Welcome to FPVDronePilots!
Join our free FPV drone community today!
Sign up

3inch vs 5inch

kk-90GT

Member
Joined
Dec 10, 2018
Messages
9
Reaction score
2
Age
47
Currently i own/fly a kingkong 90GT (2inch). Mainly for some freestyle type of flightsimage.jpg

I would like to make a step-up to a larger quad that is capable of supporting a runcam split or gopro session.
What should i choose? A 3inch or 5inch quad?
Keeping in mind europe only allows 25mW vtx and i only have a very small flying aray around the house, so if i go for the 5inch i will have less flying time, but considering a 5inch is potentially more fun?
 
The 3" Acrobrat is built for the Runcam Split mini. It's a freestyle type frame and flies more like a 5". May be just the quad you're looking for.'Brat 016.JPG
 
  • Like
Reactions: Wayno52
Thank you renov8r, exactly the drone i consider as 3inch build :)
It looks great right, but how far is from *the real deal*
 
Lol every body talkes about the 5inch like it is heaven and 3inch is just not quite the same.
Will someone that has never flown 5inch miss anything?
 
Lol every body talkes about the 5inch like it is heaven and 3inch is just not quite the same.
Will someone that has never flown 5inch miss anything?
People say all kinds of junk just to run their mouths, a good 3" is all but as capable as a 5", and you will never miss the other 2 inches on those props, so build an AcroBrat and have a ball. I would however suggest a Caddx Turtle as it is liked much more than the Runcam, and it will keep the quad much snappier than lugging around a Hero 4 or 5 Session.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Wayno52
People say all kinds of junk just to run their mouths, a good 3" is all but as capable as a 5", and you will never miss the other 2 inches on those props, so build an AcroBrat and have a ball. I would however suggest a Caddx Turtle as it is liked much more than the Runcam, and it will keep the quad much snappier than lugging around a Hero 4 or 5 Session.

True, caddx could well be on the item list :)
Those props are not that bad considering the wheight 102gr, battery (2S) included. I had more efficient props at first, but they kept wrecking the engines on impact/crash.
 
You might want to check out fpv FlightClub FPV Drone Racing and DIY Drone Kits | FPV-Flightclub. The make a frame call the Neutron and it’s awesome. I have it as 3” and 4”. The cool thing about this frame is that you can swap arms. The sell 3,4,5” and 5” sx. I used what’s called the hybrid pod but it also can come in skeleton mode which allow even the 3” to carry go pro session. Check them out


IMG_7532.jpgIMG_7533.jpgIMG_7534.jpgIMG_7536.jpg
 
I've built 3", 5" and 6" so far. My six inch is still the favorite, but I'd have a hard time expressing why. Comparing my 3" to my 5 or 6" build the difference is in the lock. The larger drone can "corner on rails" in ways the smaller one can't. This is funny though because I don't WANT a camera on rails, I can buy one of those.

I like the way drones float, and I just ordered pieces for a new 3" for just that reason. When I huck it over a tree it feels more like throwing a ball that I can control, and less like a precision mechanical object. Carrying a Gopro on a 3" is also a whole new challenge. It's challenging me to stop flying so crazy and bring my shots back down to earth, to find the story in this flying perspective, and tell that story. But I digress...

I feel no size truly has dominion, it's all about the size of your playground. If you find yourself flying in big spaces, around tall trees, and wishing you could just cover this ground faster, then you could use a larger drone. At 25mw though, I'm sure a 3" would serve you just fine.

Here's the 3" I'm building. Not very fancy
20181208_141449-jpg.2893


Hyperlight Toothfairy
Brother 1408 3600kv
Ori 4in1 (32bit)
Helio Mini (F7)
Micro Eagle

And here's my old 3" with a Gopro, taking it easy through the woods
 
@dr0nrb0nr excellent idea !!! how would/did you build it up?
2 sets of arms, motors and esc? But then you would need to resolder the 4 esc each time to the controller? (might be able to reuse the esc between motor sets) But it means you cannot swap in a few minutes, it would more be like a seasonal thing. Or do I see it wrong ;)
 
  • Like
Reactions: dr0nrb0nr
And here's my old 3" with a Gopro, taking it easy through the woods

