ZOHD Dart250g Full Review and Setup Tips

[@Painless360]

For those wanting to see what the VC400 FPV camera/VTX is like then I've already covered that - see the review and footage sample in the Kopilot series linked in the description.

[@emilgabl9069]

Hi, I have a Orbit and when it’s on stabilization mode when I tilt it down the control surface points down instead of tilting up...can u help me fix this I haven’t flown plane in awhile.

[@rcpilots1291]

Once again Lee, you’re the ‘go to guy’ for a comprehensive and honest review of the latest planes and emerging tech. Keep it up , much appreciated

[@pierstaylor7780]

Your videos on this are brilliant, thank you for the immense efforts you put in, a normal bloke speaking normally. Rare these days

[@Painless360]

Wow, thank you!

[@rsilk2969]

The ZOHD build diagram shows placement of the GPS module on the inside of the fuselage -- directly under where you have placed it. There is an indent in the foam which matches the shape of the small GPS modules nicely. I would place a small patch of velcro on the battery compartment floor and another patch on the battery to keep the lightweight batteries from moving around.

[@Painless360]

It does now ;) Happy flying!

[@fastfred529]

Finally bought one for myself. Thanks for all your content.

[@crabsodyinblue]

great price for fpv set. i find it gets harder with age to fly small and fast fixedwings LOS, even with me driving specs on :P Denial is not a river in Egypt anymore. FPV more fun and i dare to say...safer. Great weekend Lee and all who enjoyed this video

[@frankintegrity706]

I have just decided to cut up my credit card.And deleted the BG link from my browser. Who am I kidding time to hide my bank statement from the wife . :)

[@frankintegrity706]

Whoops! It's on the way.Back for the set up tips.

[@MCsCreations]

Really amazing little wing, Lee! 😃 Fantastic flying and review!!!

[@NATGEOANDSTUFFPaulbrannan]

would love to try my hand at a wing.never flown one.

[@cenabitednbfpv587]

U SHOULD DEFF START WITH A ZOHD DART, NEON OR ORBIT U CANT GO WRONG!!! Anything else will give u grief!

[@Steven-er2od]

@@cenabitednbfpv587 would it be good to start with this one with a FC on it bcs i AM now in to fpv quads and want to get in fpv planes

[@pieterpretorius1014]

looks like space might be a bit tight for a pixhawk 2.4 inside that fuselage. guess i will need to find a way to squeeze a pixhawk into it with its telemetry radio when i get mine. in south africa if flying for fun you are not required to register the aircraft. so i can go way over the 250 gram level if i need too. i have 2 balsa planes weighing well over 1 kilo gram and SACAA never complained about it

[@raptr49]

A friend gave me one of these with the vertical fins installed pointing outward. Only after several successful flights, I found out they are supposed to point inward per the manual. I also noticed that another KZbinr flies it with the fins pointed outward. So now I'm thinking about reinstalling them per the manual.

[@Painless360]

What a lovely buddy to give you a plane! To be honest, I don't think it makes that much difference to the flying. Best of luck!

[@offaxisfpv]

thanks, i just got one and about to put it together

[@martianmcfly]

OMG the seagull sold it for me! A looking piece of kit! :)

[@cenabitednbfpv587]

Been meaning to do an unboxing on mine ive been busy glad i got to see yours first! Im next! Great vid as always!

[@attackfpv]

How do you get replacement wings for this??

[@ADKDronesRC]

I need a hand installing a MFD crosshair into a atom rc killer whale ! Any chance you can help?

[@daveskiefpv1184]

Not sure how I use that 17% discount code. There is no where to put the code during checkout.

[@ScottCookseyModandTraFlyTying]

Ive just ordered the FPV ready version and a TBS Crossfire Nano RX V2. I am seriously interested in the 1 hour long flight time and how this is acheived. From what I can gather you use the same batteries found in Vape Mods (3000mAh 3.7V Li-ion x 3) connected in series but Im not sure how to go about this. I intend to fly LOS to start with and then get a set of goggles for the FPV camera in the future. I hope to upgrade the F/C to one that displays an HUD on the goggles at some point too. Great video by the way, to be honest without your straightforward instructional content I would still be flying drones and not fixed wing aircraft and also fall into the Spektrum trap. You have helped me with the Radiomaster TX16S setup avoiding the aforementioned trap. A serious resource of knowledge. Its much appreciated.

[@Painless360]

Check out my video on the ZOHD LiIon packs. That's the easy way... Happy flying

[@greekzozobra]

Thank you for this and other videos! My motor stopped working and this specific motor is in shortage. Are there alternative motors you can recommend? Thanks!

