Just joined the forum, but I've been flying FPV since the very beginning. And in that year and a half, I've discovered a lot of things.
Namely that DJI didn't come out with the first FPV drone, just the first one I bought.
Oh the shame.
Then to find out this has been going on for YEARS. YEARS!!!!
So anyways, somehow I got sucked into that DJI ad. No idea how, I mean, have you seen it?!
Turns out it's not a great beginner drone. Especially if you crash.
So I got a Cetus Pro to learn how to fly. Then a Tinyhawk 2 Freestyle and race. Super fun little things but break easily. At this point I'm playing in BF a little and learning how to get really confused about things.
Then I bought a Larva but hated the bottom mount battery, so I switched the guts and motors to a 2.5 Tadpole and life was good.
But that DJI was just sitting. And I needed to fly it. So I got a 4" Rekon figuring I'd work up to 5". That thing is stupid fun! Hovers so well the first time I did it I thought the video froze. Got confident with it, got a Nazgul and broke it right away. First flight. Grrrr. So I got a 5" Roma and really like it.
Got prop adapters for the DJI and gave it another go, and finally a year later I can actually kinda fly the thing.
At this point I'm trying to build stuff from scratch, but bad soldering cost me at least one stack. Watched some tutorial, practiced on that fried stack, and now I'm at the point I soldered motors and RX to a micro Succex stack pretty cleanly.
I'm just wondering, at what point does flying time exceed repairing time?

Welcome to intoFPV! Your post made me laugh, thanks for that.

I crash *often*, but I don’t break stuff too often anymore (other than props). I think my fly time well exceeds my crash repair time now- although my build time far exceeds both my fly and crash repair time.

Sounds like you need to build a good fleet of bashers, things that can eat a whole bunch of cement and shake it off.

If you let us know your preferred sizes, I’m sure we can recommend some super durable frames.

You're welcome, and thank you!
So my assumption was that 5" is the be all, end all but honestly I find flying the little 2.5" more fun.
I've crashed into myself a couple of times with the little one and not hardly a scratch.
Then, with that Nazgul, I wanted to clean the lens real quick and dropped my radio down next it.
That flicked the arm switch to on, and my floppy throttle stick went up. The drone jumped up into my hand, and we fought. I'm trying to subdue it, and it's trying to airmode it's way through my arm. I literally had a strand of tendon sticking out. Lots and lots of cuts. And blood. Turns out these 5"ers demand more respect. I finally got it upside down, full throttling itself into the ground and disarmed it.
So yeah, maybe 3-4" is my ideal. That Rekon 4 FR is probably my favorite but it just flies so intuitively.

That sounds… painful. I do kinda wish it was on video though.
I’ve got a lot of scars, but I think I’ve managed to avoid getting any from quads so far (not counting burns from soldering irons).

I prefer smaller birds (1.6” to 3”) because I only fly on my property, and I’ve got a couple 3” basher frames that I can recommend.

RoninUAV Sohei MK2
https://roninuav.com/shop/sohei-mk2/
It’s not currently in stock, but you can message the.ronin on this forum and ask him when they’ll be in stock again.
I flew mine *through* my neighbors fence, and it kept on flying after some new props. I like this bird so much that I built another with 3.5” arms.

ImpulseRC Micro Alien:
https://pyrodrone.com/products/impulserc...gLCk_D_BwE
I learned how to fly on this frame- it’s been slammed into the ground, gravel, my car, and cement more times than I can count. It’s also been drowned a couple times (hooray for putting conformal coating on your electronics!). Anyhow, I bought a bunch of replacement arms for it, and I don’t think I’ve had to replace more than one. It’s still flying great.
Keep in mind that the Micro Alien is more for analog, if you need room for a digital vtx then check out the ImpulseRC Micro Apex instead:
https://pyrodrone.com/products/impulse-r...-frame-kit

Pair any of those frames with some 1408 or 1507 motors, some 3x3x3 or 3x5x3 props, and they’ll fly like a bat out of hell.

Pair them with some 1404 or even 1106 motors and some lower pitched props if you’d prefer something more gentle.


I’m sure some others will chime in with their recommendations, but those are the only ones that I have direct experience with that I haven’t managed to break, so I’m comfortable recommending them.

They’re a little on the heavier side, but anything that can take a good hit is going to be. You can build them to be gentle cruisers or speed demons, either way, when you smack into something, you’ll most likely be able to just put on a new prop or two and get back in the air.

