Picked up the HGLRC Draknight frame. It has a nice CNC cage on a wide-x bottom plate and is not too heavy. I transferred over all the internals from my Pavo Pico WS build. 



The frame was designed more for a one board stack (or maybe 1.5) as the cage slopes down towards the rear of the frame, reducing the height clearance. I swapped in some longer mounting screws to fit the double-layer stack with the Walksnail board,  it just barely has enough clearance.



It does come with a tiny buzzer/led board that simple slots into the rear of the cage.



The weight ended up to be quite similar to the Pavo Pico build, around 47g.



As my pico was the old version, the AIO is 2S only but I think that should be fine for the 1102-14000kv motors. Will see how it flies with the slightly larger-sized open props.

Nice. I really dig the look of that frame.

If the clearance above the walksnail vtx is as small as it looks in your pics, I’d suggest maybe slapping some kapton tape on top of the rear half of the vtx.

The cage is like two rails, so the section in between (where the mounting screw/nut and ufl are) is actually open. Between the rail and the board there is around 2mm of clearance. I was thinking to put liquid tape on the bottom of the rail and then forgot about it. Might go back and do that, just to be extra safe especially since no flying in the rain today. I have some kapton tape, but can't think of a good way to secure it.

Quite enjoying this build. The stock Pavo Pico tune was not suitable, but after some retuning it is a fun, smooth, agile, peppy little flyer. With a 30g 2S pack AUW comes in under 80g. Not tons of punch and some prop wash stutter, but good enough for spirited flying and decent control. The streamlined frame had no problems with tumbles and crashes and great for shooting tiny gaps.
The bigger 3" 2S pick is still more stable and gets longer flight times, but the 2" still gets over 5 minutes of fast flying and possible handles wind a bit better.

A slightly faster flight and some crashes, no stabilization. Keep forgetting to put an SD card in my goggles so no OSD.


A slower flight using the blackbox log to add a little gyroflow stabilization.

any thoughts on this a few months in?

I am about to do something similar and your post has me hopeful about cramming the WS VTX in with my AIO

This is definitely one of my favorite fast cruisers. The weighty, compact, and streamlined frame just wants to cut through the air and the sturdiness of the cnc rails add confidence. Maybe a little loose on hard turns, but swapped in some triblades that give a little more grip at the cost of some flight time. The height is a little tight in the back, but there is enough room, just make sure your boards don't touch the rails.

The electronics I used came off the older version of the Pico so could only run 2S. If you are taking the internals from the newer Pico then you will have a 2-3S board and could potentially run 3S with some motor limits. The new FC also extends out the rear, but I think it should still fit on the frame.

I’m am actually doing a fresh build, planning to put a walksnail mini and Happymodel SuperF405 HD AIO 2-4S 20A in it

in theory it should all fit

did you ever liquid tape or conformal it?

Nice build, I was considering this frame as well, but the issue I had is that I had the wrong motors with quad screw mount, so I went with a different build.  I like the Draknight layout with no props in view, and you like you have a super nice 2S build plus I like the idea of using motor plugs. 

Hi Mstc,

Nice BUILD.   GOOD JOB.       I like it.  

I have been looking at that frame and the YMZFPV Lightning 
which are pretty similar in design. These frames are really
cool looking. 

Later, iFly  

(24-Feb-2024, 06:17 AM)Surface Wrote: did you ever liquid tape or conformal it?

No, it flew so well I didn't bother to touch it since. It also has still has the long Walksnail wire at the back that I never shortened...
But if you are building new,  it would be easy to apply just a thin layer on the rear part of the rail as extra safety measure.

(24-Feb-2024, 09:42 AM)Cyberess Wrote: Nice build, I was considering this frame as well, but the issue I had is that I had the wrong motors with quad screw mount, so I went with a different build.  I like the Draknight layout with no props in view, and you like you have a super nice 2S build plus I like the idea of using motor plugs.  

Thanks. Yes very good point, this frame only accepts the 3-hole motor mount (typically for whoops) so keep that in mind when sourcing motors. I guess it will be between 1003s and 1102s, but there are a few rare 1103s with the 3-hole mount (Happymodel has a version).


@iFly  I think YMZFPV probably came up with this design first at least to market anyways. HGLRC seems to have just cloned it although there are some very slight differences. HGLRC frame is cheaper though and comes with the buzzer/led board.

Hi Mstc,

Well, I do have motors with both 3-hole and 4-hole mount so that part would
not be an issue. Truth is, that is never an issue with me anyway since I can
adapt one mounting to the other. I wonder how it would do as a 2.5-inch
pusher?  Hmmm. Crazy, Right? Imagine a set of those tri-blade Evan Rush
props on it. (wicked).  Hmm.


Very Nice Build. 

Later, iFly  

(24-Feb-2024, 09:42 AM)Cyberess Wrote: Nice build, I was considering this frame as well, but the issue I had is that I had the wrong motors with quad screw mount, so I went with a different build.  I like the Draknight layout with no props in view, and you like you have a super nice 2S build plus I like the idea of using motor plugs. 

Hi Cyberess,

Yeah, I also like the idea of using motors plugs. In fact, I DO use motor plugs on 
about 90 percent of my builds regardless of size; even on my 7-inch Rescue Quad. 
For the small quads, I use the standard JST 1.25 3-pin plugs. For my medium size builds, 
I use standard 3-wire servo connectors. On the 7-inch, I have MR30 connectors which 
are the 3-pin version of an XT30. 

Later, iFly   

What I want to know is where you're at when you are flying? I keep looking for you, lol..

(25-Feb-2024, 12:14 AM)ph2t Wrote: What I want to know is where you're at when you are flying?  I keep looking for you, lol..

 I'm in a hidden room up in the attic with great reception...

Or I wish I was... you can see where I actually take off from, just the back porch 

(25-Feb-2024, 12:14 AM)ph2t Wrote: What I want to know is where you're at when you are flying?  I keep looking for you, lol..

I always assumed he worked for DARPA and was using some sort of active camoflauge.

I haven't reached the point of my 3S Lightning build. it will arrive at some point.