S1.6 · Yaw Maneuvers in Hover · September 15, 2026
Successful piloted hover with five heading changes and substantially improved yaw response. Persistent left yaw still required pilot correction.
Aircraft speed. Car-like freedom.
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Aircraft speed. Car-like freedom.
Join usImproved hover consistency and heading control in Stabilized mode. The final flight included a roll maneuver; a later altitude-mode test exposed that yaw surface assistance was only enabled in Stabilized mode. The pilot switched back and landed.
Successful piloted hover with five heading changes and substantially improved yaw response. Persistent left yaw still required pilot correction.
Successful first test in relatively still air. Wind prevented the planned yaw tuning and control-surface tests later in the session.
Turning response felt better after adjusting the controls, but unwanted turning and drift remained. We consider this test successful, even with the hard landing. No appreciable damage, just light repairs with an expected one-day turnaround.
We flew a short hover test. It was a reasonable first hover, with no appreciable damage. Unwanted turning and drift still required attention.
We were testing simpler firmware, a new landing gear design and tilt mechanism design. It was unsuccessful and ended in a hard landing.
S1.4 lifted off, but the hover attempt was unsuccessful. We returned to ground testing before trying again.
S1.3 lifted off and hovered. The test ended in a light crash that damaged that airframe.
S1.2 completed stabilized roll and pitch maneuvers in winds gusting up to 16 mph.
S1.2 completed its first hover, including liftoff, hover, and touchdown.
S1.1
Hover attempt
S1.1, our first 20%-scale prototype, lifted off, but a control-software configuration issue drove half the motors higher as the aircraft tried to correct its yaw. We then iterated to S1.2, a hover-only airframe built to prove out hover faster.
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