Engineering · airframes

Engineering — Airframes

Two airframe shapes. A DIY hexacopter built from parts — two options, EFT E610P or X600 — and the RTF coaxial octo (Aurelia X8, bought assembled). Both take the same two pods; those are on the Pods sheet.

Prices indicative Jul 2026, USD→SGD ≈ 1.35 — verify at order. Each drawing prints on its own landscape page.

DIY hexacopter — EFT E610P / X600 (same layout, different parts)

Side elevation — flight direction ◄ left · airframe only, balloons keyed to the BOM below

CG / centreline payload rail 1 2×6 3×6 4×6 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 motor-to-motor ≈ 960 mm (EFT E610P) / ≈ 686 mm (X600) gear track ≈ 500 mm · payload mounts on the CG, clears props & skids

Bill of materials — same drawing, two part paths

#PartEFT E610P — source · priceX600 — source · price
1Frame (hexa)EFT E610P · rcdrone.top · US$996 (~S$1,345)X600 600 mm · hobbysquare · S$95
2Motors ×6T-Motor MN605-S / Hobbywing X8 · reseller · ~S$1,134imported (~US$240) · reseller · ~S$325
3Props ×6in the motor setwith the motors
4ESC ×6in the X8 set (or XRotor 40A)Hobbywing XRotor 40A · hobbysquare · S$114
5Flight controller + GPSHolybro Pixhawk 6C + GPS (ArduPilot / PX4) · SingaHobby · S$399 — same both
6GPS + compassbundled with the Pixhawk 6C above — same both
7Power distributionMatek Mini Power HUB · hobbysquare · S$8 — same both
8RX + telemetryELRS / Crossfire RX + SiK telemetry · reseller · ~S$60 — same both
9Video TX (VTX)PandaRC R1 · hobbysquare · S$39 — same both
10FPV cameraFoxeer Razer Mini V3 · S$38Foxeer S$38 + CADDX Ant Lite down-cam S$22
11Battery (6S)Tattu 16000 mAh · rcdrone.top · US$361 (~S$487)6S ~6200 mAh · hobbysquare · S$140
12Landing gearin the frame kitin the frame kit
13Payload mount / railCF / printed bracket on the CG — pods attach here · ~S$20
Built airframe≈ S$3,685≈ S$1,305
Totals include a VR001 FPV goggle set (S$115, ground station — not on the airframe) and wiring / RX misc. Propulsion is the swing on the E610P — a Hobbywing X8 power set can push it toward ~S$5,500. Full itemised tables are on the build brief.

Detail A — avionics stack (exploded, balloon 5 region)

Vibration-isolated on the top plate; FPV cam (10) mounts on the nose, GPS (6) on a mast.

Flight controller Power distribution board RX + telem VTX 6S LiPo battery 5 7 8 9 11

Plan view — hex X motor layout & payload footprint

CW CCW CW CCW CW CCW FC + GPS PDB · RX · VTX pod ⌀ NOSE / FPV
Why hexa (6 rotors), not quad: one-motor-out stability for a heavy payload over water; more disc area = steadier hover for release / aim. X config keeps the nose-camera arc and belly payload clear of props.
Motor spin: alternating CW / CCW cancels yaw torque. Match prop handedness to motor direction per the flight controller's hex-X map.
Payload footprint (dashed): the pod sits inside this circle, on the CG, between the rear arms — never crossing a prop disc. Same interface for the drop pod or the marker pod.

RTF airframe — Aurelia X8 (coaxial octo, bought assembled)

Side elevation — flight direction ◄ left · coaxial X8 rotors · airframe only

CG / centreline coaxial pair: 2 motors / arm payload rail 1 2 3 4 motor-to-motor ≈ 1015 mm (Aurelia X8) · folds for transport 8 rotors = 4 coaxial pairs · MTOW class ~14–18 kg · payload on CG, clears props & skids

Bill of materials — bought whole, plus power + camera

#PartProduct / sourcePrice
1Airframe — Aurelia X8 (RTF)Aurelia X8 Standard — carbon frame, folding arms, 8 coaxial motors + ESCs, Cube autopilot (ArduPilot), dual GPS, telemetry & RC, landing gear; assembled & tuned · Aurelia dealerUS$6,399.95
~S$8,640
2Flight battery6S/12S high-capacity LiPo to Aurelia spec DG~S$470
3FPV / payload cameraFoxeer / RunCam FPV cam + VTX (nose)~S$54
4Payload mount / railBracket on the Aurelia payload rail — pods attach here~S$40
Ready-to-fly airframe≈ S$9,200
Open despite being RTF: the Cube runs ArduPilot, so the marker trigger still wires to a spare flight-controller output — same as the DIY builds. A locked ecosystem (DJI) would block that.

Plan view — coaxial X8 (4 arms × 2 motors) & payload footprint

CW/CCW CW/CCW CW/CCW CW/CCW Cube + GPS telem · RC · pwr pod ⌀ NOSE / FPV
Coaxial X8 (8 motors, 4 arms): each arm carries a top and bottom motor/prop (over/under). Double the propulsion redundancy of a hexa — flies home on multiple motor-out cases with a heavy payload. Concentric circles = the stacked pair.
Trade vs hexa: coaxial pairs lose a little efficiency (prop wash) but buy compactness + redundancy — why heavy-lift RTF platforms favour X8.
Payload footprint (dashed): the pod sits on the CG, between the arms, clear of every prop disc. Same interface as the hexa.

Engineering · airframes · companion to the Paint & Pain build brief and the Pods sheet. Open → Print → Save as PDF (Landscape).