Daughter wants her first quadcopter, any suggestions?

[xray328]

Hey guys, so we got our first issue of Model Aviation magazine and my 12 yo daughter started flipping though the pages yesterday and came running out to the garage to tell me she just had to have this quadcopter she found in there.

She's been flying the EZFlyer as well as the simple swappable designs, mainly the FT flyer with great success at the local park and our indoor golf dome. She found one of her brothers old Syma helicopters and has been flying it around the house pretty much non stop for the last few days as well.

Would I be better off buying her something like a Blade Nano/Hubson X4 or something in the Syma line, or build her a "real" quadcopter design with the Electrohub kit on here? I hate spending money on these cheap plastic "toys" that end up breaking that you can't fix. Only plus side on the cheap Seymas is that she can practice indoors, although I'm not sure if that really prepares her for moving outdoors with an FT design.

The Syma type seem extraordinarily stable and I don't think a diy quadcopter is going to be anywhere near that kid friendly. Maybe I'm wrong here?

I've been flying planes for several years but have pretty much no helicopter/quadcopter experience so we're going to be learning this together.

Any suggestions? Thanks!

 

[joshuabardwell]

If you can fly a non-self-stabilizing helicopter (in other words, not a coaxial model) then you can probably fly a quad well enough to step up to a larger copter from a Hubsan or something like it. Bear in mind that the "good" brands of little copters like the Hubsan X4 are fantastic starter copters. They are relatively hard to break because they are so light, and spare parts are readily available. There are some cheap toy copters out there that deserve to be passed over, but not all of the inexpensive copters are cheap toys.

If the flight controller is set up properly, a DIY copter can be every bit as stable as a commercial one. But a DIY copter will require a lot of tuning to get there, and that can be an obstacle to a beginner who is eager to get some flight time, rather than spend time tweaking PID settings on the bench.

The Hubsan X4 is consistently recommended as a fantastic way for a beginner to get their feet wet. If you're not confident in your flying skills, or you would rather fly than spend hours building and tuning, don't hesitate to get one.

 

[jhitesma]

The Hubsan and Syma's are not easily broken. I have a Syma X1 that was my first quad and it's been beat to heck and back and is still going strong. I've had to replace the props once or twice - and did bend a prop shaft necessitating replacing the gear and shaft on the end...but I bought the thing for about $35 over 2 years ago and have spent less than that on repairs. It also uses flysky protocol co I was able to fly it with my 9x TX which was nice for helping to build muscle memory.

It's sturdy enough I let my daughter fly it when she was 3. Her flight lasted all of 20 seconds and managed to hit our truck, RV, shade structure and house...before crashing into a brick wall. But no damage was done

However the Syma has no non-auto level mode so it's not great for learning how to really fly them.

If she can fly a heli already and is pretty serious about it I'd say have her build an electrohub or knuckle quad based design so she learns how it goes together and can repair it herself when it breaks.

But if you want to ease up with something that can fly inside I'd lean more towards a nano QX than a Hubsan as the nano seems to have a better manual mode. I've flown the Hubsan X4 and it's not bad...but didn't seem to have a true manual mode. I haven't tried a nano yet but many reliable sources (not the least of which being FT) have said it's manual mode flies like a fullsize so I'm inclined to believe them.

 

[bgfireguy92]

Dromida Ominous all the way that thing takes a licking and keeps on ticking.

 

[xray328]

Dromida Ominous all the way that thing takes a licking and keeps on ticking.

We went to the LHS tonight and took a look at all the suggestions. The Ominus was the largest of what they had on the counter. Kind of tough convincing her on the nano size once she saw that Ominus. Selling points were that it has 4 levels from beginner to advanced including dual rates, LED's for orientation, supposedly line of site range, 12-15 min flight times and durability. Downside was that it doesn't have any sort of prop guards. She's doing amazingly well with it so far and is very happy with everything. I have a couple extra batteries on order already with hobby king. Not too shabby for $80.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fnUkIhOLcs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1q6KngwdJM

 

[joshuabardwell]

Nice flying! She's got the knack. Prop guards are overrated anyway (j/k).

 

[Epic]

I didn't try a micro, I went straight to the flitetest Elcetrohub in the X configuration. I used a kk2 so I can use auto level. I love it! I have been flying since December and it works great. You will break the booms but it's a quick 10 minute fix.

 

[Team_Monkey]

Grab a Nano Qx for indoor practice and buzzing the dog.

We have several quads and the little nano flies awesome and is easy to grab n go. We also have a little Estes proto for indoor practice but i like the nano qx transmitter better.

Have fun!

 

[airhawk]

nano qx

 

[Barron.Barnett]

I bought a Nano QX and was flying that before I went to a decent sized one. It's really indestructible. You can beat the heck out of it and it keeps on going. Even if you do manage to break it you can easily get parts for cheap.

 

[earthsciteach]

Still happy with the Ominus? I bought one about a month ago and despite the best efforts of my kids and some of my students at school, it hasn't broken! LOL! It is one tough quad. My only complaints are 1) its loud (my wife yells at me for flying it when she is watching tv) and 2) they are selling the fpv system as an add on to an existing Ominus.

 

[xray328]

Still happy with the Ominus? I bought one about a month ago and despite the best efforts of my kids and some of my students at school, it hasn't broken! LOL! It is one tough quad. My only complaints are 1) its loud (my wife yells at me for flying it when she is watching tv) and 2) they are selling the fpv system as an add on to an existing Ominus.

Yep, still very happy with it. Only thing we've managed to do so far is bend the prop shaft, still flys fine though. Apparently there's an upgrade out there for that though using the Latrax Alias shafts and blades. I wasn't aware of the add-on FPV option. I get the "I'm trying to watch tv" deal all the time

 

[earthsciteach]

Argh! Meant to say they aren't selling it as an add on. They really should, though!