My shipment from HobbyKing arrived today. Among a few other things, the new Quad Frame V1 was in the box. I was pretty excited to get this and see if it was worth the $14.
When I opened up the shipping box I noticed that HK packaged the frame parts in its' own box instead of having just a bag of parts. I opened that up and to my surprise, the arms had been pre-assymbled! Everything was grouped and packed nicely in bags. The only thing that I did not see...Instructions! Who reads them anyways, right?
I pressed on and started to dry fit everything. All of the pieces clipped together nicely and in no time, I had the frame mocked up. I am very happy with the construction, it seems to be well done. The only thing that I think will be a problem is the landing gear. Right now it just seems too flimsy to last. I did not glue/screw anything together yet, but I don't think that will change much. Also, as you can see in the first photo, the gear orientation is for + flying setup only. I'm sure I can mod it to work for X without much effort. I was wrong, I figured it out.
Overall I would have to say that this frame will do just fine. Once I get everything installed I'll give you all an update, but at this point I would easily recommend this frame, especially since it cost less than I paid for the materials to build my own. Mine did not have gear or a camera mount!
Here are some stats and additional photos, I hope it helps.
Motor to Motor distance: 19.5"
Ground Clearance (without camera mount): 4.5"
Inside area: ~5"
Inside Height: 2"
Dry Fit Weight: 5.7 oz
Comments
ops..and the site for all the drawings and files....
https://openkopterframe.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/openkopterframe/
That is a good looking frame...Amazing what Hammer from the MikroKopter forums created with his frame design.....you can see my version here:
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1093510&page=13...
I cut it on my CNC machine out of G10....but for the price HK is charging for this...who can resist?