When the names of some first builds come along, the Eachine Black Wing hardly gets an honorable mention, The main issue is the size of the plane. It's under 700mm so it falls into the realm of a small build. Planes under 800mm are hard to get excited about. There is a lot to choose from and most aren't all that special. When this plane came out I built it with linear ESCs and all the usual things that I would use on planes twice this size. The motor was small enough for the plane, or so I thought. In reality, it was over-powered and never flew that great. This time, I'm keeping it light and simple. So, why am I building it again when I wasn't in love with it the first time. Simple, I accidentally bought two!
When this plane came out a couple of years ago there was a lot of excitement, and then the excitement died down. I am thinking that thanks to the miniaturization of the radios, GPS, motor, VTX and camera this plane may be worth one more look. Perhaps a nice, smooth INAV experience could breathe some new life into this plane.
The good
Made for FPV- Though it's a small plane, the plane is designed for not only an FPV camera but a Runcam on the lid as well. It makes good use of the space.
Large fuselage - The fuselage is huge for such a small plane. You can get an F405-Wing board in it, though I don't know why you'd want to do that! My goal is to make a minimalistic build so that it's light. The GPS, and receiver will sit out on the wing. I have very small VTX's that can mount in the lid. I doubt space will be an issue.
Smooth, yet strong molded EPP foam- I've tried my hand at killing the first build of this plane, and yet, crash after crash she's still fine. This is a good plane for less than gentle landings. The smooth EPP foam can withstand abuse.
Low Price- The plane can be had for under $40, sometimes much less. The puts it in the price range of the foam board plane kits you'll often find online. It's not EPO, but EPP which makes it an unheard of deal.
Quad Parts- Other than servos, most of the electronics could be sourced from quad parts including the ESC, receiver, cameras, and motor. You could literally make this build from a crashed quad.
Fast & Fun- If you want to, you can put a motor in it that handles 4S so that you can open it up.
The bad
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| This is how they suggest you mount the motor-Nope! |
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| What I did instead. |
Very Loud- It's a bit annoying how loud this plane can be. I am moving the motor back and using a smaller prop this time around.
Doesn't like weight- Don't get too crazy loading this plane up with heavy gear. It doesn't care for that. Keep her light.
Winglets are large and glued on. They do fall off from time to time. Do a very nice job gluing them on and check them often.
Small footprint- The odd size of the plane makes for some strange aerodynamics. It's not a glider. The short fuselage makes for some rather interesting CG challenges, and it's very easy to set up wrong. Small planes can be a bit wonky to fly. You would think that larger planes would be harder. No, the small ones are much harder.
Disappears in the sky rather quickly- Being small and black means that it's too simple to lose in the sky if you fly it line-of-site. If you're going to pass on the decals, consider putting fluorescent bright duct tape on the leading edge.
The plan
The All Up Weight
Plane:: 170g
Battery: 150g
Motor 30g
FPV gear: 70g
Total 420g
The AUW will be between 400-450g
Motor-The EMAX MT2204 2200KV has 440g of thrust. It should be plenty for this plane. It will fly nice, but it won't be a sports plane. Someone did a thrust test on this motor and found that a 5040 triple blade pushed the motor to 500g of thrust pushing 11amps. and a meager 133 watts. Yes, there are plenty of quad motors that can push twice as much thrust on 4S, why not just use one of them? It's all a trade-off. More thrust means more power What I like about this motor is that it's efficient which means that it can hopefully have longer flight times. It's also a motor I happen to have on hand.
Motors are a personal choice, The motor used will help determine the flight experience. This comes along with experience in building RC planes. The one point that gets lost is that the weight of the motor also has a huge impact on the total flight experience. The CG of this plane fairly close to the motor, which is common. This means that the heavier your motor selection the more weight you'll need up front to counterbalance the weight of the motor. Though that means larger batteries that can help the plane fly longer it also means you'll be flying a heavier plane. You'll need to have more speed to maintain flight and you run the risk of dropping a wing on your turns. I don't like the feel of a heavy plane. This can make or break how much you enjoy the plane.
