So this is my 2-inch backyard flyer. It was mostly made from spare parts, some extra motors that I got when they were on sale, and the Flysmart-HD98 frame that I had been meaning to do something with. The frame will take up to 2.3 inch props, but it's tight and if a 2.3 inch prop flexed at all they'd chop into the battery. These are the emax 2.3 inch props trimmed to 2 inch. It is its namesake, a brute.
I don't typically paint drone frames but I thought I'd give it a try to see how long it would last. The paint job is black engine enamel with an overcoat of cheap pink enamel, then baked for an hour at 140F. Yes I did say pink (now red), the pink is like a 2 dollar can of noname flat enamel. The crackling effect was a happy accident.
I knew what I wanted before I built this...small, top mount, no props in the fpv feed. I really wanted to put a set of open bottom 1105's on this, but I couldn't find anyone that had them in stock and the slow boat has been a 2+ month wait since the plague stuck. So right now, 28 grams of the 86 gram dry weight is all motor.
PROS: Flight time is, on average, about 2 minutes...you can push it out longer if you aren't tearing it up. It does have a lot of power, punch outs are great, the battery only sags at full throttle. Max amp pull is about 26A total. COG is dead on, great balance. The motors did get a little warm (not hot at all) on the maiden flight, but i am running BF stock pids and it was 90 degrees outside. It is surprisingly durable. My very first pre-flight test ended up in a fly away due to a configuration error. With almost no throttle the quad shot about 40 feet into the air spinning violently and then made a sharp left into the woods to hit the ground with a thud. It happened so quick I barely got a chance to hit the fail-safe. It was perfectly fine though...zero damage.
CONS: I think it is just slightly too heavy for 2 inch props. It would probably be perfect if I can cut about 10-15 grams off it with some lighter motors. It does handle ok, and I will be experimenting with different props. When you corner, you can feel the quad's momentum pulling you and you do need to push it a bit more than normal to keep it tight. Some 4 blade props and fine tuning may solve this.