Best F550 Flight Power & Prop Combination??

[2tall]

I’m flying an F550 with stock everything except prop nuts (switched to 6mm nylon lock nuts). I have mounted an AeroXcraft landing gear and a GoPro. I may add the AeroXcraft GoPro gimbal later. This is just for hobby use and the hard mount results seem fine for now.

I started without the gear and camera additions, and with the stock prop nuts. I quickly lost two DJI 10 inch props. Hind sight suggests that I had over tightened the prop nuts. I switched to the 8 inch DJIs and the 6mm nylon lock nuts and the ship flew very stable for several flights. Nevertheless, the 8 inch DJI props always had me expecting the inevitable “snap” and crash. (Perhaps I read too much.) So, I purchased 10 inch Graupners and have been using those with 3S power.

The Graupners fly much more crisp than the DJIs. That also translates to their being more twitchy in breezy conditions. The flexibility of the 8 inch DJIs seems to help stabilize the ship in light breezes. I would like to find a prop/power combination that is reliable and still somewhat forgiving in the wind.
I have purchased one 3S and one 4S flight battery and will limit myself to those until I find the proper power and prop combination.


What would work best:

Graupner
10 inch on 4S or 3S (Can I run the 10 inch on 4S?)
9 inch on 4S or 3S
8 inch on 4S

DJI
8 inch on 4S (Some folks seem to really like the DJI 8 inch props)

Another Brand?
Your advice would be appreciated, as investing in all the options just to run tests is not feasible.
Thanks,

Jon

 

[Sebas600]

Graupner 10" on 3S
the 2217's will die with 4S

I have the 11x5 graupners on my f550 and they are great. they have response, power and are very stiff and reliable.

DJI props are best to fit on your garbage bin.

 

[OneSkidShort]

Graupner 10" on 4s with the 2217's run very cool for me and the ESC's are cool as well (stock). This combination only works well with some weight on the hexa.

 

[thehatguy]

DJI 550
Aeroxcraft landing gear
Aeroxcraft Go Pro gimbal
Go Pro Hero2
5500MaH Gens Ace
Graupner 9x5 props

About 10 minutes flight time. Motors slightly warm.
Plenty of pep.

John

 

[2tall]

Sebas600 - With the 11 inch Graupners on your F550 are you using stock motors and ESCs? On 3S power?

Jon

 

[Sebas600]

No I'm using heavy 850kv motors 380watt, they are positioned a bit more outward.
Can run it on 4S for max power or 3S depending on the weight with only 25amp esc's with heatsinks
The graupner props are shortened by a couple of mm to make a gap of 5-6mm between the blades.

View attachment 5954

 

[kikorafael]

DJI 550
Aeroxcraft landing gear
Aeroxcraft Go Pro gimbal
Go Pro Hero2
5500MaH Gens Ace
Graupner 9x5 props

About 10 minutes flight time. Motors slightly warm.
Plenty of pep.

John

what are you running 4s or 3s? what do you mean plenty of pep?

 

[kloner]

2tall, what does your 550 weigh ready to fly wit one or the other battery attached?

 

[thehatguy]

what are you running 4s or 3s? what do you mean plenty of pep?

4S battery with the 9x5 Graupners.

Very quick.

John

 

[2tall]

2tall, what does your 550 weigh ready to fly wit one or the other battery attached?

With a 3S 5000 mah Lipo, 10 inch Graupners, the gear, camera, LEDs, and a Sterilite cover it weighs 5 pounds 11 ounces.


View attachment 5956

 

[kloner]

2.6 kilo, shes light. Do you pretty much hover or are you planning fpv and going any distance? have you ever looked to see what it hovers at stick wise in manual?

 

[2tall]

2.6 kilo, shes light. Do you pretty much hover or are you planning fpv and going any distance? have you ever looked to see what it hovers at stick wise in manual?

I have flown in manual mode but not for long and I did not notice the throttle stick position. I did have to add a bit of throttle in manual mode, and then lower it back in ATI and/or GPS. At the current configuration I get 7-1/2 minutes replacing 3900 mah of the avauilable 5000. I'll be adding FPV electronics, perhaps OSD, and shared power for both. That will add a bit more weight.

