Diatone GTR 349 to Gecko 4" Transplant

By SeeWell on Apr 18, 2020

13  1,054  14

Never really loved the stock GTR so decided in the end to bump it up to a 4". Its new all up weight with the 850 4S is a very respectable 257g.

Mods to make it work were simple, rotated FC 180 on yaw and extended the motor wires for motors 4 & 2 since the ESC is in the back. I had matching heat shrink for the original orange, bit clunky but the colours match... toss up.

Photos

Discussion

Sign in to comment

-X3-   Apr 26, 2020  

Nice, I've put the GT-R349 guts in a (knock-off) Acrobrat but it's really too heavy to be as nimble as I'd like... Plus I've added a Caddx Turtle and a 800mW VTX...290g with a 750mAh 4S makes it a flying brick. I'm considering a swap in a 4" frame (the Gecko is the better choice IMO), do you have good low end resolution with the somewhat high KV motors ?

Show 1 more comment
-X3-   Apr 27, 2020 

Thank you for your answer... I'm definitely going to take the 4" way next month and order a frame (the Gecko or the Armattan model "Bando Basher" that seems really good and half the price...) Will surely post it there

-X3-   May 13, 2020 
1

Well, plans have changed a little. I finally ordered an AirbladeUAV Intrepid 4" frame and swapped everything in it. It's awesome ! The autonomy went from 3-4 min to 5-6min and the quad has much more control. Throttle is smoother in the low end yet powerful at full power. And AUW is 30g less than before !

SeeWell   May 13, 2020 

Fantastic! I think the Airblade frames are a better deal also. Enjoy the flying!

SeeWell   Nov 10, 2019  

Waiting on the new frame but swapped in the Micro Eagle

Show 4 more comments
superdad3d   May 08, 2020 

have you tried flying it without the gopro? how much does the session weigh?

SeeWell   May 08, 2020 

I've flown it without the gopro a few times while I was getting the FPV view dialed in. The session weighs 73g, without that on board it flies fantastic in my opinion, its only about 12g or so more than the gtr349 but with 4" props. I generally only fly it for the purpose of the gopro footage though, if I'm just flying for kicks its usually the TP3 that I'll take with me. So much quieter and only about 108g auw so no one gives me grief for ripping around the soccer field or really anywhere.

SeeWell   May 08, 2020 

@Belly3D I'm hoping to get out this weekend with it and get some good footage. There is a nice gully and stream that I've been eyeing... see if the weather cooperates.

SeeWell   Apr 19, 2020  

Flew a couple packs yesterday with the gopro session onboard and it flew extremely well and got just under 3:30 mins flight time flying freestyle. Needs a bit more tweeking of the PIDS with the extra weight, was getting a touch of bounce back on some quick moves but otherwise really REALLY happy with this new setup.

Guides & Reviews

Jun 21, 2021

AirbladeUAV has done it again and this time they've brought long range to the 5" class! Based on the popular Transformer Mini, the new Transformer 5" Ultralight adopts a lot of the same design philosophies with larger props and more payload capacity. It can fly upwards of 20 minutes on a 4 cell Li-Ion battery pack and in ideal conditions it's got a range of over 4 to 5 miles. In this guide I'll walk..

Read more
Mar 04, 2021

With the release of the DJI FPV Drone cinematic FPV has become a lot more accessible, but you certainly don't want to crash a $750 drone! The QAV-CINE Freybott is a compact, lightweight cinematic FPV drone that can take a hit and keep going. It's a lot safer to fly indoors and around people. With a naked GoPro or the SMO 4k you can capture some great stabilized footage. In this guide I'll show you..

Read more