I've seen many suggestions that newbies should acquire a small, inexpensive quadcopter for practice and learning. I've been researching this but I'm somewhat overwhelmed by the many choices. What models and/or price range would you recommend for practice and learning. I ultimately want to try serious aerial videography. Thank you.
quadcopter for practice
- Thread starter jaspenn
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Jaspenn -
I learned the basics on a Blade mCX2 helicopter at the suggestion of a guy at my local hobby shop. It is small, light weight and best flown inside (unless you have a very calm day). I would suggest buying a couple extra lipo batteries for whatever you pick so you can get move experience in than 5 to 10 minutes that they fly.
I see that Blade also has a quad, the Nano QX out as well. I cannot attest to it but I have been please with my Blade mCX2.
Best wishes and happy flying.
Tom
I learned the basics on a Blade mCX2 helicopter at the suggestion of a guy at my local hobby shop. It is small, light weight and best flown inside (unless you have a very calm day). I would suggest buying a couple extra lipo batteries for whatever you pick so you can get move experience in than 5 to 10 minutes that they fly.
I see that Blade also has a quad, the Nano QX out as well. I cannot attest to it but I have been please with my Blade mCX2.
Best wishes and happy flying.
Tom
hmmm...really...?
I thought Phantom was easy to fly...comparing it with a small 90 USD helicopter is not fair in my eyes.
Also, GPS feature helps greatly in flying the Phantom.
I maybe completely wrong here...but just my 0.02 cents.
P
I thought Phantom was easy to fly...comparing it with a small 90 USD helicopter is not fair in my eyes.
Also, GPS feature helps greatly in flying the Phantom.
I maybe completely wrong here...but just my 0.02 cents.
P
I bought the one the dji was selling as a trainer. It was a gas flying and learning. If you could get proficient in that....you'll be pleasantly surprised with the phantom. There's a lot to learn in the basics Of flying a multirotor. Another good tool is the PhoenixR/C simulator. A little pricey.... But cheaper than repairs in the long run. Plus you get to fly a lot more. I wish someone would make a Phantom aircraft for it. I've seen one on another simulator.
I decided to get a "trainer" quad. Just because I have flown sailplanes, gas planes and a .60 size helicopter. In order to keep training costs to a minimum. I got a Blade MQX because of the popularity, toughness and aftermarket parts support. I am glad I did. I have my Phantom on order as well as a One Eye Extreme. It is below freezing outside and I can fly my MQX indoors. Getting pretty good at it. Really looking forward to flying the others as well. PM me I got one for sale. In the box.
Hubsan X4 is virtually unbreakable, very cheap, great indoor "manual" trainer, will teach you the muscle memory for flying nose-in, figure-eights, etc (i.e. will help you with the left-is-right-and-right-is-left when the thing's facing you), and is very sensitive to the controls so it will help with learning smooth, gentle control inputs which can only help with smooth filming. Added to which it makes an excellent indoor wife/dog/child annoyer for those days when it's blowing a gale outside and the Phantom needs to stay in the hangar!
Only thing to note with the micro quads is that they don't have centre-sprung throttle controls - but then as they don't automatically hover and you need to be constantly tickling both sticks to keep things on an even keel that's no problem, just something to remember when moving back to the big one with the centred throttle.
Only thing to note with the micro quads is that they don't have centre-sprung throttle controls - but then as they don't automatically hover and you need to be constantly tickling both sticks to keep things on an even keel that's no problem, just something to remember when moving back to the big one with the centred throttle.
+1 on the Hubsan X4, a blast to fly indoors. Get the one without the camera
If you want something that is crazy cheap and tons of fun take a look at the Estes Proto X. You can find them for $36
The Hubsan X4 controller will also bind with the Proto X.
But in reality, the Phantom is easier to fly than either of those because of the GPS stability.
You can never have too many flying toys!
If you want something that is crazy cheap and tons of fun take a look at the Estes Proto X. You can find them for $36
The Hubsan X4 controller will also bind with the Proto X.
But in reality, the Phantom is easier to fly than either of those because of the GPS stability.
