I had 8x 1105 5000kV betaFPV motors laying around from the 2x BNF beta85x I bought last year for umma85 builds. I always wanted an Andy Shen frame, a X8, and with my newfound obession for micros and nekkid cams I decided to build the Smol Baby.

Initially wanted to use HGLRC mini F722 Zeus but I could not get the M8 working, even with CLI tricks. According to Pawel this is due to a hardware timer limitation. I picked up the Matek which has dedicated pads for M5-8 and no resource remapping at all was necessary. Nice! A little complicated due to having additional features I didn't need (camera switching), but that's alright!

VTX is actually PandaRC 20x20 that originally came with my Flywoo Explorer LR. The EOS also came from a beta85x BNF. I love using spare parts and all, but the EOS is pretty bad. I will probably swap it for a Baby Ratel or something.

The FC and RX were conformal coated. Liquid electrical tape used where appropriate.

I'm testing 3S 650, 4S 450, and 4S 850. The first two keep it below 250g. Trying to find the sweet spot but it can definitely fly for 3-5 minutes depending on flying style.

It feels and handles like 5" but it clearly can go places where 5" can't. Also the center of thrust of X8 being placed in the middle of the arms is a very unique feeling coming exclusively from quads. The best analogy I can describe on the feel is like going from FWD/RWD to AWD in a car.

Flying fine on BF 4.2 default PIDS but there is room for improvement. Mainly I want to squeeze a little more flight time out and maybe cool down the motors a tad as they are running a bit warm after a good rip. Tuning and videos coming soon!