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FlightOne(formerly RaceFlight) Mode-2 Gizmo Build


So I ended up with a RaceFlight, now FlightOne, Millivolt v1 and Spark 4 in 1 ESC from a sale recently. They were 50% off and since everything I've built up to this point has been a BetaFlight config I felt I needed to see what the "hype" was all about.
I had this 3" frame from Mode-2 that I bought mostly because of the name. GIZMO.
One of my favorite movies from back in the day and my nickname from my time on a competition paintball team.

The Mode-2 GIZMO is a 3" stretch X design with a few features that I really liked.
  1. The SMA mount on the rear which makes adding the Lumenier AXII antenna nice and simple.
  2. Carbon fiber camera mounts in the front with perfect spacing for most micro cameras.
  3. The guys at Mode-2 sent me the 3d print files for pretty much anything I'd want to tack onto this frame with just a quick message to them on Facebook.
All parts were acquired from one of these three retailers

Frame
Mode-2 Gizmo

Vtx and FPV system
TBS Unify Nano
WhiteNoise Unify Nano 20x20 mounting board (to conveniently mount the unify in a stack with the TBS Crossfire Nano)
90 degree ufl to SMA adapter
Lumenier AXII stubby
Foxeer Micro Pro

Flight Controller, ESCs, and Motors
RaceFlight Millivolt v1
RaceFlight Spark v1
Brotherhobby Avenger 1507 3600kv. (these will most likely pull more than the ESCs are rated for, but with the right props fall just at the rating published by FlightOne.

Parts Layout
All parts with the exception of the motors which were still on their way to me when I started the build.
 Dry Fit
I was originally going to mount like this, but the through-pin sockets for the flight controller and 4-in-1 needed more space.
Capacitor/Motors/ESC/Camera Layout
No bullet connectors. Just going for a straight connection to the ESCs. Some of these parts are heavy so I wanted to save where I could on weight. It's a tiny amount, but save whenever I possibly can. As a tip I like to use double-sided tape to hold my wires in place for routing and cutting them to length. 
 Motors Shrink Wrapped and Wires Routed
REMEMBER to heatshrink those wires or at least put the heatshrink in place before you start soldering. I've made the mistake of forgetting to do that and ended up having to remove all the wires and redoing the solder connections to the ESC.
Another View of the First Layer
For the battery line I chose to go out the front of the ESC since this board has the carbon fiber pillars for the camera that I can zip them too and I cut my battery lead to length for a specific way I run by leads and battery cables when strapped in.
Flight Controller Layer
Millivolt v1 connect via socket plugs directly into the ESC so a reduction of 11 wires that needed to be cut and soldered at the risk of getting noise in the FC. However, the gummies are in the FC and the 4-in-1 with nothing in between. the two are soft mounted while being directly connected together. So far I'm not receiving any excessive noise from this method as others have when building this combination. (The 5v for the LED is on the wrong pin. It should be the one above it)
VTX and Rx Layer
Next layer on the stack is the WhiteNoise plate for the Unify Nano and the Crossfire Nano. You need to run the Ch4 from the Crossfire to the SA pad, but other than that the Crossfire mounts directly to the WhiteNoise board making this so clean.
WhiteNoiseFPV/Camera Wiring Note
For the camera connection, I did NOT end up using the video from the camera pad on this side. The reason is that the FC has no OSD so the traces on the board don't run through to accomadate that scenario. Just connect them to the V pad on the other side of the board which is where the feed from the FC would go if you have an OSD.
Final Connections
Last connections are the LEDs and the Antennas. Everyone has their own opinions here so do as you please. 
Ready for Programming in FlightOne.
Used the zip ties and shrink wrap for my Crossfire antenna for the preferred 90 degree mounting.

From here it is all about the FlightOne (formerly RaceFlight) firmware configuration which I have to say is so straight forward and simple that I was left thinking there has to be more to setting this up.
I'll cover that in the next entry, but for now It's a solid build coming in at under 250gr with a Tattu 3s 650mah LiPo.




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