I have several tricopters, both from times when David was only posting build articles (v2.5) selling G10 middle frames via e-mail request, and when he started selling the full-fledged kits (v3, v3.5, v4, the Mini). They are already built and flying. Know what? I still watch the build videos :-)
I have watched your first tricopter build video on FliteTest countless times. The detail and thought (and humour) behind every notion is outstanding, and I watch it every time I build a new multirotor. Incredibly, you have managed to outdo yourself! I have never built one of your tricopters, yet I once ordered four of your CF booms for my quad (they are my favourite components on it). You said it would take 2 weeks to ship to Hong Kong- the parcel came in 4 days. All hail RCExplorer!
This is awesome David. So glad you're still building these. I have you to thank for getting me into multi-rotors. My first build was the V 2.5 nearly 4 years ago! I haven't stopped building since.
As someone who has never purchased a quad or tricopter, I just wanted to say that I was easily able to watch your entire entertaining video. Top quality stuff David! Subbed ages ago. Keep up the great work.
Great work, David! Been observing your stuff for a couple years and the improvements just keep getting better. Well done on the new board and thanks for keeping it entertaining.
We are currently building a fully self constructed tricopter in a school projekt and your TricopterV4 is really helpful in getting inspirations and improvements for our projekt. Hope it flys when finished :D And keep up the good work m8
Even though I have not bought any of your products....which I really like... I really enjoy your videos. When I have a few less projects on my hands I'll fit one of your tricopters in there.
this tricopter is so nice i wish one day to built something like this one but money is my weak side but still nice built thanks for tips and builds keep it up we all learn something with every crash :)
Awesome Build Video David! Your production quality is always top notch. V4 looks amazing. I would love to build one and fly one someday. I still have and up until about a month ago flew my 2.6hv till I crashed it. I've rebuilt it but having issues getting it flying right again. If I can get my 2.6 back in good flying order, I would love to upgrade to the V4 once I become a better pilot. :-) Look forward to seeing an FPV flight from your V4. :-)
Really like the tricopter, can you upload a video of you flying though the forest, show us how well it can fly around objects! Awesome David!!! Thx so much, i can't wait to build one
Dang it David, I was just in the middle of rebuilding my v3 with the PDB and a Vector OSD and now you make me want the V4 :( Good looking video btw. I may return to upgrade to the newer looking carbon fiber booms some day, as those old rounded ones are kind of a pain.
What's good is, you can watch the build videos for each version of the tricopter and see how it evolved over time. Even little things like where the ESCs get placed. Who knows what little things future versions will bring.
You have taken the tri copter to the next level. I think you have had the most influence on tricopter advancements more than anyone else I can think of. Love your work. I hope to see you at flite fest If I go. If I do, I will want to meet you definitely , it would be just awesome to meet the one and only amazing swede. Ps- do you like being called that or do you not like it?
Hi I have to say this is one heck of a beautiful build video and tricopter aswell. I have one question though.... I'm currently using 900kv motors with 9.5 graupner E props. Will the PID settings from the tricopter v4 electronics kit work aswell, or do I have to figure them out in my own or are they posted somewhere?
Ok David. For a month i have been flying my scratchbuilt 585mm tricopter on a trusty KK2 board with lots of success... The tail however had a bit more wobble than is should have. I watched almost every tricopter setup and build you have done and decided to switch to Naze32 to get the Tail Tune function ti hopefully smooth out that wobble. Removed the KK and wired and programmed the Naze32 with Triflight. First off. It wont fly... Wont get off the ground with out the spin of death and the Tail servos (same ones that worked fine with the KK2) keep getting so hot that they burn out and one has even magic smoked... Not even in flight either. Just during the tail tune and leveling... The servos are not too tight, the servo isnt binding, they are fresh out of the box brand new emax 9g metal servos. I would like to stay with the superior Triflight programming but cant afford to keep burning servos and not flying... What am i doing wrong? What could the Naze be doing wrong since if i put the KK back on the tricopter it lifts off and controls fine and the servos stays ice cold... Also one other note. Even after tail tune when i go to arm, the Tail mech tips to the right. And wont control left past the center point. It stays completely right, in normal operation and with a servo tester the servo is centered and has fluid motion both ways. Help Me Please as I am attending one of my first Fly events in a week and would like it flying well!
