I had some spare parts lying around and decided I wanted to build a stretched X racing rig. I grabbed a QAV XS 15usd clone from Aliexpress as I was only going to use the bottom plate and it is supposed to be cheap. When I received it i didn’t have much expectations but  actually looked quite nice and even got chamfered edges! It also says Lumenier on the crappy PDB, LOL! Not bad for a 15 dollar frame!
 
The parts used:

• XS clone frame
  
• 3D printed TPU pod/canopy found on thingiverse:
  

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2304698

• Beerotor F3 FC w/OSD
  
• Beerotor PDB
  

• Racerstar 20A ESC
  

• Aokfly Fire Phoenix 2205 2500kv (Maiden was done with racerstar BR2205 2600kv)
  

https://goo.gl/8ShCsD

• Foxeer HS1177
  
• Eachine VTX03
  
• Frsky xm+
  

 

 
I’m not the biggest fan of underslung batteries and wanted to make the COG as close to the middle as possible, so I decided to try mounting the front motors upside down. You also don’t get the props in the Gopro footage. The props go clear of the battery by a centimeter or so, but I am going to use velcro tape and a good strap to keep the battery away from the props in a crash.
 

 

 
Here is a video from the first day racing this quad. It is a very nice quad to fly and it doesn’t feel like a quad bottom mounted battery at all. I might even buy one more of these frames to make into a freestyle rig.
 

 
 
 
The plan was always to mount the Aokfly motors on this quad and at the same time I wanted to try if I notice any difference in how it flies by mounting them the “right” way. These motors are more powerful than the racerstar and it will probably be a bit quicker.


I designed and printed the 3D printed soft mounts based on FPV Kababs design. I am not so sure if they work as good as rubber standoffs, but since I have a 3D printer, why not try it.

The Aokfly motors are actually quite nice for the price and they sometimes can be found on aliexpress for 35usd for 4 of them (normally 40usd). They come with N52SH magnets, steel hollow shaft and NSK bearings. The only downside with them is that it looks like the CW and CCW motors doesn’t use the same magnets as the CCW motors have a bit more “magnetic resistance” and more “coggy” than the CW motor. I don’t know why that is so I would probably just buy CW motors next time.
 
I have flown them a couple of packs on my Nimbus quad and they feel good and powerful. Unfortunately I have some desync issues with that quad and it freaks out when doing fast rolls. That is why I moved them over to this quad to see if it is a motor issue.
 
BTW, I just noticed Aokfly released a 2306 motor!
https://goo.gl/cJYN5H
 
 




 
I really like the way the pod is designed and hopefully it will provide enough protection in a crash. I am a bit sceptical about the way the standoffs are mounted without any sideway support except from the tpu frame itself.

Awesome oyvinla! How did it do in that crash?

Fast! Nice flying Interesting and awesome how you mounted the front motors upsidedown.

(19-Jun-2017, 10:46 PM)sloscotty Wrote: Awesome oyvinla! How did it do in that crash?

Not even a scratch! I had several crashes that day but it was just soft grass so no damage. I noticed that with a stretched x and the front props upside down like that, it was a bit harder to fly low and not hit the ground with the props.

(19-Jun-2017, 10:55 PM)Drone0fPrey Wrote: Fast! Nice flying Interesting and awesome how you mounted the front motors upsidedown.

When mounting the motors like this, the quad is actually a tiny bit top-heavy. It felt very similar to a top mounted frame but with a tiny bit better pitch control. I just ordered one more of the same frame to build a freestyle rig with parts from my raceflight quad