Armattan Tadpole 2.5-inch FPV Freestyle Quad Frame

Armattan have been asked many times to design something smaller for 65mm props, but have been reluctant for two reasons.

The first reason is that there were not many options for small motors and even props for quite some time. By now the popularity of such weight class has brought about many more options in terms of motors, but also good options for 16x16 stacks that can run such small models well.

The second reason is that they are not a fan of minimalistic frames with a POD style 3D printed or plastic canopies. And also not a fan of bottom mounted LiPo for frames made for freestyle and fun flying. Seems most freestyle frames today do not bottom mount the LiPo. The word is that a top mounted LiPo offers better flying characteristics. This is all debatable, but Armattan certainly prefer a top mounted LiPo.

This year, though, they pulled out their pencils and my stencils and decided to draw something up. Their goal was to make something light, strong, and it had to have a top mounted LiPo. For example, looking at some 5 inch models that have a top mounted LiPo, it seemed obvious that the rear end of the model needed not to have the same stack height and needed not to be so wide. These two things alone allowed for shedding enough weight that they stood a chance to make weight.

In the end, they came up with a number of solutions to keep weight down while meeting our design goals. Introducing the Armattan Tadpole! Try it with 1103/8000kv motors - it is silly fast. Feels like 5 inch with more agility.

• 65mm props
• Top mounted LiPo as it makes more sense for a small freestyle frame
• Custom aluminum front cage to fully protect a nano camera
• Custom shorter rear aluminum posts
• New rubber molded VTX antenna mount that is modular with the custom aluminum rear posts. No bolts needed
• Slightly slanted aerodynamic top LiPo plate. (This is the result of shedding weight from the rear end.)
• Dry frame weight (fully assembled): 17.5 grams