diff --git a/ArduCopter/CMakeLists.txt b/ArduCopter/CMakeLists.txt
index 78dedcb342..ba540e183c 100644
--- a/ArduCopter/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/ArduCopter/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -22,12 +22,18 @@ project(ArduCopter C CXX)
 
 find_package(Arduino 22 REQUIRED)
 
+if (NOT DEFINED BOARD)
+        message(STATUS "board not defined, assuming mega, use cmake -DBOARD=mega2560 , etc. to specify")
+        set(BOARD "mega")
+endif()
+message(STATUS "Board configured as: ${BOARD}")
+
 add_subdirectory(../libraries "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/libs")
 
 #add_subdirectory(${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/ArduCopter)
 #add_subdirectory(testtool)
 
-PRINT_BOARD_SETTINGS(mega2560)
+PRINT_BOARD_SETTINGS(${BOARD})
 
 
 
diff --git a/ArduCopter/Makefile b/ArduCopter/Makefile
deleted file mode 100644
index 34f8baffd9..0000000000
--- a/ArduCopter/Makefile
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,10 +0,0 @@
-#
-# Trivial makefile for building APM
-#
-
-#
-# Select 'mega' for the original APM, or 'mega2560' for the V2 APM.
-#
-BOARD	=	mega
-
-include ../libraries/AP_Common/Arduino.mk