First Look!! AtomRC Swordfish: 1.2m twin designed for modern FPV and comes with INAV!

See the maiden flight and setup tips video here: • AtomRC Swordfish with ...
AtomRC Swordfish: atomrc.com/products/atomrc-sw...
My Videos on previous AtomRC models:
Dolphin: • WOW!! AtomRC Dolphin M...
Killer Whale: • AtomRC/Eachine Killer ...
Flying Fish: • AtomRC Flying Fish: Se...
Seal: • AtomRC Seal Maiden and...
Time codes:
0:00 Introduction
2:39 Unboxing
5:23 Building
6:20 INAV Setup
8:35 Adding in Walksnail HD FPV
10:25 Things I really like
12:20 Things to be aware of
13:02 Summary
Thank you for taking the time to watch the video. You can find me on social media at / painless360
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#drone #painless360 #review

[@jamesemery5795]

Good idea makes it simpler for people new to inav. To be honest I wish this was available when I first started, having said that I've really enjoyed the learning process. Stay safe Lee

[@tdogrc]

Looks nice. It’s been a while since I did an FPV build and as this is also a twin, I could be tempted! Thanks for the video 👍🏻

[@MCsCreations]

Fantastic looking airplane, Lee! 😃 I'm definitely going to keep an eye for this one! Stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊

[@GhostRyderFPV]

1:38 *_Moves like Jagger_* Mate, didn't know you had it inya! Thanks (again) for another great AtomRC product review; I love building my Dolphin, and should be -crashing- maiden-ing soon 🙂

[@bonafidepirate]

I like the looks of this one! I reached out to AtomRC and asked about a review sample, they said they were sending it, then communication stopped. lol I hope I get it, if not I'll have to buy one when they hit the US resellers! I'm hoping to do a full tweak/tune with Arduplane, and it would be nice to have an off-the-shelf plane available set up with a decent FC, and a param file back up to plug in and go. Easy way to get into AP.

[@austntexan]

Agreed. It's super cool that they chose a FC that has the space for Arduplane. This looks like a slick little flyer.

[@bonafidepirate]

@@austntexan Yeah their FC looks interesting in it's own right. Assuming it works well and had decent power filtering, $60 for a F405 FC for fixed wing makes it a nice option to consider right now. There's already a target for it in Ardupilot.

[@sams9716]

INAV at the moment is having issues with V-tails and the continuous servo trim. At the moment its trimming the plane to fly sideways. I believe it is being looked at to see why. Myself and a couple others have talked to Marc about it. This plane looks neat other than the tail. INAV aside, the tail just looks wrong. With the tail being so flat and the skids on the bottom I can see it getting ripped out or off when landing on some rough grass. Better FC access from the top would be nice for newbies as well. By the looks the flipped the FC over 180 degrees and rotated it 180 as well. The rotate can be done easy in the configurator but the flip has to be done in the CLI. Have been looking for a twin, just not sure about that tail.

[@Painless360]

It'll be interesting to see what happens as the servo setup is not the same as the one in the issue - github.com/iNavFlight/inav/issues/8571

[@KleszczuPK]

just dont use continous servo trim and you are fine

[@joshmellon390]

I love the look of the v tails. I may look into this model in the future.

[@anthonystownsend]

It's a great looking model. The wing connecters look great, I hope the sort the fuselage connecters out before production.

[@n1vca]

Thanks for the first view ... fantastic plane, I think this is totally along my alley: - Silent (twins usually are, especially with big props/low RPMs) - you can fly without raising attention / annoy people - Fast (Oliver C flew it with stock motor&prop almost at 150km/h with a 4 S battery, he loved its handling), slick fuselage, thin wide wings and V-tail for minimum drag - Light (Good compromise of making it possible for a beginner to squeeze a few things in but in case of a bad launch it may be more forgiving than a heavy plane) - V-Tail gets the elevator off the ground for less damage - the relatively wide wingspan may even give it good power off gliding characteristics? - I wonder if the V-tail has enough authority to copmpensate if one motor fails? Though I am not a fan of the landing wheel ... I never flying on asphalt, may just be extra drag and a single point that takes all the punch if you really hit the ground accidentally?! I guess you can take it out, fill it with foam and put some teflon stripes in that entire area, making it slicker and more robust?! Anyway great design and looking forward for your maiden flight and experience

[@BrainDeadEngineering]

I love the duel tractor drive ! I love this plane !

