Phoenix 2400 First Autonomous Endurance Flight 

Great Job! Looks like you got on the backside of the LD curve there for a moment. Could not have been long, as that is not efficient, and the overall fight was very efficient. you must have quite rear CG too, good, because it helped prevent a stall. (unlike what you are told in the textbook due to down elevator required to fly, means horiz. stab is lifting, and not acting against the wing. overall more lift= slower stall speed) along with the Stall prevention logic in Arduplane fighting it, probably very near the edge. Interesting about the thermals, and i'm sure you got some help from them, at a small window of time. Usually around 11am, seems like all of the air is going up. But over a 6 hr flight, it's unlikely that it had any significant effect on flight duration. you still had lots of battery left.. a higher KV motor should let you push the battery further? great job streamlining, and reducing mass! That square prop seems to be very key! i've just finished balancing my 10 x 10 APC's, all 4 of them, for the next project. we'll see how they work. gotta get the prop RPM down looooowwww.. ha ha Thanks for the mention, not necessary, but makes me feel all warm and fizzy inside. ha ha you are going good places with this! will be very interesting to see your next step with solar range extension. better hurry up, still near the solstice, but not for long. me hurry too! done with center wing, propulsion, and working on outer wing sections. maybe a week or two. WOW!!

Very impressive

I have my camera mounted on the rudder too, but never thought to mount it to a servo - great idea. Cool video.

Thenks

Great flight! One question, why the high pitch on the prop? For a slow flying plane like the Phoenix (I have one) it is very inefficient! Larger diameter with a lower pitch will be more efficient allowing longer motor runs and also preventing the stalled prop/low efficiency/high current/at the stall you experienced towards the end of the flight.

Great build and performance! Curious about your access cut-out and your reinforcements. I dig my Ranger but would really like being able to open it up as needed.

Nicely done. Did you purchase the servo camera mount? If so, where did you buy it? Thanks

Crazy flight time! But i more amazed with the tiny pan mechanism you have installed there, will you be able to share the stl file for that? TIA

Any plan to increase battery voltage for better efficiency?

Could you make a video on how you fit everything in that plane? Thanks!

Hi - nice flight. You are using an F405 Wing? What GPS are you using? I have had a lot of experience with Arduplane on PixHawks but with my F405 I cannot get the GPS to connect more than once. After a second boot up the GPS can’t get a fix and has allegedly low signal. Did you have any problems?

amazing job, i will probably do the same set up with you in the future for long duration flights but why did you choose the 12x12 propeller instead of the 12x3.8 or the 15x4 that they recommend for that motor ,wouldn't the recommended propellers be more efficient for that motor ?, also if you used the 380 kv version wouldnt the efficiency be better ? or is there a reason why you didn't go lower on kv ?

Superb job. How much does the empty plane weigh?

how you cat the frond nose of the plane to put the motor out of the plane? we want a video

I am interested in building this plane I think it is a great challenge Question 1. Autonomous flight was done with Mission planner Ardupilot? 2. The long lasting 6 hours flight was due to the aerodynamic of the plane? 3. How does thermo will affect a mission plan flight from A TO D? 4. What electric components did you use?

Wow!!! And I bet it was absolutely silent cruising at altitude?

Very impressive