[@Painless360]

I've never had to look but I'd look for one with the same KV, weight and can handle the same prop. Best of luck with it.

[@paulmaddison2507]

Lee could you please do a vlog on putting pictures etc onto the T16. Many thanks

[@Painless360]

Check the T16 playlist as there is a video on that.. ;)

[@missme9247]

Does everything come in the B pnp kit on the link in the info

[@AggieRC]

Excellent video! I'll be referring to this when mine arrives from bg

[@AggieRC]

And now it's here :D. Still need to figure out if I have any suitable batteries though. I've got some ec3 3s 1300s for gliders that might do with an adaptor.

[@beyond_civilization]

Can you get away with running a 4S battery on the 3S version of this plane?

[@Painless360]

I wouldn't but you can try it and see if it survives..

[@MrVasmikey]

How come the vertical fins lean in instead of out like the extreme?

[@rwehuman]

RightO. Thanks for the video. Happy flying.

[@robi3081]

I like watching the landings, you need to include them notwithstanding the battery ejection problem.

[@Painless360]

Check out my reviews from the last year... 😉

[@ChristKrew-Rev1.8]

question... using tbs electronics and wondering how everyone is changing vtx pwr and channels without smart audio with no control board?

[@Painless360]

You can setup a SmartAudio output on the reciever and connect it to the VTX. Then the ability to change the VTX settings will magically appear on the Crossfire LUA script..

[@ChristKrew-Rev1.8]

@@Painless360 Thank you.

[@shyamvadeyar]

What's the cheapest FC that I can install on a wing that could run vtx, camera, gps and 2 servos?

[@Painless360]

Something like an F4 omnibus. Check out my iNav and Arduplane builds...

[@pampfpv]

matek f411 wse

[@fcass]

(Question below, thanks!) Just a guess based on things I've done in the past, but I would think the 2 bladed prop would be for the 3s battery and the 3 bladed prop would be for 2s. I just ordered one of these the other day, and they didn't have the FPV version so I got the PNP version and will rig my own camera. But one thing I could not find out from the banggood page was whether or not the PNP version comes with the GPS and stabilizing fc. Do you know? I think the GPS would be great for this plane because it's probably easy to lose sight of LOS being so small. Thanks for the videos.

[@jcfpv3454]

What a beautiful place to fly I wish we had something Similar

[@willay747]

I am about to maiden mine so thanks for the tips on radio and elvons setup. I’ll add a few millimeters up.

[@dustynuts4sale]

You wanna buy your old Dart XL back? I still have yet to fly it!!! :D

[@willay747]

dustynuts 4sale 100 bucks sound good? Haha

[@dustynuts4sale]

@@willay747, yep! $150 for shipping sound good? Haha

[@rizen3467]

i put my receiver on the wing and when my dart crashed the receiver got plugged out and the motor didn't stop spinning and burned out :(

[@theoztreecrasher2647]

Yep. I've had the receiver come adrift at the hefty throw required for autolaunch with the Kopilot. The Dart 250g circled till the battery was exhausted then it glided in and landed unharmed with the motor stopping when the ground speed dropped below 4m/sec. :-)

[@dougfinn9561]

I would like to fly this just as a regular line of sight model without FPV. Hand launched for maiden yesterday resulted in a quick roll inverted then nose first impact. I was holding full up elevator and full throttle. Whats the best way to hand launch to avoid this? Also, the numbers on the prop face foreword, correct? Thanks

[@tristanchadderton6062]

Late reply, but full up elevator will stall the plane. Try launching it as if it's a glider a few times. Getting airspeed up is key and that involves flying level or even dipping initially.

[@MGL83]

Recommendations which battery to use while under 250g?

[@Painless360]

I'd make mine with a 2S Li-Ion now..

[@Rex227c1]

Just got a kopilot ,do I need to leave the controll board plugged in ,the one for adjusting the aleron and elevator plus the fence ,asking to save space

[@Painless360]

I do, but it should be OK to remove when setup... Happy flying

[@tachyonpost1472]

Hi, great videos as alway. Quick question, how many mm up and down throw do you have (in manual mode , inav) . Cant find much online and nothing in the manual as a hint. I have a pretty heavy custom build (servos and motors custom) but would love to have some reference values to work off

[@Painless360]

All of the setup tips are here kzbin.info/www/bejne/oXiYd6N4npt8rsUfeature=shared

[@tachyonpost1472]

@@Painless360 Thank i already used that video as my build bible BUT its missing that info about the control service throws (mm up/down). Would love to get these values from you as a base to build on. Tnx

[@Painless360]

I don't have it here any more so can't test it. I think it would have been something like 8mm max for both aileron and elevator. Add a mm of up-trim to both sides for the maiden.

