SpaceX inspired edf rocket part 2: Final assembly, tuning and maiden flight

This is the second part of my Spacex inspired edf rocket project where I assemble the final pieces of the rocket, tune the correct PID values and perform a maiden flight.
In order to find the correct PID values i had to build a rig that suspends the rocket in it's center of gravity and which allows for 2 degrees of freedom. I first tried to tune the PID values with the rocket suspended on a wire but this ended up working not so great like you can see in the video.
Once i got the right PID values dialed in, I first did like 10 hover tests inside (now i did try this out with the wire attached) before going outside to attempt a maiden flight. I build and painted the landing platform a day before the maiden flight and the paint was still a bit sticky. As a result of this the rocket stuck to the landing platform and tipped over. For the next attempt i put some baby powder on the platform to prevent it from sticking (which gave me some nice clouds when taking off ;-)
It turns out landing an orbital rocket booster (RC replica) isn't that easy.Cudos to you mr. Elon Musk ;-) I wanted to do some more test flights to try to stick the landing but unfortunatley the wind started picking up. However I'm still very happy with the results i managed to get out of it (in contradiction to what some people tought ;-)
Once the weather clears out again i will definitely try the landing bit again, I'm even thinking of adding a gps to the pixhawk flight computer and attempt an autonomous landing. We'll see.
For those of you who say an edf is not a rocket, you're right it's technically a single copter design in the shape of a (SpaceX) rocket. An edf really is the easiest and cheapest way to control the thrust to maintain a stable hover.
I wished i had the technology, knowledge and money to attempt to build a liquid fueled one.
I'm referring to "Spacex inspired" because i did use some general proportions from the falcon 9 rocket but had to make a lot of adjustments to turn it into a fully capable working rocket that's capable of hovering.
STL and Fusion 360 source files can be found here: bbprojects.tec...
More info can be found here: bbprojects.tec...
My PayPal: paypal.me/Broc...
Tools used for this project:
SMD rework station: www.banggood.c...
PLA filament: www.banggood.c...
Recommended 3D-printer: www.banggood.c...
If you're wondering how I do what I do and how you can get started creating your own prototypes I wrote a basic guide about it.
Part 1: Mechanical design can be found here: / basic-guide-to-start-d...
Part2: PCB design can be found here: / basic-guide-to-start-d...
Music credit:
Outro song: Sustainable Dignity by Catalyst Belgium
Link to the video: • CATALYST - Sustainable...
Link to their channel: / @catalystbelgium2626
Their website: catalystbelgiu...
For use and licensing of this song, please contact Catalyst Belgium.
Dreams by Joakim Karud / joakimkarud Creative Commons - Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported- CC BY-SA 3.0 creativecommons... Music promoted by Audio Library • Video