jmk wrote:
Morgans wrote:
wrote

This simple system could be put together for under $300. Any thoughts
on how it might work?

Sounds like you are on the right track. One thing I would think about
adding, is a way to automatically correct for the rate gyro's drift.

Worst case for most of those RC gyros (designed for RC helicopters,
etc.) is about 3 degrees per second. Most of our airplanes will
naturally STAY level better than that. Better gyros are available, of
course, but the price goes up... A good Crossbow 3-axis gyro is $3K or
above.

A $30 analog devices mems gyro drift is about 70 degrees/hour with
temperature calibration, straight out the box they are pretty lousy
(and I think Crossbow uses the analog devices chips but calibrates the
crap out of them). RC helicopters use the older style piezo gyro's.