Hi all,

I'm currently looking for a RC model kit which has been designed specifically for testing and experimenting with flight control systems. Whether it comes with components / modules, or has the capacity to have PCBs attached doesn't matter too much - just that you can actually do it. I would even be interested in kits with come with components for flight control systems - altometer, air speed inertial reference, gps, etc.

Anyone know of anything like this?

The market would be very small for such a specialized model, almost any model can be equiped with such thing if desired and if large enough to accomodate the extra weight. Electric would be simpler than IC and some experience with models flying would help. Not a good first project!

Hi Coriolan,

I have experience in firmware development and microcontrollers, therefore, I basically wanted an existing airframe which I could develop the hardware with. Any existing airframe capable of placing several controllers on a PCB or prototype board would suffice. Preferably the kit would allow simple control of the flight control surfaces, and engine speed.

Originally Posted by coriolan

The market would be very small for such a specialized model, almost any model can be equiped with such thing if desired and if large enough to accomodate the extra weight. Electric would be simpler than IC and some experience with models flying would help. Not a good first project!

Originally Posted by SubZer0

Preferably the kit would allow simple control of the flight control surfaces, and engine speed.

Any kit which requires that you use your own radio would do that. The signals between the receiver and the servos and ESC are pretty standard and it's easy to intercept or generate these signals by firmware. You need to use a microcontroller that has enough IO pins to handle them all.

You want to have a model that's big enough to carry your electronics, with large openings for easy maintenance.

There are a number of models that can carry the weight and equipment you are talking about, a couple would be the Telemaster or the large Kaydet.

Thanks for the replies, everyone. The Telemaster looks like a good choice, but are there smaller, cheap aircraft that will carry smaller components as well, so that I can easily sacrifice them, and not lose a bucketload of money?

Anything that could carry from a couple hundreg grams to 500 grams...

Look at any number of cheap foam sailplanes..
..a

Originally Posted by Andy W

Look at any number of cheap foam sailplanes..
..a

The fuselage of most cheap foam sailplanes hardly have any room for a payload. They tend to be too narrow and with walls that are too thick. Also 200-500 grams on a small sailplane may be too much.

I would look for a sailplane with fiberglass or ABS fuselage and a wingspan of 170cm or more.
Another option - seen on HobbyKing site a category for FPV models. These are supposed to carry a video camera and transmitter so I assume they would be capable of carrying other electronics as well.

Originally Posted by itai n

The fuselage of most cheap foam sailplanes hardly have any room for a payload. They tend to be too narrow and with walls that are too thick. Also 200-500 grams on a small sailplane may be too much.

He specifically asked:

Originally Posted by SubZer0

The Telemaster looks like a good choice, but are there smaller, cheap aircraft that will carry smaller components as well, so that I can easily sacrifice them, and not lose a bucketload of money?

Anything that could carry from a couple hundreg grams to 500 grams...

I add 12oz of ballast (steel rod in the wing joiner) to my Radian when the wind is bad.
..a

Originally Posted by Andy W

I add 12oz of ballast (steel rod in the wing joiner) to my Radian when the wind is bad.

I agree that a sailplane is a good choice. I just say that foam-fuselage sailplanes rarely have enough room to carry a payload. That's why I suggest to look at fiberglass or ABS that are usually wider with thinner walls.

Can you give some dimension of the Radian? If you wanted to add an electronics board of a 2"x3" size where would you put it?

Under the canopy. Tons of room there.

You could also just strap an ABS enclosure to the fuselage, above the wing. Many fly with GoPro camera's hanging off the top, for example..
..a

https://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...R_C_Plane.html

Radian

Dang, lots of bad advice here. Come on guys, this isn't the right way to help a noob.

Your post isn't really very clear. If you want to experiment with this stuff you'll want an APM/Pixhawk and a 9X radio. You'll probably also want an OpenLRS compatible radio module. Those are all opensource, so you'll be able to do whatever you want with them. FrSky is a good choice for radio module if you don't need opensource or long range, they also make the Taranis radio, which is a popular (most say higher quality) knock-off of the 9X radio.

Best to ask around on the diydrones.com or in the fixedwing forums here. The Bixler is a very popular airframe in that community. You want something that is a pusher prop design, cheap, durable, and stable. These features are important because you'll crash many times getting the hang of things, so you want a very cheap, very crash-resistant airframe that is easy to fly.

Originally Posted by jakestew

Dang, lots of bad advice here. Come on guys, this isn't the right way to help a noob.

Don't forget that the thread was started in 2011...