it’s clear that I can’t recover.

…I also wonder if I can cram a 30x30 stack into a 3”.

(25-Jan-2023, 04:42 AM)Lemonyleprosy Wrote: So many over corrections. Y’know, I’ve got angle and horizon on a 3 position switch with acro in between. I wonder if I can train myself to switch flight modes when it’s clear that I can’t recover.

…I also wonder if I can cram a 30x30 stack into a 3”.

Yeah, switches are not complicated....... on the bench! flicking switches when flying is a whole other kettle of fish...

as for 30x30 on a 3 inch? why not! I believe my first post here was a 20x20 stack in an 85mm frame, lol

Yeah… Do you have any idea how many times I accidentally disarmed myself mid flight when I was first starting out?

My disarm game is pretty on point now and I can disarm right before I smack into that wall, but I dunno about trying to throw a different switch into my reflexes.

I’ve got a 30x30 stack that I’m not likely to use if I can’t fit it into something in the 3” size. I just need to figure out a frame with a wide enough body to give it some protection, and then print a 20x20 to 30x30 adapter.

My take on props:

From the bottom, small props generally do better with more blades {like tri-blades or quad-blades},
but the larger sizes do well on bi-blades and tri-blades. Then there are those turbine style, 
multi-blade, props that are meant for ducted cinequads which are less noisy, but have more 
thrust at the expense of efficiency. Keep in mind that the larger the prop, the more thrust that 
is produced at any given RPM. 

Ah yes, mounting. Back in the day, all the motors had 5mm shafts and likewise so did the props.
In fact, the larger you get this is still the predominate mounting. From what I can tell, the 
T-Mount motors originated in the smaller motor sizes, probably due to the weight reduction 
over 5mm shafts. The prop could be secured to the smaller motors, yet still be kept light.

Then, Gemfan came out with those hybrid props that could be used with both T-Mount or 
5mm shaft motors. What a novel concept. These props work fine, but are less durable 
than choosing a prop with a single mount type. 

I have also noticed that the selection of available props seems to be changing. For example,
Gemfan makes a 6-inch bi-blade prop with T-Mounting {which I am glad that I bought some
when I could} that I can't seem to find an longer. So far, there still seems to be a decent
selection of bi-blade and tri-blade props in sizes from 3-inch and up. Yeah, plenty of offerings
in sizes less than 3-inch. 

All that said, sometimes props are like toilet paper: any is better than none. 

If you bias the motor, then you take props in that mounting format. 
If you bias the prop, then you use a motor with that mounting.

For my style of "easy cruising", the bi-blades are more efficient than props with more blades.
Also, I can't really tell any difference betweeon one pitch or another. They all work fine. I 
have used tri-blades in an effort to reduce noise, but can't tell the differece in noise nor
performance. For me, bi-blades run in the larger sizes and tri-blades in the smaller sizes.

This bird is still one of my favorites. At 4", I'd expect it to be too big for my 3/4 acre property, but, with its lower weight, these 2004 motors, and low pitch props, it is one of my most stable and gentle when need be but agile with quick stick throw quads. Yeah, there were some early desync issues, but with rpm filter and dynamic idle on betaflight 4.3, that hasn't been a problem.

It's just about always the quad I use for my first flight of the night. It's stable enough to help me get over the jitters and get used to the sticks before I move on to some of my other builds. 

When i don't crash like I did in the video below, I consistently get a good 8 to 11 minutes of flight time out of a 3s HV 1100mah battery, even with "spirited" flying. That's more than enough time for me to get back in the groove before I slap a battery in one of my other overpowered birds.

I think I spent something like $2.95 on this frame during a TBS blowout sale. Thanks again, Hugnosed_bat, for making me aware of that sale. Pretty sure it's the best three bucks I've ever spent on a quad related thing.

(video is still uploading, give it another hour or so, I'm on dsl.)

Video finally uploaded, but, as usual, my property, my neighbors property, and the church next door are the only properties with proper lighting at night- everything else is pretty much dark.

Out in the boonies, folks and government man don't think that street lighting is important. As a city kid, I strongly disagree, but, whatever.

I'm really looking forward to spring and daylight savings time when I'll actually be able to fly in daylight.

First flight of the night, it was dark, blah blah blah, and other excuses to make me feel better about my lack of flying skills.

This isn't anything special, I had a 3s 1100mah HV battery that I left charged for half a week and needed to burn through.
Damn good fun, though.