Here on the work bench, 'tis the season to be building new quads, getting ready for the race season of 2019! And keeping true to consistency, once again the frame of choice is the Yakuza R226 by Yakuza Frames. This build has gotten the OCD treatment, taking many nights to come together, making sure all the solder joints are solid, and that the wires are neat and tidy.

I've learnt a few things from my previous build, and have applied them here. The quad now has a smaller SANYO Electronics 1000uF 35V, which meant that now it can be soldered on backwards, on the XT60U side, and should make it safer from prop strikes. The quad also has a brand new VTX that I'm testing out; the EWRF e709TM3 Pro. The thin form factor of this VTX allows it to be stackable without taking too much space. As an added bonus, I've found a very nice spot for the Camera Adjustment Cable. Talk about conveniece! Depending on how this VTX performs, I may look into swapping to this VTX for my other rig to keep things consistent.

An added feature that the race rigs now have are TinysLEDs RealPit. This is super handy, as it means I can power my quad up without fearing that I may blow out other pilots flying at the time. I've programmed such that both quads can be armed separately on the same model on my Taranis. I have to say I'm spoilt, this has been the best thing I've added to a quad yet. I look forward to more manufacturers adopting the RealPit into their flight controller designs to come!

Lastly, I'm currently testing new motors to see which suits my flying style more. This time I'm featuring the iFlight XING 2207 2750kV. This motor has been a solid performer, and has brought me its first win on Maiden Day. The motor provides good punch, as good as most other motors in its class. However, where this motor shines is its utter smoothness. To this date I have never flown a motor as smooth as this one (Then again, I have not tried alot of motors, i.e. the TBS Mr Steele Silk, and the Hypetrain series of motors). The power delivery is unlike anything I've tried before. But that being said, it is not a motor suited for my racing style, as I prefer a motor that provides a more "direct" power delivery. That being said, the smoothness of this motor has found its place high in the freestyle motors category, which is what I feel this motor should be used for.

Through this test, it's helped me to find out what I want out of a motor, and I'll keep on searching for that perfect motor, hopefully in time for the start of the 2019 race season.

Special thanks to Jessie of iFlight for the wonderful opportunity to test this motors out. These are promising motors, and especially for the price, I highly recommend anyone to try these motors out, and feel that awesome smoothiness! Get them here:
https://www.iflight-rc.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=110&product_id=711

Also, a huge shoutout to Total Rotor Singapore for supplying me with the electronics, as well as a fresh set of new Bonka U2 1500mAh 4S Batteries. They are having a storewide year-end sale right now, do check them out here:
https://shop.totalrotor.com/

Lastly, watch me race this very quad in one of the Heats of the Total Rotor Invitational, December 2018 here:

Happy flying!
W.Y. FPV