Strix StratoSurfer
© Mark Qvale - January, 2018
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| New plane! Ready for some graphics and maiden |
Introduction
I decided to try something different and having never gone down the Bixler style road, the Strix StratoSurfer seemed like a good place to start. Also, after reading much about this plane, I decided to start with a larger motor/prop combo. For flight management/control I'll be starting with an Omnibus F3Pro flight controller to keep it light and simple.
Here then is a collection of my build notes and eventually a flight review of this plane.
General Specifications
Distributor - BangGood USA
Aircraft - X-UAV Mini Talon
Build Date - April 2017
| Airframe Type - | Top Wing FPV Specialist | All-Up Weight - | 55oz (1565g) w/ 4S/7000 Li-ion Pack | |
| Wingspan - | 59 inches (1500mm) | 56oz (1586g) w/ 4S/5200 Li-Poly Pack | ||
| Length - | 39 inches (1000mm) | COG - | 65mm - 70mm @ Wing root (Stock) | |
| Wing Area - | 2.95 ft^2 (27.4dm^2) | Wing Load w/5200mAh/4S - | 18.9 oz/ft^2 (58g/dm^2) | |
| Motor - | Sunnysky 2216-1250kv | Max Continuous Power (4S) - | 370 watts continuous (4S) | |
| Propeller - | 7 x 6 Aeronaut Cam Carbon Folder | Max Prop Power - | 295 watts @ 2550ft ASL | |
| Static Thrust - | 1135g @ 2550ft ASL | Static Thrust/Weight - | 0.72 | |
| Battery Type - | 4S1P Lipo -or- Li-ion | Battery Capacity - | 5200mAh/10C or 7000mah/3C | |
| In flight efficiency - | TBA | Flight Time - | TBA | |
Components/Flight Gear
Below is the approximate layout of installed components:
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Power Set-up
For power on this build I have chosen the Sunnysky X2216-1250kv. For an ESC, I will start with a HobbyKing Blue Series 40A with extra Low ESR capacitors added. At some point I will replace the Blue Series ESC with a Hobbywing Flyfun v5 40A unit to get active freewheeling.
- Motor - Sunnysky 2216-1250kv
- ESC - Blue Series 40A
- Prop - Aeronaut Cam Carbon Folder, 8x7
- For more informaion on setting up a pusher folding prop - How To - Set-Up a Pusher Style Folding Prop
- Battery - Multistar 4S/5200, 10C or a 4S/7000 Li-Ion
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| Mounted with a 7x6 Aeronaut folder |
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Motor Mount
For the motor mount I designed and printed one that spaces the motor 6mm rearward and 19mm above the original mount to get the clearance needed for 7" & 8" props. Additionally, I printed a cowl to protect the motor and direct cooling air to the rear of the motor.
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| Motor mount parts |
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| Mounted |
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| Front and rear views |
ESC Mount
I decided to design and print a simple mount to hold the ESC. It mounts with four M3x6mm nylon screws and a wire tie to hold the ESC. This print is sized for a 25mm wide ESC.
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| ESC craddle |
Flight Control
For flight control I have chosen the Omnibus F3Pro from Banggood. It is very inexpensive and in my experience completely reliable.
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- w/iNav 1.8.1
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| All wired up! |
FC Mount
To mount the FC I drilled out the existing mount holes to 2.3mm then tapped them to M3 and flooded the tapped holes with thin CA. This makes them more than strong enough for a set of rubber M3x6mm stand-offs.
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| FC mount |
RC Control
For radio gear I am using my standard DragonLink V2 system. I have mounted the DL dipole inside the verticle stabilizer. The RX is mounted on a printed deck below the GPS mount.The printed part is glued in with contact cement but you could also use E6000 or UHU-POR.
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| DragonLink UHF antenna |
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| RX mount |
GPS Mount
For the GPS I created a mount plate to replace the white plate on the rear of the fuse. This is sized for a Ublox Mini M7 GPS.
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FPV Gear
For an initial setup I am using the stock foam cowl piece with simple mounts for the FPV camera, VTx and HD camera. I will be changing to printed canopies as I did on my MiniTalon builds to get a more aerodynamic profile and cool looks! Here are the initial components and a picture of their mounts:
- VTx - RMRC 800mw, 1.3G
- FPV Camera - HS1184 with 2.8 lens
- HD Camera - Mobius Mini
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| Initial FPV gear |
Airframe
Stabilizers
On the tail linkage I used the stock linkage bits with Hextronic MG14 metal gear digital servos.
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Wings
Nothing new or special here. I added 1" (25mm) of 3 mil laminate to the leading edge. Linkage is the same as the elevators and servos are Corona DS929MG's.
