Aperture Hexacopter Aerial Photography Drone (RTF) (Mode 2)

• Overall
• Quality
• Value

*READ* Open arms, cut wires and resolder

Apr 11, 2018

So this hexacopter is quite well put together, but also it also has some caveat's. Open your controller up and scrape off the corrosion around the switch contacts and hit them with some fresh solder. Exercise the switch rapidly to break free any corrosion inside the switch.
Open up each arm and cut each motor wire from the ESC and resolder it. These things must have been stored in somewhat of a humid climate. And the rigid motor wires break at the solder joints. If you cut and resolder this should resolve the issue we are all having with this thing.
Next I used electrical tape to tightly tape up half of ESC body and half of the motor wires to form a cacoon of sorts. Then I cut some grey foam and wrapped the motor wire up to support the wires.
This should let you fly this craft to your heart's content. Good luck.

• Overall
• Quality
• Value

nice machine

Nov 16, 2017

You get a lot for the money. There are some problems others had and I had the same - the landing gear did not retract and i got a free replacement. Another problem was that one of the wires between esc and motor came loose. this was not a poor solder joint, but rather the wires being too short and are being installed under tension. And it comes with a basic manual. Also the gimbal interface was not connected to the controller. So in order to make it work, you need to open the case.
Otherwise it is a very powerful and strong built machine. The Pixhawk controller is very capable, there is a mini usb port by the battery hatch, you can upgrade the controller and make changes to the settings. Also you can download a mission to the copter and let if fly on it's own. The radio is very basic, but you can easily install your own radio system and get a lot of telemetry data if equipped.
pros: pixhawk controller, lift capacity, flight time, sturdy frame, use software like qcontrol, mission planner, apm to create automated flight routes
cons: landing gear a little too fragile. motor wires too short

• Overall
• Quality
• Value

Has great potential but...

Apr 21, 2017

This system has great potential but the quality of the components are very poor - get what you pay for basically. The wires from the ESCs to the motors were barely soldered on and actually detached and has caused it to crash twice. It has survived both crashes reasonably well with only moderate repairs required and it does still fly. If you buy one I would recommend to open up each arm and re-solder the ESC wires before you do anything! Overall you do get a lot for your money but I wouldn't go hanging anything too expensive under it until you are confident in its ability. One of my landing gear legs never retracted from day one but they both broke on the first crash so I built my own landing gear after that anyway.

• Overall
• Quality
• Value

AWESOME! works as advertised!

Dec 30, 2016

I build and fly professional UAVs. The Apeture is a ready to fly solution for a large heavy lift Hexacopter. Simple to use, AUTOMATIC GPS -No gps calibration before flight! Allow the unit to aquire signal. then fly. A Newbie could fly this. I own other mutirotors costing $3,00 to $11,oo just to build myself. This low cost easy to use and fun to fly. This is the BEST VALUE of the year in its class! Easy to add your own video downlink and on screen displays. Seems to be a winner, so far no cons.

• Overall
• Quality
• Value

AWESOME! works as advertised!

Dec 30, 2016

I build and fly professional UAVs. The Apeture is a ready to fly solution for a large heavy lift Hexacopter. Simple to use, AUTOMATIC GPS -No gps calibration before flight! Allow the unit to aquire signal. then fly. A Newbie could fly this. I own other mutirotors costing $3,00 to $11,oo just to build myself. This low cost easy to use and fun to fly. This is the BEST VALUE of the year in its class! Easy to add your own video downlink and on screen displays. Seems to be a winner, so far no cons.

• Overall
• Quality
• Value

AWESOME! works as advertised!

Dec 30, 2016

I build and fly professional UAVs. The Apeture is a ready to fly solution for a large heavy lift Hexacopter. Simple to use, AUTOMATIC GPS -No gps calibration before flight! Allow the unit to aquire signal. then fly. A Newbie could fly this. I own other mutirotors costing $3,00 to $11,oo just to build myself. This low cost easy to use and fun to fly. This is the BEST VALUE of the year in its class! Easy to add your own video downlink and on screen displays. Seems to be a winner, so far no cons.

• Overall
• Quality
• Value

AWESOME! works as advertised!

Dec 30, 2016

I build and fly professional UAVs. The Apeture is a ready to fly solution for a large heavy lift Hexacopter. Simple to use, AUTOMATIC GPS -No gps calibration before flight! Allow the unit to aquire signal. then fly. A Newbie could fly this. I own other mutirotors costing $3,00 to $11,oo just to build myself. This low cost easy to use and fun to fly. This is the BEST VALUE of the year in its class! Easy to add your own video downlink and on screen displays. Seems to be a winner, so far no cons.

• Overall
• Quality
• Value

AWESOME! works as advertised!

Dec 30, 2016

I build and fly professional UAVs. The Apeture is a ready to fly solution for a large heavy lift Hexacopter. Simple to use, AUTOMATIC GPS -No gps calibration before flight! Allow the unit to aquire signal. then fly. A Newbie could fly this. I own other mutirotors costing $3,00 to $11,oo just to build myself. This low cost easy to use and fun to fly. This is the BEST VALUE of the year in its class! Easy to add your own video downlink and on screen displays. Seems to be a winner, so far no cons.

• Overall
• Quality
• Value

AWESOME! works as advertised!

Dec 30, 2016

I build and fly professional UAVs. The Apeture is a ready to fly solution for a large heavy lift Hexacopter. Simple to use, AUTOMATIC GPS -No gps calibration before flight! Allow the unit to aquire signal. then fly. A Newbie could fly this. I own other mutirotors costing $3,00 to $11,oo just to build myself. This low cost easy to use and fun to fly. This is the BEST VALUE of the year in its class! Easy to add your own video downlink and on screen displays. Seems to be a winner, so far no cons.

• Overall
• Quality
• Value

AWESOME! works as advertised!

Dec 30, 2016

I build and fly professional UAVs. The Apeture is a ready to fly solution for a large heavy lift Hexacopter. Simple to use, AUTOMATIC GPS -No gps calibration before flight! Allow the unit to aquire signal. then fly. A Newbie could fly this. I own other mutirotors costing $3,00 to $11,oo just to build myself. This low cost easy to use and fun to fly. This is the BEST VALUE of the year in its class! Easy to add your own video downlink and on screen displays. Seems to be a winner, so far no cons.