iFLight Nazgul5 V3: Designed for HD Digital FPV

The brand new iFlight Nazgul5 V3 was specifically designed for the DJI O3 Air Unit digital FPV system. It comes with a CNC aluminum digicam mount that options vibration-reduction silicone insertion. This FPV drone is meant for freestyling in addition to for long-range cinematic footage utilizing a GoPro digicam and high-capacity battery. In contrast to its predecessors, the most recent N5 V3 O3 has solely a 6S battery possibility and comes outfitted with XING-E Professional 2207 1800KV motors.

Constructing an FPV drone from scratch will be tough and difficult, nevertheless it awards you with the satisfaction of creating with your individual palms one thing that flies. It additionally permits you to use totally different components from the unique model, customizing it to suit finest to your wants and finances. It’s also doable to make use of recovered components from crashed drones saving some cash.

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For this DIY cinematic FPV drone venture, I opted for the next components with a complete value of $577 (this value excludes the controller and FPV goggles):

• Nazgul5 V3 body package – $66.99
• XING2 2207 1855KV brushless motors – $87.96 ($21.99×4)
• GEMFAN 513D propellers – $1.77/set
• BLITZ E55 4-IN-1 ESC – $86.99
• F722 Flight controller – $55
• DJI O3 Air Unit digital FPV system -$229 or Walksnail Avatar HD Professional – $159
• BetaFPV SuperD ELRS 2.4G Range Receiver -$18.99
• VIFLY Finder V2 drone finder buzzer -$13.49
• Walksnail WS-M181 GPS -$16.99

iFlight Nazgul5 V3 evaluation and construct directions

Disclosure: I obtained the body package, motors, and ESC as a part of a product evaluation collaboration with iFlight. Though the components had been provided without cost, all opinions on this article stay my very own, and the sponsor on no account influenced me. The remainder of the equipment proven on this evaluation had been bought and paid for on my own.

iFlight is headquartered in Huizhou Metropolis since 2014. They’ve grown from a small workplace to a world workforce in just some years. At this time, iFlight’s merchandise are the highest favourite {of professional} videographers, in addition to racing and freestyle flying pilots. Apart from ready-to-fly FPV drones (Taurus X8 Professional, Chimera7 Professional, Nazgul5, ProTek, and others), in addition they supply a variety of components, together with body kits, brushless motors, flight controllers, and ESCs. In 2022 they launched their first ELRS-enabled radio transmitter, the Commando 8 RC.

The Lord of the Rings is my spouse’s favourite cinema sequence. She watched all three episodes of the trilogy many instances. Within the film, Nazgul is Sauron’s most threatening and dependable servant. iFlight’s first-generation Nazgul5 drone was launched in 2019, the second-gen (V2) in 2020, and the third technology (V3) in 2023.

Final month, I obtained from iFlight their newest Nazgul5 V3 body, a set of motors, and the BLITZ E55 4-IN-1 ESC reviewed two weeks in the past. Moreover, they included within the field an Anti Spark Filter package that ought to lengthen the lifespan of the XT60 connector and defend the electronics from injury because of the voltage/present spikes.

1. Nazgul5 V3 body package

I began this 5″ DIY FPV drone venture by assembling the Nazgul5 V3 body. The package accommodates every thing that’s wanted, together with screws and a few additional components, akin to a second kind of TPU antenna mount, two IPEX to SMA VTX antenna pigtail extension cables, and a spare antislip battery pad. Regardless of that, the body package accommodates solely an exploded view, and the screw baggage are solely partially labeled; I managed to assemble it in only one hour.

The body has a traditional lengthy physique design with 4 arms (5mm) between a backside plate sandwich (3mm, a longish high plate (2.5mm), and a few 25 mm top standoffs. Arms are supposed for 22xx and 23xx motors and will be changed by eradicating only one screw, which is sort of good. The underside plate has screw holes for each 20x20mm and 30x30mm flight stack mounting patterns, however solely the 30x30mm has insert nuts. On the tail, for the VTX, there are three mounting patterns: 30.5*30.5 φ3mm, 25*25 φ1.6mm, and 20*20 φ2mm.

It has entrance and rear TPU bumpers, additionally TPU motor protectors. As I beforehand talked about, two kinds of TPU mounts are included for single and dual-antenna VTX programs. Each have a tiny ingenious compartment for the radio receiver module. There may be additionally included a TPU buzzer mount, which I didn’t use as a result of I want self-powered drone finder buzzers.

