Description
A new paradigm in FPV frame design and 3.5" performance
That’s what I did when this concept came to me (in a dream none the less lol, not even kidding here’s the doodle I scratched immediately after waking up)
This frame executes a simple idea in a variety of novel ways that all converge into a single purpose; uncompromised performance.
As you already know, I only like to make stuff I wish existed; and this frame is exactly that; it might not be the most robust or easiest frame to assemble or repair, but man does it hauls 🍑.
I would rather get this out of the way immediately, if you’re not confident in your building skills or you’re thinking of going bando bashing with it, this isn’t for you.
However, if you’re not one to shy away from a challenging build, and you want to push your flying to new levels, my guy do I have something for you.
Vertical, pretensioned, interlocked arms.
At the heart of the concept, the arms make the center piece holding everything together.
The vertical arms induce little to no prop obstruction, making the frame exceptionally quiet, efficient and fast.
Try lowering the nose on a juicy flick to engage warp speed as the arms align with the airflow.
This carbon fiber orientation also brings more rigidity to the frame than it has any right to be for 1.5mm thickness.
The pretension comes from tying the the tips with the motor plates, enabling remarkable motor vibration dampening.
This enables running with extremely lean filtering, improving pidloop latency and connectedness.
Lastly the interlocking arms makes for a uniquely stable assembly without the need for numerous hardware and high clamping force.
Meanwhile leaving the center open for electronics, safely nested within the heart of the frame.
More on that a little below.
Few but mighty printed parts
Quick swap, flexible battery mount
Stretches to size to quickly slide batteries in and out.
Lighter than a velcro strap, latches in place and adapts to any battery size, from 3 to 4S, ~450 to 650Mah.
Or for any other odd size the slots perfectly fit a 12mm velcro strap as well.
In addition, the TPU lipo pad helps keep the lipo from sliding, while offsetting it from the bottom sunk nuts.
Motor spacers
Structural components that help distribute the motor clamping force between both motor plates
Wingman HD Camera mount compatible
The cam pod has the same accessory slots as the Wingman for a HD cam, GPS or other.
All printed files + extras are available for download here to make your own at home
Super efficient, stealthy and long flight time
Enough about how it’s made, how does it fly?
Well you can expect unparalleled performance out of that format.
The combination of super light weight, low prop obstruction and high rigidity make for an explosive cocktail that’ll leave you speechless.
Fly faster, further and longer than you ever have on a 3.5″
See this here footage of an unhinged 3km sortie in Hong Kong 👀
The survival cell
The whole geometry of this frame revolves around the ability to install the electronics within the center area of the arms.
While it does constitutes the major part of the assembly difficulty I mentioned earlier, it also makes for one of its strongest benefits.
To get the sticking point out of the way first, what I meant by hard to build was really just that it will only fit up to 33x33mm boards, and stack up to 12mm height
Which prevents a lot of current whoop AIOs to fit, but still leaves a few excellent options such as the HM CrazyF411 or the TBS Podracer AIO.
And while leaving a fairly tight space to work with, the whole stack actually assembles out in the open to the top plate that can then be then be lowered whole into the cell.
However this all should be no trouble with a little building skills and/or patience 😎
(Or you can leave it to us and skip right to flying by ordering a pre-built for you BNF!)
Now on the upside of it all you will find your electronics most well protected from impacts of any angle, being entirely encased on all sides.
Final Words
After a year of development ironing out all the quirks I’m very confident to say this is my new favorite frame to fly;
Just the sheer oomph you get at all times, in such a compact and unobstrusive package makes it the perfect daily driver for me.
And not just me; here’s what some of the few pilots that got their hand on it during development:
“Good God damn. She moves. […]
like buying the AWP with no body armor”
__ Heads of Infinity Loops
“A glass cannon.”
__ Bkleiner of Quicksilver
“This is nice.”
__ Trappy of TBS (man of a few words I know)
To sum it up
The X-Bow is simply a cutting edge prototype race/freestyle frame made for the most extreme pilots out there.
- If you’re not afraid of a challenging build that will push you to improve your building skills
- If you want to experience a new level of speed and responsiveness in your flights
- If you want a silent and stealthy freestyle rig to rip around town without alerting the whole block
- Whether you’re into juicy, sbangy freestyle flying that could benefit from the bonkers acceleration
- Or you’re a 3 or 3.5″ spec racer that could use the extra top end and low weight in your courses
- Or you’re just a sicko like me that would ride a Koenigsegg to the grocery store
Well then if any of these sound true, this was made for you too.
Contents
- 1 x Top Plate
- 1x Bottom Plate
- 2 x Cam Pods
- 4 x Arms
- 1 x Adjustable TPU Lipo Strap
- 1 x TPU Lipo Pad
- 4 x PLA Motor Spacers
- 4 x M2 x 6mm silicone grommets (for single board stack spacing, cut to size as needed)
- 2 x M2 x 14mm custom alu standoffs (for cam pod)
- 2 x M2 nylock nuts (for cam pod)
- 6 x M2 x 5mm button hex screw (for cam pod and standoffs)
- 4 x M2 Sunk Nuts (for bottom plate)
- 4 x M2 x 16mm button hex screw (for stack and top/bottom plate)
- 10 x M2 x 10mm button hex screws (for motors)
- 10 x M2 x 8mm (for props)
Build recommendation
- Motors: 1204 ~5000KV for 3″, 1404 ~3500KV for 3.5″.
Props: Gemfan 3″ 3028-3 or 3.5″ 3525-3
AIO: Any 15-20A, 3-4S as long as the OVERALL DIMENSIONS NOT OVER 33x33mm
See our Happymodel CrazyF411Camera: Any 14mm micro cam. See our Caddx Ant
- VTX:
Analog: Any nano size VTX; see our TBS Unify Nano Pro32
- HD FPV: HDZero Whoop Lite works great, walksnail should fit as well -untested-
As long as your stack fits within 33x33mm wide and 12mm tall you should be good to go!
- Battery: The strap should allow you to use about 450 to 550, 3 to 4S Lipos.
For weights, expect about ~72g for 1404 / 3.5″ and ~62g for 1204 / 3″
Notes:
1-Only the frame kit is included. Full build pictures for reference only.
2-Due to continually ongoing development, the actual product you receive may differ from the pictures/description.
Liam Wilson (verified owner) –
I haven’t built it out yet, so i can’t comment on specifics, but the frame arrived beautifully packaged, with the hardware and relavent carbon sorted in it’s own little pockets.
It’s almost winter in canada, so I’m waiting until spring…you never know what parts will be released in 6 months.
Great work, Yves! I’ve been excited about this release ever since the teasers..
Chaotix –
Another excellent design from the mad brain of Mr F.
This is a very rewarding challenge to build, requiring lots of trial fits and adjustments to layout and wiring. I chose to use a Betafpv F7 aio which is only just able to fit and went with HDZero so included a whooplite vtx in the stack.
But, when you want to build a super fast, lightweight sports car you need to spend time cussing and trying things out. The reward is worth the trials though as this thing performs like a hyped up, supercharged Lotus (or equivalent)
I have to recommend it and give it 5 starts, it’s fantastic fun in the air.
Nice one Yves!
Lucid –
Awesome build process!! Even better performance!!