You can never have too many flying toys!
browntw79 said:
I've had fun practicing using the Blade NanoQX indoors. It has built in prop guards, so I feel confident that I can fly it around the house and I'm not going to do much damage if I hit something. The only issue that I'm coming across is that it is extremely light (18 grams), and it gets pushed around a bit in its own prop wash or even by fans/heaters/air conditioner ducts. I guess even that isn't totally a bad thing because it is making me learn to to counter those situations, which can only make me a better pilot.
A friend of mine has the Traxxas version of the Hubsan X4, it is a similar size but much heavier, and prop guards are extra. The Hubsan is much less expensive than either of these quads but it might take a while to get one.
I'm pleased to hear the the Phantom is easier to fly than these little guys.
Another vote for Hubsan X4 - if you can master that in tight spaces, flying a Phantom is a breeze.
Hubsan X4 works fine. It is not a Phantom simulator but it teaches you orientation. It seems slightly more robust than some of the others.
I also have a Heli-Max 1SQ which may be easier (but only just a little). I've flown this one more and crashed it a lot and it shows - it is going to entropy - crap is falling off it. The battery door was the last thing that left in a huff.
Buy spare props and batteries (as was mentioned).
I think the simulator for the Phantom (Heli-X) is more cost effective... and you aren't looking for props that sprang off when you collided with the house plants. ;-} I credit stick time in this simulator with saving my phantom during an especially windy flight.
All the above are harder than the real Phantom but that is what you want.
I also have a Heli-Max 1SQ which may be easier (but only just a little). I've flown this one more and crashed it a lot and it shows - it is going to entropy - crap is falling off it. The battery door was the last thing that left in a huff.
Buy spare props and batteries (as was mentioned).
I think the simulator for the Phantom (Heli-X) is more cost effective... and you aren't looking for props that sprang off when you collided with the house plants. ;-} I credit stick time in this simulator with saving my phantom during an especially windy flight.
All the above are harder than the real Phantom but that is what you want.
ladykate said:
I couldn't agree more. Glad you said it though as I bang on about the simulator too much I think :lol: Every day I fire it up and force myself to do difficult things with it. When I fly the real thing I always think its slow. Thats just the way you want it.
The link is in my signature if you want info on the simulator.
My vote is for the Hubsan also. Fast and cheap from Amazon. Also if you have an iPhone or iPad the Electric RC app has a Quad along with other planes etc. When I'm at work and need to fly I fly on my iPad. 
After both of those, the Phantom is a piece of cake.
After both of those, the Phantom is a piece of cake.
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I had fooled around with remote control helicopters for years spending a small fortune trying to learn and control the darn thing. My whole purpose was not really for flying but for having a flying work platform mainly for photography.
In comes the quadcopter. I bought a quadcopter (UFO) and was amazed at the ease of flight control. It was one of the most stable and easy to fly copters. Interestingly, it made me look like I knew what I was doing and that's pure magic!
Then I found the Phantom 2 Vision. I looked and looked at all the feedback and info on the Vision and decided to take the plunge. The day (or evening rather) that I got the Vision, I took it out to my driveway and flew it with ease. The quad configuration was super stable, just like the UFO.....only better.
GPS and hover stabilization was a God send! What a marvel in technology and what an evolution from the Phantom 1.
My only hope is that DJI produces a similar product to the Vision with a 2d gimbal because the GoPro configuration is just too Mickey Mouse compared to the Vision capabilities!
In comes the quadcopter. I bought a quadcopter (UFO) and was amazed at the ease of flight control. It was one of the most stable and easy to fly copters. Interestingly, it made me look like I knew what I was doing and that's pure magic!
Then I found the Phantom 2 Vision. I looked and looked at all the feedback and info on the Vision and decided to take the plunge. The day (or evening rather) that I got the Vision, I took it out to my driveway and flew it with ease. The quad configuration was super stable, just like the UFO.....only better.
GPS and hover stabilization was a God send! What a marvel in technology and what an evolution from the Phantom 1.
My only hope is that DJI produces a similar product to the Vision with a 2d gimbal because the GoPro configuration is just too Mickey Mouse compared to the Vision capabilities!
