diff --git a/libraries/AP_Vehicle/AP_Vehicle.cpp b/libraries/AP_Vehicle/AP_Vehicle.cpp
index 5c0b9cd386..d1ce301fa7 100644
--- a/libraries/AP_Vehicle/AP_Vehicle.cpp
+++ b/libraries/AP_Vehicle/AP_Vehicle.cpp
@@ -22,6 +22,35 @@ AP_Vehicle& vehicle = *AP_Vehicle::get_singleton();
 extern AP_Vehicle& vehicle;
 #endif
 
+/*
+  setup is called when the sketch starts
+ */
+void AP_Vehicle::setup()
+{
+    // load the default values of variables listed in var_info[]
+    AP_Param::setup_sketch_defaults();
+
+    // initialise serial port
+    serial_manager.init_console();
+
+    hal.console->printf("\n\nInit %s"
+                        "\n\nFree RAM: %u\n",
+                        AP::fwversion().fw_string,
+                        (unsigned)hal.util->available_memory());
+
+    load_parameters();
+
+    // init_ardupilot is where the vehicle does most of its initialisation.
+    init_ardupilot();
+
+    // initialise the main loop scheduler
+    const AP_Scheduler::Task *tasks;
+    uint8_t task_count;
+    uint32_t log_bit;
+    get_scheduler_tasks(tasks, task_count, log_bit);
+    AP::scheduler().init(tasks, task_count, log_bit);
+}
+
 /*
   common scheduler table for fast CPUs - all common vehicle tasks
   should be listed here, along with how often they should be called (in hz)
@@ -112,4 +141,3 @@ AP_Vehicle *vehicle()
 }
 
 };
-
diff --git a/libraries/AP_Vehicle/AP_Vehicle.h b/libraries/AP_Vehicle/AP_Vehicle.h
index c71cf2afe1..87f557b5c3 100644
--- a/libraries/AP_Vehicle/AP_Vehicle.h
+++ b/libraries/AP_Vehicle/AP_Vehicle.h
@@ -56,6 +56,15 @@ public:
 
     static AP_Vehicle *get_singleton();
 
+    // setup() is called once during vehicle startup to initialise the
+    // vehicle object and the objects it contains.  The
+    // AP_HAL_MAIN_CALLBACKS pragma creates a main(...) function
+    // referencing an object containing setup() and loop() functions.
+    // A vehicle is not expected to override setup(), but
+    // subclass-specific initialisation can be done in init_ardupilot
+    // which is called from setup().
+    void setup(void) override final;
+
     bool virtual set_mode(const uint8_t new_mode, const ModeReason reason) = 0;
     uint8_t virtual get_mode() const = 0;
 
@@ -117,6 +126,8 @@ public:
     // initialize the vehicle. Called from AP_BoardConfig
     void init_vehicle();
 
+    virtual void get_scheduler_tasks(const AP_Scheduler::Task *&tasks, uint8_t &task_count, uint32_t &log_bit) = 0;
+
     /*
       set the "likely flying" flag. This is not guaranteed to be
       accurate, but is the vehicle codes best guess as to the whether
@@ -151,6 +162,8 @@ public:
 
 protected:
 
+    virtual void init_ardupilot() = 0;
+
     // board specific config
     AP_BoardConfig BoardConfig;