The 'Mayfly' Longrange sub 250g 4" Li-Ion 2S

By jeffcd on May 10, 2021

36  3,989  9

4" Long range sub 250g quadcopter with 1404 3800 KV motors.
This is the first frame I've designed myself. My goal was to make the frame as light as possible and specific for my components.
The bottom plate is 2.5mm thick and top plate is 1.5mm thick. With 20mm standoffs and screws it weighs in at 19.7g.
I designed it with 2S 18650 Li-Ion battery pack in mind, but the dry weight of 99g should allow me experiment with 2S 21700 and 3S 18650 and still squeeze it just under 250g.
I also wanted to make sure it had all the components for long distance missions, so it has a lost model buzzer/light, GPS & barometer.
It also has an ImmersionRC Ghost hybrid board which includes a long range receiver and 600mW VTX on a single 20x20 board, which made the build extra clean.

I designed the frame using Fusion 360 and had it cut by CNC Madness.
Full build log here on intoFPV forum: https://intofpv.com/t-sub250g-custom-ultralight-4-lr-ghost-build

Here's a video from my second full battery flight. 20km total distance and 33 min flight time.

BUILD UPDATE
A few changes to note, since the original design:

  • I damaged my IRC hybid board and replaced it with a Ghost Atto Duo RX and Tramp Nano VTX on a whoop proton board
  • Added TrueRC Bardpole RX antenna at the front in vertical polarization.
  • Moved Ghost qTee antenna to rear in vertical polarization
  • Replaced TrueRC Singularity to a Singularity Lite with longer coax to get it up as high as possible

Alt Tag

Photos

Part List

Flight Controller

HAKRC F411 20A AIO 26mm Support PWM Multishot Oneshot DSHOT 7g w/barometer for Toothpick FPV Racing RC Drone (2 builds)
Banggood.com
$37.10

Motors

4 x T-Motor F1404 Micro Long Range Motors 3800KV
Pyrodrone.com
$67.60

Propellers

Gemfan Hurricane 4024 Durable Bi-Blade 4" Prop 8 Pack - Choose Your Color (13 builds)
Racedayquads.com
$3.99

FPV Camera

CADDX ANT 4:3 Black Nano FPV Camera (134 builds)
Pyrodrone.com
$17.90

FPV Transmitter

IMMERSIONRC TRAMP NANO VTX 1mW-500MW 5.8Ghz 48CH Mini FPV Transmitter 20*20mm for RC Racing Drone Tiny Whoop Airplane (5 builds)
Usa.banggood.com
$37.99

Antenna

SINGULARITY 5.8 - TrueRC Canada (35 builds)
Truerc.ca
$19.99

Antenna

BARDpole 2.4 - TrueRC Canada (2 builds)
Truerc.ca
$12.99

Receiver

ImmersionRC Ghost Atto Duo – The Ultimate Racer’s Receiver (4 builds)
Pyrodrone.com
$39.99

Batteries

Sony VTC6 3000mAh 18650 Li-Ion Battery 2 Pack for X-Lite, Goggles, Vaping & DIY Packs (20 builds)
Racedayquads.com
$11.99

Radio

Radiomaster TX16S Multi protocol radio - Droneshop Custom Drones (96 builds)
Droneshop.biz
$150.00

Goggles

Orqa FPV.One Pilot FPV Goggles (6 builds)
Racedayquads.com
$568.99

3D Printed

Universal FPV Camera Mount by ItsMeAubey (2 builds)
Thingiverse.com
See Site

Misc Parts

JHE20B Quad Finder LED Buzzer Beacon w/ Internal Battery (7 builds)
Pyrodrone.com
$6.99

Misc Parts

Drone GPS Units & Modules for - RaceDayQuads (2 builds)
Racedayquads.com
$19.99

Video Receiver

TBS Fusion Goggle VRx Video Receiver Module (9 builds)
Pyrodrone.com
$129.95
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Discussion

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MarinX   Dec 17, 2021  

Great build.
I was thinking buying the HAKRC FC to build a similar drone but I'm getting confused how to to connect GPS module on the board. I cant find any manual.
Could you show how you connected all parts to the board?
Thank you.

FPV_Jim   Dec 12, 2021  

Looks sick! Could you send me the cut files?

LazyBird   May 28, 2021  
1

frame looks awesome! how long did ot take

jeffcd   May 28, 2021 
1

Thanks. I'm not sure, but it probably took me about a week to design a couple hours here and there after work. Maybe a week or so before that sort of researching ideas and sketching up ideas.

Wooli   May 20, 2021  

Clever build ! would you share your pids and filter setting ? i m in trouble with similar setup in 2s ( but heaviest)

jeffcd   May 21, 2021 
1

Thanks! I added my current PID settings to the build.
I didn't spend a ton of time tweaking these, but it seems to fly ok with these settings.

Wooli   May 24, 2021 

thanks ,
!

Polymerization   May 19, 2021  
1

That is a really good idea, I think 2s 18650 for under 250g needs more attention. Nice build and frame design!

jeffcd   May 19, 2021 

Thanks!

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