I use a sim on my ipad - only has helicopter BUT it teaches you to move your thumbs real small amounts to control the copter
http://happybytesapps.com/iphone.html. But having seen the Electric RC one mentioned above has a quad I am off to get that
http://happybytesapps.com/iphone.html. But having seen the Electric RC one mentioned above has a quad I am off to get that
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A few months ago I bought a Monstertronic Star Runner for €36 inc. shipping. When Googling around because of it I discovered the Phantom. It basically went downhill from that moment on :mrgreen: and now my Phantom will arrive in two days.
They do their best to trash it here but don't succeed. I think its X-frame is made of carbon fibre.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yUMFpkTDvk[/youtube]
Outdoors with only a little wind it quickly becomes rather hard to handle. It also has very little power and when it flies fast in a dive it doesn’t really have the oomph to pull up equally fast as I found out when I crashed it going down in such a steep dive against a wooden garden fence. It looked quite scary and I expected (serious?) damage but it was completely unharmed.
I've seen it being sold under other names. The nice thing is it has four settings with increasing stick sensitivity (20%, 40%, 60%, 100%) like the attitude gain in the Phantom. It can do flips when set at 100%.
I expect the Phantom will be much easier to handle with all the added bells and whistles like GPS, altitude hold, IOC and whatnot. Manual mode on the Phantom will not be very dissimilar in handling to this little fellow (set at 100%) I expect. Apart from the power and the speed and the weight of course. :lol:
They do their best to trash it here but don't succeed.
I think its X-frame is made of carbon fibre.[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yUMFpkTDvk[/youtube]
Outdoors with only a little wind it quickly becomes rather hard to handle. It also has very little power and when it flies fast in a dive it doesn’t really have the oomph to pull up equally fast as I found out when I crashed it going down in such a steep dive against a wooden garden fence. It looked quite scary and I expected (serious?) damage but it was completely unharmed.
I've seen it being sold under other names. The nice thing is it has four settings with increasing stick sensitivity (20%, 40%, 60%, 100%) like the attitude gain in the Phantom. It can do flips when set at 100%.
I expect the Phantom will be much easier to handle with all the added bells and whistles like GPS, altitude hold, IOC and whatnot. Manual mode on the Phantom will not be very dissimilar in handling to this little fellow (set at 100%) I expect. Apart from the power and the speed and the weight of course. :lol:
For those new to RC Quads or Copters it would be worthwhile to invest time in developing orientation skills with an inexpensive micro quad. RC Helicopters are much harder to fly as compared to Quadcopters, but if you learn to fly the Helicopter (especially collective pitched) the Quadcopter is a piece of cake - I started with Helicopters to learn my orientation skills - I don't recommend that path unless you desire to also fly Helicopters. A person might wonder; why should you take time to learn orientation? Although, the latest Quads are fairly easy to fly - you can get yourself in trouble flying around objects, trees, and even landing. Wind can push your craft places where you don't want to be. Plus; when you start doing video and picture taking, knowing how to easily maneuver your craft to the exact location and orientation becomes an important skill. I have several Quads for practice and fun. For the money, I agree the Hubsan H107 X4 is a very good value. I have the H107c, it seems a little more sturdy compared to the H107L or the Blade Nano QX, I don't bother with the low quality onboard camera. I also have the Blade mQX (no longer sold), I also have the Blade Nano QX, and the Blade 350 QX. They all fly well and my favorite to just fly around is the Blade 350 QX, but for about $50 the Hubsan is great to learn orientation on, heck if you crash it too many times get another one for $50 (plus shipping). As a side: the Blade 350 QX, flies great and I love flying it for fun, however compared to the Phantom the 350 QX is not as good for video and picture taking. 1) It is not as powerful as the Phantom, it becomes a little sluggish with a GoPro attached - works but sluggish 2) Shorter flight times 3) Doesn't have a gimbal option with the original (350 QX AP Combo - does) 4) In my experience my 350 QX has more vibration as compared to a Phantom without a gimbal as I compare videos. In the end, practice pays off, besides why not keep the fun going indoors and during the evenings with a micro Quad.
Just play lots of video games, my son has never flown a thing, but has no issues at all throwing the P2V around the sky from the first time he used it.
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