Cloud Raptor- Read before you click the buy button

It looks enticing



The Cloud Raptor is one of those planes that goes on sale a number of times each year with Banggood.   During a 20% off sale over the holidays, I picked up one up and finally got around to building it in late summer.   I won't bury the lead. This isn't a plane that's for everyone.  It has a lot of really good things to like about it, and a fair number of things that are huge concerns. You can watch a video where Matt Osborne reluctantly gives it a good review based only on flight characteristics on one good day of slope soaring   I'll tell it like it is,  most people really shouldn't buy this plane.  For the same money, you can get much better planes.


Here's the characteristics I think people will like about the Cloud Raptor

1. Blunt Nose
2. Huge Cargo Bay
3. Extremely Light
4. Nice Graphics
5. Works with a wide array of motors
6. Can take large props
7  Flies great
8. Long flight times
10. 1 meter in size
11. Relatively inexpensive

Getting a 1-meter plane for under $50 US  when on sale (often under $40) makes this a compelling plane.   With the right prop and motor for the job ( I went with a 2208 1450KV motor with 7x5 APC prop) this plane can stay up in the skies nearly forever.  The plane does have a lot of likable features that it's hard to resist when it goes on sale.  So, I will put it through my standard grading system, and we'll see how it does.

Documentation: 0  points out of 5 points possible.

There was no documentation in my box.  I sometimes think that Banggood does this to cut down on postage costs.  Anway, it would have been useful but not necessary.

Quality of Materials 12 points out of 20

This isn't a top-shelf plane. I found the foam to be of low quality, but it was still EPP.   There is a covering over the top of it which I believe is a Poly Propolyne film.   It's thick and durable.  It's the first time I've seen this come with a kit plane which makes it unique. I really like this idea and hope to see it on many more planes.  The elevons and thin, flimsy and best replaced with $2 worth of Balsawood.   They were by far the worst elevons I've seen on any kit.   Worse than the Dancing Wings Rainbow elevons. 

The control horns were decent and the kit did include some extra wire for running the motor to the speed controller.  The kit also includes some adhesive that I didn't bother to use.  I could have done without the glue and better elevons. The motor mount is a thin plywood mount.  I've gotten used to them over the years. Just paint them and put epoxy over them to provide strength.  Still, it kinda feels like you're making a Dollar Tree Foam plane more than a kit.
The portion in the middle of the plane, the actual "blunt nose" has a cargo bay that is only the thin layer of foam and then polypropylene.  That's it!

Build process  20 out of  20 points.

Despite the lack of instructions, the plane went together without a single problem. It has minimal steps to get this thing together.  The one big turn off was that the single spar for this plane was at the bottom of the foam next to the film.  I would have liked it deeper in the plane's cores.  Also, the film over the top doesn't give a lot of options for cutting in more spars.   There were plenty of nice wiring cutouts for the plane which made routing the wires easy.   Still, there were two holes that weren't accounted for near the top of the bay.  Two holes on each side in the wood.  I used these to run a couple of drywall screws.  I did this just after I glued the plane and it helped secure the foam to the wood, a little bit more.  Other than making custom elevons out of balsa wood, and using lamination this was my only modification.

Graphics  (FYI)

There is no points for graphics but I have to say that the Inkjet graphics on this plane we actually very nice. I liked the American flag, then again I am American.    I did find that the color scheme was a bit busy.  When I replaced the elevons I got rid of the yellow on top for an orange that matched with the graphics.


Flight Characteristics 30 out of 30 points

I have to say this plane really flies like a beauty!  I put a 1600mAh 3S battery in and flew it up to the sky.   With barely any throttle the plane handles very nicely. It floats around and explores the sky, free to float on mild breezes. And yet, it still has authority.  My maiden flight lasted 31 minutes.
I wouldn't go as far as stating that its the same as, but it is very similar to the Popwing or Tek Sumo.  It has that same "Glides or rails" feel to it.   This plane is a little lighter than the Pop Wing so it tends to float a tad bit better.

It's excellent flight characteristics is what makes this plane so nice.  If you're willing to overlook the wonky build quality of the plane then yes, it's a great plane.  It rolls and loops and does some rather nice stunts.   It's not a stunt plane but I do very much enjoy planes of 1 meter   It's the right size.  Very controllable and yet a blast to fly.

Value  8 out of 15 points

Keeping in mind that planes with worse designs that were made out of styrofoam were selling for $130 20 years ago this is a good value for around $40-$50.   And yet, we live in today's world.    There are some very compelling planes for around $40-$70.  A Reptile S800 is a much better and so is the Sonicmodels AR.  Of course, if you can get your hands on a Popwing or TekSumo in the $30 price range that's an even sweeter deal.  The Teksumo/Popwing provides similar glide characteristics and a similar flying experience to the Cloud Raptor.   But it boasts a much more robust build with thicker cores that can be crashed and fixed many, many times.  Even if the going price was $30 for this plane I would still say that for  $20 more you could get a better plane.


Final score 70 out of 100

Yes, this pretty much sums up the plane, it's a C- overall. I say, fly it, enjoy it, crash it, and have fun with it.  But when you can't repair it anymore, pull the parts off the plane and put it on a better plane.  There are some planes that I would replace that day if I ever lost it, this isn't one of them.

One Saving Grace

The one thing that makes this plane interesting is the large cargo bay.  The Reptile S800 and Sonicmodels AR have limited space for storage.  The Reptile has interesting placement strategies for things like video transmitters and speed controllers.  With these planes, space is always an issue.  There is a lot more free space with the Cloud Raptor.  And you can offset the front weight issues with larger motors in the back.   One issue is that there is no space up front for a runcame or GoPro, thus you would have to attach a low profile one to the wing.  Otherwise, there is space for your FPV camera built in up front.

This is a plane that take a 9" prop and a BR2212 in back with a 2200mAh 3S up front.   You can throw on a flight controller, cameras, GPS in a fairly sloppy manner. Once it gets over 800 grams it may be hard to handle, may start dropping wings on tight turns and won't survive crashes that well.   But it can most likely cover upwards of ten miles which isn't bad for a small plane.   Thought that's not long range FPV it's someting that is a bit compelling none-the-less.   Perhaps a good way to get your feet wet with mission based flights without having to go the Skyhunter route right out of the gate.   Here's something small, manageable and if it crashes in someone's yard it looks more like a toy than something that broke free from a military base.   You'd have an easier time getting it back.

Update: Since writing this review I have put in a cheap FPV camera and cheap VTX.   It still gets mind blowing long flights with the additional weight.  Maybe a flight controller down the road?  I'm not certain. The plane is so stable that it doesn't need gyros.  I have to say I fly it a lot more than I let on.  Now, if I lost it, I would most likely replace it. The only other thing I didn't mention was the wonky motor mount. It does work. It fell off once and I just had to glue it back on. It works fine now.

The only other thing I've discovered is that the bay, though very big, could be a bit taller.  It never closes well for me.  Perhaps they can make this into a 1.2 meter plane and make the bay deeper?