Ycopter 350 Kit Review

Ycopter has been producing excellent Flitetest videos and articles regarding capturing aerial video for a few years now and I've always been a fan of his work, so when I heard he was releasing a kit of one of his own designs, I jumped at the chance to get my hands on one of the first kits off the production line.

THE BUILD
The kit comes across well packaged (see photo) and I relished the chance of a good builders kit to sink my teeth into. The machine was designed with one thing in mind, smooth, vibration free and prop free video. So you'll soon notice that the machine comprises of 3 layers. The top layer is the clean plate and the bottom two layers are the dirty (vibrating) plates which hold the motors and propellers. Large bore silicon tube provides the cushion between the clean and dirty section to make sure no vibration makes it through to the final video as well as keeping the flight controller isolated from any unwanted vibration. 

Although the vibration mounts are supplied made up and ready to use in the kit, if you need to replace one they are easy to make. Ycopter has produced a video on how to construct the se isolation mounts so be sure to check that out here http://www.flitetest.com/articles/diy-vibration-isolation-mounts

The wooden motor arms simply plug into the frame. This means that the arms can be easily and cheaply replaced with stock 12mm (half inch) square wood section. For me this is a huge advantage over expensive CNC milled aluminium or other parts that can't be easily replaced.

The first part of the build was actually quite cosmetic - I decided to paint the wooded booms supplied red to match the promotional shots of the Ycopter 350. The red looks quite striking against the black and actually gives the quad a distinct look compared to anything else on the market. Following Ycopter's recommended parts, I opted for the NTM Prop Drive 28-26 1100kv motors (short shaft version) and the Afro ESC 30Amp Multi-rotor Motor Speed Controllers (SimonK Firmware). The frame itself went together really well but I would advise anyone building this to take your time. There are a lot of bolts and washers for this build so you really need to take special care not to mix any of the different bolt types up. Once the frame and ESCs are in place the whole thing feels really snug and secure. The NTMs swing APC 8 X 3.8 SF propellers which give a nice smooth response (make sure to balance the props).

For the controller board I went with one of Ycopter's recommend boards, the KK2. (He also recommends the Naze32). The KK2 as many will know is really easy to set up due to having it's own screen and using Ycopter's PID settings that he provides on the website, no time will be needed tuning so you'll soon be getting excellent results from your first few flights. One added bonus of the frame is that it's possible to mount a Gopro in it's original case or alternatively use a frame mount. Not only does this help keep your expensive camera protected it also means you can easily adjust the camera angle to suit your flying style.

FLIGHT TESTING
This is where the machine really shows it's true colours. It's an absolute joy to fly. It feels smooth, refined and needs very little forward pitch to gain full speed. This is essential for producing good video as it keeps the camera feeling like its gliding through the air, without too much pilot input. The transitions from high altitude dive to fast low altitude flight is seamless. It often feels like it's flying on invisible rails. The video produced from this frame gives an almost gimbal like quality, but without the sterile feel that gimbal footage can sometimes create. Even though the frame is primarily designed for smooth video it can also hold it's own at an aerobatic level too. Flips, rolls and spiral dives will be performed with ease, so if you just feel like throwing it around and having some fun it ticks that box too.

Overall I would say this frame represents great value for money because it's so strong and well designed there is no need for expensive Tiger motors or exotic flight controller boards. The frame does such a good job of isolating vibration I would recommend the Ycopter350 to anyone who has a passion for smooth aerial video or anyone who's in the market for a high performing, medium sized multi-rotor. To see some of my initial flights using Ycopters PIDs see the video below:

For more info visit: http://www.ycopter.co.uk