Metal Gear MG90 Servos- There's really not a point to install plastic gear servos anymore. The MG90s have metal gear but are not digital servos. Smaller wings get tossed around in open sky a bit more than larger wings. Flight stabilization can help, but only so much. No matter what you put on the wing the smaller wings get tossed around a bit in the sky. Thus, I am sticking with the analog servos and accepting the occasional bumpy flight.
The ESC
The speed controller will be a skywalker 15a ESC. Why? Because I have quite a few of them that I purchased and haven't used. It's a bit larger than an opto speed controller, but not much. It's also has 5 volts from its bec that I really don't need. This is a small plane with a minimal power draw from the motor. The 5v from the BEC on the flight controller is more than enough. But, it's nice to have more power if needed.
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| You really need to hack into the foam to get this Eachine camera to fit. |
The Camera & VTX- I am using a cheap Eachine 600ttl camera and Eachine VTX. The VTX is 600mw. The camera needed to be carved into the foam on the nose though it was from Eachine as well.
The flight controller
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| Built, just waiting for the Flight controller. |
And this is where the story ends for now. The flight controller of choice, the Omnibus F4 Pro V3 clone is sitting in a sorting facility in China. And that's the true beauty of buying from China, learning patience. The good news is that all the glue joints should be dried to perfection before my first maiden a month from now. The postal issues may have something to do with Chinese New Years.
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| I will work on it some more, getting it ready for the flight controller |
In the meantime
Banggood seems to be throwing this plane on sale a lot lately. Prices are often around $32 (US). After building this plane again, the right way this time, I do like it. I do like the S800 better because it glides better. Still, the best plane is the AR 900 in my book. It's hard to find a plane that flies well under 800mm. If you buy this, don't go all out throwing an F405-Wing into it. This may be a good little plane to make from spare parts you have laying around.
So, if you do order it, in the meantime follow the build instructions from Matt
Specs
Plane
Model Number: Eachine Black Wing 680mm Wingspan EPP FPV Racer RC Airplane KIT
Type of plane: Wing (Delta Wing)
Material: Molded EPP
Wingspan:680mm
All up weight (AUW): Unknown as of now
Website link (for purchase): https://www.banggood.com/Eachine-Black-Wing-680mm-Wingspan-EPP-FPV-Racer-RC-Airplane-KIT-p-1176721.html?rmmds=search&cur_warehouse=CN
Notes: This plane goes on sale quite a bit, liked but not beloved, this is my second build and is WIP. I am waiting on a flight controller
Motor
Model number: MT2204
KV: 2300
Grams of thrust: 440-500
Battery range it accepts (S): 2-3S
Website link (for purchase): https://www.banggood.com/Emax-MT2204-2300KV-Brushless-Motor-For-QAV-250-p-946400.html?rmmds=search&ID=49006&cur_warehouse=CN
Maximum amps: 11.5
Weight: 25g
Notes: Not an exciting motor by any means. It has enough thrust to fly. I am hoping the low wattage will keep it airborne longer. This isn’t the best motor for the plane, it was old inventory I had on hand. It can be found by other manufacturers. Most people will use the 2205 instead.
Flight Controller:
Model number: F4 Pro V3
Website link (for purchase): https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Betaflight-Omnibus-STM32F4-F4-Pro-V3-Flight-Controller-Built-in-OSD/32957382703.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.6a664c4dp2Jg0z
Notes: I believe a lot of the boards for sale on Banggood and Ali Express are knock-offs of the originals. It has good reviews, we’ll see how it does. It’s currently stuck in a sorting facility in China, during Chinese New Year. The plane is built, but I’m waiting on this FC.
