It was a long summer - the sky so blue, the calm ocean breeze so fresh. The warm soft glow of the neverending red sun setting over the horizon. Things were simple. 
It was 2014.

A few viral videos burst on the underground scene - guys flying these quads. WOW


"THAT" is so cool! Right?
2011-2013, "that" was all we had. It took months to research how to do it. ArduCopter APM2. Pin headers. PWM signal lines. Those big bulky H frames. Lots of weird settings. But you had crowds gather around you to see it flying, like seeing a horseless carriage for first time!

2014 dramatically improved things!! 
QAV250. ZMR250. Lumenier 1806. Cobra motors.
Individual ESC. BLHeli arrived! OMG you can change motor direction without re-soldering wires. No more SimonK. 
And Cleanflight was released.



But now it seems like everybody is "collecting" them like Star Wars figurines.
The pile on my desk was too much so I hung them in a row... and ran out of space.

If a tsunami was coming, which 3 quads would you save and why?

A) brushed whoop. Tiny Whoop Nano
B) brushless whoop. Nanohawk. BetaFPV65 
C) small HD cine-whoop. CineLog25
D) 2.5" toothpick. Geprc Skip. TinyHawk
E) BabyTooth 3" 1S/2S
F) TP3
G) 4" toothpick
H) 4" heavy quad
I) 5" ultralight
J) 5" freestyle/racing quad
K) 7" ultralight
L) 7" freestyle/racing quad
M) X-Class 10"+
N) BIG XXL quad
O) sub250g DJI Mini or similar
P) DJI Mavic Air or similar
Q) Hexa/Octa Cine-copter.
R) 3.5/4.5/5.5.. are close enough in flying characteristics to their smaller counterparts.

Hi Roman,

My picks are listed below and would give me 1 for indoors, 1 for general flying including some proximity stuff, and 1 for higher altitude and longer range. For me, these ones would cover all of the bases; I would have a quad for any type of flying that I would want to do. Of course, all of these would be sub 250 gram craft and ALL Analog. 

B) Brushless Whoop (tiny whoop??) {my Tiny-Black-85 build} 
    You got to have something that you can fly indoors and maybe just around the yard. 
    A small whoop can be flown all year; even inside the house. Additionally, 
    it is a nice little "back yard" quad. I like this build best of all my whoops.

D) 2.5" Quad (toothpick?) {GEPRC Phantom BNF - analog} 
    For general, all purpose, fun flying and some proximity stuff. The Phantom is simply pure fun.
    Although too much for my back yard, it is very nice for small to medium areas and proximity flights.
    When I am in the mood, it is also a good little ACRO craft. So, this one is pretty much my best
    all round fun craft. For me, this one does what 5" quads do for other pilots. I picked a 2.5 inch 
    for my middle category because, in my opinion, it flies as good as a 3 inch and is better in smaller 
    spaces. Just me, but that is my perception. Plus, you can't build this quad for what it costs. Just buy it.
    Also, the Phantom frame accepts 16x16 stacks and whoop AIO FC boards {repair or upgrades}.

    Besides, if I want to fly a 3 inch quad, I could just put 3 inch props on the 4 incher.
    If I want something bigger, I would just go ahead and fly the 4" craft as it is.  

G) 4" light weight (toothpick?) {my Ronin-MK1 ONE build} 
    For high altitude, longer range, cruising. For me the 4" is the new 7". This size is good for
    cruising at high altitude, for larger areas, and for long range flights. My Ronin-MK1 ONE
    flies exceptionally well; it is my favorite 4 inch. By the way, a 4 inch frame will handle 3.5 inch props 
    and 3 inch props {with or without guards}. The Ronin-Mk1 frame accepts 20x20 stacks or whoop
    format AIO FC boards and is a "double" stack frame. Plenty of options for builds or upgrades.


Now, most of the new multi-blade props range in size from about 2 inch to 3 inch. So, a 2" or 2.5"
turbine style prop can be used with the GEPRC Phantom...and...3" or 3.5" can easily be used on the
Ronin-MK1 ONE or any other 4 inch frame. Plus, my Tiny-Black-85 is a 2" craft so it will handle the 2" variety.

In my opinion, the 4 inch frame is the most versatile frame since it will handle any prop size 4 inches or less
and most now come with mounting for a 20x20 FC stack or a whoop format AIO FC board. Furthermore, 
some 4 inch frames are almost as light as a lot of 3 inch frames; in my mind, the 4" frame is a good 3" build 
platform. 

Anyway, just my thoughts 

Interesting topic because I have been thinking of thinning out the herd.
 
 I’d keep my Apex 5”,Hyper free range 5” and Avio 3”

no tsunami allowed inhere :-) my overall favorite size is 4inch, a 4inch at 100-130g, on some 1408 3200kv, with some 650s and 850 4s, but i need the whole fleet :-)

I've started to notice that I more or less always grab my digital 5" so besides that I would need a brushless whoop for winter and then I guess I'll take a 3" just to have a light and quiet option for when the 5" is a bit much. The only real question is if I would take my TP3 or the digital. The TP3 really flies sweet but the image leaves me dissappointed and the other is slow but digital... it 'aint easy being me

I think the more confident my flying gets my choices change…. But not the way most may think.. my go to indoor whoop was my tinyhawk S, .. someone recently sent me a microheli/mob6 conversion .. it is a blast, and I recently put myUZ65 props on it.. I have a hard time remembering it’s only a1s quad…
My TINYHAWK freestyle has been through hell and back.. now that it’s 3s…it sits at the top.. but I wish the frame was just a LITTLE stronger …
I have several 5” set ups.. but need to locate areas and TIME to fly those ..

As you probably guessed, my favourite is the 1404 4" toothpick.

Its not quite the same pop with the "HEAVY" 25g frame. And 5g+ canopy.

Hard to pick #2. The 5" ultralights have that floaty feel, and you can easily recover from Matty etc.
But, on the other hand, 3" TP3 are cool to zig zag and split S around trees. Not to mention 3S 600mah batteries are much cheaper.

The best quad is the one you just plugged a fresh LiPo into! 

Otherwise, my digital quads in Small, Medium, and Large(2.5, 3.5, 5):



Yes I know 5" isn't large. But it's the largest I've ever built...

(21-Aug-2021, 11:39 PM)MrSolo Wrote: The best quad is the one you just plugged a fresh LiPo into! 

I can’t agree less.

^*****+1