When totally assembled, the iFlight Nazgul5 V3 body measures 173x173x36.5 mm and weighs about 180 grams. An ordinary GoPro mount will be put in in entrance of the highest plate. About 10 cm stay free for putting in the battery. You may go for one or two velcros, in line with the dimensions of the LIPO.

As a design factor, within the middle of the underside plate there’s a clear silicon iFlight emblem that glowed by the ESC’s LED.

2. XING₂ 2207 brushless motors

The XING2 2207 motors are supposed for 5-inch FPV drone drones. The unique RTF iFlight Nazgul5 additionally makes use of them. There are two-speed choices: 1855KV (6S) and 2755KV (4S). Every motor comes with 5mm propeller nuts and 4 M3*7 mounting screws.

The motors have a 5mm titanium alloy shaft and Crash resistant 7075 aluminum bell. They use easy, long-lasting NSK 9x4x4 bearings and center-slotted N52H curved arc magnets. I favored that the motor wires are protected by a metallic ring in order that it wouldn’t break simply from the soldering level in case of a crash.

Technical choices

3. BLITZ E55 4-IN-1 ESC

After I put in the motors, I mounted the ESC board within the middle of the body. Bear in mind to make use of the offered grommets. If you wish to use the included wire organizers, go the motor cables via them earlier than beginning soldering. The PCB is put in with the low ESR capacitor going through down. You may learn extra about this ESC in my BLITZ E55 evaluation.

Along with the usual XT60 cable, iFlight additionally despatched me their new Anti Spark Filter package. Sadly, I couldn’t use it as a result of it had a floor mount XT60 connecter and the body didn’t have a mount for this.

The ESC’s RGB LED will be activated from the BLHeliSuite32 app. You may go for purple, inexperienced, or yellow or combine two or three colours. 

4. Different components

Along with the components iFlight despatched me, I wanted a flight controller, radio receiver, and FPV system to complete the Nazgul 5V3. It’s also extremely really useful to make use of a GPS modulle and drone finder modules for failsafe RTH and straightforward restoration in case of a crash.

Initially, I ordered the lacking components from XT-Xinte. Huge mistake! Regardless of that I paid additional for categorical transport, it was not dispatched even after two weeks from fee of the order. Seeing that it is unnecessary to attend for them, I made a decision to make use of one in every of my current drones as a donor and take away the wanted components. Because the electronics had been already wired and configured to work collectively, I completed the iFlight Nazgul 5 V3 in lower than one hour. I simply wanted to attach the FC with the ESC and mount the O3 AU system (digicam and VTX) and the ELRS radio receiver.

In fact, the following day after ending the construct I obtained the long-waited lacking components so  I began the method yet again with the brand new components. In the meantime, I additionally obtained Avata HD Professional package and I made a decision to make use of it as an alternative of the O3 Air Unit.

Totally constructed, and not using a battery, my customized Nazgul 5 V3 weighs 443 grams. With a 6S 2000mAh LIPO battery (215g) and a full-size GoPro 11 (153g), the entire take-off is round 810 grams.

Pricing, availability, and choices

The body package will be ordered from the producer’s web site for $66.99. The XING2 2207 motor can value $20.90/piece. You may go for 1855KV or 2755KV in line with whether or not you wish to run on 6s or 4s LIPOs. The BLITZ E55 4-IN-1 ESC will be bought alone for $86.99 or in a combo, with the F722 flight controller, for $155.99. For those who want ready-to-fly drones, you’ll be able to go for the Nazgul5 V3 O3 6S HD for $539.99. Making an allowance for that simply the O3 AU prices $229 by itself, it’s deal for many who wish to fly with out the do-it-your-self stuff.

Closing ideas

Nazgul 5 is probably iFlight’s hottest line of FPV drones. It’s sturdy and has a lot of area to put in numerous equipment. The TPU components make it look cool within the air and let you customise your quadcopter. You may set up an ultra-high-capacity battery for long-range flights by eradicating the GoPro mount. The 55A ESC provides you sufficient punch for the trickiest freestyling maneuvers. You probably did a tough crash and snapped an arm? Get some spares along with your order and simply swap them out proper on the flight discipline. The stack can be simply accessible for upkeep; you have to take away simply eight bolts.

The Nazgul 5 adopts a True-X configuration, most likely the most well-liked body design. My solely subject with this body structure is that the propellers are seen within the FPV feed. Whereas the silicone insertion claims to scale back the vibration of the digicam, there was lots of jello within the Avatar HD Professional footage.