Last month, Flyfish sent me a few of their newest frames to test out. In this post, I’ll share my insights on these frames, focusing on their design purposes and considerations. The new additions include the Tony 5, Atlas 4, and Fifty 5.
New to FPV? Check out my buyer’s guide about FPV drone frames: https://oscarliang.com/fpv-drone-frames/
Table of Contents
Tony 5: Ultra Light 5-inch Frame
Where to Buy?
Get the Tony5 frame from these vendors:
What’s Special?
The Tony 5 stands out as the most interesting frame among the three we are going to talk about today, primarily due to its ultra-lightweight design. Weighing just over 58g, it’s the ideal frame for building a sub-250g 5-inch drone—a crucial weight limit in some countries before requiring a drone license.
My previous attempt at building an ultralight 5″ drone, the BetaFPV X-Knight, faced challenges with vibrations despite its power and agility. I plan to transfer its components to the Tony5, hoping for improved performance.
Design and Build Quality
The Tony5 frame features notably skinny arms, contributing to its lightweight yet sacrificing durability against crashes. This is not the frame for bando style flying and bashing.
The arms are 4mm thick, with top and bottom plates at 2mm. FlyfishRC’s attention to detail is evident in the rounded edges of all carbon fiber parts, enhancing build quality and handling.
Despite its rigidity and ease of assembly, the availability of spare parts seems limited to full-frame purchases – I cannot find spare arms available on their website.
The frame is designed for sub-250g builds without compromising on features, offering compatibility with DJI O3 and all micro-size FPV cameras. However, achieving the sub-250g weight may be more feasible with an analog setup. The frame supports 20×20 and 25.5×25.5mm flight controller stacks, excluding 30x30mm options.
Atlas 4: Long Range 4-inch Frame
Where to Buy?
Get the Atlas 4 frame from these vendors:
What’s Special?
The Atlas4, similar to the Flywoo Explorer, is a lightweight 4-inch frame designed for long range.
It stands out with its roomy body, allowing easier component fitting without the constraints faced by the Explorer. It also supports larger 25.5×25.5mm flight controllers, as well as 20x20mm stacks, but not 16x16mm stacks.
Weighing 51g, the Atlas 4 is quite a bit heavier than the Explorer’s 42g, a factor to consider for sub-250g builds. 9 grams may not sound a lot, but it makes the difference whether or not you can make it under 250g. With this Atlas 4, you might have to find ways to optimize weight, perhaps using smaller batteries and sacrifice some flight time.
If you aren’t too fussy about weight but just want more internal space to mount your components, the Atlas4 is an ideal choice. It supports the DJI O3 as well as other large VTXs, while also accommodating 25.5×25.5mm AIO flight controllers.
Fifty 5: The Refined Volador?
Where to Buy?
Get the Fifty 5 frame from these vendors:
What’s Special?
The Flyfish Volador frames impressed with their build quality and value, yet their weight was a major concern for me personally. The new Fifty5 frame addresses this, matching the popular TBS SourceOne V5 at around 130g without compromising the premium build quality. It features chamfered carbon fiber edges and includes valuable 3D printed parts for an enhanced user experience. I normally don’t use all 3D printed parts as I try to keep the weight to a minimum, but it’s great to have options.
Simplifying the design slightly, the Fifty5 now shares a similar design as the SourceOne V5, allowing easier assembly and repairs while maintaining durability and stiffness with less material use.
Unfortunately I’ve gifted both of my Volador builds to my patrons (What? You didn’t know I have patreon? Join now!), so I can’t do a side by side comparison. I look forward to building the Fifty 5 with new components in the upcoming months. Stay tuned for the build logs :)