I’ve wanted to build an Acrobrat for months now and the deals on Black Friday were just what I needed to make that wish come true. This was my first 3” build. At first, I had a hard time visualizing how to lay everything out, but once I had all the hardware and standoffs, it didn’t take long to get everything to fit well.

I went with the EMAX Mini Magnum stack which included the flight controller, ESC, and VTX. It comes assembled as a unit and it’s what caused my initial confusion with how I wanted to lay everything out. Once I took the VTX out of the equation, the other parts fell into place. Unfortunately, the VTX comes connected to the flight controller with a set of pin headers. I had to cut them apart and desolder the pins. This let me move the VTX to the rear of the quad and isolate it, then I just used wire to connect it to the flight controller. I put the VTX on some taller standoffs and the receiver fit nicely underneath. Both the flight controller and the ESC that come in this kit are really nice. The ESC is running BLHeli32 and it’s rated for 35A. It also has dual capacitors mounted right to the ESC. The flight controller is running an F4 processor and it easily connects to the ESC by cable. It also has a UART so you can enable Smart Audio. I currently have it loaded up with Betaflight 3.5.2 on the stock PIDs.

Just as a side note, if you use this stack, you’ll have to remap the motor outputs, and rotate the flight controller 270 degrees.

For a camera I went with the Caddx Turtle V2. It mounted perfectly on the font standoffs and I can easily reach the SD card slot and the push button to record. It also sits below the flight controller so I have no problem plugging in my USB cable to access Betaflight. I haven’t been able to get out and fly yet, but I have taken some video in the house and the quality is excellent. I’ll get some flight footage up as soon as the weather cooperates.

For propulsion I went with the T-Motor F20IIs. From the test hovering I did they seem super smooth and responsive. I currently have HQ 3x5x3 props on it but I have 3 other sets of props to test out to see which I like the best.

Rounding everything out are the 3D prints from Brain. I had built a SpaceOne Meteor a while back in white, green, and black and I really liked how those colors went together. I sold that quad a few months ago so this build was the perfect excuse to use those colors again. As you can see in the pictures, I ordered the full front bumper from Brain3D, but it doesn’t fit with the new Caddx V2. The V2 has a lens that’s a little over 15mm and the opening in the bumper is only 13mm. I had the lens mounted right behind the bumper, but because of the wide FOV from the V2 lens, I had 2 thick white stripes on my video feed. Going to contact Brain soon and see if they can print me up another bumper with a bigger opening. Fortunately, when I ordered everything, I also got the minimal front bumpers which look good and keep the front end protected for now.

I haven’t flown this build yet so I can’t give my opinion on how it flies, but from a builder’s perspective, I wouldn’t hesitate to pick up another frame. I have a Diatone GT-M3 and I’m seriously considering swapping all the guts from that frame into another Acrobrat. Great job Tommy!

Update - This past weekend I was able to put about 6 batteries through this kwad. So far it flies really well, but I still want to try it out on a few different sets of props. I adjusted the PIDs a bit and ramped up the feed forward and it's really locked in. I'm having a little trouble getting used to the camera. While the picture is clear, I feel disconnected from the kwad when it's flying. I don't know if it's latency or a slow frame rate but it's a lot different than flying all the other cameras I'm using like the Foxeer Predator or RunCam Eagle. Maybe I just need some more time under the goggles.