An elegant and clean build on this tricopter! What is the weight of this craft equipped such as the one on this video? It looks like a dream to fly. Cheers!
I think you need to consider a different tail rotor tilt hinge. The inertia from the motor flopping from side to side introduces unwanted yaw. The pivot should be at the center of mass of the motor and prop. This is even more noticeable on mini tricopters
I'm looking to build a tricopter with a multicamera setup. i like the design of the mini/baby with the included camera mount, but I also want a 2ndary camera with a gimbal that can track via servos for a 2nd operator/observer, or that could be video source swapped? GPS hover hold/return would be nice as well. I wonder how complicated it would be to also set up the gimbal to automatically track a spot? i'm thinking about like lets say recording a local baseball game, and you want to keep the camera tracking on home plate but would like to get various angles, say one from 1st base, and as you swoop around to 2nd and 3rd base it would stay locked on home plate.
Tri-Copters are such a pleasure to watch fly. I've considered building one back since the Wii fly days. It seems much easier now and that Baby Tri-Copter looks soo cool. This one looks very docile and graceful! I just recently bought an Inspire 2 and I am very disappointed it is DOA. I was hesitant to buy and I am hesitant to keep it because I feel like everything I do will be at their mercy. I am still considering just building my own rig, like a huge Tarot or something. I cannot help but think the way a Tricopter flies could lend to some great Cinematographic shots; what do you think? Would a Tri-Copter or a Penta-copter with Tri-tail be a good choice? What would you recommend for a reliable and capable AP platform that can handle heavy cameras like a Sony A7R iii and eventually high end Video rigs or a 360 VR rig?
so when do we get a springloaded arm version that you can just throw from folded and fly (as long as it's turned on) Naturally, the sole reason for this is style points
Ahh...how I missed how David says "glue". What I wouldn't give to hear him say the Homer Simpson line: "Glue nice or I'll take away your glue and no one will have any glue to glue with!"
I'm curious as to why you extended the battery wires instead of the motor wires. I see there's a bunch of surface mount caps on the ESC so I bet they can handle it but it's still not the optimal setup. Having the ESC's farther out will also have the weight farther out giving it more roll/pitch/yaw inertia. Just a thought, I'm sure there's a good reason!
In a theoretical model, yes you're entirely correct, however in reality it's all about packaging. There isn't the space to mount the ESCs on the frame, and mounting them on the arms near the root makes routing the wiring untidy and unnecessarily complex. Also bear in mind these ESCs weigh little more than a few grams, and the associated cables are similarly lightweight. The trade off of increased inertia Vs packaging simplicity is acceptable - Multirotors do not have any trouble overcoming such inertia - the motors spool up and down incredibly quickly, and the thrust from small motors like this with the right propeller is very, very impressive. Also bear in mind that any increase in inertia makes the craft more stable.
David, I have some questions, but before I start here is my tricopter profile; the booms are 12mm, iNav firmware, Naze32 Rev6 w/CN-06 gps, 1200kv motors, SimmonK 25A ESCs. My issue is, I attempt to takeoff and the tricopter drops the tail end, and bouncy. What PIDs, and Navigation setting would you recommend, or are you using to make your have a smooth flight. Thanks in advance!
While I love the video David and will probably pick up a V4 soon to go along with my mini, I have 1 problem with the video, you tell people to resolder connections for motor rather then just swapping in BLHeli
Testbook English I wanted one as a total noob, I was advised to get an inductrix or something first to practice on. Turns out that was the right thing to do as the tricopter is not noob friendly. It's heavy and takes a while to get used to dealing with the inertia of manoeuvring in the air with that much weight, and is also quite powerful so you can get into trouble with it very fast. I built a tinywhoop style brushed micro, did a lot of learning on that, then built my v4 a few months back. Also, still fly the micro as it's really fun for indoors
While building a quadcopter there arises a problem of the machine to rotate(on z axis) in the direction of the propellers rotation(given that all 4 props are rotating in the same direction), so does that happen in a tricopter too? and if yes then how to solve it because we do not have even number of props in a tricopter while in a quad copter we can simply make 2 rotate anticlockwise and other 2 in clockwise direction.