[@johncarold]

WoW ! I think that I will have a great Christmas this year. I have my AR Wing pro, Ranger T1, and the XIAKE 800 VTOL. and now the Swordfish. I really like how you can remove the wings easily. I never had a v-tail before, I'm sure I will figure out how to set up my Crossfire. The only different choice is I think a Headtracker system in the canopy that way you can look back at the motors and tail. I would love it to be able to take off from the ground. Hand launching is difficult. Thanks again for the video and information about the Swordfish

[@shanesdiy]

Very interested in this one, very cool setup!

[@joemoffo9706]

Nice model. I have the sonicmodell binary with inav installed. The nose gear rod keeps breaking on landing and it tip stalls at slower speeds. The swordfish may make a nice replacement. Thanks for the first look. Looking forward to your full review.

[@maro0016]

Interesting product & great video Lee! I’m one of the people that are interested in bnf / rtf fixed wing models as I’m only experienced in multi rotor building…

[@nickvledder]

Yes, love this design!

[@mattsmith4843]

cannot wait to see your flight on this, thanks P360

[@austntexan]

Looks like the FC supports Arduplane as well. These guys did good! Good review.

[@Videolinquency]

I hope preinstalled iNav will become a trend - that would save us not only basic setup work, but more importantly, a ton of tedious wiring and soldering. Easy access, but still configurable, that's exactly what we need. Dare we hope for an Arduplane version as well?

[@dismaldunc]

the wiring and soldering are my fave bits to do !

[@TeamYankee2]

This looks like an ideal upgrade from my Bixler 2 inav soarer.... :-)

[@jas-FPV]

Looks great 👍🏻

[@johnstotler6237]

It looks like it’ll make a good sloper, too.

[@frankyflowers]

that looks like the best plane.

[@garyenglish9742]

Excellent vid think I'll be ordering 1 when they hit the uk market as tax and import duties are rubbish

[@DougOrDouglas]

I hope someone comes out with something between the swordfish and the flying fish, in a twin. I really liked the smaller form factor personally, but you needed a tiny bit more from to really run fpv and what not

[@Jay-zc7iq]

Nice looking bird 👍

[@gandalf.mitrandil]

Thanks for the review. Hope to see the model “fixed” by AtomRC soon. For the prop interference with the ground… what if using folding props?

[@Painless360]

Not sure that folders would be a great idea as they will catch the wings as they unfold... Happy flying!

[@gflorey1975]

Hi, thank you for the great content - so helpful. I have just ordered the swordfish and I am fitting the new SpeedyBee405 FC in it. Can you recommend a camera and transmitter - I am on a budget so can't stretch to DJI! I would like to be able to record the video too.

[@Painless360]

If you want analogue then Most of the modern RunCam/Caddx offerings are very good now. I tend to use TBS for the VTX. See kzbin.info/www/bejne/n6O0ZKmugq58a8U for the community picks.

[@IanF-FPV]

Hopefully they remember to turn on the esc brake to prevent prop strikes. Also it would be nice if the nose was removable and had vents cut into it for HD vtxs like you did Lee.

[@Painless360]

From what I've seen already, this is a common mod.. Happy flying!

[@dronepilot260rc]

Can’t wait til mine gets here in a few months haha Shipping is super slow on this haha

[@dronepilot260rc]

I’ll be flying mine without a fc like the rest of my planes ✈️. I ordered the kit version because I have plenty of motors, servos, wax’s, and props. I might even put an EDF on it 😂

[@batmojuice5704]

Finally, an aircraft with a flight controller installed that isn’t Spectrum. I hope this is a trend. As much as I appreciate the build part of the hobby, I struggle with getting iNav to fly comfortably. Even planes with something like Kopilot would have been middle ground, but no one sold them preinstalled.

[@Painless360]

I think that a lot of us feel the same way. I've had many conversations with plane and wing companies about doing this and they have always shied away. I am so pleased to see this and hope they do what they committed to - decent INAV setup and great manual... Happy flying

[@paulhazlewood1840]

Have you seen OliverC's video on this plane? It flies great.He has also done a follow up with a run through the Inav settings and customizing to his liking. Cheers .

