FPV RAPTOR PROS & CONS

by aviationrcfpv | July 14, 2013 | (4) Posted in Reviews

THE PROS & CONS OF THE FPV RAPTOR FROM HOBBYKING

 

 I have owned the fpv raptor for a while now and would like to share my experience with the plane and my outlook on it.

 The plane is a great fpv platform for those who are wanting to step up from bear back fpv. This plane can carry a pretty good load personally I carry on a normal flight my gopro (with case), board cam, fpv transmitter, rc receiver, 2x 2200mah 3cells and the nova storm osd with rth I find that the plane dose handle the load okay but it dose feel the weight. I have also used it with just one 2200mah 3cell and I am getting around 14 minutes of a fully charged battery I would imaging it would be a little better without the gopro but I figure 14min is very good considering that one battery runs everything.

-Cons:

-The plane seems underpowered and I even experimented with a bigger power system and it failed as it was to tail heavy and I could not get the cg right. And because of the extra wait it was still underpowered. 

-The plastic body makes it hard to repair in the event of a crash I am on my second raptor trust me they are not as to repair as a full foamy.

-They have a lot of room inside but it is hard to use because you cannot get your hands in there I personally cut the flat part in front of the wing so it hinged up making it easy to work inside. 

- Even though you have that room its hard to lay the electronics out because of the holes in the plywood bed inside.

-I found that the flaps were kind of useless and didn’t really effect the flight.

-Screws should of been locktighted in the side of the plane as they vibrate out and fall inside the fuse. I had a osd in the plane and a screw made its way into the osd board and I got some magic smoke and lost my osd. :(

-The plane is underpowered and the motor gets pretty hot 

- I upgraded the esc to a 50amp Hobbyking esc its overkill but is always cool and the motor is as well for some reason. 

-The latch is pretty dodgy so its a good idea to throw a rubber band or two over it.

-The prop cone that comes with it is well just throw it away rubbish.

---Okay now the pros

-The plane cruses beautiful and glides well with a low payload.

-Its great for long flights (when using a bigger mah battery)

- I get 10.5km on a small 2200mah 3cell and that really having some fun with it

- The hardware apart from the nose cone is good quality 

-The servos are really good but very noisy 

-The plane is strong and can handle hard belly landings and some small crashes.

-They used a good amount of braising not sure if its carbon but its strong.

-The wing is strong and can handle a lot.

-Its very smooth and gives great video. 

-It has a good amount of control.

-Its fun!!

-Good quality fuse

 

Okay so personally I love this plane it fly’s great yes it has some problems but I its worth the money and the time setting it up to your liking I find it pointless to even try upgrading to a bigger motor. The plane is perfect for long flights and some low flying. All in all if your looking for a upgrade from a bear back fpv foamy this is the plane you want if you want to get into some long range flight then this is what you want. 

Thank you for taking the time to read my review.

Be sure to check my Youtube channel for some fpv videos with this plane. Also some other mutirotor videos and soon some builds and reviews cheers. 

Quick video of some fun flying I apologies for the scenery.  

- See more at: http://www.flitetest.com/articles/fpv-raptor-pros-cons#sthash.kjeNoWaW.dpuf

WATCH IN 1080

PT2

 

COMMENTS

Buckeyegator on July 19, 2013
No punctuation made for a difficult read also.

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jerimiah85 on July 19, 2013
!3arn t0 Re@d don't point thing out that don't matter and make the guy rewrite his article.
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aviationrcfpv on July 19, 2013
i will rewrite it and fix the grammar and punctuation
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aviationrcfpv on July 19, 2013
fixed all the writing :)

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jerimiah85 on July 19, 2013
Wow people are crying about Grammar now? Your all on a site that make planes out of dirt cheap foam yet missing period here and there and you have to point it out? So anyway nice video I'd take off there comments if they cant be positive .
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aviationrcfpv on July 20, 2013
thanks jeimiah and i don't mind it was pretty bad before i rewrote it and im just trying to make things easier for people to read it
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johanjonker on July 19, 2013
Does it all have to be in CAPS?
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aviationrcfpv on July 19, 2013
i will rewrite soon
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rchacker on July 20, 2013
Nice, I am yet to maiden mine. I had high hopes for the flaps perhaps they will still work as crow brakes. Good to see a written article. I have chosen a TURNIGY D2826-6 2200KV with a 6x4 APC prop.
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aviationrcfpv on July 20, 2013
let me know how your power system goes i would of thought that it may not have enough guts i would think that it would be better for a smaller plane anyway the stock motor and prop are pretty good if i was to do a motor conversion on it again be sure to check the motors weight but i hope it works out for you good luck and thank you
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zodrik on July 22, 2013
nice plane i own one and I upgrade the morot with tyrbugy 3536 1450kw 60 amp esc 8/6 prop,change the motor mount angle and now hand lunch is really easyI estend 3/4 inch the elevator ,to make fast take off from frozen lake,snow or grass,over all i like the plane,but the size kill the versatility to fly in a parc,you really need a big aerea to enjoy this plane,i made a video on youtube where i tryed a low pass with the raptor, go an check ,my channel zodrik81
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aviationrcfpv on July 22, 2013
nice, just watched the video its funny every video i watch with the fpv raptor the videos always so smooth i waiting on a couple of kk2 bords for flight stablelasation put that on the raptor its going to be insane
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zodrik on July 22, 2013
thanks,really you'll see a big difference with kk2 OpenAreo2,but i prefer orange stabilizer,cause i did not like the autolevel feature,the raptor is already a stady plane but the stabilization helps a lot to keep the flie smoot in a wind day
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aviationrcfpv on July 23, 2013
thoughts on the nova osd pa mode?
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zodrik on July 23, 2013
well i don't own one,but I made a lot of reading about....and is a great product....but personaly i prefer stabilazer a ArduPilot Mega+osd ...
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aviationrcfpv on July 23, 2013
fair enough im thinking of getting another apm so i can do way points

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aviationrcfpv on July 22, 2013
just a heads up the mounting on this wing sucks if you have a small crash is will just rip the screws through the foam wing. if you can fit this plane in you car with the wing on you might want to glue it on a lot stronger personally i glued everything on
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FPV RAPTOR PROS & CONS