I guess this is a pretty "old" BNF, but pathfinder often recommends this frame (or maybe its smaller brother). Last year during the Black Friday sale, Betafpv had discounted it to around $110 for the ELRS version, a deal too good to pass up. Unfortunately after many weeks they did not ship my order, and finally when I asked what was going on they told me that item was not in stock (despite their website still saying it was). So they got me to pay more for a Pavo25v2, which I ended up liking quite a lot. Last month, I saw the TwigXL was still on sale and still "in stock" so decided to try again. This time Betafpv actually shipped out more order after like 10 days, but the tracking just never updated
Well today it finally arrived, a month later.

First impressions:
Out of the box, it felt very sturdy and more like a larger quad than a toothpick. Compared to my favorite 3.5" flyer, the Crux35 which definitely feels more like a micro.
The Twig bottom plate measures 3.1mm thick vs 2.95mm on the Crux, but it feels significantly stiffer and more rugged. I guess the T700 carbon as well as the wider silhouette/bracing makes a difference. I was surprised by the 1404 motors too, those felt very beefy and rugged, not the usual lighter flimsier motors I am used to from Betafpv. I know these motors got a bad review from Rosser (melted enamel), but maybe he got samples from a bad batch?

There are some interesting design choices. It has an old no frills F411 AIO (maybe they are trying to clear out their stock), but it is rated for 20A. It uses an external ELRS RX with the t-dipole antenna taped against the bottom plate. And it comes with a nice Ratel 2 camera, but not the Baby, the larger 19mm version. It does however have a nice beefy heatsinked 400mw VTX.
This all does add some weight. 113g compared to my digital Crux35 which only weighs 100g with a vista.

 

Maiden flight:
For setting up, I only reflashed the ELRS to match my radio and setup the BF modes. Everything else left on stock.
For the maiden, I gave it a flight with a 3S 450 and a 4S 450. I will have to say it did not disappoint. Those motors performed very well in flight, and punch-wise maybe even better than my Crux. I banged up the props very quickly unfortunately and even snapped two on the first two flights. Maybe a bad batch of props, usually I get these Gemfans to crack at the hub, not lose single blades. In anycase even with banged up props it flew nicely without excessive vibrations, although you could hear some oscillations on 4S. It definitely did not feel lacking in agility or control, but for float/hangtime or dancing in the air, I think the Crux still takes top spot. I think the Twig will be more sturdy and handle vibrations better. Not sure about battery life, it probably won't match the Crux, but it may still be long enough. Will have to see.

Dislikes:
Some things I did not like about the Twig. Well the batter lead is a little short to have the battery wires wrap around from the front (on packs with shorter cables), but it is too stiff with the cap to have the battery lead come out the rear. I ended up with the lead getting pushed up into the prop after a crash, and the prop cut the wire. Fortunately only one lead was cut, otherwise it would have gone up in flames.
Also not sure why they taped the ELRS antenna up flat against the carbon, might remount it, but since ELRS is so robust anyways I guess its not too important.
Not sure I like the tall canopy though. It is nice that props are not across the middle of the screen like the Crux, but they are still very much in view. I find it a little harder to judge distance to ground, but maybe it just takes some getting used to.



O

Try a set of 3” props on it.. I have the first edition of this 3” Frsky… the ratel camera sold me! It was awesome and for night flying very impressive ..
I tried some Avan 3” props .. loved the performance so much I tried 3.5 Avans .. was fast! Agile but “floaty”..
Oh, and it has been beat to hell.. still asking for more

nice purchase mate, I built out a twig frame but lost it on its maiden flight, back with the fpv gods were less kind.

I'm most envious. I will get one day. But won't be for a bit.

You got any video for us to watch or will that be posted in due time?

@Rob
I actually like floaty, I think it gives me more time to react and I need that. Also like that lightweight feeling, but when the winds come its a different story.

@ph2t
Sorry to hear that. But your builds are much more interesting, so maybe the drone gods were just sending you along your way

@Pathfinder
You know I have a really crappy analog DVR, should probably install some shielding or maybe a power filter. It records some horrible diagnol bars across it. And I think everyone is tired of watching my backyard videos. But since you asked, I will upload it.