Video Transmitter (VTX)Model Number: Eachine TS5828L Micro 5.8G 600mW 40CH Mini FPV Transmitter
Voltage Range:7v-27v
Mw range: 600mw
Weight: 16g
Smart Audio: No
5v output for camera? No
Website link (for purchase): https://www.banggood.com/TS5828L-Micro-5_8G-600mW-40CH-Mini-FPV-Transmitter-with-Digital-Display-p-1058136.html?rmmds=search&cur_warehouse=CN
Notes: There are newer VTX’s out that may be better for this plane. Again, this is what I had on hand. It’s small so it will fit on the lid nicely. Uses an RP-SMA antenna.
FPV Camera
Model Number: Eachine 1000TVLMini FPV Camera NTSC PAL Switchable
Voltage Range 5-20V
Sensor: size and CMOS/CCD?: 1/3 CCD
Lens mm 2.8mm
Field of View: 110 Degree Wide
Television Lines (TVL): 1000TLV
Weight: 10g
Website link (for purchase): https://www.banggood.com/Eachine-1000TVL-13-CCD-110-Degree-2_8mm-Lens-Mini-FPV-Camera-NTSC-PAL-Switchable-p-1053340.html?rmmds=search&cur_warehouse=CN
Notes: This is a fairly good quality for a cheap camera. 1000 television lines. Though it’s an Eachine and the plane is an Eachchine, it took about 20 minutes to carve out the foam on the nose to make this fit.
GPS
Model Number: Dual BN-220 GPS GLONASS Antenna Module TTL Level PAL Switchable
Weight: 5.3g
Website link (for purchase): https://www.banggood.com/Dual-BN-220-GPS-GLONASS-Antenna-Module-TTL-Level-RC-Drone-Airplane-p-1208588.html?rmmds=search&cur_warehouse=CN
Notes: Beloved, cheap GPS
Servos:
Model number MG90S Metal Gear RC Micro Servo
Quantity 2
Metal or plastic gear: Metal
Digital or analog: Analog
Website link (for purchase): https://www.banggood.com/6X-Towerpro-MG90S-Metal-Gear-RC-Micro-Servo-p-1072260.html?rmmds=search&cur_warehouse=CN
Notes: Why even bother with plastic servos anymore? The small size of the plane means it may get tossed around a bit Digital servos won’t help that much.
Speed Controller (ESC)
Model number: Skywalker 15a SKU: 30205150
BEC included?: Yes, 2 amp, 5 volt linear
Quantity ( 1 or 2): 1
Maximum Amps 20 (short term)
Website link (for purchase): https://www.hobbywingdirect.com/products/skywalker-esc-15a?variant=3471190980
Notes: Not what I would normally use for this plane, but I am using up what I have laying around (where have you heard that before?). The +5v and ground have been cut and may be used for something else
Power Distribution Board (PDB)
Model Number: (Not needed, the FC has a built in BEC)
How many S?:
Website link (for purchase):
Notes:
Propeller
Model Number Kingkong / LDARC 5040 5x4x3 3-Blade
Size & number of blades: 5x4 triple bladed propeller
Website link (for purchase): https://www.banggood.com/10-Pairs-Kingkong-5040-5x4x3-3-Blade-Single-Color-CW-CCW-Propellers-for-FPV-Racer-p-1067875.html?rmmds=search&ID=224&cur_warehouse=CN
Notes: These propellers tend to be nearly commodities thanks to our drone friends. The measurement at full throttle was 500g of thrust with a propeller like this. The idea is to not use a 6” propeller to help keep the noise down. These propellers tend to sound like hair dryers when flying.
Battery
Model Number Turnigy 1500mAh 3S 20C Lipo Pack
mAh::1500
# of cells: 3
Weight: 128
Website link (for purchase): https://hobbyking.com/en_us/turnigy-1500mah-3s-20c-lipo-pack.html
Notes: For this plane, you want to use shorter, more stubby batteries so that the weight is more concentrated in one area. You will need to move it up and down the fuselage to find the right CG.
