Carbon fiber Vs. Glass Fiber

Hey FT community.

As most of you know I have been talking about getting into multirotors or a while now, but due to finances and parents, haven't actually done so yet. My one friend recently showed me the website MyRCMart.com. This company is amazing. They sell multiple 250 quad kits for >$100, the only question is, should I get a Carbon Fiber of Glass fiber frame. What are the advantages an disadvantages of both?

Please let me know as with the price point, I am seriously looking into buying one of their kits.
 

SnowRocker88

Amateur pilot and builder
From what I've read it's not the material that is most important but the design. Ideally you want a carbon frame but if it is designed poorly (such as the ZMR250 Carbon) then the arms will break just as easily as other fiberglass frames. That being said, you will always get out better as far as weight goes with a carbon frame vs it's fiberglass counterpart. Less weight equals longer flight time and better control response (especially yaw).

Long story short, go carbon if you can afford it but try to go with a good design.

I've ordered parts to assemble my own quad and so far I've only spent $175 including shipping. This doesn't include the transmitter or batteries as I already have a transmitter and will likely pick up batteries later.

Also, what "kit" are you looking at? $100 for just a frame or $100 for a RTF quad? Something in between? What does the kit include?
 

Quad

Senior Member
From what I've read it's not the material that is most important but the design. Ideally you want a carbon frame but if it is designed poorly (such as the ZMR250 Carbon) then the arms will break just as easily as other fiberglass frames. That being said, you will always get out better as far as weight goes with a carbon frame vs it's fiberglass counterpart. Less weight equals longer flight time and better control response (especially yaw).

Long story short, go carbon if you can afford it but try to go with a good design.

I've ordered parts to assemble my own quad and so far I've only spent $175 including shipping. This doesn't include the transmitter or batteries as I already have a transmitter and will likely pick up batteries later.

Also, what "kit" are you looking at? $100 for just a frame or $100 for a RTF quad? Something in between? What does the kit include?

Which frame are you using?
 

SnowRocker88

Amateur pilot and builder
Which frame are you using?

I have yet to assemble it as I just ordered parts a few weeks ago but I have a ZMR250 coming to me.

The thread is here.

I've ordered the carbon version. Was only $26. We will see if it's actually the full carbon version, the carbon/fiberglass sandwich or, as they have been scamming lately, the full fiberglass version. Hoping it's the full carbon as advertised.

The weak point of the ZMR250 frame is the arms. They tend to break by the bolt holes. Both at the motor end and the mount end. This problem exists in all models, even the carbon version. Haven't seen a broken fiberglass one but I would imagine they break easier.

zmr250-broken-arm1.jpg


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But, since arms are $5 a pop or so, no real loss there. Just make it so that replacing arms isn't that hard. That or opt to buy either the upgraded arms or the plastic "arm protectors" that people are using. There are several options out there. I intend to just run mine stock out-of-the-box and discover the problems for myself, and come up with a solution myself.
 
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Stole

New member
I've done a bit of research and you should go for carbon fiber if you have the money. They both have their positives and disadvantages. Glass fiber is also more flexible but not as strong so you will probably will be expecting something in a break. So you probably would expect a heavier quad and the quad won't perform as great. But it also depends on where you are getting it from. The cheap Chinese glass fiber quads are heavy and don't fly as great in the air as Carbon does but if you are just having fun mucking around go for the cheapo quads.

Like snowrocker88 said Carbon will be harder to break and glass fiber will most likely break when you crash. I recommend looking into the Carbon frames. Carbon frames will just be easier. It will handle crashes better and you don't have to replace parts all the time.

Also have a look at the Emax 250 FPV Pro.

Stole
 
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PhenomPilot

New member
I went cheap and got the fiberglass version as a beater until I learned to fly it FPV. I had experience with toy quads and my tricopter but not a 250 fpv quad. As the other guys said, it's a little heavier but has taken quite a beating with good results. Broke one arm on a 60' free fall, and lightly cracked the bottom plate when I crashed it onto a cement parking curb. Overall, I have been quite happy with the fiberglass version. Probably going to order the carbon frame soon as I am down to one spare arm and starting to crash less.
 

jhitesma

Some guy in the desert
Mentor
Honestly I'd almost recommend glass fiber over carbon for a beginner. I never did manage to break my Twitchity G10 acro quad despite many many hard crashes into hard desert ground as well as asphalt and pavement.

G10 isn't much heavier than carbon - but you generally need to use thicker G10 to get the same stiffness and strength. The extra stiffness is nice for high performance but can also make tuning a bit trickier. G10 being less stiff seems to do a bit of dampening on some vibrations, and being flexible it tends to give and snap back rather than break in a crash. If you're willing to live with a bit less stiffness and a bit less strength then G10 at the same thickness as Carbon can be lighter and cheaper.

I do like the hybrid G10 core CF outer layer material emax used on the 250 FPV (non pro version) as the carbon gives it extra stiffness but tit still has a lot of the other benefits of straight G10 (like lower cost.) I've yet to break anything on there either even after some hard crashes into pavement and my house as well as a good fall from about 80ft up onto the desert ground. I've been very happy with that frame.

One other nice thing about G10 over Carbon is that it's non-conductive so there's less danger of accidentally shorting something out (as I learned when I upgraded my Twitchity to CF despite taking precautions!) That also means it doesn't block radio signals so RX mounting is less critical and it's easier to get better range (though in this case the emax hybrid material is no better than pure CF.)

So yeah, I'd say the design is more important than the material and for a beginner G10 has a number of benefits. I'd take cheap G10 over cheap CF any day, but good high quality CF is still pretty much the ultimate when you're going all out.