Why a Y6 ? Good question....
Basically its the best compromise between compactness and capability. It can be a bit of shock to people just how big and unwieldy MRs can be. Droidworx and DJI have acknowledged this with designs for removable or folding arms. Thepelell seems to have cracked this in his own way, nice one. We started off with a regular MK hexa and homebuilt gimbal and it did us well for the first year while we gained experience but ultimately we needed something with a decent gimbal and enough grunt to lift a Canon 500d size camera. A quad would be too small, a flat hexa would be getting too big in heavylift configuration and an octo was way too big and expensive. Coaxial seemed the way to go, so it was down to a X4 or Y6 and since we had all the control gear for a 6 motor rig we decided to go Y6.
For aerial photo or video work unless you have a 360 deg gimbal you need as wide an angle between rotors at the front and only X4 and Y6 provide this. X-Y8 and butterfly X are interesting hybrids and may well find a place in the pantheon.
Since moving over to Y6 we have learnt that it is a configuration that needs a more precise build than others, it is critical to get the motors aligned vertically and don't trust manufacturer's alignment holes to be fit and forget. Get it right as you build.
Configuration - Droidworx AD3X-HL / MK electronics / Torxpower motors / APC 13x6 props
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Since I only build the things I'll leave it to Lec to comment on flying qualities.
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andy
(PS ---- the truth is that we saw Droider's Y6 long ago and lusted after it forever until we could afford one ! )
photo credit : Chris Davis
http://www.chrisdaviesphotography.com/Events