Jon

 

[2tall]

2.6 kilo, shes light. Do you pretty much hover or are you planning fpv and going any distance?

I'm just learning to fly in a manner that suits the shot and does not extend the capabilities of the camera. I hover occasionally to add emphasis to a particular item or to do a very slow pan. Otherwise I try to keep moving slowly while keeping the camera on target - like a land based camera on a dolly. It is not easy and I learn something every flight. For now I'm working within my field of view (no FPV on board). For me the flying is fun, but the goal is the video.

 

[2tall]

...have you ever looked to see what it hovers at stick wise in manual?

It was a nice calm evening here so I just gave it a shot. Expecting a need for more throttle I started in ATI mode, hovering at about 30 feet AGL, while in a modest climb - and then switched to manual mode. As expected she headed down, and with purpose. :cold: I was concerned that descending rapidly through her own dirty air, the hex would not respond. Fortunately, adding throttle stabilized the hover fairly quickly. To hold altitude I needed 70% throttle. Switching back to ATI started a brisk climb until I lowered the throttle back to 50%.

Jon

 

[kloner]

So your off quite a bit. that makes it really gutless at the end of a pack, worse is if a pack ever got damaged and ran shorter than expected on ya, it's a terminal descent.

they look like the first 7 seconds of the video

sooner or later it gets ya and your short on throttle response if the naza atti mode is hovering 70%.............. i'd increase the voltage or go with bigger props. With everything you got mentioned here, and since it's in your possesion, go try 10" props and 4s pack. see what it hovers at in manual. The craft should lift somewhat stable, just doesn't self center

 

[2tall]

if the naza atti mode is hovering 70%

Not sure I understand - she holds altitude at mid stick in ATI and GPS modes. When switched to manual mode I need to raise the stick to the 70% position. Does that mean the Naza is electronically moving the throttle to the 70% position in the ATI/GPS modes?

 

[kloner]

you hold mid stick cause the throttle gets handed over to a barometer to hold position fly by wire. it is still holding it at 70% or whatever you saw in manual to keep it there

Your under propped

 

[2tall]

Your under propped

I can see that to be the case, but it runs contrary to a lot that I have read. The results were with 10 inch Graupners running 3S on a ship that is "light". I don't think 11 inch props are an option without mount extensions, and perhaps even new motors. Tomorrow is predicted to be another great day to fly. I'll try 4S power with the 10 inch props, and report back. Wonder if I may need to recalibrate the TX and the Naza...? Thanks for all the help.


RE: the video - I love the hawk checking out your ship at 9:38. Given the WA FOV of the camera that had to have been very close.

Jon

 

[kloner]

the calibration in naza would throw off atti not being midstick to hover, but not the other way around. You sound like your looking at 4s no matter what and 9" or 10" props. graupner makes both

i just uploaded this video to kinda show ya why i asked if you were hovering or flying. when you see 20-30 amp draws, that's hovering 9" 4s at 2200grams with a quad. even with 6 motors the output would be similar. then when i lean it forward it leaps into 40-50-60-70-touches some 80 amps. that's 1100 watts, say divided by 6 motors is still 188 amps on 120-150 amp motors.

Hovering you can almost do no wrong trying stuff out. if you get into fpv and start holding the cyclic forward, move up in motor size to deal with it.

trappy has em in stock for $27 a set of 4 at team-blackseep.com

that hawk left a skid mark in my shorts.All i saw was a bird really close, was flying with goggles. When i downloaded it couldn't believe it. There hungry out there in the desert, they investigate everything smaller than them. later in the year the golden eagles show up and the red tail hawks take a hike.

 

[2tall]

...Hovering you can almost do no wrong trying stuff out. if you get into fpv and start holding the cyclic forward, move up in motor size to deal with it...

My other vice is scale RC Helis. I fly a UH1D and an AS350. The hex power dynamics are the opposite of what I expect from the helis. My scale ships require much more power at hover than in forward flight where they benefit from translational lift. On the other hand the multirotors seem to have more parasitic drag that would become a factor in forward flight.