Why chose a Quadcopter or Drone?
why not just a RC helicopter or an RC airplane?
I have experience with all three and find that airplanes are great fun but require a larger area to fly, and smaller ones are very susceptible to getting thrown around by the slightest breeze. In addition i wanted the ability to explore the world of aerial video. Sure you could strap a camera to a plane and fly around, but that normally causes buzzy, jellowy video and your constantly flying around, you can’t hover while pointing the camera at a specific location.
Aha, you may think, then RC helicopters are the solution, here however you would need a pretty large coaxial helicopter to carry a gimbal and GoPro camera to film smooth aerial footage. You would want to chose a coaxial since they are easier to fly for beginners. A collective pitch helicopter without a flight computer is very difficult to fly, and in general to carry a gimbal or a GoPro it would be pretty large.
I may be a bit biased, it is QuadcopterGuide.com after all… but i chose to get a quadcopter or drone because of the following:
- compact package; since quadcopters don’t have tail rotors far away from their bodies like helicopters i can fit it in a backpack and go to a place to fly and be ready to go without needing a car or complicated field equipment.
- easy to fly; yes i’ve flown planes for years and have even owned a few helicopters, but if i want to strap an expensive gimbal with a GoPro video camera on this thing i want computerized flight stabilization if not GPS to be part of the package. Even the most basic quadcopters have 2-3 axis stabilization.
- look more toylike; you can get a decent hobby grade quadcopter such as a DJI Phantom 2 or DJI Phantom Vision and not freak people out by flying it since it looks like a large toy instead of a menacing military “drone”. This was important to me in this age of uncertainty with UAVS and Drones, as they have made enough headlines as it is. By the way if we do a better job of educating the public and refer to them as quadcopters, and operate them in a safe manner, and show that they can’t all fly by themselves and fire missiles it would help out this hobby both in the short and long term.
- I could finally with the right equipment take smooth HD video that till now you had to hire a commercial film team with a real helicopter to record. I can’t wait to get some amazing footage while i’m on vacation!
Why did or do you want to chose a quadcopter? Post a Comment or Email Me and let me know!