Fuselage
The beauty of a plastic fuselage is it is already very durable. Because of where I fly (and land) I still felt I needed a little more protection on the nose and rear skid so I designed up a couple of skids which conform to the fuselage shape. The new nose skid also has a provision for a bolt-on tow hook which I will add later. These are printed in ABS at 80% infil for durability. For glue, I used E6000 which is similar to UHU-POR and Beacons FoamTac.
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| Front skid |
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| Rear skid (with excessive glue) |
Kit/Build Review
I opted for the bare bones kit because I live and fly at 2500ft or more altitude and it has been my experience that most PNP setups are underpowered and supplied with very cheap servos, etc. With that said, all in all this is a very nice kit. The linkage components in mine are well made and nicely installed. There are very nice stiffeners in the control surfaces and having the channels pre-cut in the wings for servo wires is a big plus.
The plastic fuselage is also a treat. Using plastic makes for an enormous amount of room, it is very stiff and has a nice battery tray pre-installed.
Here are some points for improvement (in my opinion):
- Please! Stop producing kits like this that will only take a 6" prop. Anyone serious about FPV is going to weight it down with gear and packs and a 6 inch prop is not an efficient way to go. Also very noisy.
- Include an optional large prop motor mount for those of us that want to spend more money on motors and props.
- The screw holding the tail together should be much closer to the bottom of the fuse so you can get it out. A socket head cap screw would help as well.
- The four screws holding the wing and motor pod in place are difficult to get in and out which makes it difficult to break this down for travel. Changing them to socket head cap screws would be a big improvement.
- Change the main wing spar to a more common CF round tube that slips into a tube in each wing panel. This would make it much easier to take the wings apart. I simply can't get mine apart without damaging them.
- Put some stabilization inside the fuse on each side of the wooden FC mount. This piece is well glued but it still moves around too much. I inserted two pieces of foam down each side to dampen the movement.
Maiden!
Maiden - 01 January, 2018
The maiden was uneventful in terms of drama (well, except on the launch!) which is always a good thing. The weather was perfect with temp at ~70F a very light breeze and clear skies. From a flying standpoint, the StratoSurfer flies well, very controllable, nice yaw response and can be landed slow enough (for me!) without the use of flaps which I haven't installed. The prop I selected, an Aeronaut 7x6 folder is a bit weak as far as climb-out and launch and I will be changing this to an 8x6 Graupner folder for the next flights. The iNav FC needs some tuning and board alignment adjustment but it did its job and kept the plane stable when asked.
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| Post maiden! |
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Maiden Day - 15 January, 2018 |
Mods/Changes/Add-ons
Below are some canopy concepts I am working on for this plane. There is a short canopy which directly replaces the small foam piece and a longer canopy that covers the entire front end.
The short canopy with bevelled edges to fit the middle foam piece is shown with a cut-out for a Mobius/Runcam camera or bolt-on components for the Pan and Tilt and Roll gimbals. The bolt on components are the same ones (interchangeable) as on my MiniTalons. With a shell thickness of 1.4mm, the plain canopy (no cut-outs) will be close to 21g.
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| Short canopy profile |
 
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| Two short canopy styles |
I haven't developed the cut-outs for the long canopy yet but here is the basic shape and how it fits on the fuselage. With a shell thickness of 1.4mm the weight would be close to 42g.
 
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| Long Canopy concept |
- Stay tuned!
Project 3D Print Files
Below are the 3D print files shown in this build.
- General print notes:
- 1. All parts are shown printed in PushPlastics ABS filament
- 2. Motor mount and front & rear skids are printed at 80% infil, all others are 20-40%
- 3. All weights are as printed and subject to change depending on printer/slicer set-up
- 4. Print orientation is dependent on printer/slicer set-up, please rotate if necessary
| Image | Part Number | Part Description | Weight | Print File | Compatibility Notes |
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52136 | ESC Mount | 6.7g | 52136.STL | 25mm wide ESC craddle mount |
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52137 | GPS Mount | 3.3g | 52137.STL | Mount for a Ublox Mini 7M GPS |
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52138 | Motor Cowl | 4.0g | 52138.STL | Motor and mount cover |
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52139 | RX Mount | 4.2g | 52139.STL | Mount platform for DL RX |
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52140 | 19mm Offset Motor Mount | 3.1g | 52140.STL | Motor mount to allow 7 & 8 inch props |
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52141 | Rear Skid | 2.0g | 52141.STL | Glue on rear skid |
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52142 | Front Skid | 12g | 52142.STL | Fuselage glue on front skid (print on edge) |
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52108 | VTx Saddle Mount | 2.7g | 52108.STL | Saddle mount for a 26mm x 50mm VTx |
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47010 | HS1184 Camera Mount | 4.9g | 47010.STL | Simple box camera mount for the Surveilzone HS1184 FPV camera |
See Also
Some of the Vendors I used for this project
Comments? Questions?