The current sensor is showing a cruising amp draw below 2 amps (on 3S and 4S), this can't be right. And punchout on 4S is only 19a. Need to calibrate the sensor, I suspect it is under reporting the current.

.. yeah, the “floaty” caused it to get caught up in a tree..it was there throughout a rainstorm, and a couple of days.. only damage was the lipo. Strange since my buddy lost his aio(same quad) due to a landing in tall grass …

such graceful dives

Once the lipo drains out, the electronics seem fine exposed to the elements. I had my Crux with a naked vista stuck in a tree for several months over winter (a very kind forum member climbed a 100? foot tree to help me retrieve it) and everything just worked plugging in a new battery.
If by tall grass you mean wet tall grass, usually quads survive if you unplug the lipo. But dirty water can short out electronics.

Hi mstc,

What motors are you running?

What is a good size motor for a 3.5 inch hi-performance quad that will 
provide good acceleration and still get decent fly time?

Thanks

Later, iFly  

(17-Jun-2024, 09:38 AM)iFly4rotors Wrote: Hi mstc,

What motors are you running?

What is a good size motor for a 3.5 inch hi-performance quad that will 
provide good acceleration and still get decent fly time?

Thanks

Later, iFly  

From what i've seen and read, anything from 1507 to 1804 would work.  Guessing you are more specifically wondering about 4S than 6S.  I've seen a few videos of people running them on RCiP 1507 Smoox on both 4S and 6S and it is not slow on either, with 3.5" props.  Flight time I have no idea.  Most the videos i've watched people have been going like a bat out of hell and getting around 4 mins of acro on a 4-6S 650-850, so you can maybe string out double that with easy/constant throttle usage.

Maybe mstc has some better ideas.

Depends on your idea of "performance", but for thrust-to-weight and long battery life, I don't think you can beat a 1404 motor on a lighter 3.5". There is a reason that nearly all the 3.5" BNFs use and continue to use this motor size (as does the TwigXL). If you want the feel of a 5", want the extra mass to throw around, need super strong crashability, or want to carry a full sized gopro, then you would consider the larger motors, but expect short flight times and exceeding 250g.
Recursion labs did quite a lot of different testing, comparing a few different motor sizes, prop type and sizes before settling on the 1404 motors for his 3.5" Scythe/Helios builds, that might be interesting to view them if you have not seen them before.
https://www.youtube.com/@RecursionLabs/videos

By light are you talking a Crux35? What about say the Volador35 at 70g. I wonder if it would still work?

iFly, what frame are you wanting to use for your build? Are you thinking of an Alu frame or staying conventional with CF? What sort of weight is what i'm asking. Mstc is of course right for a light 3.5", but if you aren't running a sub 50g frame, then 1404 might not be enough. Still, if you are going to do a build, I shall be looking forward to some video.

Hi mstc,

Thanks for the link. The videos look very interesting. I will take a look at all of them
before making a decision.

Hi Pathfinder,

Well, I have decided to up my All Aluminum Frame from 2.5 to 3.5 inch. I sort of
want to put it through its paces so I want a bit more power than I am normally
used to flying. Sort of a basher. It would be nice to have it come in sub-250, but 
that is not absolutely necessary. After all, I do have a RID module that I could 
put on it if needed. Even though I don't do stunts, I will push it more than my
normal style. 

Plus, I want to try to flying a little more aggressive. Or...at least feel a bit more
power. I will also fly it with both 3S and 4S packs. 

My first thought was 1408 motors with somewhere around 3500 Kv, maybe a 
bit more. I had also thought about 1507's. 

I may also try some conventional CF frames in order to provide a decent 
comparison for my All Aluminum Frame.

Later, iFly  

Volador is a pretty heavy frame, I have 1604 motors on mine (190g dry) and definitely not the thrust-to-weight or agility of 1404 builds as I also need to fly a larger battery. On as 4S 850 I might squeeze out nearly six minutes cruising, whereas on the 1404s its pretty easy to get 8 minutes or more on a much smaller battery. For comparison a 1404 setup like the Babyhawk O3 is 160g and Crux/Scythe would be around 100-120g.

For an all aluminum frame, I imagine it would be quite heavy and probably a larger motor would be more suited, but probably not easy to get good flight times especially if you want to do aggressive flying. Also wouldn't the aluminum bend in a crash?