These are now outdated, and from my first impressions of the Prototype Stamina frames! Check the latest RotorBuilds for more relevant info

So I have been hunting for a frame to use for this season for a few months now, although we are a good chunk into 2018 already, I finally found the time to put together some of these CherryCraft Stamina prototypes that Walter over at https://www.cherrycraft.at/ kindly sent me. This is a super compact, light weight, simple / minimalistic racer frame, which ticks all the boxes of what I was looking for as well as a super low mid-top plate distance which I am a big fan of. The Stamina also includes a bunch of 3D printable parts, camera mount, antenna mount, XT60 mount, AXII mount. This meant that I could easily and quickly build clean and reliable setups just in time to start preparing for this season.
This write up is primarily looking at my 4S setup, however as components for my 6S setups arrive, I will be writing about what I am using then. I plan on making some changes to this current setup, such as switching from a TBS Triumph to a Lumenier AXII in a 3D printed mount, this is just to save weight, bulk and stop the antenna clipping the props if I have a hard crash which causes it to move. So lets take a quick look over some of the parts of this frame I really like.

Checkout a video from this 4S setup:

Frame:

The frame comes with two pairs of arms (1 piece of carbon = 2 arms), as well as a mid, top and bottom plate, with assorted hardware. The frame uses counter sunk screws on the bottom, which leaves you with a flat battery mounting surface, and no risk of screws denting those fresh lipos! The frame is put together with the 4 screws, reaching from the bottom plate, through the arms and mid plate, into the standoffs. Admittedly when I first saw this design I was skeptical as to how strong it would be, or whether these would loosen over time or in crashes. However with some loctite (which you should use on everything) it has been solid, and even with some stupidly hard crashes I have only bent props! I am currently running the 4mm version of the frame, however the option for a 5mm, or even 6mm thick arm is there for those who want a beater frame!

3D Prints:
The frame has a lot of STL files ready for you to print accessories, such as the front FPV camera mount, and AXII mount, these are the two main ones I will be using, I print these out of TPU using a poorly setup Anet A8 XD.

Front camera mount: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2884180
AXII Mount: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2902330
RX antenna mounts: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2895120

I also use Matthew Evans's 4in1 wire protectors on the arms, these use the same princible as my TBS ESC protectors on the TSX200, just stops the props from causing any damage if they are to bend and strike the wires on the arms.
Link: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2563144

Onto the components I used for this build :)

Motors: I think these are quickly become my go to 4S motors, for racing and freestyle, the DemonRC Inferno, these are 2207.5 2550kv sized motors, just rebranded BrotherHobby R3's. They are unbelieveable I cannot lie, just the smooth throttle control mixed with the mid kv power on a 5050 is unreal for racing, and their performance is so predictable every flight. Honestly stoked to be able to support my sponsor DemonRC by flying these! I also am using the GorillaRugz motor softmounts with these, I have just used them forever and they help with tuning and setup smoothness.

ESC / FC Stack: With this setup I am using my new sponsor FlightOne's Revolt OSD with the Bolt 4in1 V2. I have been blown away by the performance of this stack, coupled with its setup simplicity and also how everything is layed out and positioned, makes for effortless builds. Everything in this quad is connected using connectors on the Revolt OSD, which means components can be swapped really fast, especially in a race environment this can be critical! As well as this, I am running this board on the FlightOne Alpha 1.1.20 firmware, coupled with BlackBirdFPV's filter and TPA settings, but with my own custom tune, it still needs tweaking but I may post it out there once I am happy. However even with some tiny tweaks needed, it flies really well, very locked in, responsive and feels great!

FPV Cam: I'm using the Micro Swift V1 from Runcam in this particular build, coupled with the 2.1 lens which gives me around 160 degrees FOV, however I feel that there is more capability I could get out of an FPV cam, this is why I am potentially looking at the Runcam Micro Sparrow V2, or the Micro Swift V3 (which uses the fullsize lens) - this is because I am not really a fan of how fidly these cameras are to refocus if you need to. These alternative cameras do look much easier to build with / have better performance, however I cannot knock the Runcam Micro V1, its a great camera, and I notice no difference to the fullsize Swift 2. So TL:DR, fantastic camera, but there are more capable options out there.

VTX: Same old same, Unify Pro Race HV, I have been using this VTX since the summer of 2016 when the first batch came out, and nothing has beat it since. In terms of reliability, form factor, function and features it is amazing. Cleanswitch power ons for meetups so you can start flying whenever and not worry about knocking out your friends video. As well as the Smart Audio features with the Crossfire systems. It's an amazing piece of kit, I used this throughout 2016 and 2017, and I plan on keeping it that way through 2018!

Crossfire Nano RX: This is my first racer build using the Crossfire Nano SE, and especially in a much tighter build, I am not sure I could have fit the origional Micro V2 RX inside this frame. The NanoRX is amazing, all the same range, features and setup as the origional RX, just in a much smaller package. I have hooked this up to the Revolt OSD through the TX1 port, and then directly connected the SmartAudio wire to the Unify Pro for VTX control.

Props: Then finally as with all my other races, I am using the trust HQ5050x3V1S props. Since flying these I haven't used a different prop for racing, the speed, grip and responsiveness of these is just unreal and they certainly helped me progress as a racer.

Build:

Onto the build, I will cover a few key points but I could do a full build write up / video if people would like to see it :)
With this build I wanted to keep everything super sleek and as tight as possible. This is why I have positioned my motorwires vertical against the body of the frame, rather than sticking out away from the 4in1. I felt like this would reduce the amount of times they would get caught or suffer impact damage.
I managed to get away with using a Triumph Antenna on this build, however I will be changing to the AXII with the 3D printed mount, this would be just to reduce the SMA bulk within the body of the quad, and have a much smaller and sleeker antenna :)

Thanks for checking out this RotorBuilds, let me know if you enjoyed this write up and would like to know more information about this or any other build!

Cheers,
LeoFPV <3