This is a revised prototype.

Hey folks! It's been a short while & I think it's worth noting some changes to this frame, as well as the status on availability.

To answer the latter in short - pre-orders will go up the second I'm completely happy with our samples. It's getting really close but there are just a couple more tweaks to make before everything's peachy. At the current state, I expect to be accepting pre-orders within about 2-3 weeks from this posting.

I approached development on this frame a bit differently from the Raven. Whereas the Raven was designed around the idea of getting a tighter CG in a bottom mount frame - the Seagull has its own solutions for a different set of problems. As mostly a cruising pilot myself, I really wanted to remove the props from HD video (a common want); but if that's the only stipulation there are hundreds of frames which fit the bill. I'm also interested in cinematic flying, so the idea of being able to easily adjust both cameras for different filming scenarios is really appealing. I thought of other frames that do this, and came up with only the Chameleon & now the Rooster which appear to allow about 15-20° of adjustment. This strikes me as more of a 'set it & leave it' feature than anything, so I decided this design should start at 0° and end higher than 40° - without seeing props at either end. This way, slow cinematic shots a-la-Squirt are achievable, as well as high-speed chasing & freestyle.

I always start projects on paper. Sometimes it takes 100 sketches, sometimes it takes 1. The Seagull had a few, but this is the one that mattered - where I decided to have a side-rail construction that dips below the base plate to protect a camera cage up front.

With these side rails, thin arms, hinged parts, I knew that durability testing would be paramount - and it has been. A few rounds of prototypes later & everything I expected to break is fine, everything I expected to be fine has broken. So, let's go over some changes:

• The arms have been shortened from accepting 5.5" to 5" props (longer arms more prone to wobbles & breaking)
• The arms are now split up individually, vs boomerang style where proper fiber directions weren't possible
• A 4th arm screw towards the center stack was removed, after feedback that it could obstruct the 4in1 connector (Thanks Alessandro!)
• Added more ziptie slots in the base plate
• Converted slot-joints from rounded rectangle to dogbone inserts. This might not mean much to you, but it means the siderails resist developing play over time.
• Added a standoff to the top, removing the need for a heavy TPU top part & bettering functionality for 'toilet tank' style battery mounting.
• Greatly reduced material in TPU parts

Expandability is another point I'm trying to cover pretty well. I've been keeping up with optional parts for various antenna mounts, XT60 mounts, front & rear camera mounts (HD & FPV). This gives the lower bits of the A-frame a lot more utility - not only do they create a clean system for modular attachments, but also they naturally add protected areas to the frame.