I know this is pretty much an old topic now. But did the guy wanting to buy a 5" have any flight experience with FPV drones (in general)? Flying a drone that big is somewhat dangerous if you don’t have flight experience, or at least that’s how I view it.
If you fly a Tinywhoop into someone, or even your self, even into the head is pretty unlikely to result in you or they dying. The same can not be said for most 5" drones (or even 3-4"). If someone still wants to fly 5" and thoroughly understands the possibilities and dangers, then it’s there choice.
I started with really cheap ‘Crazepony’ (class brand) box goggles, and quickly upgraded to the EV800’s. Personally wasn’t overly impressed. You can spend an awful lot of money in this game but imho goggles are a huge part of the enjoyment of the experience. It’s also a lot easier when you can see where you’re going.
Here’s a quick (and as mentioned in comments) and pretty unfair comparison but with googles, everyone of course has a budget but you definitely get what you pay for.
I stayed on the EV200D’s until I went digital last year, I still use them on my analogue quads.
Re 5" quads, the Nazgul 5 V2 is a complete hooligan… highly recommended! But if your man’s not had a lot of FPV experience, it can be a pretty daunting thing. Was my very first FPV quad, and probably shouldn’t have been tbh, was a steep learning curve! Lots of sim time highly recommended.
I started with a tiny whoop (Emax Nanohawk) under pretty much this reasoning. However, despite many hours in the sims, I really struggled with it. To this day, it is still the hardest thing in my fleet to fly; I still find it pretty much impossible to fly indoors. A year’s FPV experience means I could now start trying to tame and ‘tune’ it in BF, but, frankly, I can’t be arsed.
So, still wary of going full 5", I moved up to a 4" long range (GEPRC Crocodile Baby), which looked far less aggressive. Obviously it had to be flown outside, and needs a reasonable amount of space. Still inexperienced, I found it to be very nimble and it easily ‘got away from me’.
Then I happened across a 2nd-hand Nazgul V2. It is the 6S model and flying it on 4S packs I found it to be the tamest thing I had and, as such, the easiest to control. Perhaps because it was the closest thing to what the sims behave like, or just a simple fact of physics (bigger and heavier things tend to move slower). Whatever it was, at the time it made me wish I had started there.
Of course, your observations on safety are completely relevant, but I would like to think that no beginner would consider letting loose with a 5" anywhere other than somewhere with plenty of room to manoeuvre and as few bystanders as possible.
I only use Freerider Sim and use settings that feel a lot like a whoop. I could run Liftoff and DRL if I wanted, but Freerider runs happily on everything from my big gaming system to my old 2nd gen intel laptop. if I was going to fly a 5" I would probably use the sim a lot and fly it in angle mode for at least the first month. But considering the price of a 5", not to mention the number of £20 Lipos you would need to fly it, it’s unlikely to happen any time soon. One day i will probably build one, just to tick the box, but not in the next year or so.
Sounds like me last year… and then someone gave me an old 5" frame and some motors and I built one. Its still one of my favourite quads and is the build that I used in my latest video over in the video section. Its also the one I took mountain surfing in the summer.
Well not quite the same build. I replaced the motors as I was getting some bad vibration issues. Replaced with Xing2 and now its smooth as silk.
I then got a 4", also free, and have built a 6" and now this new 5".
(If I had an old 5" frame I’d give you one. But I don’t have a complete one, only parts. I have those old motors though, not sure I’d wish them on anyone though!)
I’m not ready for a 5". It would be a complete disaster for me to fly anything that big, this early. Once I get the Twig XL up and running and fly that for a few months, then I might try a 4" acro frame, Unmannedtech have one called F2 Mito that comes in 4-7" varieties. I thought of grabbing a couple of 4" frames and some spare arms. Sometime after Christmas. Do a 4" with fairly high end (read as expensive) components. T-Motor motors, Foxeer Reaper 45-60A ESC/, F7 FC, basically build something crazy, 4-6S and then go out and rip.
Not sure I will ever do 5", especially if the rules get tightened up. It’s much easier to skirt around things on sub 250g. The motors on 4-6S just draw attention way too much. On 2-3S on smaller motors, most people don’t bat an eyelid. I can fly inner city parks on my 2S and no one bothers me, but on 4S it probably wouldn’t be wise, 6S would be a no go. I know some already do, in fact I know from people posting on YT that a few pilots over here are regularly flying places I wouldn’t dare fly and on noisy 4S quads. They wrap themselves up in the CofC and assume it makes them bulletproof to everything including flying around people.
The fact that you are that concerned probably means you would be fine. They are big and scary and require some respect. Something that big can do damage. But they are a lot easier to fly than the smaller quads, they really are. I thought (exactly) the same at about your stage in my flying career, but I’m glad I made the jump.
It is indeed… That’s why I have sub 250g as well.
It’s true that 5" is more appropriate for far away from people, but you are amazingly close to some wonderful opportunities out in the peak. Don’t say never…
4" works well and can almost do as much as a 5". I have a Roma F4 and it’s great. It’s just a little too small to carry a full-size Go Pro. This visit to the cooling towers was shot on the Roma F4 with a Hero 5 Session…
Give me a year of flying in Acro mode and I will very likely be at the 5-6" quad build level.
As for GoPro, that is a level far beyond my financial capabilities. Runcam Thumb Pro or the Runcam 5 Orange are probably my limit if I was thinking of doing a build that would carry. Breaking or losing a £100 camera, while still expensive, doesn’t come remotely close to breaking or losing a £400 camera. That level is sponsored drone pilot level.
No not yet I have the frame glued together but not had a chance to fit the internals. I have a week off soon so if I haven’t got it started by then I will use that week off to get it built and configured. Ive finally got my replacement arms for my Evoque from China too so that will be on the bench too when I get a chance.
I have the frame glued together but not had a chance to fit the internals. I have a week off soon so if I haven’t got it started by then I will use that week off to get it built and configured. Ive finally got my replacement arms for my Evoque from China too so that will be on the bench too when I get a chance.
