This build started from a sale a few months back from CycloneFPV. There were some HGLRC F7 20x20 35amp stacks on sale which is what I started the build with. The ESC died on about the 5th pack on takeoff which also caught a motor on fire. Ended up replacing the whole stack with a Hobbywing 20x20 40amp. I've got about a dozen packs through it so far. 

Parts:
Frame: AOS 3.5 v2
Stack: Hobbywing F7 20x20 40amp 
Motor: FPVCycle 16mm 3700kv
VTX: Caddx Vista Nebula Pro (not naked yet)
VTX antenna: True RC u.fl
RX: Tracer
Props: Gemfan 3520 (the motor has a 3mm shaft and comes with a 5mm adapter)

I generally fly 5" quads but I do have a TP3 with naked vista and a Shocker 4". Not counting the battery the quad currently comes in at 181 grams. Probably not a good starting point for a sub 250 grams since there are only a handful of batteries that come in at under 70 grams at 4s. It flies on 3s but it's pretty underwhelming coming from a 5" setup. 

It's more fun at 4s but I'm finding there is too much battery sag for the way I fly on all the batteries I've tried under 850mah. This 850mah GNB battery brings the AUW to just over 250 grams and the flight time is 3-4mins. 
https://pyrodrone.com/collections/4s-bat...-120c-xt30

This 850 puts the quad at over 270 gram but it flies great and lasts well over 5 minutes.
https://pyrodrone.com/collections/4s-bat...-120c-xt30 

While I can shave 10g by striping down the Vista, not sure I can get 10 more grams off of it. There is some unnecessary TPU on there but I doubt it's 10 grams worth. I've also got some CNHL ministar 850mahs but they're another 20g heavier than the other 850mah battery.

Here is a sample video with some extra crashes at the end of the clip from today. 


If I fly harder than this, the sub 70gram batteries are empty within 2 minutes. For now to enjoy it, I'll fly it with the heavier batteries otherwise I'd never fly it in favor of my 5" quads. I've been spoiled by the power of the 5" setups, it's a night and day difference when the next flight after this AOS3.5 is the AOS5 on FPVCycle 25mm motors. 

That’s some nice in between the trees flying. It’s nice to see someone other than me crashing.

Nice looking build- but it sounds like you’re not happy with it? (I mean, after the rebuild after the fire. )

Nice flying!

(25-Oct-2022, 09:25 AM)Lemonyleprosy Wrote: That’s some nice in between the trees flying. It’s nice to see someone other than me crashing.

Nice looking build- but it sounds like you’re not happy with it? (I mean, after the rebuild after the fire. )

Happy with the quad, it's still a blast to fly with the batteries that push it over the 250g limit. Just not as happy with the availability of batteries outside of that one lightweight GNB. The batteries that push it to 270-280 grams are a lot more fun and I don't feel like I have to conserve energy. 

I just can't say it's as fun to fly as my 5" quads. But if for some reason those were taken away this isn't too bad of a compromise.

Great build and very nice flying there servo! Must be a tight build having the cap on the arm. Did you find the frame a bit lacking in space? I've recently got the 5.5v2 and am currently building out that. The AOS series, well they're bit of a weird, wide ass looking frame if you ask me, doesn't look very pretty, lol. Function over form I guess. I'm keen to get it up and running. I consider the AOS series more of a modern frame, with AIO mounts all across the frame, etc - much better suited to new tech like walksnail, etc...

(25-Oct-2022, 11:48 PM)ph2t Wrote: Great build and very nice flying there servo!   Must be a tight build having the cap on the arm.  Did you find the frame a bit lacking in space?  I've recently got the 5.5v2 and am currently building out that.  The AOS series, well they're bit of a weird, wide ass looking frame if you ask me, doesn't look very pretty, lol.   Function over form I guess.   I'm keen to get it up and running.  I consider the AOS series more of a modern frame, with AIO mounts all across the frame, etc - much better suited to new tech like walksnail, etc...

I just finished my 5.5 and I have to say I love it. take your time deciding on layout. I ended up redoing mine.

(25-Oct-2022, 11:48 PM)ph2t Wrote: Great build and very nice flying there servo!   Must be a tight build having the cap on the arm.  Did you find the frame a bit lacking in space?  I've recently got the 5.5v2 and am currently building out that.  The AOS series, well they're bit of a weird, wide ass looking frame if you ask me, doesn't look very pretty, lol.   Function over form I guess.   I'm keen to get it up and running.  I consider the AOS series more of a modern frame, with AIO mounts all across the frame, etc - much better suited to new tech like walksnail, etc...

Yes, very little space between camera and stack and nearly no room between ESC and Vista on the AOS3.5v2. 

