Making the Zephyr more stable in level flight

[Prefect]

The Zephyr flies very nice, but it is a bit too unstable in level flight to make nice videos when the wind is blowing just a bit. I like to have it look like it flies on rails...

I like to add a gyro for the roll axis to solve part of the problem. But this is not as easy as it sounds because of the mixing done by the remote for the two servos controlling pitch and roll simultaneously. Adding two separate gyros is not very nice, but it would work. Could the EzUHF work with a gyro directly and then also do the elevon-mixing?

Or could I add a third vertical fin in the middle to reduce wiggling around the Z-axis? What about a double-tail mounted on two carbon-tubes 50cm behind the Zephyr? But I guess both of these modifications would look silly and reduce efficiency...

[SENTRY]

You could reduce (or eliminate) winglets to help w/ crosswind effects. Only after 2 days of flying my wing I can tell that my winglets are flexing. I'm looking for a solution for much stiffer winglets...

chloro?
ABS?
ply?

This is also where setting up the shot comes into play as well. Hitting your target inline with the wind could help - also a few feet of altitude is night and day as winds aloft can greatly differ from lower winds. I'm now tuning my wing so the tech gained from this thread will def be useful to me, although I don't feel that it's limited to just Zephyrs.

[SENTRY]

Oh - and of course, the easy solution is weight. But that kills the plane autonomy if you want to get range/efficieny out of it.

[Prefect]

Do you think that no vertical fins or winglets will make it more stable? My intuition tells me that the more stabilizers will make it dodge crosswinds and gusts better.

I notice that the nose of the zephyr often wiggles in a circular motion after turns or in gusts. That could be reduced by adding a tail to the plane.

But I think I will try two gyros first, but it won't be easy to mount them. I will need at least two servo-cable extensions. Has anyone ever done this on another bank&yank-plane?

[Trappy]

your intuition is not fully right. while she will get less drag from crosswinds, you will really notice any kind of roll-induced wobble and the lack of stabilizers will keep it wobbling for a very long time. Key is to let go of the sticks gradually as you bank out of a turn, this will get rid of the circular wobble. See the Winterwonderland video for the first video where we did this kind of flying.

Don't bother with electronic stabilization, by the way. It will react too slowly.

[brosius85]

if you want to fix the video you can always "de-shake" in software.

the zephyr is so well designed if you build it well and within the manufacturers recommendations, most things you do to it are likely to make it worse.

the only real way to escape turbulent air is to fly a faster heavier plane much much higher

if you want to see gyros working well check this out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVzvHa-E5RY

[Trappy]

something worth considering is to add weight. we've noticed that no matter of total weight, the wing loading has significant impact on the amount of "turbulence pickup". we'll need to do some testing in that regard as well, especially if we're about to make a very stable video.

[NDw]

My guess is no winglets and a fin in the middle(behind the cg) would make it more stable. But to make it durable would be the hard part.

[Prefect]

Just to try the concept, I ordered some gyros. I will mount them like this in the Zephyr component bay:


People always write about how stable in windy conditions their plane was after adding gyros. I like to test that!

Thread about adding gyros to a remote-mixed elevon plane:
http://www.rcpowers.com/forum/showth...von-mixer-unit

[Trappy]

Prefect, although we have already tested with the FY20 with no success, I'm looking forward to hear the results from your testing.