So. The Kittiwake 6 was supposed to be a long range frame, but really it was too heavy (great freestyle build though). Decided to revisit it, change up the design to cut weight, and go up to 8" arms whilst I was at it. Frame weight is 134g - not bad at all for an 8" frame, and about 50g lighter than the Kittiwake 6!

Turns out clearances are way too small on 8" with top mounted packs, but spot on with 7" props. Of course, bottom mounting batteries is still an option with either size prop, but given the availability of 7" props I'd say they make more sense for most builds.

Build was mostly smooth, the 1.3GHz VTX was awkward though since it's just gigantic compared to the modern 5.8G VTXs that are the norm. Antenna placement for the Rx was also an issue, given the length of the relatively inflexible coax.

Setup was easy with the Matek, even though I had to mount the board at 90 degrees to clear the screws at the side. Remapped the motors, and whilst I was at it I made a custom deadcat mix. The EzUHF system, however, was a complete pain to get set up, and whilst I (naively) thought the latency wouldn't be too bad on PPM, turns out there is quite a noticable delay in action to reaction. I'll be swapping over to Frsky R9M once I can get hold of a module and some receivers, getting GPS coordinates to my Taranis will be nice too.

Flight performance seems good so far though, plenty of float and punch, and it's not heavy on the battery either. Shall be fun to get out in the wilds and really see how it is at range!