Best quad kit or rtf quad for novice

[Donna]

Hi guys,

i have a hubsan x4 that was my first quad but I'm now fairly confident in flying it indoors.

i now want somthing that I can use outside and learn with.  I was thinking of a 250 racer but I'm open to opinion.

now I've seen walkera runners and echines that seem o.k. I was wondering if one of these would be suitable for me or maybe a kit from eBay?

the kits are much cheaper but I have no idea if they are any good. Any ideas what I should do?

[mmushen]

Depends how much you want to spend and what you expect.

450 size frame is a good compromise,250 is a bit small and if you are not that confident is almost an accident waiting to happen

 

[walters]

Hi there 250 size quads are good fun and can be very fast but you can turn the rates down so it a nice easy flyer i was going to buy the echine but went 4 a kit from banggood in the end

[beyondRC]

blade 200qx

[EquinoxRC]

Do you want to build one or RTF? 

I own a Dromida Vista and it is amazing. There's also the LaTrax Alias. Syma X5C

If you want to build one this kit is pretty cheap and amazing. You just need a Flight Controller + TX/RX + LIPO. I'm looking at this one because if you need spare motors or ESC you can find them in Bangood. It comes with EMAX Motor and ESC

[Tamiyacowboy]

 

Frame costs anything from a couple of sticks tied together to £100 quid upwards. the fame is your bodywork, bigger the frame the larger the battery and the motors need to become. this is also said for the props. a cheap frame is around £17 quid from amazon stores.

motors, if you want to keep small the motors are key, 4 big motors weigh more than four little motors. but they must be able to lift your craft and all the extra weight
Brains of the machine, these can run from the £10 mark and all the way upto £1500, more features you require the more they cost and the more technical they become.
Battery is simple, we tend to fly on 11.1 volts so our batetrys tend to be the lithium polymer types.
Props, little drones will have propellers around 5 inches long, a large quad like my own would be carrying upto 11 inch of props.

Here is exactly how much my quad cost to build.

4x 2012 sunnysky motors = £45
1x escx4  = £29
frame = £17
 radio receiver = £6
Battery = £15
4x 10 inch props = £8-10
i had two brains, a cheap £14 controller brain and a mid range £100 GPS bell and whistles brain

That above is your basic quadcopter, it will tend to be around 330mm and upto 450mm in frame size ( bigger frame still flys fast but has weight and more stable feel flights).

Now i left out the two major parts, the first is your handset, you are wanting at the very least SIX CHANNELS , so any spectrum or likes controller with at least 6 channels will be fine.

Brains : these come in differing costs, the most cheapest throw in and go is the hobbyking KK2. it sells for around the £20, BUT there is NO, gps and all the fancy things.
mid range there is the DJI naza, those dji phantoms you see flying around, they have a naza system installed. you can pick up a naza without gps for around £60.
you can also pick up a naza system with a gps for around the £80 to £120 mark.

GPS, i want a quadcopter not a satnav ? , GPS is used these days to help you fly your quadcopters, it stores the start up location and keeps an eye on the location every few seconds. if you say loose sight of craft you can flip a switch and the quad SHOULD come back to where it was first turned on. it will then hover and start to land itself, they it will shut down the motors and wait for it to be turned off by the pilot, or re-started via the controller stick preset. this feature only comes with brains that have the GPS mode


Is building one hard, No not really, there is a tangle of wires you end up with but they can be a very simple affair, to have the machine on the table fully made.
after that it is just plugging into the computer to set up your handset for your Mode switches ( manual - GPS - Level ).
for a newcommer something around the 330mm - 450mm size is ideal, its large and has weight to it but will also still have power. the best part is it gives a more floaty feeling when flying. think of a big golden eagle soaring, it just hangs in the sky like a cloud.
smaller quads are more like your angry swarm of hornets, fast and very agile but light weight to. it means they fly very different and like to be agressive and twitchy, you will always find the little quads aimed more at racing in the skys or acrobatics. 

BIG QUAD = foalty flight and more used in getting nice pictures and likes or flying for very very long distances ( miles away not meters)
Little quad =  angry hornet, very buzzy and twitchy, and runs round the sky like a child on a sugar rush.
Baby quads aka micro quads = More for fun and learning round the house, usually the first call for a drone pilot as they are very cheap and easy to fix, Most pilots learnt with these quads or making a quad and using the KK2 brain for a cheap option.