Which beginner FPV plane?

[tglenn]

Been flying about 3 years off and on, not too much in the Montana winters. 60 years old and seem to have the hang of it.
Just got interested in FPV and ordered a set of Eachine EV800D goggles.
My question regards which airplane to buy? I was all set on the new UMX Stryker FPV but now the new HH FPV F-27 Evolution has been announced. Which of these would be a good starting point for me....or s Strix Stratosurfer...or something else???
Thanks. and I have been reading past threads but everything changes so much I thought I would ask.

 

[awesomeSHEEPs]

Do you consider getting a scratch build, such as the FT explorer or Scout?

 

[Bricks]

What are you flying now might be easier to just put FPV on one of them as you are used to flying them anyway.

 

[tglenn]

Hmmmm

Mostly I fly the UMX Aero Commander my Tundra or a freewing EDF.
I just thought starting FPV would be a great excuse for getting a new airplane and also getting the best plane for that particular discipline . I would definitely get used to flying the plane before I tried FPV with it

 

[makattack]

I think the Tundra would make a great FPV platform, if you wanted to try it out first with an existing platform to get used to... then, add another FPV capable plane to liven things up / add more variety.

Maybe get an AIO (camera and VTX all in one unit) that you can move around between planes...

I'll add my first FPV plane was a FT Versa Wing I built from a speed build kit, which I promptly "landed" in a tree when I looked away from the screen to LOS land it (I was using a ground station setup vs goggles for my first flights).

 

[tglenn]

I wouldn't mind a kit, but I definitely don't want a foam board plane

 

[tglenn]

How?

I would love to add FPV to the aero commander, it flies fairly fast, flies slow and belly lands very well even in the snow. I would want a set up that is at least 150 mW so how would that hook up to the aero commander? Does it have to run off a separate battery or what since the aero commander has a different receiver/esc than what I would buy for a plug and play airplane?

 

[makattack]

I think a device like this (there are others out there with similar capabilities):

https://www.banggood.com/Eachine-TX05-0_0152550100250mW-Switchable-w-OSD-AIO-5_8G-72CH-VTX-600TVL-NTSC-Mini-FPV-Camera-p-1181013.html

coupled with a 5V BEC/regulator like this:

https://www.banggood.com/5pcs-DC-DC-5V-3A-Power-Supply-Module-Buck-Step-Down-Regulator-Module-24V-12V-9V-To-5V-Fixed-Output-p-1198421.html

With some wires and a 2S balance port (male) connector to supply power to the AIO from your flight pack (you'll need enough wire to reach where you mount both) or, if you're willing to risk an unbalanced 2S pack, you can forego the BEC/regulator and wire up one cell from the 2S balance plug (the ground pin and middle or pin right next to the ground pin) to power the AIO which apparently can take 3.3V minimum (it might suffer range / power issues though at 3.3V -- not sure if it'll go into 200mW power levels at 3.3V -- the specs imply it'll suck down 800-500mA draw at 200mW so your battery might die very quickly at the power levels you want).

BIG CAVEAT: I took a closer look at the specs. Some of those frequencies that this unit can transmit on are illegal in the US, even for ham / amateur radio license holders. Heck, to legally operate with this device, you also do need to be a ham/amateur radio license operator. Just don't use the illegal channels.

If you're flying a UMX plane, I don't see a need to go above 25mW in power...

Here's a video I made of a FT Arrow flying in a field that's basically two softball fields in size flying around with 25mW in power. There's a general FPV rule of thumb that your VTX transmit power should never exceed your RC range. Here's my low power FPV setup:

 

[tglenn]

thanks!

thanks, this is very helpful...and yes I'm an extra class ham from back when 23 WPM code and real radio knowledge was required. AB7RS