brownmonkey
F550 / WKM / 8FG
Ever since I was a small kid, I wanted to be a helicopter pilot (specifically; a mountain helicopter pilot, flying avalanche control... I figured helicopter + snow + explosives = most awesome job ever), however my father (an airline pilot) was always working to talk me out of it as he (his words) 'didn't understand why the things didn't just screw themselves into the ground'...
Fast forward 20 years and unrealized childhood dreams, I'm captivated by the idea of shooting video from a flying RC platform. After an ill-advised purchase of a box full of some unspecified RC helicopter 'parts' on eBay, I managed to construct a Frankenstein flying decapitation machine (to call it a helicopter would be an insult to other helicopters) - and only re-affirmed my wife's skepticism of my new ('it won't last!') hobby when I flew it into a tree moments after my first take off outside!
So now, I'm on attempt 2 - after months of research into hexacopters, I just took delivery of a Flame Wheel F550, Wookong GPS & a Futaba 8FG. Thanks to all here for the great information posted in this forum - I've been obsessively reading forum posts and watching as many YouTube videos as possible to make the best possible 1st time build. It's been sat laid out in my workshop for a week so far while I work out what connects where and the best batteries to purchase - I'm a 'little' OCD, so I want the wiring to be as neat as possible! Here's a snap of progress so far in working out what plugs into what (there are only 2 things I'm not yet sure about, since I've not yet decided which batteries to get; does the Futaba RX get its power from the SBUS connection and if I'm using SBUS, am I right in thinking I don't need to connect the Futaba RX to the Wookong A/E/T/R ports?) - if it looks like I've got anything wired up wrong, please let me know!
View attachment 2940
Fast forward 20 years and unrealized childhood dreams, I'm captivated by the idea of shooting video from a flying RC platform. After an ill-advised purchase of a box full of some unspecified RC helicopter 'parts' on eBay, I managed to construct a Frankenstein flying decapitation machine (to call it a helicopter would be an insult to other helicopters) - and only re-affirmed my wife's skepticism of my new ('it won't last!') hobby when I flew it into a tree moments after my first take off outside!
So now, I'm on attempt 2 - after months of research into hexacopters, I just took delivery of a Flame Wheel F550, Wookong GPS & a Futaba 8FG. Thanks to all here for the great information posted in this forum - I've been obsessively reading forum posts and watching as many YouTube videos as possible to make the best possible 1st time build. It's been sat laid out in my workshop for a week so far while I work out what connects where and the best batteries to purchase - I'm a 'little' OCD, so I want the wiring to be as neat as possible! Here's a snap of progress so far in working out what plugs into what (there are only 2 things I'm not yet sure about, since I've not yet decided which batteries to get; does the Futaba RX get its power from the SBUS connection and if I'm using SBUS, am I right in thinking I don't need to connect the Futaba RX to the Wookong A/E/T/R ports?) - if it looks like I've got anything wired up wrong, please let me know!
View attachment 2940