Sounds like some professional beam-forming microphone and maybe a bit of software noise suppression afterwards. Not a single bit of noise in the video, amazing.
Got a thing for tri-copters but yet to fly one, not really enjoying the couple of brushed tiny quads Ive tried after a few flights with fixed-wing fpv or those quads in 'sims' either as I try to learn & broaden my base.... Always had a thing for tri's & been thinking more & more they're more suited to my style/comfort zone.... For a novice pilot, which would be more suitable in your opinion; slower v4 Tricopter with longer flight-time, gentle-er handling & longer/easier-to-break-looking/more flex-inducing arms, or the smaller Mini-Tricopter with more responsive performance yet more compact/in-built & there-fore inherent rigidity/less bust-ability? Taking into account I tend to prefer robust & dependable over performance with most things... AND the fact I tend to over-thing stuff & prefer not to.... Thanks heaps in advance!
David, I heard, that drones with cameras in Sweden are treated as part of monitoring system and they are banned if you don't have special licence. Is it true? Could you comment this if so?
David or anyone reading this... I really want to get or build or buy a VTOL tilt rotor. I see hobby zone makes an Osprey V22 vtol kit now but it’s not as awesome as this air craft. Do you think it’s possible to retro fit this superior kit into a tilt rotor body? I’d really like a long distance aircraft I could go explore for video footage of whales. And other long range flights.
I don't know why I watched this whole video even thoughi might never buy this kit. Maybe because it was so well made.
I have several tricopters, both from times when David was only posting build articles (v2.5) selling G10 middle frames via e-mail request, and when he started selling the full-fledged kits (v3, v3.5, v4, the Mini). They are already built and flying.
Know what? I still watch the build videos :-)
Same here. Probably never building one but watched begging to end. Clean build and entertaining to watch.
Me too, lol! :) Good Video though!
Same here!! I wish I could make one, but I'm worried I'd mess it up (and I'm too poor lol)
I made the mini and I soldered the pinheader to the wrong side of the board!
I have watched your first tricopter build video on FliteTest countless times. The detail and thought (and humour) behind every notion is outstanding, and I watch it every time I build a new multirotor. Incredibly, you have managed to outdo yourself! I have never built one of your tricopters, yet I once ordered four of your CF booms for my quad (they are my favourite components on it). You said it would take 2 weeks to ship to Hong Kong- the parcel came in 4 days. All hail RCExplorer!
And David- what's your opinion on gimbals?
Same procedure as always: First thumbs up, then enjoy new Video. We love you David.
This is awesome David. So glad you're still building these. I have you to thank for getting me into multi-rotors. My first build was the V 2.5 nearly 4 years ago! I haven't stopped building since.
Your tricopter both looks and flies AMAZING! I can't wait to get my hands on one!
Why is no-one talking about the excellent little red hand?
the quality of your recent videos is outstanding David!
As someone who has never purchased a quad or tricopter, I just wanted to say that I was easily able to watch your entire entertaining video. Top quality stuff David! Subbed ages ago. Keep up the great work.
Great work, David! Been observing your stuff for a couple years and the improvements just keep getting better. Well done on the new board and thanks for keeping it entertaining.
We are currently building a fully self constructed tricopter in a school projekt and your TricopterV4 is really helpful in getting inspirations and improvements for our projekt. Hope it flys when finished :D And keep up the good work m8
I have followed you a long time, David. I have to say - this tricopter have come a long ways since the first versions. Great job!
David you make the best build videos on TH-cam! Great job man!
Love the build vids. Not dry it's awesome
Video is brutal! BRUTAL! I am building quad but this was a joy to watch. Big thumbs up!
Even though I have not bought any of your products....which I really like... I really enjoy your videos. When I have a few less projects on my hands I'll fit one of your tricopters in there.
Looking forward to a pitch-controlled tricopter. Keep up the good work!