Not necessarily ideal for all styles of flying, but *great* for learning.

unclean builders flies more xD
tape it, ziptie it, glue it xD everything which takes just seconds xD

but the regular way is to get into love on building either, priorities between risky and fun or save and forever in the kind of flight let you choose tje benchtime by yourself if you get experienced :-)

there are strategies like in racing, a fleet with 3-5clones, all exactly the same. 2 drones which need benchtime wont stop ypu to continue flying. benchtime doesnt change overall.

(08-Feb-2023, 01:33 AM)Lemonyleprosy Wrote: That sounds… painful. I do kinda wish it was on video though.
I’ve got a lot of scars, but I think I’ve managed to avoid getting any from quads so far (not counting burns from soldering irons).

I prefer smaller birds (1.6” to 3”) because I only fly on my property, and I’ve got a couple 3” basher frames that I can recommend.

RoninUAV Sohei MK2
https://roninuav.com/shop/sohei-mk2/
It’s not currently in stock, but you can message the.ronin on this forum and ask him when they’ll be in stock again.
I flew mine *through* my neighbors fence, and it kept on flying after some new props. I like this bird so much that I built another with 3.5” arms.

ImpulseRC Micro Alien:
https://pyrodrone.com/products/impulserc...gLCk_D_BwE
I learned how to fly on this frame- it’s been slammed into the ground, gravel, my car, and cement more times than I can count. It’s also been drowned a couple times (hooray for putting conformal coating on your electronics!). Anyhow, I bought a bunch of replacement arms for it, and I don’t think I’ve had to replace more than one. It’s still flying great.
Keep in mind that the Micro Alien is more for analog, if you need room for a digital vtx then check out the ImpulseRC Micro Apex instead:
https://pyrodrone.com/products/impulse-r...-frame-kit

Pair any of those frames with some 1408 or 1507 motors, some 3x3x3 or 3x5x3 props, and they’ll fly like a bat out of hell.

Pair them with some 1404 or even 1106 motors and some lower pitched props if you’d prefer something more gentle.


I’m sure some others will chime in with their recommendations, but those are the only ones that I have direct experience with that I haven’t managed to break, so I’m comfortable recommending them.

They’re a little on the heavier side, but anything that can take a good hit is going to be. You can build them to be gentle cruisers or speed demons, either way, when you smack into something, you’ll most likely be able to just put on a new prop or two and get back in the air.

Not necessarily ideal for all styles of flying, but *great* for learning.

Appreciate it, I'll check those out!

Hi FlyingMonkey,

Quote:FlyingMonkey:

At this point I'm trying to build stuff from scratch, but bad soldering cost me at least one stack. Watched some tutorial, practiced on that fried stack, and now I'm at the point I soldered motors and RX to a micro Succex stack pretty cleanly.

I'm just wondering, at what point does flying time exceed repairing time?

You might want to take a look at my TUTORIAL  How to Solder - Principles, Technics, Etc. 
There is a lot of information in that thread, plus links to other threads, articles, and
YouTube videos {some that I consider to be better than others}. Anyway, it might prove
to be a useful resource. 

Regarding the amount of flying time vs build time, WELL, that depends on each situation.
When I started about 4 years ago with tiny whoops {indoors}, my time was mostly spent
on flying. Ok, learning to fly, then flying. All indoors, all with tiny whooped quads, and all
brushed motor craft; simple and easy to work on. Still, most of the time was spent on real
flying. Yeah, no SIM since none of the transmitters would connect to a computer. All real
flying in real time. I have dozens of these brushed motor tiny whooped quads and some
toothpicks.

My first brushless freestyle quad was the 2.5-inch EMAX TinyHawk Freestyle BNF and my
second one was the 2.5-inch GEPRC Phantom BNF; both analog. Yeah, all my time was
spent flying until I lost the Phantom {Bummer}. Next, I bought a Flywoo XBOT3 and
kept flying. After a few flights the electronics went south on the XBOT3 so now I am
beginning to buy parts for repair and building, however, I was still flying the TinyHawk
Freestyle. Obviously, I had a decent place to fly even though the location was about
20 minutes away. 

I would fly when I could and build when I could not get out to fly, but there was still 
a balance and still mostly flying.

When I got kicked out of that fly location, my fly time was reduced, but I still kept building.

Currently, my only fly location is small and 30 minutes away. On the other hand, I can work
in some build time since I can fit that into smaller chunks of time at home. However, now I
am building a house so all of my time for FPV has slowed down a bit. 

If I had a good place to fly close to home, my fly time would be more than my build time,
but I don't. It is easier to find a small bit of time to build even when I couldn't take the time
to fly. 

I have plenty of flyable quads, just don't have a good place to fly nor time to get there.