I've been flying the AOS5 v1 since last November as my main quad and it's got plenty of space. I put the cap and Tracer nano in the middle between the stack and VTX. It's got the full size Air Unit in it so Walksnail and HDZero should fit fine. While I appreciate what Chris Rosser has done for the hobby the main reason I like his frames is I can get them or parts for them to order at CNCDrones. I've noticed some other frames I've wanted to try go in and out of stock as do their parts all the time. Like when I went to build a toothpick, all the popular ones were on backorder. 

Here is my AOS5v1: 

Hi Sevro,

Nice Looking quads.  GOOD JOB    Yeah, and NICE flying, too.  

I would constantly be in those trees. 

(28-Oct-2022, 05:36 PM)iFly4rotors Wrote: Hi Sevro,

Nice Looking quads.  GOOD JOB    Yeah, and NICE flying, too.  

I would constantly be in those trees. 

Don't I know 

Thank god for Turtle Mode, about the only time I trust using it is when I crash in a tree. This is that large oak tree in my buddies yard, one of these was barely a nudge of the stick to free it loose: 

Hi Sevro,

You are very lucky. Trees don't treat me that well. The last one that I lost to
a tree the little branches (or leaves) had the propellers "locked"...not going
anywhere.

Been debating on whether to try and strip this down to be under 250g when used with the 86g Gaoneg 850mah battery. Would removing about 17grams make much difference? Since I don't have another quad to use for these small 4s batteries I might just build something lighter and maybe offload some of the heavier parts to a lighter frame to make them both closer to sub 250g. But I'm not too concerned about that now living in the US.

Flew again today at that same house, this time with some dog walking: 

If I'm going to enjoy flying the AOS3.5 I want to have a backup so I don't wind up at the field with packs I can't fly if something goes wrong. Unfortunately I didn't keep track of the weights on the AOS build but I'm assuming that trying to keep from decasing the Vista that the FPVCycle 16mm motors are probably a touch too heavy to run a battery that will enjoy them. But I have a bunch of these motors so let's use them up. 

Since it was out of stock the first time I looked, I went with a RoninUAV Sohei MK2, perhaps you guys have heard of it.   He only had one 3.5 arm so I decided to go ahead and build it as a 3". Maybe I can try the AOS3.5 on 3" props since there is really only one 3.5" that comes with a 5mm prop shaft by Gemfan but there are a few more options in 3" with 5mm shafts. Though I'll leave the motor wires long for when the 3.5" arm comes back in stock and I can get a backup frame as well. I've got some props on order, I got these at Amazon thinking they were the HQ 3x3x3 but they were 3x4x4 so a little more pitch than I'd like for running freestyle. 

Otherwise went with a Foxeer v745 AIO and robbed a Vista Nebula Pro out of a build I'll eventually like to put an O3 vtx into. The build came out to about 170 grams which is still too heavy to run the 88gram battery that seems to give me the best performance. But that's within range if I decase the Vista but since the 250g limit is arbitrary for me now I'll reserve that until I try a set of TMotor 1604s I got on their 20% BF sale. I wasn't seeing a lot of options that were noticeably lighter than the FPVC16mm aside from dropping down to 1404 which opens the options to carrying much heavier batteries. 

Only had a couple packs with me when I was out today because I didn't think I'd have time. 

Nice build and nice flying. Was that a little fender bender at the end?

I absolutely love my RoninUAV 3” and 3.5” Sohei. I’ve got 1506 motors on the 3” and 1606 motors on the 3.5”, but I wasn’t concerned about weight.

If you snatched up the one 3.5” arm Ronin had in stock, I’ve got a spare 3.5” arm I can drop in the mail for you if you’d like (no cost). I won’t be flying my 3”+ birds until spring when there will be some daylight during the times that I fly, so I’m not gonna break an arm and need the spare.

(27-Nov-2022, 02:24 AM)Lemonyleprosy Wrote: Nice build and nice flying. Was that a little fender bender at the end?

I absolutely love my RoninUAV 3” and 3.5” Sohei. I’ve got 1506 motors on the 3” and 1606 motors on the 3.5”, but I wasn’t concerned about weight.

If you snatched up the one 3.5” arm Ronin had in stock, I’ve got a spare 3.5” arm I can drop in the mail for you if you’d like (no cost). I won’t be flying my 3”+ birds until spring when there will be some daylight during the times that I fly, so I’m not gonna break an arm and need the spare.

Yeah I fly under the truck a lot but that took a betaflight bounce off the parking lot. I disarmed and fortunately it only tagged the steps, not the best idea on a new build with punchier props. 

I bet the 1606 are a touch heavier but lighter overall combined with an analog VTX. The 16mm FPVCycle are too fun even if with a battery pushing 250-280g not to go ahead and run with.

Thanks for the arm offer, I'd like to get a backup frame so I'll order when he gets it back in stock. I think I'll keep it in 3" for a while since there are more prop choices to try out.

Hi Sevro,

What do you think of the Foxeer v745 AIO ??  Where did you get it ??  Thanks.