:confused: you should shoot your video in 60fps ;)
Nice but not what I'm looking for, I mounted the SQ11 once on my kk 90GT, it flies about the same, doable but you feel the weight (and not a little)
 
I actually like the floaty feel of the 2 inch, I can punch it up, turn it up-side-down, go for coffee and be back in time to save it from crashing into the ground :D
I don't like how you cannot launch it through a (narrow) gap, it is way to inaccurate, even with slow rates.

so maybe I should rather consider 3 inch to be my ideal playground, holding the middle between 'on railes' and floaty. :confused:
 
@dr0nrb0nr excellent idea !!! how would/did you build it up?
2 sets of arms, motors and esc? But then you would need to resolder the 4 esc each time to the controller? (might be able to reuse the esc between motor sets) But it means you cannot swap in a few minutes, it would more be like a seasonal thing. Or do I see it wrong ;)

I'm looking at doing this, the trick is a 4in1 ESC and racewires. The racewires take the abuse of being resoldered, and you leave the ESC alone. The toothfairy I posted above has 2.5, 3, 4, 5 inch arm options. With a stack like the Mini Magnum you could have yourself a 6s chimera.

:confused: you should shoot your video in 60fps ;)
I do now
That was my first published FPV session, and the ND filter I had was CRAP.
It's a bumblebee for sure with the GoPro, but if you're happy with onboard DVR, it's plenty quick. Over 50MPH and I'm not really tuning for speed
 
@dr0nrb0nr excellent idea !!! how would/did you build it up?
2 sets of arms, motors and esc? But then you would need to resolder the 4 esc each time to the controller? (might be able to reuse the esc between motor sets) But it means you cannot swap in a few minutes, it would more be like a seasonal thing. Or do I see it wrong ;)

Exactly. I personally didn’t want to deal with swapping because I want to grab and go. The third frame you see without components is the larger version called the proton and has 4 inch arms, It uses a 30x30 stack were as the other 2 use 20x20 stacks. If you want details on my builds it can list. So far all of my builds are FlightClub frames. They think of everything and their quality is awesome
 
Exactly. I personally didn’t want to deal with swapping because I want to grab and go. The third frame you see without components is the larger version called the proton and has 4 inch arms, It uses a 30x30 stack were as the other 2 use 20x20 stacks. If you want details on my builds it can list. So far all of my builds are FlightClub frames. They think of everything and their quality is awesome

In these frames, is the camera (FPV) also soft suspended on rubbers? or only the stack?
And off course I would be interested in your full build details :D
 
  • Like
Reactions: dr0nrb0nr
In these frames, is the camera (FPV) also soft suspended on rubbers? or only the stack?
And off course I would be interested in your full build details :D

Sorry for the delay

Neutron 3” (191 grams w/o props)
HGLRC F420 20x20 stack with F4 and 20 amp esc
Brother Hobby tornado 1407 3600KV
AKK FX3 20x20 vtx
Runcam Micro Swift 2
AXII Stubby
Frsky R-XSR
Running Smart audio and Lua Scripts

Neutron 4” (202 grams w/o props
HGLRC F420 20x20 stack with F4 and 20 amp esc
Brother Hobby Avenger 1507 2800KV
AKK FX3 20x20 vtx
Runcam Micro Swift 2
AXII Stubby
Frsky R-XSR
Running Smart audio and Lua Scripts
 
Sorry for the delay

Neutron 3” (191 grams w/o props)
HGLRC F420 20x20 stack with F4 and 20 amp esc
Brother Hobby tornado 1407 3600KV
AKK FX3 20x20 vtx
Runcam Micro Swift 2
AXII Stubby
Frsky R-XSR
Running Smart audio and Lua Scripts

Neutron 4” (202 grams w/o props
HGLRC F420 20x20 stack with F4 and 20 amp esc
Brother Hobby Avenger 1507 2800KV
AKK FX3 20x20 vtx
Runcam Micro Swift 2
AXII Stubby
Frsky R-XSR
Running Smart audio and Lua Scripts
Thx!!
 

Members online

No members online now.

Forum statistics

Threads
6,012
Messages
44,355
Members
5,308
Latest member
darshan rajput