RiteWing Zephyr II + APM maiden flight

[Mark Harrison]

Had a great time maidening Andreas' new RiteWing Zephyr II with the APM.  The Zii flies very nicely, and works well with APM.

We flew in manual, stabilized, fbw-a, and auto modes.  We reduced the default speed from 45 to 35, which gave a nice smooth flight with a comfortable airspeed for our flying site.

There's some onboard video as well.  It's interesting to see the differences in turning in manual, fbw-a, and auto mode.

Next up: try using APM in conjunction with FPV.

More details and videos here:

http://eastbay-rc.blogspot.com/2011/12/ritewing-zephyr-ii-ardupilot...

[Ryan Beall]

motor esc?

[Mark Harrison]

NTM Prop Drive 35-36A 1800
TURNIGY TRUST 70A SBEC

[Alex]

Did you use  for elerons "Y" connector?

[Mark Harrison]

@alex no, we used the standard zephyr elevon configuration: 3 channels, motor, left wing, right wing.  We used the radio transmitter mixing on Turnigy 9x.  This allows proper operation in manual mode.  We set elevon mode in the flight planner.

[Alex]

OK Thank you

[Hein du Plessis]

Stunning flight Mark, can you estimate what's the maximum flight time one would get from the Zephyr II?

[steve F11music.com]

I just ordered mine from ritewingrc.com so it's good to see APM plays nice with it. Does the stable mode make it easier to fly? My only experience with APM and a plane is with the skywalker AKA flying pig :)

[vilnis.lauva]

APM flies great with wings, I used it in falcon wing, just amazing, how smooth and nice it goes, in stabilization mode flies like on rails even with default parameters. 

[steve F11music.com]

Nice! Can't wait!

[dudz]

What prop are you using Mark ?