[@tachyonpost1472]

@@Painless360 thanks, much appreciated.

[@erlandfpv]

Hi, can i play this model with totally with FPV , or need to learn LOS first? Thanks.

[@Painless360]

You can but I would always recommend Los practice first. See my learning to fly series.. Happy flying

[@bgill2708]

How does it handle a crash or two? Would it make a good beater?

[@Painless360]

I wouldn't class this as a 'beater' the regular Dart is a lot tougher...

[@tiankuohua5167]

Is it Spektrum compatible?

[@Painless360]

Check out the Kopilot Spektrum setup video on the channel.. best of luck!

[@rsilk2969]

Do you have a diff of iNav settings for this wing? It seems that the presets are not very useful according to some who have tried them. I have noticed that there is very little max deflection (approx 2-3 mm) of the elevons when in acro and angle mode when pitching or rolling the model 45 degrees and also compared to manual mode (preflight check).

[@Painless360]

Check them in manual. You only see a small movement on the bench when using a mode that has the OIFF controller active.. That's normal. See my video on it... Happy flying

[@Crusader4633]

Since you have both - would a Matek F722-WPX fit in the Dart 250? I know it's overkill but I want to start with the Dart, buy one FC (used, to save $$$) and be able to use it in larger wings later. I have a good deal on the 722, but I want to make sure it'll fit in the Dart 250!

[@Painless360]

See me putting a Matek F411-WSE into my Dart250 and you can see how tight it is inside.. The upcoming Talon 250g may have more room inside..

[@longrangefpv]

Does the magnets have effect on compass if you would install one?

[@Painless360]

Possibly, see my recent Arduplane builds for the trick I use with a regular map compass to check if it will..

[@gregdeon705]

Just bought my first wing , a Matek F722 flight controller , but , can I use a multi rotor esc as I have a spare BLHeli 32 or do I have to get a different one .

[@Painless360]

Possibly, fixed wing ESCs dont tend to be that smart.. ;)

[@paulmaddison2507]

Not using your T16 Lee?

[@Painless360]

Nope, I love my Taranis.. ;)

[@chriselton1915]

Can the Kopilot be used with Spektrum?

[@Painless360]

Please check the Kopilot series. I've answered that one.. Best of luck!

[@samurai90519]

Can i put a gopro 9 on this ?

[@Painless360]

I wouldnt, this is a very lightweight twitchy model...

[@jozef4511]

Hi Painless360, Watched your videos for a long time. Your series on the ardupilot was great. Not sure if it's the right place to ask this .. VTOL aircraft with ardupilot .. any ideas.. Thanks

[@Painless360]

A series is planned for January... Stay tuned!

[@fcass]

Hello again. I had a question about your recommendation for a good VTX. I set up the dart250 and stuck one of the little 200mw aio (wolfwhoop or akk 16.95 with the circular polarized antenna version) on the front. Well it doesn't have enough range to fly that fast little sucker and I want to grab a better vtx. I have an AKK 1watt vtx on my main drone and it has tons of range, so I don't mind wiring up camera and vtx separately like that for the plane. Which would you recommend? Also, is there a trick to mounting the antenna on a wing? Is there a sweet spot you've found in all your xp setting up planes? I already put an iFlight micro BEC and separate LC filter in line with the camera, so I could really use a recommend. If you have affiliate links, even better. Thanks man, greatly appreciated.

[@Painless360]

You should be able to get around 1km with decent antennas on 200mW I use HOLYBRO, TBS or ImmersionRC VTX units normally here. Check out my wing builds for common choices. Something coming that will change the way to mount the antenna on a fixed wing... Stay tuned!

[@fcass]

@@Painless360 Hmm well maybe it's the fault of my goggle antennas then. I launch the dart250 and put it in gps hold and it's pure fuzz at just that altitude. My quads get a crystal clear signal at 3 -5x that range before they start to break up. Thanks.

[@ched999uk]

Looks great. Would it be suitable for someone who has never flown a wing? Only flown quads fpv in acro mode. Cheers great to have the tips.

[@Painless360]

See my introduction to fixed wing playlist, it covers a few of stuff for quad pilots coming to this part of the hobby.. best of luck!

[@ched999uk]

@@Painless360 will do, thanks

[@frankyflowers]

would this be ok if we don't know how to fly and just use it for way points?

[@Painless360]

With an Arduplane powered flight controller, maybe See my recent Arduplane builds..

