Frames = Foundation

In the general marketplace we all suffer considerable disappointment from vendors. It is not uncommon to pretend poor quality is unavoidable and crap support is our gift horse. Most are immune to the flood of products, many being perpetually locked in rookie status but strong with marketing and little else. Other noise originates from overseas actors obsessed with price point commodities. Retail companies release too soon, and often broken, where "first edition" is synonymous with pariah status.

All I ever really want to do is get nice. Get loose and goof a little slice of life. --Jimmy James

It took a while, but our drones are dialed in and we have a pleasant fleet that is easy to maintain. We are fortunate to have the skills and means to design and cut frames, but so can you (talk to Nick as CNC Madness, take our designs). We are also fortunate to have a good budget. In the end our designs and builds are quite nice. Have a look, but also check out our design principles.

The first sub-250 gram 2" and 2.5" high performance HD freestyle drone using mostly M3 hardware and running top-mount or underslung battery for over 700 possible frame combinations.

• Motor: 11xx Motors @ 5000-10000kv.
  • Recommended: 1106 6000kv.
• Props: 20xx Tri-blade (2") 25xx Tri-blade (2.5").
  • The motor to prop relationship has a lot of latitude, exploration encouraged.
  • Gemfan 2040 4-blade props we found to be problematic generating deadly micro-oscillations and motor heat.
  • We landed on Gemfan Hulkie 2540 Tri-blade for 2.5" and Emax Avan 2045 4-blade for 2" (both on 6000kv).
• Battery: 400-800mah 3s 25+ C-rating.
  • Recommended 2": 450mah 3s, 25C+, JST connection.
  • Recommended 2.5": 650mah 3s, 45C+, XT30 connection.
  • Top or underslung mount supported.
• Camera: Most single PCB 20x20mm DVR/FPV combo supported.
  • Runcam Split: Mini V2 do not recommend use of the Split for safety and support reasons.
  • Caddx Turtle: All current versions supported (V1, V2).
  • Foxeer Mix: Supported.
    • It is important for safety and performance reasons to make sure the most current firmware is installed.
  • Caddx Tarsier: Support not known, suspected yes. (more soon).
  • ~17mm between 5mm stand offs available. Camera is offset so the stand offs hug the camera between the body and the end of the glass.
• Hardware: Mostly M3 hardware.
  • Except for motor mounting and 20x20 PCB
  • M3 5mm OD round Standoffs highly recommended (these are the most common, relax)
  • Titanium is good, go ahead and splurge.
  • Use socket head M2 screws for motor mounts (easy to extract, slower to wear, key for sub-4" builds, no one likes extracting pan head screws)
  • 30-35mm stand-off height depending on builder skill and selection of hardware
• AUW: Well under 250g!
  • ~150g: HD 2" props, 450mah 3s battery
  • 160-190g: HD 2.5" props, ~650mah 3s battery
• Carbon Fiber: A lot of options.
  • Arms: 4mm.
  • Base: 1.5 to 3mm.
    • Thinner if the base plate is doubled, in general shoot for ~3mm fiber in total.
  • Top Plate: 2mm recommended.
    • 1.5 for the weight watchers.
• Electronics:
  • ESC: AIO 30A or greater total cumulative amp capability (like the HGLRC F438).
  • FC: Often pairs with ESC.
  • RX: Small, such as FrSky XM+, FrSKY R9 Mini, etc.
  • VTX: Small, commonly referred to as "back pack" VTX (200mw recommended)
  • FPV Antenna: Small pagoda (Foxeer Lollipop) pairs well with the data range of an RX like the XM+.
• More information on the Fun Hog.
• OPEN SOURCE Frame download here.

Before all the PCB HD FPV hybrids existed (like the Split) we built the Moonshot. At the time we knew HD capture was going to scale down very soon, and we were right. We were still more than a year ahead of the camera technology. No worry, we took an insanely fast 3" drone and flew it nonetheless. The Moonshot delivered lines so mind bending our brains were oozing out the nose.

• Motor: 13xx - 14xx Motors @ 3100-6000kv.
  • Recommended: 1407 4000kv (get ready!).
• Props: 3030 Tri-blade.
  • The motor to prop relationship has a lot of latitude, exploration encouraged.
• Battery: 600-1000mah 3-4s 50+ C-rating (aggressive freestyle 75C+).
  • Recommended: 4s 75c minimum @850mah.
  • XT30 connection or better.
  • Top or underslung mount supported.
• Camera: Created before the Split...
  • Runcam Split: All versions supported, but we do not recommend use of the Split for safety and support reasons.
  • Caddx Turtle: All current versions supported (V1, V2).
  • Foxeer Mix: Supported.
    • It is important for safety and performance reasons to make sure the most current firmware is installed!
  • Caddx Tarsier: Support not known, suspected yes. (more soon).
  • ~22mm between 5mm stand offs available.
• Hardware: M3 hardware
  • Except for motor mounting or if using 20x20 PCB
  • M3 5mm OD round Standoffs highly recommended (most common, relax)
  • Titanium is good, go ahead and splurge.
  • Use socket head M2 screws for motor mounts (easy to extract, slower to wear, key for sub-4" builds, no one likes extracting pan head screws)
  • 15-30mm stand-off height depending on builder skill and selection of hardware
• AUW
  • 250g or less: No HD or small battery build
  • 250-325g: HD @ ~850mah 4s
  • Carbon Fiber:
    • Base: 3mm recommended
    • Top Plate: 2mm recommended
• Electronics:
  • ESC: The sky is the limit. We have built with little Bee ESCs on the arm, AIO ESC as well as FC/ESC AIO (Kiss CTRL is a favorite).
  • FC: anything you want in a 20x20 or 30x30 format. We prefer KISS.
  • RX: Small, such as FrSky XM+, FrSKY R9 Mini, etc.
• OPEN SOURCE Frame

Expect to hover 10-20a and we have recorded punch out draw at 60-80A.