News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:Show HN: I made a 3D printed VTOL drone by tsungxu on Tuesday June 10, 2025 @05:22PM (#44241595)
Not tested! But minimum I would say 70 mph. If designing for speed, I'd be looking at a cruise motor and prop that maximizes the thrust output rather than cruise efficiency

edit: at least 70 mph

Re:Show HN: I made a 3D printed VTOL drone by the__alchemist on Tuesday June 10, 2025 @05:32PM (#44241676)
Probably significantly higher even? A normal quad will hit 100Mph +.
Re:Show HN: I made a 3D printed VTOL drone by tsungxu on Tuesday June 10, 2025 @05:34PM (#44241704)
Could be right! Really depends because the quad motors on freestyle say have massive throttle upside they can tap but it increases power draw and reduces flight time by multiples.
Re:Show HN: I made a 3D printed VTOL drone by the__alchemist on Tuesday June 10, 2025 @05:36PM (#44241723)
Yea def! You could also get into questions of cruise speed with level altitude vs in a dive etc, and you burn through batteries fast when max-performing quads!
Re:Show HN: I made a 3D printed VTOL drone by tsungxu on Tuesday June 10, 2025 @05:43PM (#44241798)
Exactly! Didn't even mention cruise vs dive. But the latest WR for a quad doing 347mph I think, is just insane, even if drawing multi hundred amps for a few seconds only.
Re:Show HN: I made a 3D printed VTOL drone by aspenmayer on Tuesday June 10, 2025 @08:15PM (#44242937)
Oh wow, that’s even higher than this one I saw from last year @ 298 MPH for a quadcopter, but I’m not sure if this is the same criteria for the WR or build limitations etc?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wThmg8Ezm9w

Re:Show HN: I made a 3D printed VTOL drone by tsungxu on Tuesday June 10, 2025 @09:30PM (#44243352)
I saw that one too which was also incredible. This latest record was from a few days ago https://youtu.be/8p5eZ4ZRkfY?si=hSxTh5BeSyEwzpy8
Re:Show HN: I made a 3D printed VTOL drone by aspenmayer on Sunday June 15, 2025 @04:26AM (#44281233)
Simply amazing! Do you know what the limitations for WR builds are at this level? I am guessing there is some kind of advancement on the prop/rotor(?) side of things but I would assume that those are off the shelf, like many of the parts used in quadcopter builds? I guess what I’m asking if it’s primarily a design challenge, a production challenge, a logistics challenge or all of the above? I don’t mean to minimize any aspect of the process or anyone’s work, quite the opposite. It’s a neat challenge and different teams take different approaches with some overlapping design features to my untrained eye.
Re:Show HN: I made a 3D printed VTOL drone by tonyarkles on Tuesday June 10, 2025 @09:48PM (#44243444)
With how many minutes of battery life? :)