[@Painless360]

I've not. What throws did he use?

[@paulhazlewood1840]

@@Painless360 I cant remember, but he definitely adjusted throws in Inav.

[@typxxilps]

I like the style of manuals they do offer while others have close to nothing in their shippings.

[@Painless360]

I'd be happy if they included the basics like control throws.. Happy flying!

[@lawrenceweaver1906]

I wonder if that plane is being sold arf with onboard inav to be used in conjunction with another upcoming product that will give it remote ID

[@dallasb7117]

Great idea, pre set INAV plane,..I Hope it happens...

[@Painless360]

Me too!

[@luckystrike432]

ThankYou for your excellent video. I bought the same swordfish “RTH= with pre tuned FC “,but the strong vibration -gyro hunching ! What must I change? Could you show me your PID parameters?

[@Painless360]

What is gyro hunching?

[@luckystrike432]

Sorry it maybe Japanese English!? Strong vibration of Aileron due to gyro high sensitivity. In case of normal airplane gyro, we can manage its vibration reducing gyro gain, but iNav doesn’t have gyro gain setting. So I wonder if I change PID parameters .I can stop vibration or not.

[@Painless360]

If you are getting issues with vibration then the first port of call is to balance your props and motors, and soft-mount the FC. You can use the filters in INAV to remove the remaining vibration issues but I wouldn't use it to fix a problem with the build.

[@luckystrike432]

I bought all pre-installed RTH so FC mounting issue and prop issue might exist or not I don’t know… So I want compare company default setting of iNav to yours .

[@wmnsriteslol]

I may have missed it in your video but could you please let us on what size / kv the motors are? Thanks

[@Painless360]

In the video and the product information, link in the description... Happy flying

[@traxxi2003]

Lee I thought this model was already out on the market? Do you recommend holding off if I’m interested in the RTH version?

[@Painless360]

If you want it to be simple, then AtomRC tell me they are still working on refining the INAV setup and creating a manual. Both of them are not ready yet. I offered to create both for them but they told me they are on eutb it. I'm sure that most reviewers will share their settings after a maiden too... I plan to. Happy flying

[@traxxi2003]

@@Painless360 , Thanks Lee! That’s a shame that they wouldn’t accept your help, you are one of the most knowledgeable when it comes to INAV and the FPV hobby as a whole. I’ll definitely be on the look out for your INAV settings for this particular model. Thanks for your response!!

[@P1G5CanFly2]

Can the F405-WMN fit in the flying fish? I have inav on zohd drift and Aeroscout. The drift is only okay, but Aeroscout is perfect for beginners learning and inav experiments. Like you have said, twins should be good for fpv experience and I would like to try it out. Saw a lot of good reviews on the flying fish. I can envision having both flying fish and sword fish in my fleet, and choose the one to fly depends on which site I go fly.

[@Painless360]

See my video on it. It wasn't designed with flight controllers in mind.... Happy flying

[@theoztreecrasher2647]

F405-WMN is 26mm wide, the Kopilot Lite, which can be (just) installed if a small amount of foam is trimmed, is 32mm wide. Adding the Buzzer/USB via the side-mounted socket might be a problem. For those who need them, the most suitable simple plug-and-play flight controller/stabilizer for the Flying Fish is the Radiolink Byme-A. We have 6 of them in our Old Farts group and they are the most used and enjoyed plane by far for close-in fun flying. Really too small and light for longer range use, though no doubt many will try. They do have some faults - mostly, I believe, due to the little bespoke Twin ESC/BEC/Aileron Servo Distribution Board. Others have different thoughts. Read through the RCGroups Forums thread on it for fuller information. The price of them has increased rapidly with their popularity - along with everything else these days. ;-)

[@P1G5CanFly2]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. If the flying fish may not be a good frame for inav. I will see if the sword fish can fly in small space.

[@100SteveB]

Interesting looking plane. Looking on their website it says you can have it with either iNav or Ardupilot pre-installed. Though i cannot see that option on the order tabs themselves. Not yet tried iNav, all my builds have been Ardupilot. One part of me wants to try it, but the other part of me is saying stick with what I know. Going to have to bite the bullet oneday and give it a go, if this plane flies nicely I may well give it a go with iNav.

