The last 6 months of activity in the FPV Drone Racing World has brought up an interesting shift in how pilots are building and flying drones. When the sport first gained popularity in the summer of 2015, the ‘defacto’ standard frame size was 250mm. There was some variation, ranging up to 350mm or down to 210, but if you built a drone for racing, you generally built a 250.
Over the winter, perhaps due to the need for more nimble indoor craft, the 180mm frame started gaining traction. Smaller, quicker, more nimble. With components getting smaller, it’s now possible to build a fast, agile bird in a smaller, lighter package. Nowadays it’s not uncommon to see 180mm frames flying full scale outdoor races in full 4s configurations.
But the trend continues. More and more pilots are building smaller quads and racing them in full FPV mode. 110mm frames are easy to find and build on now, and have the capacity to carry full FPV rigs and have decent flight times. These smaller frames make indoor and ‘tight area’ flying easier, without the worry of a large heavy craft crashing into people, buildings, or similar. Also of note a small 110mm frame, when it does crash (and face it, we always crash), the amount of damage done is light. Less mass = less inertia = less damage when it suddenly stops.
So, if you’re considering a new build, take a look at where the micros are. You may find something you like!