MMM Part 1 - The Sparrow

[ElectriSean]

March Micro Madness part 1 - The Sparrow

As you probably know, Transport Canada drank the safety kool-aid and, in the interest of protecting the privacy and the children of our Great White North, has decreed that anything over 250 grams is illegal to fly anywhere but a MAAC sanctioned field, or on private property - if that property falls within about 15 pages of rules. (If you think that sentence was long, try reading the regulations ) I knew it was coming last year, so I built a 2" Airblade UAV Creampuff, but that thing was nothing more than a continuous string of headaches. I have nearly completed the transplant to a new frame, but that will be part 2

Right around my birthday in Jan. I started seeing reviews of the GepRC Sparrow. Everyone got the BnF version, which had a few flaws - F3 with no OSD being the main one. Other than that, everyone gushed about the power and toughness. All the components are available individually, so I got a purple frame (BnF's are all titanium) and the upgraded F4 FC with OSD that fit's in the same sweet little stack. I finally found some motivation and started on it last weekend. I still have a couple finishing touches (shorten battery lead, zip tie 5.8 antenna) but here it is, in all it's glory:



Technically over 250g but the shortened battery lead will drop it at least a gram or 2. Probably going to have to carry a scale with me





The stuff:

GepRC Sparrow GEP-MX3 139mm frame kit
HGLRC XJB F428 Micro F4 Flight controller
HGLRC 28A 4 In 1 ESC
XJB TX20 Mini 5.8G VTx
FrSky R-XSR
RunCam Micro Swift 2
GepRC SpeedX GR1408 3500KV motors
3042 3 blade props
4S 850mah Tattu batteries

I hovered it in my living room and it seems rock solid, I can't wait to get out and see what it can do. But it's snowing yet again, so the real maiden will have to wait.

 

[PsyBorg]

Shhh don't say that too loud or the next regulation will be the scale has to be DOT certified and will have a registration fee as well as mandated yearly certifications to pay for.

I am liking that little frame though. That lil thing is gonna be insane on 4s. The Gremlins are a handful at full throttle on 3s so this is crazy hahaha.

 

[kpixels]

March Micro Madness part 1 - The Sparrow

The stuff:

GepRC Sparrow GEP-MX3 139mm frame kit
HGLRC XJB F428 Micro F4 Flight controller
HGLRC 28A 4 In 1 ESC
XJB TX20 Mini 5.8G VTx
FrSky R-XSR
RunCam Micro Swift 2
GepRC SpeedX GR1408 3500KV motors
3042 3 blade props
4S 850mah Tattu batteries

Man that is FANTASTIC!!! Thanks for sharing...

 

[PsyBorg]

Sean you got this bad boy in the air yet? any video?

 

[ElectriSean]

Sean you got this bad boy in the air yet? any video?

Sadly no, we had an arctic front move in a couple weeks ago and is still sticking around. Hasn't even been above freezing during the day, overnight lows have been -20C and lower so the snow has barely melted at all. It's supposed to warm up a bit next week, but there's still more snow to come We had nicer weather and less snow on the ground in December...

 

[ElectriSean]

We've finally had enough days on the proper side of freezing to get rid of most of the snow, end even dry up the ground in a few places. Yesterday was gorgeous so I charged up a few packs and did a proper maiden. Initial impressions are that this thing is crazy. On stock PIDs it was locked right in, though there are some pretty nasty oscillations that don't really show up in the video, but you can definitely hear them. I spent some time tuning, but much more is required... Loving the LUA script for that - land, tweak, take off, repeat

So here it is, my first "edit" with proper editing software, and also my first non-whoop flights with the new goggles. Super impressed all around, this is going to be an awesome summer.