Today the $170 Raven clone we were talking about the other day arrived. Here are some quick impressions after unpacking it.
First, it's BIG. The wingspan is 60" (152 cm), which is about 15% bigger than the real Raven RQ-11 (130cm). Here you can see it head to head with a stock EasyStar.
The build quality seems pretty good. It's all balsa/ply, with no fiberglass or plastic. The tail boom is an aluminum tube. None of it seems very sturdy, however--this is nothing like the real Raven, which is made of carbon fiber and kevlar and designed to crash land.
However, the model comes with NO instructions, and I really have no idea how the wing is supposed to attach to the body, or where the CG is supposed to be, to say nothing of where the rudder and elevator servos are supposed to go, since the interior of the body is totally empty. There are hatches in the wing for the aileron servos, but no mounting rails.
The tail boom just slides into a hole in the body. I guess you're supposed to drill screw holes or something. No clues given.
The motor mount. No information given on suggested motor or prop.
Here's the inside of the body. Basically, this is an empty vessel. You'll have to do a lot of work creating a plywood interior framework for electronics and such.
It comes with a small bag of generic hardware, including some joke foam wheels and mounting brackets for landing gear that it doesn't have. This is almost certainly a hardware pack intended for another plane. There seems to be no connection to the Raven, although the control horns and fabric hinges could certainly be used on this model. Perplexing...
Bottom line: I really don't think this is the plane for me. Even with instructions, this is going to take many hours to get ready to fly. It's going to be hard to transport, with its large size and one-piece wing, and I'm worried about how it will handle hard landings. The tail boom mount looks fragile to me, and I really can't see how the wing mount can be anything but a fracture waiting to happen.
I think this might work as a very large display model for shows, but I can't really see it holding up to much real flying.
And without instructions, I wouldn't even try making it. For a $170 model, I'd expect more polish. In short, based on what I've seen so far, I can't recommend this.
Comments
Hi Chris
I heard now, you are in trouble with US Army FPV Airplane.
First of all, I am sorry for instruction manual. And why did not send e-mail me?
I can tell you about main wing, there two screw holes on the main wing. Please find them. They areunder the covering film. Open them. There are 2 nuts over the body please find them. They are under the covering film also. There are two long screws in the original box. You can fit the main wing to body with 2 long screws. Please look below photo:
There are 2 servo holes at the bottom side of main wing for aileron servos. Please fit servos like below photos.
For rudder and elevator servos, please open a long hole from near the rudder. Hole side of aluminium tail boom. This hole for rudder and elevator servos cables. Put the servos cables in the aluminum tail boom and get them inside to front of body.
We are use 2835-08 FSD brushless motor with this airplane. 3-4S LiPo can use. As prop 9060 APC as well. You can 30-40A ESC with this motor. Maximum current is 25A
I suggest 4S 3000-4500mAh LiPo batteries for this airplane.
2835-08 brushless motor link from USA is: http://cgi.ebay.com/MP2835-08-1038kv-Brushless-Outrunner-68g-RC-Max...
If you are unhappy with this airplane, you can send back to me. I can refund your payment. We have phisical store in Istanbul since 2004, our customers is important for us.
Sorry for my English :)
Best regards from Istanbul.
FPVhobby team
Adnan.
Not sure what you mean by "where taper begins"
Video
I'm still a little unsure of paying for the Raven wanna-be, but I do like the one Hooks was touting off about :). I lists for a little more than $35.00 USD after conversion, which is very do'able.
"Hooks"
I also like this plan, which does have video of it flying. It converts to little more than $50.00 USD.
Here's an attempt at linking to video:
Hmmmm...
For anyone who is still interested in giving this semi-ARF kit a try, it can be purchased for half the price through TaoBao – China’s equivalent of EBay. You will need a webpage translator (Google Chrome web browser comes with one built-in).
You can read about TaoBao here and here. You will need an agent to purchase your desired items for you – most charge 10% of the purchase price for the service.
One TaoBao store (similar to EBay merchant stores) that sells the Raven clone also sells some of the other airframes listed on the Turkish FPV site.
I’ve done some quick currency conversions using Google for the same airframe listed at the store:
Airframe: 500 RMB => 73.25 US dollars
EMS Shipping: 40 RMB => 5.86 US dollars
10% Agent Fee: 7.91 US dollars (assuming they include shipping when they calculate the cost)
Total = 87.02 US dollars
Looks a bit more reasonably priced.
Could you not go for the great favourite of dowels and rubber bands Chris?? They will have that shock absorbing property.
--@bGatti: This was not made or designed in Turkey. It was designed and made in China. It just happens to be sold by a Turkish website. And this is not just an example of a plane that's a little rough around the edges and needs to be flown to test: THERE IS NO WAY TO ATTACH THE WING. If someone can show me how to either fly the plane without a wing, or how to create a mounting assembly for the wing, I'd be happy to hear it.
--@Matthew M. No, we are not developing our own airframe. I was rough on the plane because it's expensive and unflyable.
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