[@Painless360]

I think that the Ardupilot option is a recent addition.. Happy flying

[@RuderalisFPV]

Please do a comparison video between this and the t1 ranger

[@Painless360]

Both are fab planes and in my top 5 at the moment. The Swordfish is larger and more glider like with lots more room inside for stuff... i.e Swordfish - kzbin.info/www/bejne/p36YdKGcfpiNapI Larger wingspan Ability to support larger packs Seperate space for things like FC and GPS More like a glider Very easy to launch Capable fo nice slow speeds Very stable Wings are easy to remove V Tail with elvator and rudder Lots of options for FPV moiunting included Ranger T-1 i kzbin.info/www/bejne/i36llaeIoMtghZY Much More compact Room insude is tight for FC builds Less like a glider but capable of slower speeds as well Very easy to launch Very stable Wings are easy to remove with clips No Rudder VTOL conversion kit available FPV installation involves a little work

[@jamesceastep8874]

Lee: What is the all up weight? Can this plane be flown on 2 or 3S batteries? Looking for your maiden and the INAV details. Like the prepackaging of a flight controller but wonder if it will be the same Matek quality. - Jim

[@Painless360]

Designed for 4s. Plane weight with FPV gear but minus battery is 658g...Happy flying

[@Coronet47]

I’m one of those getting into use of flight control board. That being said I purchased the full version with Fpv and rth. The issue I have is hooking up the vtx supplied and it has a harness with six wire. According to the manual I’ll use 4 of these. My question is if I need to solder wires directly on pins on the FC. THIS IS A DIFFICULT JOB so I want to get a confirmation before going ahead. I’m not getting any response from Daniel and figure he must be very busy so I’m getting your input. Any help here will be great.

[@Painless360]

Connections are shown on atomrc.com/collections/fc/products/atomrc-fixed-wing-flight-controller-f405-navi If there are not pins in the locations you need, and you don't want to solder the camera and VTX directly, then you'll have to solder pins.. Best of luck.

[@hoagietime1]

I love the look and features but heavy plane and a skinny wing... I feel like we've been here before. I'm going to be very interested in the low speed handling

[@WinstonSmith1984]

The V tail looks too flat which means a less effective vertical component. I don't know what they were trying to achieve that way because flattening it only serves to put the tail surfaces more into the turbulent prop wash.

[@bergkongs]

Could the included flight controller be reflashed to Ardupilot/Arduplane?

[@Painless360]

I think so...

[@bergkongs]

I had a look at the flight controller in the video again. Looks suspiciously like my matek f405-WSE but in different colour pcb.....

[@austntexan]

According to their website, yes. The link right to the Ardupilot download page, the file is the first in the list.

[@Life-jd6ds]

I want to buy a model for long pleasant flights. I wanted a hee wing t1, but I watched a video about swordfish and now I don't know what to buy. which aircraft do you prefer? reliability, maintainability, the impression of long flights.

[@Painless360]

If its long flights then the Swordfish will carry much larger packs... Happy flying

[@MrD]

Paweł sent me the diff from the Swordfish, and I was pretty disappointed to see that it was pretty much a default setup, with no flight tuning. But it’s good to hear that they’re listening to your feedback. I did notice they have 80% weights in the mixer for the V-Tail, which will oversaturate the servos. So hopefully you’ve fed that back to them to get this back to 50% and get the correct throws (when they’re known 😉) mechanically. The plane itself looks decent. So lets hope the final production version has a good, tuned INAV setup and a decent manual. Nice video Lee 👍🏻

[@Painless360]

Thanks Darren. The setup is wierd to say the least. I've offered to help them but they seem determined to do it themselves. Most of us experienced pilots will end up sharing our 'Diff All' settings to help others. Still have no travel details for the controls from them.... Happy flying!

[@MrD]

@@Painless360 don’t get me wrong, it’s good that they want to provide a plane with INAV already set up. But, you’d kind of hope that it would have been set up by someone proficient. If they’ve not been using INAV before. It would be basically set up by a newbie. Which defeats the purpose of an out of the box solution. Hopefully they will take on board what folks like you and Paweł suggest to them. Otherwise it’s basically just a pre-wired flight controller.