[@frankyflowers]

@@Painless360 thanks. im watching them. i built my first quad from your apm videos a long time ago and it never failed. i just now am wanting to start fixed wings.

[@tane388]

I can’t setup 3 mode switch, there is only both led blink and both are solid, both led off does’t have, any advice? Thank you

[@Painless360]

Without knowing what you've tried it is tricky to offer any suggestions. I'd check the entire setup. Best of luck!

[@tane388]

@@Painless360 Sure tnx, I have tx16s and betafpv elrs micro receiver. On channel 5 i only got rth and stab mode, there is no third, no stab mode..

[@Painless360]

On ELRS, CH5 is a two position channel only. Use CH6 instead for modes.

[@tane388]

@@Painless360 unfortunately that receiver has 5 channel, what a shame🥲

[@Painless360]

On some of the PWM recievers you can move the channels about. See my video on it.. Best of luck

[@cjmvirus]

Hi Lee, do you have any DVR from those flights?

[@Painless360]

See pinned comment and detail in description... Next time I fly I might capture some more on this model..

[@johnybeegood5727]

For a beginner into wings, do you recommend this Dart 250g or an AR wing pro? With a dedicated flight controler by the way.

[@Painless360]

I wouldn't recommend a wing for your first fixed wing model but if you are already an air-plane pilot then the AR Wing PRO would be a great choice - cheaper than most, robust and tone of room to put everything. The Dart 250 is nice but can't handle more than a breeze...

[@johnybeegood5727]

@@Painless360 thank you for this answer. I'm only into fpv quandcopter for now, but I'd like to increase the range and the flight time, and a wing seemed the best option.

[@ianm.4385]

Which is better this or Strix Nano Goblin?

[@Painless360]

Better in what way?

[@ianm.4385]

@@Painless360 I'm looking for a sub 250g FPV both this and the Goblin look similar. This comes better equipped with GPS, flight controller but the wing attachment method on this doesn't look as strong as the Goblin. Which files better? If you had to choose one which one would you choose?

[@Painless360]

Strix is a nicer flyer IMHO but this is a lot cheaper and easier to get and fix.. Happy flying

[@ianm.4385]

@@Painless360 Very useful advice thanks. You do the best advice RCM videos.

[@sparkycorkers1196]

I've ordered the zohd nano talon evo fpv version. I've not flown fixed wing before but have 5 years or so flying quads. I was going to get this dart, have I made the right choice for my first foray into fixed wing?

[@Painless360]

See my Introduction to fixed wing series.. Lots in there for quad pilots moving across...

[@sparkycorkers1196]

@@Painless360 cool thanks. Just had a watch. I think I'll have a go on the sim before I maiden it!

[@paulbing5958]

Painless, do you know how this compares to the older Zohd Dart V2 (635mm wingspan) with speed, agility, and handling??

[@Painless360]

The origianl Dart is heavier, more robust and has removabel wings - see my review. Both are excellent flyers and the way they fly depends on the stabiliser/FC you're using..

[@StormadoMan]

Looks nice.. no fpv footage?

[@Painless360]

Same as the other other VC400 videos on the channel. The FPV results will vary on the kit you use.. Happy flying!

[@StormadoMan]

@@Painless360 oh I shall check that out, thanks 👍

[@Painless360]

It's in the KoPilot series. It's not a bad picture for such a small camera..

[@StormadoMan]

@@Painless360 Yeah it's like some of the whoop cameras essentially I take it.

[@koalatails6391]

Australia has not followed the under 250g or registration regulation, yet! Nobody knows what rules the authorities here will install. Something like this may be an alternative to always driving to the model aircraft field, as well as exploring fpv flying. Would this wing work with a simple set up? By simple I mean standard receiver and speed control, then it will have a bigger battery for longer flight or sd card recording system for the camera.

[@Painless360]

It flies well in full manual mode but only in calm conditions...

[@evFPV]

Could I fly it with a flysky nirvana?

[@Painless360]

Yep..

[@stratos7755]

I have rebuilt it now about 3 times and no matter what, I just can't get it to fly. It always flies like a brick :/

[@Painless360]

CG placement is super critical on it. Lots of pilots like it but I am not a fan...

[@daveskiefpv1184]

Looks like I will have to make my own 18650 packs for dart seeing as Banggood aren’t shipping batteries at the moment. Would you recommend 2S or 3S? What would be the difference in flight time and power?

[@Painless360]

I'd run 2s in a snall model like this... happy flying

[@daveskiefpv1184]

Painless360 great, thank you. Guess that means running 2S that I get 3 packs instead of 2.

