Any of you use a RC car to test your autopilot?

[tekrunner]

Hey guys,
I was wondering if any of you had used an RC car to test your autopilot before using it in an airplane. If so what kind of car did you use? I've crashed a couple planes now experimenting and thought testing on the ground might be a good idea. Any suggestions? Any help would be apreciated.

Thanks,
tekrunner

[typicalaimster]

I use a Traxxas offroad truck when I test my equipment. Having a offroad RC gives you the ability to test both on pavement and in very large recreation fields with short cut grass. For some of my other equipment I'll switch over to a onroad car in a very open parking lot. Either way you don't need anything quick and special. Just something that's easy to repair when things go wrong.

[gwh]

I've been thinking about trying my kid's Losi Mini Rock Crawler. Besides the fact that we already have it, the rock crawler is fairly slow so you can walk along with it and it is able to handle most types of ground.

[rich smith]

I use feet, bicycle, boat, than plane. Note that autopilots don't work at slow speed. You have to move at a pretty fast pace to get reliable heading numbers.


Hey guys,
I was wondering if any of you had used an RC car to test your autopilot before using it in an airplane. If so what kind of car did you use? I've crashed a couple planes now experimenting and thought testing on the ground might be a good idea. Any suggestions? Any help would be apreciated.

Thanks,
tekrunner

[lvspark]

I have used a Mini T. It was a low rider by the time I had the extra gear on :D

Edit: The MiniT turned to sharp so I added a piece of U channel aluminum to the front with a std servo and nosegear to widen the turn radius. Worked much better then.