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FreeFly introduces the Alta X — a foldable quadcopter with ActiveBlade

In a year in which DJI has yet to launch a new drone, the competition is heating up. Parrot keeps prodding DJI at the lower end of the market with lightweight and affordable drones. Skydio is about to launch a competitor to the DJI Mavic 2 drone series. And today. FreeFly introduces the Alta X, a drone aimed at film and documentary makers, that puts new competitive pressure to the top of the drone market. Let’s take a closer look and see what FreeFly offers us with the Alta X.

FreeFly introduces the Alta X

The Alta X is a high-end drone, priced at $15,995 (payload such as camera, lens, and gimbal not included). This new quadcopter from FreeFly features a new foldable design that allows you to deploy the drone very quickly (less than two minutes, according to FreeFly).

The drone allows you to mount a gimbal to either to bottom or top of the aircraft. With a 20-pound payload such as the Mövi Carbon, you can fly the Alta X for about 20 minutes. With a maximum payload, the flight time is reduced to about 10 minutes. However, when you mount smaller, lighter payload packages, your flight time might be as long as 40 minutes. During testing, a top speed of 85 mph was achieved.

The FreeFly Alta X drone features a new and unique propeller mechanism for drones, called the ActiveBlade. This reduces vibrations from the props to about one-fifth of the normal level. The video explains it as follows:

ActiveBlade compensates for the dissymmetry of lift and cyclic loading as the Alta X blasts through the sky.

FreeFly strived to achieve the payload-carrying capacity of a large prop quadcopter with the precision of an octocopter.

We designed Alta X from the ground up to capitalize on the benefits of large, efficient props while maintaining the crisp control and unmatched precision the Alta line is known for.

Specifications for FreeFly’s Alta X

Alta X Specs
Dimensions Unfolded Diameter (not including props)

Unfolded Diameter (Including Props)

Folded Diameter

Height

Height (Skyview)

1415 mm

2273 mm

877 mm

387 mm

434 mm

Powerplant Number of Motors

Motor Max Continuous Power Output

Motor Max Instantaneous Peak Power Output

Equivalent Kv

4

100 A

130 A (>3s)

115 rpm/V

Propellers Make and Model

Material

Propeller Orientation

Propeller Type

DJI R3390

Ultra Carbon Pro

(2) CW and (2) CCW Props

840 x 230 mm Folding

Battery Nominal Battery Voltage

Battery Connectors

Required Minimum Battery Discharge Rating (Per Pack)

44.4V

XT-90

320 Amps per battery (assumes
two batteries) 20C for a 16A-hr pack.

Weight Maximum Gross for Takeoff

Maximum Payload

Typical Standard Empty weight

34.86kg (see performance charts)

15.9kg

10.4 kg

Flight Controller Autopilot Name

Flight Modes

Supported Radios

Supported Radio Controller Telemetry Systems

Minimum Radio Controller Channels Required

Supported GNSS

Default Data Logging Rate

Custom PX4 flight control stack

Manual, altitude, position, mission,
loiter, orbit, return

Futaba, Spektrum, PX4 compatible
SBUS and PPM receivers

Voltage feed provided for Futaba
RX telemetry

5 (roll, pitch, yaw, throttle, mode)

GPS/Glonass/Beidou/Galileo

Varies, 25hz for main flight data

Lighting and Indication Orientation Lights

Orientation Light Color Options

FPV Ability

Boom tip mounted lights

Colors can be set in software – red,
orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue,
purple, white, off.

Yes

What do you think about FreeFly’s Alta X? Let us know in the comments below.

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Author

Avatar for Haye Kesteloo Haye Kesteloo

Haye Kesteloo is the Editor in Chief and Main Writer at DroneDJ, where he covers all drone related news and writes product reviews. He also contributes to the other sites in the 9to5Mac group such as; 9to5Mac, 9to5Google, 9to5Toys and Electrek. Haye can be reached at haye@dronedj.com or @hayekesteloo 


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