[@Painless360]

No, 2s = two cells. See my battery basics videos. Bets of luck!

[@oldmandoingstuff8997]

Zohd ko pilot V2 ?;possible. Mr 360 have u heard of a Zohd kopilot V2 in the works. The Kopilot is off the Market now out of stock everywhere for a reasonable price.

[@Painless360]

I'm hoping there is something on the way but I've not heard of anything imminent..

[@oldmandoingstuff8997]

@@Painless360 thanks Mate

[@DroneAcharya9]

Can I use an old F3 omnibus FC used for drones to install inav for a wing?

[@Painless360]

Please see my iNav series and the fixed wing flight controller comparison video for more detail...

[@DroneAcharya9]

@@Painless360 ok... If I have any questions at that point, I will get back to you

[@DroneAcharya9]

Just watched your video, but it doesn't say how to connect servo to F3 FCs. Actually I want to know how can I connect the signal wires from the servo to the FC. Do they go to uarts and what other settings so I have to change in inav to make it work.

[@Painless360]

iNav dropped support for F3 boards in the summer (github.com/iNavFlight/inav/wiki/2.1.0-Release-Notes), all of the builds on the channel have links to the places you need to go do do your research. Recent iNav builds have used modern options for flight controllers. Best of luck!

[@wadedittus3552]

Will flysky tx fs tx work with zohd kopilot for long range?

[@Painless360]

If it has an PWM or SBUS output on the receiver you can use - yes..

[@rsilk2969]

I have been looking for a simple plane in which to install my F405-Wing FC which has Arduplane installed. I am considering the PNP version, so with a 2S LiIon battery do you think this would be < 250g? Do not want to register with CAA at least in the next 6 months . . . .

[@Painless360]

The 2s LiIon will be about 100g so you'll be well over the 250g limit. See the Dart 250g..

[@rsilk2969]

I have just noticed that the F405-Wing is designed for 3S-6S :( Do you have the weight of the Kopilot inc. GPS? I don't intend fitting a FPV camera.

[@SnowbirdSteeze]

How is this vs the nano goblin?

[@Painless360]

No idea, I've never managed to find the goblin in stock.. the prices difference is worth noting too.

[@countryboymotovlogs926]

With my qx7 setup with zohd kopilot I’m not getting any servo movement. The radio setup is a night mare!!

[@Painless360]

See the setup video in the KoPilot series.. I've just made an even easier to follow one.. Best of luck!

[@mkmk644]

Can I install TBS cross fire nano in this FC?

[@Painless360]

Yep, see my Kopilot series...

[@mkmk644]

@@Painless360 You are awesome thank you!!!

[@chris-jones]

I’ve just maidened mine and can confirm it flies great but any idea why when I switch to stabilise or RTH the Kopilot lite drops my throttle to zero and doesn’t respond?

[@Painless360]

Have you watched my Kopilot setup guide?

[@chris-jones]

Yes, that’s what I followed to set it up.

[@Painless360]

Not sure then. Every step I follow is in those videos...

[@theoztreecrasher2647]

@@Painless360 This post is old so the original poster will have the answers by now but for anyone new to Kopilot.....You CANNOT start the motor in RTH or Stabilize UNTIL you get a solid GPS lock! When you get GPS lock (and have a Home Point thus set) you can start the motor in Stabilize Mode and do an Auto Launch by throwing the 250 at greater than 4m/sec with Throttle set to 70%+ You should also note that the GPS will take a long time to lock the first time around. Just leave it sitting powered out where it can see the clear sky and the local satellites plus charge up the little memory-holding battery on the GPS unit.

[@Steven-er2od]

How hard is this one to fly?

[@Painless360]

Not hard at all, if it's setup well and the radio setting are right. See my Introduction to Fixed Wing series..

[@Steven-er2od]

@@Painless360 thank you

[@jcfpv3454]

Thank you so much

[@danield.8615]

+1 for the bird!

[@Painless360]

:D He wasn't happy! :D

[@SonAndDadFPV]

How many reviews can you see on yt 😏 but I like yours the most Lee 👍

[@Painless360]

Thank you for the comment. Some reviews I watch seem more interested in controversy and click bait then just giving an honest, no-hype review. Happy flying!

[@DemoPwr]

Beautiful bird....TFS!

[@shibumi5210]

Oh c'mon, HOW could you resist dogfighting with the seagull, or chasing it around?? 😎

[@veronly2]

That thing is cute! (in a great way) don't tempt me soo much haha

[@th3batfink]

Get yourself a nano goblin :)

[@Painless360]

I wanted to but could never find them in stock...