Thinking @ Speed of Light

It is possible i might be overdoing it with the Star Wars references. If you find a better name for the next post (which will probably be the first flight) let me know. I worked the whole of last Sunday and finally got the model now ready. So here it is. This time the whole model weighs only 1396 grams. A 19% improvement on the old model.  The motor (EMAX CF2822) along with the propeller (8"x4")  and the bullet connectors (3.5 mm)  The Quad Control Board -  http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbycity/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=19534  Luke !!! Battery - Tied down with Velcro.  Pictures by Rahul Krishna Upadhayaya. Link to more posts on the  Quadrocopter.

There have not been any updates from my side on the quadrocopter for the past 6 months. This is partly because i was working on other stuff but mainly because i got lazy (really really lazy). So one fine day about 2 weeks ago i decided that i have to finish this project. I ordered a quadrocopter control board as i was getting one at a very reasonable price (details later) and i did not have the time to build one for myself (as earlier planned - i might do this sometime later). I did make some changes to the design changes.  Firstly this time i went for an entirely wood construction instead of the aluminium and acrylic combination(what the hell was i thinking??). There are a few reasons for this. It is easier to work with than aluminium. Wood reduces the vibrations of the motors. Wood is cheaper (was able to get material for building 4 quadrocopter for 280 bucks !!!!) and most importantly it available near my house unlike aluminum rods (laziness FTW)....

The quadrocopter project was going fine till i decided to start soldering the circuit for the flight controller. I've burnt my hand countless times while soldering - frankly speaking im lousy at it - but this was worse. I was powering the circuit from the BEC (Battery Elimination Circuit) on one of my ESCs. As it happens due to the genius of my soldering technique i accidentally shorted the GND and the VCC of the BEC together and as soon as i connected the battery there was a crack sound and the inevitable distruction of the ESC. Thankfully we did have a spare ESC at home that was being used in a hovercraft project that my flatmate was working on so that got sorted. The Burnt-Up ESC. After that things got worse. The maiden test flight - not conducted by me - of the quadrocopter (done just by connecting the ESC's to the RF receiver with no gyros and no control circuitry) did not go well ...