"Forged in the fires of Mount Doom" That what I'm talkin bout.
Great vid David!
This is probably the best instructional video ever!
David. Best build video I've ever seen!
Best wishes,
Rich.
Great job David, always a pleasure getting new build perspectives on our RC hobby.( Love the jokes too)
See you in the air bud.
Wayne
Hey David. Miss you! Keep up the good work.
very enjoyable video! your little red hand brought a grin to my day.
David. I forgot to say that your site is excellent! You deserve to do well!
Rich.
Another great video Mr. David, thanks
good to see you are still making video's, hope more are to come soon.
I agree. Well made video. Worth watching even if you don't go tricopter route!
Love it!! Love You!! Thank you for being AWESOME!!
I like the little pointer hand
That little hand gets me every time :)
Well done, the most professionally done build video I have ever seen on the Tube!
Super duper way kool man
Dammit, the Americans have gotten to David - he's forgotten there's an 'L' in solder. He'll be drinking weak coffee next!
this tricopter is so nice i wish one day to built something like this one but money is my weak side but still nice built thanks for tips and builds keep it up we all learn something with every crash :)
Great Job! Congratulations!
Awesome Build Video David! Your production quality is always top notch. V4 looks amazing. I would love to build one and fly one someday. I still have and up until about a month ago flew my 2.6hv till I crashed it. I've rebuilt it but having issues getting it flying right again. If I can get my 2.6 back in good flying order, I would love to upgrade to the V4 once I become a better pilot. :-) Look forward to seeing an FPV flight from your V4. :-)
Best narration. Subscribed
Really like the tricopter, can you upload a video of you flying though the forest, show us how well it can fly around objects! Awesome David!!! Thx so much, i can't wait to build one
Dang it David, I was just in the middle of rebuilding my v3 with the PDB and a Vector OSD and now you make me want the V4 :( Good looking video btw. I may return to upgrade to the newer looking carbon fiber booms some day, as those old rounded ones are kind of a pain.
Very nice build! I like the red Hand :D
What's good is, you can watch the build videos for each version of the tricopter and see how it evolved over time. Even little things like where the ESCs get placed. Who knows what little things future versions will bring.
YESSSS. Thank you David.
I know that you probably hear this question all the time, but where I can get my self one of those little hands that you use as a pointer???
Amazing work!!... will you be doing a video for mounting an FPV system?
Beautiful design! Will this frame have enough space on it for my APM and GPS combo?
You have taken the tri copter to the next level. I think you have had the most influence on tricopter advancements more than anyone else I can think of. Love your work. I hope to see you at flite fest If I go. If I do, I will want to meet you definitely , it would be just awesome to meet the one and only amazing swede. Ps- do you like being called that or do you not like it?
This is all over my head, but it's totally awesome. I don't fly, but I watch all this stuff anyway.
Yay! Now get to work for the v5. Now! :)
I love the way you fly it lol
How many bugs do you slice up when flying in that field? Do you have to wipe down the props?
Hi I have to say this is one heck of a beautiful build video and tricopter aswell.
I have one question though.... I'm currently using 900kv motors with 9.5 graupner E props. Will the PID settings from the tricopter v4 electronics kit work aswell, or do I have to figure them out in my own or are they posted somewhere?
Ok David. For a month i have been flying my scratchbuilt 585mm tricopter on a trusty KK2 board with lots of success... The tail however had a bit more wobble than is should have. I watched almost every tricopter setup and build you have done and decided to switch to Naze32 to get the Tail Tune function ti hopefully smooth out that wobble. Removed the KK and wired and programmed the Naze32 with Triflight. First off. It wont fly... Wont get off the ground with out the spin of death and the Tail servos (same ones that worked fine with the KK2) keep getting so hot that they burn out and one has even magic smoked... Not even in flight either. Just during the tail tune and leveling... The servos are not too tight, the servo isnt binding, they are fresh out of the box brand new emax 9g metal servos.
I would like to stay with the superior Triflight programming but cant afford to keep burning servos and not flying...
What am i doing wrong? What could the Naze be doing wrong since if i put the KK back on the tricopter it lifts off and controls fine and the servos stays ice cold...
