BETAFPV - Meteor65

they come in both flavors, I'm currently flying a pre-built (Bind N Fly) type called a Meteor65 It doesn't handle wind well (it's \~35g what do you expect?) but if you can catch a relatively slack wind time it does just fine outside. here's mine outside: [https://youtu.be/F6q76USPcZE?si=BIFamHDDID0KxOH6](https://youtu.be/F6q76USPcZE?si=BIFamHDDID0KxOH6)

I'd argue for the 2022 versions of the meteor75 or meteor65, if only because they have motor plugs instead of direct soldered motors. If you're just starting out, soldering is a good skill to learn, but for repairability motor plugs are king. (Really just something with motor plugs, I'm not sure if there's newer BnF out there.)

The 75mm varietals are better for outside You don’t want an rtf kit, the transmitters in those are almost universally e-waste and there are many stories of them failing in like a week, plus they’re incompatible with other drones you might want in the future. Here’s a shopping list: Drone: BetaFPV air65 or 75 or meteor65 or 75, depending on if you want to fly indoors or outdoors. Radio: anything from Radiomaster or Jumper with ELRS. Cheapest option is the Radiomaster Pocket or Pocket Crush. Make sure it has ELRS not cc2500 2 18650 batteries Goggles: eachine ev800d or Skyzone Cobra x Batteries: BetaFPV lava or Tattu, with a bt2.0 connector. For 65mm, you want 300mah, for 75mm you want 450-550mah Charger: Vifly Whoopstor 3 Buy this from a local distributor (like pyrodrone or wrekd if you’re in the US), shipping from china takes a while, especially batteries, and Amazon tends to overprice things. Depending on various factors this should fit under $350 USD Ah and most importantly, a sim. Velocidrone with the freestyle addon, or Tryp. Get the controller and the sim first so you can get some practice in.

An important question is what kind of drone you want. Everyone defaults to camera drones for some reason. There are sort of 2 categories of hobbyist drones: Camera drones are great for taking pretty pictures but they’re basically fancy flying tripods. They basically fly themselves and aren’t very maneuverable, so they’re not super fun to fly. Fpv drones are great for quick maneuvering, fun flying, getting certain cool camera movements, puttering around a playground structure (without kids of course), etc. They have almost no stabilization though, so you can’t just set them in place and forget. You have to be actually flying, which is the entire point. To give a bit of perspective I’ve flown my DJI mini 3 all of 4 times in the 2 years I’ve had it, there’s just never a reason to fly it for me. On the other hand I’ve flown my meteor65 and my custom 3” fpv drone dozens of times, nearly every weekend.

1. That's a very broad question but since you specified racing it narrows it down a bit. 1. Analog and HDZero are the best video system options for racing. 2. It's often recommended to start small. The Air 65/75 and Meteor 65/75 tinywhoops from BetaFPV are fun to fly and relatively cheap and durable. 2. Most RTF kits like those from BetaFPV are not recommended. Their controllers and goggles are very cheap. Getting a BNF drone ( bind and fly ) and pairing it with a quality controller and pair of goggles is usually a better option. 3. You can easily get an analog setup including batteries and charger within this budget. HDZero goggles alone are $650 so that is not an option for you - yet. 4. Start with a controller and simulator! 1. Find some drone racing events near you. See what kind of drones they are flying and get to know the community. Most events are very friendly and welcoming of newbies.

Honestly, the air frame is much less durable than the meteor65, so I'd recommend those. Especially for a beginner, the weight is less noticeable and fewer repairs needed means more flight time.

I started on aquila16 about 2 months ago and harvested motors almost immediately, trash drone and batteries are useless. Just get a meteor 75 or 65, not the air unless you know your willing to solder. I started with 0 sim time and only have about 10 hours in, i also dont care if i break my drones flying them so i do break allot. Buildings half the fun for me

7" is really a lot to start with at the beginning. Even a 5" quad can cut fingers off, anything bigger will do so even easier. I usually like Oscar Liang, but frankly all of these kits are basically only as good as something needs to be to fly one way only in warzones. The stuff they come with is most often made with no prior approval of Betaflight/ELRS developers and very likely to go up in flames or die in other mysterious ways. Altogether, you'd be starting off with poor quality equipment that's exponentially more likely to cut body parts off, go up in flames, fall out of the air for no reason, or a combination of those for something you might not even need. TL;DR: 7" quads are really not good beginner quads, cheap ones are going to be very dangerous, and decent quality ones will be a lot more expensive (closer to your total just for the drone alone). Do yourself and everyone around you a favor and get a decent micro indoor/outdoor setup with a quad like the BetaFPV Meteor Air 65/75, or the HappyModel Bassline/Crux 3/Crux 35

[https://www.reddit.com/r/TinyWhoop/comments/1ic0lts/best\_beginner\_tinywhoop\_setup/](https://www.reddit.com/r/TinyWhoop/comments/1ic0lts/best_beginner_tinywhoop_setup/) fpv has a surprisingly high barrier to entry, but if you're willing to put time into learning how to fly, it's incredibly rewarding. **don't use amazon for FPV, use trusted shops:** [https://www.reddit.com/r/fpv/comments/xoh3t2/best\_online\_store\_for\_uk\_hobbyist/](https://www.reddit.com/r/fpv/comments/xoh3t2/best_online_store_for_uk_hobbyist/) an air65 (best 65mm analog tinywhoop right now) is only 76 gbp here: [https://yourfpv.co.uk/product-category/built-quadcopters/built-whoop-collection/](https://yourfpv.co.uk/product-category/built-quadcopters/built-whoop-collection/)

I fly air65 indoors. I think I went with Air75 as it’s lighter and not marketed as a beginner drone really. I felt that I’d spent enough time in the sim and wanted something that’s as zippy as possible.

Air65! Or the 75 if you fly outside a lot. That with some analog box goggles, and a radiomaster pocket and you’re set

I bought the aquila16 a Month ago I really Liked it at the Beginning because in n-mode practically anyone can fly It. However after taking It Outside i immediatly realize the camera isnt the best when going from Bright to shadows you are blind during the day. So i got a Gofilm20 with Goggles L but i only flew it twice because Its really really cold Outside. Now i want to practicse acro mode more so i Just ordered a tinywhoop Air65 TL;Dr Aquila16 RTF Kit Pros: Easy to fly, very durable, cheap parts, actually good fly time 8mins Totally doable with 1100mAh Cons: is Not the Most agile,camera in Low light conditions, gets tossed by the Wind Outside. Conclusion: Its okay for your Entry to FPV If You dont want to build and have 0 Equipment and dont want to Figure Out what is what. Thats how It was for me I First Had no clue Other than i want to try fpv Then i flew and within a week interest became bigger and Ou start to look up Videos What is this why use that What is the best package rate etc Aquila16 can make you addicted and interested in more I have 3 sims but If you ask me theyre boring compared to real flying So far each of them (lift Off, lift Off Micro drones, DRL) has less than 10 hours in my library

Aquila16 is not a trash Drone Its not outdoor 5" freestyle Drone for Sure But its very good at giving noobs an easy Entry which, in my opinion is its own reason to exist I have ordered the 2025 Version of the Air 65 They have changed the canopy so that some things dont immediatly come of the FC in a Crash Meteor65 hs Air 65 i havent seen a Big difference except for price

I know what you mean Its not the best representing Drone for fpv Only upside is i now can use the radiocontroller and goggles and charger for new analog drones Im still waiting for the Air65 to arrive i believe flying It will be a difference So when you Connect Betaflight Do you have this Air Mode for acro enabled? Is it on by Default?