Introduction
Before I get into this review, I’ve got a confession to make.
The first-ever ‘proper’ quadcopter was an Armattan 258 CNC aluminum frame with a KK2.0 flight controller in the middle. I bought it in January 2013 and back then the owner of Armattan was just starting out building quads to order on the RCGroups forums. After learning a lot of hard flying lessons with that model, repairing it after crashes, and seeing how it was made I was inspired to make my own and I’ve now built dozens and dozens of quadcopters in the past 5 years. That first little Armattan 258 quadcopter is still here in my collection. I won’t part with it. This latest model and frame from Armattan is a very modern model and light-years away from those early days of the multirotor explosion.
Features
You can still order an Armattan model pre-built. The pre-built Rooster is available in limited numbers from the Armattan website and all of the components are available separately if you want to build your own. The design of the Rooster is based on one of the previous frame designs from Armattan, the Chameleon frame. That frame was something of a game-changer with its metal cage, low battery position, and action camera mounts. This latest Rooster frame takes everything that was great on that Chameleon frame and turns it up to eleven! The frame features a milled titanium cage for the cameras at the front, with individual high-end carbon fiber arms and body panels. The antenna mounts for the FPV and radio antennas are molded and the overall fit and finish of the frame is top-notch. 
The motors on this pre-built version are the 2205/2300Kv motors from Oomph and with the 30 Amp BL_HeliS ESCs out on the arms can provide plenty of power for racing or freestyle. A more powerful motor option is available too if you want the extra power. A quick look at any of the flying footage on places like YouTube will show how capable this motor and ESC setup is so I’m pleased I ordered mine with the 2300Kv units. The FPV kit is nice too. The VTX unit is the solid Aomway 200mW Mini connected to a stubby AOMWAY antenna, the camera is a Foxeer Predator Mini-unit and provides a beautiful picture.
The Foxeer Predator is one of my two favorite cameras at the moment so I’m pleased it’s on the model. At the heart of the quadcopter sits a CL Racing F4S All-in-one flight controller. CL is one of those makes flight controllers that many have not heard of but works very well. CL flight controllers have been a popular choice for builders for a while now and this board is back to the high standard of performance you’d expect from a CL flight controller. F4 power, integrated OSD, and power distribution board makes for a very clean build and simple fixing when things need replacing.
The flight controller is mounted on soft mounts to minimize vibration and hidden away in the bottom of the frame it’s nice to see a buzzer too – essential for finding the model in the long grass or the occasional tree or bushy plant! There are soft mounting pads for the battery and HD camera as well as ‘dog bone’ pads under the body to cushion any hard landings. It’s the build quality that impresses though. That first-ever quadcopter I got from Armattan was made the way I would make it, with attention to detail, beautiful soldering, and cable routing. This model is exactly the same. With cheap ARF quadcopters, you’re lucky if they have even tested it once all of the pieces were connected. With other quadcopters, you may get a ‘QC’ sticker somewhere on it but with an Armattan build, you get an entire sheet of A4 paper with all of the checks performed before shipping so you know that it’s going to work.
Setup
The only thing you’ll need for this model is an S-bus receiver and a 4s LIPO battery. I decided on a nice compact FrSky XM+ receiver and soldered it directly to the servo cable that is installed on the model for this purpose. Once that receiver is installed and bound then the Betaflight setup is all done on the model too. All you need to check is that the radio channels, flight modes, failsafe, and OSD are how you like them. Once you’ve done that then it’s time to install the supplied props, charge a battery, and get yourself to the flying field...
Flying
The owner of Armattan was flying ‘steampunk’ quads with great skill back in 2012 so it’s not a surprise that the model is well set up and tuned. I’ve used this one with a 1300mAh 4S pack and it performs great. The tune may not be to every pilot liking but the response is crisp, precise and the model feels like it’s directly connected to the sticks on the radio. You only get that feeling with a good setup model. Watch out for the prop choice though. The model comes with a single set of DALProps Cyclones and the tune is designed for those very stiff props.
Fitting less stiff props from suppliers like GENFAN will affect the tune slightly. The power is plenty hovering easily at one-third throttle with a 1300mAh 4S pack and the power can easily get into and out of trouble in the blink of an eye. With the FPV OSD and camera performing well so, flying FPV is a fun immersive experience. This is a model that can be dialed down to be very docile for a pilot still learning the ropes but has plenty of headroom for those that like to flip and roll their way around the park. That frame isn’t just pretty. It’s tough too. A few nasty crashes had the model cartwheeling across the grass and all of them were shrugged off without incident. The only problems I've had are clearing out the clumps of soil from the inside of that pretty titanium camera cage after a tumble!
Summary
Armattan has a reputation as a designer and vendor of high-end products and this quadcopter lives up to that reputation. It’s fast, agile, well made, and beautiful to look at. Armattan is one of the few vendors offering a ‘Lifetime warranty’ on their products too so if you break apart on your frame, just contact Armattan and they will get you a replacement part. Nice. If you want to add a visual aid for orientation like a strip of WS2812 LEDs then you’ll have to be creative as there isn’t a place designed into the frame for them but this is one of the most impressive quads I’ve looked at in a while. No propriety technology here, just a very well designed frame, built with care using great choices of components with a great tune out of the box. This is how I make a model. Recommended. Written by Painless360
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