Also one other note. Even after tail tune when i go to arm, the Tail mech tips to the right. And wont control left past the center point. It stays completely right, in normal operation and with a servo tester the servo is centered and has fluid motion both ways.
Help Me Please as I am attending one of my first Fly events in a week and would like it flying well!
An elegant and clean build on this tricopter! What is the weight of this craft equipped such as the one on this video? It looks like a dream to fly. Cheers!
David, what type of soldering paste, did you used to solder!? Seems verry good quality
I think you need to consider a different tail rotor tilt hinge. The inertia from the motor flopping from side to side introduces unwanted yaw. The pivot should be at the center of mass of the motor and prop. This is even more noticeable on mini tricopters
I bet your wife really loves those super fast hands.
I'm looking to build a tricopter with a multicamera setup. i like the design of the mini/baby with the included camera mount, but I also want a 2ndary camera with a gimbal that can track via servos for a 2nd operator/observer, or that could be video source swapped? GPS hover hold/return would be nice as well.
I wonder how complicated it would be to also set up the gimbal to automatically track a spot? i'm thinking about like lets say recording a local baseball game, and you want to keep the camera tracking on home plate but would like to get various angles, say one from 1st base, and as you swoop around to 2nd and 3rd base it would stay locked on home plate.
All over it your the man!
i love a nice pointer
Little tip, use baking paper/parchment paper under the parts you're gluing as its disposable and the glue might not stick that well to the paper
Tri-Copters are such a pleasure to watch fly. I've considered building one back since the Wii fly days. It seems much easier now and that Baby Tri-Copter looks soo cool. This one looks very docile and graceful! I just recently bought an Inspire 2 and I am very disappointed it is DOA. I was hesitant to buy and I am hesitant to keep it because I feel like everything I do will be at their mercy. I am still considering just building my own rig, like a huge Tarot or something. I cannot help but think the way a Tricopter flies could lend to some great Cinematographic shots; what do you think? Would a Tri-Copter or a Penta-copter with Tri-tail be a good choice? What would you recommend for a reliable and capable AP platform that can handle heavy cameras like a Sony A7R iii and eventually high end Video rigs or a 360 VR rig?
Hello, I was just wondering if I should put the copter in angel/horizon mode or acro while doing the tailtune.
How do you change the URT 1 voltage thingy do you just desolder it and move it or does it come detached?
For those wondering about the wire stripper it's a Weidmuller Stripax. It's really nice, like $225 nice.
in Europe they go for aproxx 60 bucks =)
amazing ... Thank you
Great david !....
would this be able to hold like a point and shoot camera instead of a gopro on the camera plate ?
Good video as allways!
so when do we get a springloaded arm version that you can just throw from folded and fly (as long as it's turned on)
Naturally, the sole reason for this is style points
Ahh...how I missed how David says "glue".
What I wouldn't give to hear him say the Homer Simpson line:
"Glue nice or I'll take away your glue and no one will have any glue to glue with!"
so will this moidel ever be avaible again in the store?
I'm curious as to why you extended the battery wires instead of the motor wires. I see there's a bunch of surface mount caps on the ESC so I bet they can handle it but it's still not the optimal setup.
Having the ESC's farther out will also have the weight farther out giving it more roll/pitch/yaw inertia.
Just a thought, I'm sure there's a good reason!
In a theoretical model, yes you're entirely correct, however in reality it's all about packaging. There isn't the space to mount the ESCs on the frame, and mounting them on the arms near the root makes routing the wiring untidy and unnecessarily complex. Also bear in mind these ESCs weigh little more than a few grams, and the associated cables are similarly lightweight. The trade off of increased inertia Vs packaging simplicity is acceptable - Multirotors do not have any trouble overcoming such inertia - the motors spool up and down incredibly quickly, and the thrust from small motors like this with the right propeller is very, very impressive. Also bear in mind that any increase in inertia makes the craft more stable.
Hi David, I just bought feedback servo from your store, but i have old platform with Naze32 board. It looks like feedback wire cannot be connected?
