Born to Fly

Author: Jim T. Graham

FPV goggles beside a small yellow quadcopter

The best rig for FPV beginners

Many of my family members throughout the years have come to me with questions about RC. The number one question is, “What should I get?” It’s not answering the question that seems to be the problem—it’s getting them to agree with me. Inevitably, they usually want to get the biggest, fastest, hardest aircraft to fly and then are upset when they crash, and sometimes lose interest in the hobby altogether.

This brings me to Christmas 2016. I have a family member who wanted to get some sort of an FPV rig. An email was sent to my family members with a link to a commercial-grade multirotor that is capable of hauling a 10-pound payload, at a cost of $8,000. Now, I know that email was mostly a joke, but I also know that there is a grain of truth.

That brings me to the beauty of Christmas. At Christmas, you do the giving and you choose the gift! I have flown nearly everything that any consumer might be able to get his or her hands on. From $20 gimmicks to $900 real deals, I have flown them all. My big question is does it work? Does it satisfy the RC need that someone might have?

I have a $500 quadcopter in my shop and I know that its software doesn’t work. It is super frustrating to even get it into the air. I also have a $150 racing quadcopter that almost fell out of the box, ready to make me fly like a pro.

Here is another piece of the FPV puzzle that I don’t know that newcomers really think about. When you are wearing the FPV goggles, you have no idea how big or small the aircraft that you are flying is. From tiny to huge, when you are “in the cockpit,” they all feel similar!

That means you can fly an inexpensive aircraft via FPV and still get the adrenaline and excitement. You can crash without the fear of breaking your multirotor or anything else because it is small and lightweight. This is another

great thing about FPV. Bigger isn’t better.

All of this brings me back to my relative who wants to dip his big toe into the FPV pool. During the summer, I put together a micro quadcopter called the Tiny Whoop. This is a quadcopter that started out as a Horizon Hobby Inductrix. Thanks to some online threads, I knew how to upgrade the motors and the LiPo batteries, and purchased a small onboard camera and video transmitter.

I’m betting that you have heard of the Tiny Whoop. It was—and currently is—an FPV sensation. It is 10 kinds of fun to fly! You can race your friends in a house. You can start in your basement and make your way upstairs, into closets, on top of fans … wherever!

The thing is so lightweight that it’s hard to break. There are protectors for the propellers, so it literally bounces off of walls. Put your goggles on and you are the virtual pilot of this tiny aircraft. Another plus is that because it is so lightweight, it doesn’t require FAA registration! It is so much fun to fly! I’m sure my relative could order the

Two small quadcopters, one with 3-D-printed antlers — Here is the author’s Inductrix RTF (front, left) and the one he cobbled together from parts. The 3-D-printed antlers are there to protect the antenna. They aren’t needed for the RTF version.

Two small FPV quadcopters and their controllers and screens. — On the left is the all-in-one unit you can now buy from Horizon Hobby. On the right is the author’s homebrew version, complete with a Spektrum DX6e transmitter and Headplay FPV goggles.

parts and put his own Tiny Whoop together, but the good news (thanks to Horizon Hobby) is that he doesn’t have to. There is now the Inductrix FPV RTF, which has the needed motors, onboard camera system, and battery to get anyone going right out of the box! The one I ordered also has a screen, so you can fly FPV by looking at the screen or order the unit that turns the screen into goggles (which is what I did). I also ordered a multiport battery charger so I can have multiple batteries ready, which I think is a must.

With the Inductrix, my relative can experience FPV flying in his own living room, with zero worry about crashing his whole system. I know he will love it!

Some people think that a unit this tiny is a novelty introductory aircraft that will quickly be relegated to the shop, but I can tell you from experience that even professional FPV racers get out their micro quadcopters to fly on a regular basis and sometimes compete indoors. Once again, the size does not matter when you are wearing the goggles!

I know my kin will have a great time with this new tiny form of FPV, and I’m betting you will too. It’s a great way to start your FPV experience with no stress!

A small yellow quadcopter resting on a transmitter beneath a video screen. — The Inductrix FPV quadcopter is small enough to sit on the transmitter, but when you are using the screen or goggles, size is relative!

SOURCES:

Horizon Hobby
(800) 338-4639
www.horizonhobby.com