Hey Pat
Thrust angle should be 0 degrees with the bottom of the wing.
Don't have an XL picture handy...

Not sure if you can even make out the angle on this picture...

Thanks man. I bent my back in the field trying to adjust the angle and couldn't remember if it was at 90 degrees or not.

So I am wondering a few things.. I have recently purchased and will be assembling a pusher Hercules and I am under the impression that it is basically a Larger version of the Deep Reaper XL. Since I have never flown an all wing model and have looked at many different videos of the impressive things that they can do, I am 100% interested

I am going to be designing this to carry close to 6-7 pounds of weight. I know the idea is to build them light but I have a want/need for ultimate air time. My overall goal is to achieve 2 hours if possible and cover a distance over a couple miles with fpv gear. Most of the flight I would like to have autopilot to way-points that can be updated while flying, rather than at the beginning of the flight, so I can use a pan and tilt camera with a head tracker to look around. Once the batteries get to about half charge or when I want to end, automatically turn the plane around and come home.

I have been looking at different batteries 2s 3s and 4s (still not sure what voltage is best), fpv /osd/autopilot/tracking equipment etc. I'm also not sure what kind of motor to use or what prop to use. I realize that a bigger prop will draw more amps out of the batteries and make the motor work harder and once you pass up about 3000ft with a standard 2.4ghz receiver transmitter you are going to loose control of the plane.

Currently I am looking at these specs to start:
2x Turnigy nano-tech 8400mAh 3S 40~80C Lipo Pack
2x T-Pro MG90 (Metal Gear) Servos
NTM Prop Drive Series 35-36A 1800Kv / 875w
TURNIGY TRUST 70A SBEC Brushless Speed Controller (don't know the difference of BEC)
No idea for a prop.. Possibly a 9-6
DX6i 2.4GHz transmitter with AR6200 receiver or equivalent

Any ideas on how to get the range/duration I'm looking for would greatly be appreciated. I am new to FPV and am very excited at all the technology, unfortunately I am on a budget and lack some very crucial knowledge about video transmission.

I look forward to joining the many thousands in this sport!

The MG90 are great little servos.
Are they big enough for a loaded up Herc? Most likely not.
Get some standard servos.
Other than don't fear to ask the questions on the Hercules thread.
There are a few local flyers using the pusher version of the Hercules and most of them are active on the Hercules thread.
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showt...73169&page=122

Thank you, I will repost there

Originally Posted by MachVoluM

Any ideas on how to get the range/duration I'm looking for would greatly be appreciated.

Yes, take it slow and start simple. Oh and get a 72Mhz tx instead of your DX6i

Don't waste your time on 72mhz control. Why put 60 year old technology on a $1,000 airplane? Get yourself a UHF system for your controller, don't mess around with 2.4ghz or 72mhz radio control. That's just gambling.

I agree, you need standard size servos, not minis or micros. The Hercules is huge.

Originally Posted by MachVoluM

Any ideas on how to get the range/duration I'm looking for would greatly be appreciated. I am new to FPV and am very excited at all the technology, unfortunately I am on a budget and lack some very crucial knowledge about video transmission.

My first piece of advice coming from a fellow novice FPV'r is baby steps. You say you are new to FPV, start SMALL. If you've never flown a wing, my advice is to buy one that is already assembled and tested. Get your feet wet. Wings are a TON of fun and are extremely durable, however they do take a bit to get used to. Their flight characteristics are unique.

With that being said, start FPV simple. I wouldn't go straight to goggles. Install your video tx, camera etc etc, but have your video receiver hooked up to a dvr or some sort of recording device. Just so you can get used to flying with weight. Remember, baby steps. Then move to goggles or whatever viewing device you've decided on. BUT stay within line of sight, so when things get out of hand you can recover. A spotter is a necessity at this point. Anyways, this is just stuff that I've learned/observed since I've started learning about FPV. One more thing, learn all you can about antennas. Having a good understanding of how they work will help you avoid interference issues that will come up. Here's a video that helped me learn a bit:

Antennas 101 - Polarization, Diversity & Gain Patterns (27 min 56 sec)

Good Luck!

