Home QuadPlane setup

Free tool · ArduPlane QuadPlane

QuadPlane initial setup

Choose the frame (quad with pusher motor, tilt-rotor or tailsitter), battery and airspeeds, and download a starting .param with Q_ENABLE, frame class, SERVOn_FUNCTION outputs, tilt, failsafes and airspeeds, checked with the .param analyzer.

Example SERVOn_FUNCTION outputs of a quad X QuadPlane

Frame

Outputs

Suggested assignment: change it if your wiring is different.

Battery

Flight

Your starting .param

.param analyzer

Fly it before you build it. In the AIRLAB FPV simulator you load your .param and, with AIRLAB Connector, fly real ArduPlane (SITL) with your configuration.

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What it sets up

Frame

Q_ENABLE, Q_FRAME_CLASS and Q_FRAME_TYPE; on tilt-rotors, Q_TILT_ENABLE, Q_TILT_TYPE and Q_TILT_MASK; on tailsitters, Q_TAILSIT_ENABLE.

Outputs

SERVOn_FUNCTION for surfaces, pusher motor, VTOL motors, tilt servos and tail servo, with an assignment you can change.

Battery and failsafes

Battery thresholds and actions, VTOL motor voltage compensation (4.2 and 3.3 V per cell), radio failsafe and RTL with VTOL landing.

Airspeeds and modes

AIRSPEED_MIN 20 % above stall, cruise, maximum, Q_ASSIST_SPEED and a suggested set of flight modes.

It is a starting point, not a tune: it does not touch PIDs, servo travel, fine tilt or transition. Calibrate radio, accelerometer, compass and ESCs, check the direction of every motor and surface, and do the ground tests before flying.

Guide: setting up a QuadPlane from scratch

How to set up a QuadPlane from scratch

  1. Install ArduPlane on the flight controller and connect it to Mission Planner or QGroundControl.
  2. Generate the starting .param with this setup tool for your frame, battery and airspeeds, and check the output assignment against your wiring.
  3. Load it and reboot: with Q_ENABLE = 1 the QuadPlane parameters appear, and with Q_TILT_ENABLE = 1 the tilt ones. Load the file again until all are applied.
  4. Calibrate the accelerometer, compass, radio and ESCs, and set up the airspeed sensor if you have one.
  5. Check on the ground, without propellers, the spin direction and order of each motor, the movement of each surface and the tilt.
  6. First flight in QSTABILIZE or QHOVER at low height, then tune (QAUTOTUNE, tilt, transition) following the ArduPilot documentation.

QuadPlane types

  • Quad with pusher motor: four lift motors used only in VTOL flight and a cruise motor (Throttle). The simplest and most robust.
  • Tilt-rotor tricopter: two front motors that tilt to switch to fixed-wing flight and a fixed rear one; VTOL yaw is controlled with a servo on the rear motor or by vectoring the front motors.
  • Tilt-rotor quad: four motors, of which the front ones tilt.
  • Tailsitter: takes off sitting on its tail and switches to horizontal flight by tilting the whole aircraft; twin-motor ones use the Single/Dual class.

Airspeeds and VTOL assistance

The ArduPilot documentation recommends setting AIRSPEED_MIN 20 % above the level-flight stall speed. Q_ASSIST_SPEED sets the speed below which the VTOL motors assist in fixed-wing flight: with 0 assistance is disabled and a PreArm warning appears so you set it. Before flying, check the file in the .param analyzer and fly it in the VTOL simulator.

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Questions

What does the .param include?

Only the structural part: QuadPlane type, outputs, tilt or tailsitter, battery, failsafes, airspeeds and modes. All other parameters keep ArduPilot’s default values.

Why load it twice?

Because QuadPlane (Q_…) and tilt parameters do not exist until you enable Q_ENABLE and Q_TILT_ENABLE and reboot the flight controller. Load, reboot and load again until no parameters are left unapplied.

How are the airspeeds chosen?

AIRSPEED_MIN is set 20 % above the stall speed you enter, as the ArduPilot documentation recommends. Q_ASSIST_SPEED is set to the stall speed: below it, the VTOL motors assist in fixed-wing flight.

Does it work for the Flightory Stallion or Super Stingray?

It works as a base for any ArduPilot QuadPlane. Choose the frame that matches your build and adjust the output assignment to your wiring.

What do I do after loading the .param?

Calibrate accelerometer, compass, radio and ESCs, check without propellers the direction of every motor and surface and the tilt, and make the first flight in QSTABILIZE or QHOVER at low height before tuning.

Arm, transition, land. And let Captain Pitot tell you how to improve.

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