Felt the need for a real racing drone, the tiny Hubsan seem to be getting slower after a week of abuse, or am I getting better and faster? Armed with some research, I went shopping with another rookie on a weekend, but instead ended up in a hair salon with hairdressers at risk of catching a bad cold with the clothes they wore. The few snips and tugs cost me more than the price of a good 4S lipo!
Eventually we ended up getting a Chinese-made RTF kit, a ZMR250 clone running off a CC3D flight controller and we maiden it the next day. Quite a day it was, besides the bruised ego, I was worn out from racing up and down the field retrieving the drone – just couldn’t get it under control. Finally I did managed to get into a sort of a wriggly hover, without launching into stratosphere or to the other end of the country. I noticed the field was definitely in a better condition than when we started; somehow we ended up mowing the field, a little uneven but mowed it we did, no wonder the owner of the field was so friendly.
With more props, more batteries and more stick time, we progressed from less of us racing to more of the drone doing the racing, including hovering, forward and backward flight along with some rather timid turns. As they say, more stick time equals less bruised ego. I even tried those insane LOS freestyle flying. But after several disastrous attempts, quickly came to the conclusion it’s for the suicidal and beyond mere mortals like myself and it didn’t help that I built up a crowd watching me make a fool of myself. My brave flying buddy even tried flying in a storm canal, needless to say the result is obvious. Flying line of sight (LOS) is good training, fun and educational but can get dry after a while, unless a deep canal with water appeals or you are suicidal.
While the RTF quad was easy and seemingly a cheaper way to start, I am not completely sure it is the most ideal; after all half the fun is in the building and is an essential part of the hobby. To better fit my needs, I actually ended up replacing many of the original parts, costing me more than if I had built it from the onset. Building a racing drone is not as daunting as it looks, there are numerous online guides, from drone building to flying, which was a great help to me at the initial stage, do join a flying group and ask questions. One such site is Propwashed or either join flying groups such as those found on Total Rotor.
Till next time, keep spinning.