When will we see the Flite Test FT270?

[jimb2241]

I saw some internet teasers a couple of weeks ago and saw it in one of the FT videos, but haven't heard anything since. When will we see the new frame???

Many thanks!
-J

 

[flitetest]

Hey j!

I believe we will be releasing that sometime by the end of this month!! So, keep your eyes peeled!

Blessings and happy flying my friend!
Stefan

 

[bitogre]

Looks like it is available now.

 

[LitterBug]

Share your FT270!

https://store.flitetest.com/ft270-chase-quad-frame/

Has anyone picked one up yet? Curious to see some builds!

Cheers!
LitterBug

 

[elwood]

I'm happy with mine. Had it out a couple of times. Seems to be a nice rigid frame. Not as light as some, but I see that as a plus as it adds some robustness and seems to avoid tuning issues I've had on past 6" builds which I attribute to frame flex .

My only request would be that they offer 7" arms as an option/replacement.

Jim

 

[LitterBug]

Looking Good Jim! Do you have any video posted up? I will be joining you shortly with a build of my own. Really need to get this addiction to building under control.

Cheers!
LitterBug

 

[grnd flyr]

Curious if anyone is gonna try the new lighter tmotors on this frame:

T-Motor F40 2306 PRO II V2 1600KV
https://www.heli-nation.com/t-motor-f40-2305-pro-ii-v2-1600kv-fpv-series-motor-single-motor

I'm looking for longer flight times as well as a cruiser...

 

[LitterBug]

I'm doing the F80 1900kv route to keep the mass up for smoothness and will be making it 6S capable. In theory higher voltage/lower current = more efficient and the motors are good with 6S. Be a good platform to test with. Building it more for enduro/chase/cinematic rather than an all out RIP AND TEAR flyer. 7" would be good for efficiency... was hoping they would fit, but from elwood's post, sounds like they don't.

LB

 

[flitetest]

I'm happy with mine. Had it out a couple of times. Seems to be a nice rigid frame. Not as light as some, but I see that as a plus as it adds some robustness and seems to avoid tuning issues I've had on past 6" builds which I attribute to frame flex .

My only request would be that they offer 7" arms as an option/replacement.

Jim

I LOVE this frame and I am stoked to see people loving it as well!
Now, as far as 7" arms... because the bottom plate is fixed, it will be tough to do 7" inch arms... will make it quite bulky, but you never know what might show up! I know TJ is looking at another frame sometime in the near future(possibly a 5"that is changeable etc) . So, we will keep you posted!

Blessings,
Stefan

 

[elwood]

Looking Good Jim! Do you have any video posted up? I will be joining you shortly with a build of my own. Really need to get this addiction to building under control.

Thanks. No video yet. Schedule and ambient conditions have not been aligning well these days. video looks solid in the goggles though.

Curious if anyone is gonna try the new lighter tmotors on this frame:

T-Motor F40 2306 PRO II V2 1600KV
https://www.heli-nation.com/t-motor-...r-single-motor

I'm looking for longer flight times as well as a cruiser...

FWIW I'm currently running gemfan 2306 2200kv which I scavenged from another build. With the HQ 6x4.5x2 and 4s, performance is plenty good for me. Been getting around 10 min flight times out of 1800mah packs with moderate acro and cruising mixed.

I LOVE this frame and I am stoked to see people loving it as well!
Now, as far as 7" arms... because the bottom plate is fixed, it will be tough to do 7" inch arms... will make it quite bulky, but you never know what might show up! I know TJ is looking at another frame sometime in the near future(possibly a 5"that is changeable etc) . So, we will keep you posted!

Blessings,
Stefan

Stefan, thanks for the reply. Interested to see what you guys come up with. This area of bigger, longer range, longer flight time setups seems to be of interest to many right now, including me.

Jim

 

[LitterBug]

Well.... going to have to revive this thread... cuz I dug my New old FT270 frame and Motors out after picking up a Modern SpeedyBee F405 55A stack. Will be flip flopping firmware from time to time to compare features and flight characteristics between INAV and ArduPilot. Hooking EVERYTHING I possibly can up.

Frame: FT270
FC: SpeedyBee F405 V4
ESC: SpeedyBee 55A 3-6S
Motors: T-Motor F80 1900KV
Props: TBD 6"
RX: Matek R24-D ELRS Diversity
FPV: WalkSnail Avatar Pro V2
GPS: RMRC M9M with Compass
OpticalFlow/Lidar Matek 3901-LOX
LEDS: Bottom of arms.
Beeper: YES

Cheers!
LitterBug

 

[LitterBug]

Working on getting everything wired up and tested before final installation into the Frame. Have everything but the Matek Optical flow, beeper, and motors wired and tested.

Serial 1 = OSD serial to FPV
Serial 2 = ELRS
Serial 3 = Matek Optical flow/ Lidar (from what I'm reading, I should just use the baro and GPS for altitude)
Serial 4 = FC wireless/bluetooth config
Serial 5 = reserved for ESC telemetry (not used, using bidirectional Dshot)
Serial 6 = GPS

Cheers!
LitterBug

 

[LitterBug]

And now putting all the goodies in/on the frame.

And the OptiFlow/Lidar on the bottom...

 

[LitterBug]

All Sensors wired and tested. Just need to extend and hook up motor wires then button everything up.

 

[LitterBug]

Nuts.... I found every part of the frame BUT the top plate.... >sigh<

FOUND IT! Too many plastic bins full of parts. LOL

Should have been in the FT 270 Frame bag it came in. LOL

 

[LitterBug]

Mocking up the top plate hardware. The frame and top plate hardware was originally set up for arm mounted ESCs and I'm using a 4in1 ESC. I'll need 10mm taller standoffs to give enough clearance between the stack and the top plate. It's a little more complex to change the front of the top plate because it also has standoffs above it for the action camera and FPV camera mount plates. Setting it up with a Walksnail Pro camera which is significantly smaller than the typical FPV camera of the past. With a built in gyro, it will make the action camera redundant and mostly not required giving a nice place to mount the GPS/Compass.

Cheers!
LB

 

[LitterBug]

Lights.... did someone say lights??

These modern WS2812b strips with 2020SMD chips are narrower than the frame! How many LEDs do you think it would take to circumnavigate the whole frame?? The spool is 2 meters at 160 LEDs/meter. the first 102 are directly addressable by INAV as shown in the Picture. I will brake it down into equal length sub strings. there are 5 LED pads on the SpeedyBee F4 v4. 4 for the arms and one additional. Just wish INAV had more animations available. Ah well, that will be done with another project I am planning.