Info about Angled Motor Mounts for Multicopters

by Oscar

Angled motor mounts allow the motors to be installed at a tilted angle on a quadcopter, and it’s currently a popular accessory in the FPV mini quad community. In this article I will explain the benefits of using angled motor mounts, and how to use them on a mini quad.

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Why use Angled motor mounts?

A racing quad requires very high camera tilt angle in order to see what’s in front of it when flying fast. Otherwise all you will see is the ground if the camera is too low.

Angle motor mounts reduce the need for high camera angle yet allows you to see better when flying fast.

the second benefit is better Aerodynamics. Your quadcopter pitches forward to fly forward, the faster you fly the more tilted the quad is and the larger area there will be that blocks air.

When using motor mounts, the multicopter doesn’t have to pitch forward as much to create the same amount of speed, therefore the air resistance is smaller.

 speed-addict-build-mini-quad-angle-motor-mount

Can I use angled motor mounts?

I think angled motor mounts are more of a personal preference.

Given the benefits mentioned earlier, I have personally tested them and haven’t noticed the difference in speed and flight performance to be that significant.

However I have been told multiple times by other pilots that they “fly faster” with motor mounts than without. I guess that could be just because they are forced to go faster in order to keep the camera looking horizontally, similar to having a higher camera angle.

But they can really help in situations where you have to raise your camera angle but the frame doesn’t allow you to.

Beware that motor mounts have to be designed for a specific frame, because the difference in the alignment of the arms (the angle of the arms to the body), This will ensure the tilted angle to face exactly forward, and not side ways. When the motors are tilted side way you could be losing efficiency.

Finally, there will be weight increase due to the motor mounts and the longer motor screws, which can impact your flight time and performance. It’s not uncommon to add 20 to 30 grams extra weight when using angled motor mounts.

Change Settings in Baseflight/Cleanflight

If you are using angled motor mounts and flying in horizon mode, then you will have to give pitch some offset to compensate for the tilted angle, otherwise your quad will be drifting forward when it should be just hovering.

For example for 10 degree motor mounts, pitch should be -10 degree.

However, if you have the flight controller board rotated around yaw axis (for easy access to the USB port), for example yaw +90 degree, then you will have to adjust roll +10 degree instead.

Note: Baseflight and Cleanflight treat axis offset differently. In Cleanflight, you use -10, but in Baseflight, you use +10.

Just as a side note: in my opinion it’s important to stop flying in self-level modes as early as possible in the learning process. Rate mode is really a lot more enjoyable for many people, for me at least.

Check out this post to learn about why rate mode is better than angle/horizon mode.

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10 comments

me 20th September 2022 - 10:23 am

I really liked using these back in 2016 but at some point, betaflight started to behave strange and oscillating on punch outs, even in acro mode. Apart from that, influencers in the FPV community started to argue against angled motor mounts. However, today I just found a recent article about research implying several benefits of angled motors on quads: newatlas.com/drones/quartm-drone-tilting-rotors/

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Tyler 21st December 2020 - 8:52 pm

Why not make a wedge for the flight controller as well?

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David 2nd February 2019 - 3:38 pm

Why does my quad flips out of control when I try to turn it. Im in rate mode and I set up +15 motor tilt and +45° FC yaw.

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David 2nd February 2019 - 3:30 pm

I set this all up in rate mode, but I can’t seem to be able to turn the quad without it flipping around. Any solutions?

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Raph 3rd November 2018 - 12:39 am

Hi,

I have been using these to make a V-tail on a floss frame :) Im still tuning the project up but already i can feel the change in cornering performance. It can do a powered turn ‘if that makes sense” almost around on itself like a yaw spin.

These mounts seem hard to find now? If you have a spare quad lying around and you still have these mounts give it a go i would love to know your opinion.

Here is a pic of the rig. [url=https://imgur.com/IUcPXUJ][img]http://i.imgur.com/IUcPXUJ.jpg[/img][/url]

Thanks Raph.

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BlackPudding 9th January 2017 - 1:34 pm

Hi Oscar,

What is your opinion about place of FC mounting? Most sources say that the only place is the geometrical center of copter, but Eachine Racer 250 has clearly moved forward FC… and flies. Should be it compensated by any software settings?

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Momi 13th February 2016 - 5:42 pm

Oscar you the best!!!!

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Kristjan Vaga 8th October 2015 - 6:55 pm

Hi Oscar, nice article! Just one comment – the FC angle should be set regardless if acc assisted flight mode is used. Otherwise the FC needs to do extra work to compensate roll when yawing and that can cause problems when doing sharp turns.

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Stew 14th September 2015 - 12:18 am

Hi Oscar

Important to note. They also add some extra weight to your quad

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Oscar 14th September 2015 - 5:15 pm

very true Stew!

Reply