Those flips and rolls at the end of the video make me go HNNNGGGG
What OSD works with the F3FC tri?
Oh David You could just paint a white wall and I would enjoy watching it :)
Dude did you stop making videos!? I really am wanting to get into tricopters and these videos are amazing. Could really use more of them 😞
what is the flight time on something like this, when flying not flying aggressively?
Not using the Hitech Aurora 9 anymore David?
David, I have some questions, but before I start here is my tricopter profile; the booms are 12mm, iNav firmware, Naze32 Rev6 w/CN-06 gps, 1200kv motors, SimmonK 25A ESCs. My issue is, I attempt to takeoff and the tricopter drops the tail end, and bouncy. What PIDs, and Navigation setting would you recommend, or are you using to make your have a smooth flight. Thanks in advance!
awesome
While I love the video David and will probably pick up a V4 soon to go along with my mini, I have 1 problem with the video, you tell people to resolder connections for motor rather then just swapping in BLHeli
Does anyone know what's the specs of the camera that you can place, and can you turn it fpv?
Love your videos David, what would you recommend as the first ever drone for a total nooob? Cheers from Australia
Testbook English I wanted one as a total noob, I was advised to get an inductrix or something first to practice on. Turns out that was the right thing to do as the tricopter is not noob friendly. It's heavy and takes a while to get used to dealing with the inertia of manoeuvring in the air with that much weight, and is also quite powerful so you can get into trouble with it very fast. I built a tinywhoop style brushed micro, did a lot of learning on that, then built my v4 a few months back. Also, still fly the micro as it's really fun for indoors
While building a quadcopter there arises a problem of the machine to rotate(on z axis) in the direction of the propellers rotation(given that all 4 props are rotating in the same direction), so does that happen in a tricopter too? and if yes then how to solve it because we do not have even number of props in a tricopter while in a quad copter we can simply make 2 rotate anticlockwise and other 2 in clockwise direction.
the flight character fish sticks must be so smooth and awesome I want that so bad.
Nice. Another Lindstrom user. Are those RX 8150?
Can I get a link for a full build please?
by the way ，do you use 16awg?
What mic do you use? It sounds amazing!
Sounds like some professional beam-forming microphone and maybe a bit of software noise suppression afterwards. Not a single bit of noise in the video, amazing.
Awsome
do you have return to home?
You are a funny guy!! :) very informative video!! That machine looks like a giant flying scorpion!!!! :)
Got a thing for tri-copters but yet to fly one, not really enjoying the couple of brushed tiny quads Ive tried after a few flights with fixed-wing fpv or those quads in 'sims' either as I try to learn & broaden my base....
Always had a thing for tri's & been thinking more & more they're more suited to my style/comfort zone....
For a novice pilot, which would be more suitable in your opinion; slower v4 Tricopter with longer flight-time, gentle-er handling & longer/easier-to-break-looking/more flex-inducing arms, or the smaller Mini-Tricopter with more responsive performance yet more compact/in-built & there-fore inherent rigidity/less bust-ability?
Taking into account I tend to prefer robust & dependable over performance with most things...
AND the fact I tend to over-thing stuff & prefer not to....
Thanks heaps in advance!
Can I use sunnysky x2212?
David, I heard, that drones with cameras in Sweden are treated as part of monitoring system and they are banned if you don't have special licence. Is it true? Could you comment this if so?
我很喜欢这个视频 虽然我不知道你能不能看懂我的话 但是我打英语实在太麻烦了 我想问问你的是 三轴的效率是不是会比四轴高
Does Chad Capper have one of these? I'd love to see the rotor riot team do tricopters... This or the mini.
David or anyone reading this... I really want to get or build or buy a VTOL tilt rotor. I see hobby zone makes an Osprey V22 vtol kit now but it’s not as awesome as this air craft.
Do you think it’s possible to retro fit this superior kit into a tilt rotor body?
I’d really like a long distance aircraft I could go explore for video footage of whales. And other long range flights.
Can you design and sell a line of gliders? I would like to see stuff like that on your site.
keren mr david.. tp klo jatuh.. wduh repot...😀
can you add a GPS to this board