Still, I fly when I can and build when I can't fly. How the time works out just depends on
the day and activities for that day. Yeah, right now, I seem to be able to build more than
fly, however, that will change in time back to mostly flying. 

By the way, my favorite size is the 2.5-inch with the 3-inch being a close second. For me,
larger quads {and I have some including a 7-inch} do NOT offer anything more than the 
smaller ones which are just plain fun and can be flown in smaller spaces. Overall, I like
the 2.5-inch the best. A 4-inch is a nice cruiser if I have the space. Currently, I don't.

Now, if you only have a couple of quads and they seem to get broken all the time, then you
will spend most of the time repairing or building. 

If you want to fly more than build, buy another 2.5-inch or 3-inch BNF and go fly, have fun. 

Fly when you can and Save the building for times when you can't fly. 

Think about it.    

(08-Feb-2023, 07:56 PM)iFly4rotors Wrote: Hi FlyingMonkey,


You might want to take a look at my TUTORIAL  How to Solder - Principles, Technics, Etc. 
There is a lot of information in that thread, plus links to other threads, articles, and
YouTube videos {some that I consider to be better than others}. Anyway, it might prove
to be a useful resource. 

Regarding the amount of flying time vs build time, WELL, that depends on each situation.
When I started about 4 years ago with tiny whoops {indoors}, my time was mostly spent
on flying. Ok, learning to fly, then flying. All indoors, all with tiny whooped quads, and all
brushed motor craft; simple and easy to work on. Still, most of the time was spent on real
flying. Yeah, no SIM since none of the transmitters would connect to a computer. All real
flying in real time. I have dozens of these brushed motor tiny whooped quads and some
toothpicks.

My first brushless freestyle quad was the 2.5-inch EMAX TinyHawk Freestyle BNF and my
second one was the 2.5-inch GEPRC Phantom BNF; both analog. Yeah, all my time was
spent flying until I lost the Phantom {Bummer}. Next, I bought a Flywoo XBOT3 and
kept flying. After a few flights the electronics went south on the XBOT3 so now I am
beginning to buy parts for repair and building, however, I was still flying the TinyHawk
Freestyle. Obviously, I had a decent place to fly even though the location was about
20 minutes away. 

I would fly when I could and build when I could not get out to fly, but there was still 
a balance and still mostly flying.

When I got kicked out of that fly location, my fly time was reduced, but I still kept building.

Currently, my only fly location is small and 30 minutes away. On the other hand, I can work
in some build time since I can fit that into smaller chunks of time at home. However, now I
am building a house so all of my time for FPV has slowed down a bit. 

If I had a good place to fly close to home, my fly time would be more than my build time,
but I don't. It is easier to find a small bit of time to build even when I couldn't take the time
to fly. 

I have plenty of flyable quads, just don't have a good place to fly nor time to get there.

Still, I fly when I can and build when I can't fly. How the time works out just depends on
the day and activities for that day. Yeah, right now, I seem to be able to build more than
fly, however, that will change in time back to mostly flying. 

By the way, my favorite size is the 2.5-inch with the 3-inch being a close second. For me,
larger quads {and I have some including a 7-inch} do NOT offer anything more than the 
smaller ones which are just plain fun and can be flown in smaller spaces. Overall, I like
the 2.5-inch the best. A 4-inch is a nice cruiser if I have the space. Currently, I don't.

Now, if you only have a couple of quads and they seem to get broken all the time, then you
will spend most of the time repairing or building. 

If you want to fly more than build, buy another 2.5-inch or 3-inch BNF and go fly, have fun. 

Fly when you can and Save the building for times when you can't fly. 

Think about it.    

Thanks, I'll check out those tutorials. I've gotten better at soldering tiny pads, I used to solder at work but I was using Stay-Clean and plumbing solder, which doesn't work so well on drone stuff.

I'm lucky enough to be able to fly in my yard, but I try to limit that to 2.5-3". I've got a few spots within 15-20 for the bigger stuff.
Currently I have:
DJI FPV, with prop adapters and 5.5" props.
Nazgul 5D HD
Diatone Roma analog
HGLRC Rekon 4 FR analog
Tadpole HD 3" with a T Motor F7 mini stack, 1204 5000Kv 4s
Tadpole 2.5" analog with an iFlight succex micro stack 1202.5 6400Kv 3s
Emax Tinyhawk 2 Freerace...I basically chopped the race frame and built the freestyle frame onto it for the top mount battery. Had to use 63mm props on it. Flies as expected, like a bloated mosquito.
BetaFPV Cetus Pro. This was my second drone and served me really well in learning real time flight.

I basically try to always have two that work. My goal is to at some point have all of them flyable at the same time, but I'm more realistic than that.