72Mhz because
A) He's on a budget
B) The Spektrum gear is going to lock him out at far less than 3000ft and
C) If you read carefully, he doesn't know a lot about video transmission, and in general seems rather new to RC in general (no offense). The last thing he needs is to spend every last penny he has on a $1000 plane then fly it further than his experience dictates he should and lose everything.

and as a bonus:
D) He can use a module based 72Mhz radio and add UHF to it later, he's not going to use that DX6i with a UHF TX, at least I don't know of anyone else that does.

Like Geminiryan said: "Baby steps".

Get a simple setup, learn as you grow and have fun. Having said that, some people jump in at the deep end of the pool and manage to pull it off. I'm just trying to give a different perspective.

Baby steps are fine, but 72Mhz seems like an unnecessary (and therefore expensive) step to me.

Mach, if I were you, I'd fly LOS first for quite a while to get very comfortable with your wing. Then add simple FPV gear, and keep flying within LOS range with a spotter a few times. That way if you're in trouble you can look away from the screen and have your spotter show you where the plane is, LOS (or even take over, if you have a buddy cord). Also, if you go down, you're close.

Then, once you're comfortable flying FPV, buy the UHF long-range system, which is what you'll want to end up with anyway. That doesn't mean you need to take it to it's full range the first day. You'll probably go a little further each time, learning how it does. The range will be there when you need it.

See? No need for a whole new 72Mhz system, and the money it costs. The Spektrum you've got will do just fine up to the point you're ready and comfortable with long-range.

...all this is exactly what I'm doing right now, only with a Turnigy 9X until I have the extra cash for UHF

Thank you all very much for your ideas. I wasn't planning on spending a lot of money up front. I was simply explaining my ideas for the future to see what you all thought. I am still rather new to rc planes, yes that is true. I have flown some other models of planes that my friends have owned and I do have a slow stick of my own. I also have a copy of Pheonix 4 that I have been playing around with. This will be the first all wing plane I have built and I am going to take it slow. I am just trying to piece things together one by one. I've only recently heard of fpv and judging by some of the videos that I have seen on YouTube, this looks very rewarding. There is a wealth of information on the net and many different suppliers of equipment. I am quite knowledgeable about electronics, so things like soldering and making circuits are nothing new to me. Although the premade technology that exists (some of it is very advanced and expensive) looks promising. I look forward to the things to come and it seems I might be a regular here on this forum

Thanks again!

If you have a Slowstick then that would probably be the best way to get your feet wet in FPV.

Just buy your FPV gear and fly the heck out of that Slowstick with it - the good thing about the Slowstick is that everything happens so (wait for it...) slow that it's really easy to get started flying FPV on one. It's what I did.

Then you can build a Hercules or Deep Reaper while you get used to the new perspective and all the extra electronics and failure modes and just transfer your video gear over when you're comfortable flying FPV.

You could be flying and learning FPV while building your 'real' FPV plane and maybe making your beginner mistakes on the (disposable) 'Stick.

This is exactly what I was planning on doing to be honest

Originally Posted by nkkromhof

If you have a Slowstick then that would probably be the best way to get your feet wet in FPV.

Just buy your FPV gear and fly the heck out of that Slowstick with it - the good thing about the Slowstick is that everything happens so (wait for it...) slow that it's really easy to get started flying FPV on one. It's what I did.

Then you can build a Hercules or Deep Reaper while you get used to the new perspective and all the extra electronics and failure modes and just transfer your video gear over when you're comfortable flying FPV.

You could be flying and learning FPV while building your 'real' FPV plane and maybe making your beginner mistakes on the (disposable) 'Stick.

Our EPP Albatoss will fly better in wind and is 10X more durable than a Slowstick. Some of you who have owned and flown both tell us how you think they compare. The Albatross has a true airfoil and can handle wind better but yet fly slower with the same load.

The new Storm Chaser is a 2X version of the Albatross and can carry the load but still fly slow in the wind. It is a great plane for the beginner in FPV. The pod mounted motor leaves the nose free for all the FPV gear but still has enough EPP structure to make it one of the toughest FPV planes you can fly. I frequently fly with 9000 mA of 3S lipo which gives over an hour of airtime. The plane flies great and is still slow with the big batteries.

The self stabilizing characteristics of these planes can't be overstated. They will level their own wings and put their nose on the horizon without pilot input once they are trimmed in. Not only are they stable but they are fun to fly. I have 5 of them set up for night flying with different light configurations and I am not a beginner.