[@Painless360]

Pretty much and this has the chance to be SO MUCH MORE! (sorry for shouting :) ) Imagine if it came with a solid basic setup, OSD, modes, tune and trim all sorted so all you need to do its make a basic model on your radio, plug in your receiver of choice (CRSF or SBUS) and away you go! This is very possible with this thing and a manual could even cover how to do the maiden flight with tips and tricks for advanced users using configurator. Could genuinely be a 'game changer' (that word is used wayyyy too much by certain channels ;) I really hope they do that, I've fed it all back but they declined my help to create the setup and write that manual for them so who knows..

[@MrD]

@@Painless360 I completely get the shouting. Hopefully this won’t be a case of so close, yet so far. Either way, it’s great to see a manufacturer looking in to this. It would be a great way to introduce new people to the hobby. …if it is well setup out of the box.

[@rctom1]

Woud be nice to put an Dji O3 airunit inside when everything is fixed in the next batch. But as you show the gps mounted the production process is very poor and the stuff has no idea what they´r really doing.🙃

[@chrisfilbrandg4106]

I think it looks better with the nose cut :)

[@Painless360]

Thanks for the comment! :D I'm not sure about the looks as the 3D printed grill I made to keep the critters out of the air ducts looks like goofy teeth! (I only noticed how it looked after my wife pointed it out to me!)

[@kevingoldbey7401]

Does it come rtf like with the transmitter

[@Painless360]

Not at the moment...

[@sashgorokhov]

How it compares to heewing ranger t1?

[@Painless360]

We will see. I'd expecting a more floaty model with better gliding and longer flight times but the flight will show that. Stay tuned!

[@sandygregoire2732]

But I tried to configuration inav software but when I use the transmitter and receiver connected to flight controller I can’t control the twin motors connected to inav red flight controller for swordfish rc plane but I tried configuring again but I can’t control twin motors swordfish rc plane so I need some help please please make video step by steps but don’t use skipping video or speed up video please

[@Painless360]

Motors are disabled until craft is arned. Please watch the series to see how I set it up.. best of luck

[@jstmag]

Do you have your config available?

[@Painless360]

Not yet, updated to INAV 6.0 and going through the tuning on this one..

[@jstmag]

Which do you prefer the killer whale or the swordfish?

[@Painless360]

Swordfish. Hands down.

[@jstmag]

@@Painless360in the process of setting mine up now. Going with ELRS, would you think the antenna vertical out on the wing would be best or does it matter a lot?

[@ham003latechedu]

Why would anyone want inav over ardupilot? I've always been ardupilot and trying to see what the buzz is on inav. Please advise.

[@austntexan]

It's easier to set up and fly. It's mainly just for FPV fun. A lot of iNav pilots say it feels "more natural" when flying in "Acro", than Arduplane. This point really comes down to how well they understand how to tune in Arduplane. I have to agree with the pilots that just want something reliable to fly FPV. The learning curve for Arduplane is very steep. I think a lot of fans of iNav are using it for fun FPV flying. In that regard, it simply does only the stuff they want and they don't need to fret over leaning something as complex as Ardu. I fly both but nearly all my stuff is Aruduplane/copter.

[@Painless360]

I guess you are not a regular viewer. Check out my INAV for beginners 2022 series where I cover this. Quick version: Ardupilot is the most tested platform and provides the smoothest flying with lots of support now for modern R/C hardware (CRSF, DJI, Crossfire, OSDs, FPV etc.). Streets ahead for many things like gliders, use of sensors like AirSpeed for flight and VTOL systems. INAV is a cousin of the super popular Betaflight so looks and feels similar for setup. Not as tested and not as smooth or clever as Ardupilot but simpler to setup for many and supports all the latest toys. Provides stabilisation, basic mission flying, auto-launch, RTH and all FPV. Happy flying!

[@themastercoder]

Stock motors = rebranded DYS Samguk Shu

[@ayoaina_fpv]

Wot! GPS unit installed upside down? C'mon AtomRC! 😠

[@Painless360]

As stated in the video, I am viewing this as a 'review sample'. I am not sure this represents the final setup of the product.. I hope the manual, hardware install and INAV setup are all fixed for release. They know about it all..