Why did you buy your FC40?

un hombre · Sep 19, 2014

Was it only a matter of money, or you did not need anything more expensive?

I was thinking about getting the old Phantom 2 vision, which now costs 780 Euro, but I am still hesitating. This will be my first serious quad, but I am really afraid to invest in anything that expensive, if at any moment it can just fly away for no reason, crash etc.

It is always better to loose 500 Euro worth of equipment than 800...

What are your stories, do you think FC40 is a good first quad or if one can afford, it is better to invest in Phantom 2 Vision?

jerrymac12000 · Sep 19, 2014

The quad is a good machine. Yes there some problems with it. 99.5% of the fly-aways are operator caused. Switches in the wrong position. Over confidence in the pilots ability, etc. The camera is not the greatest but for the price it's good. Some people like it others don't. Look and see if you can find someone that has one. Look at it and watch it fly.

jerrymac12000 · Sep 19, 2014

To answer your question. It is fun to fly. Even if you are viewing the pictures from mid air. It really is fun. Look at the videos on YouTube. Very nice. It is a great hobby.

mikeg26 · Sep 19, 2014

I have the FC40 because I added a Walkera Gimbal and can experiment with various 2.4G WiFi cameras and range extenders.
A tinkerer

Musicman · Sep 19, 2014

I got my FC40 for a few reasons.
First and very important. the 5.8ghz thing. as i want a gopro and actually use it, so that's safe.
second, the combination of the price and what you get for it.
I have no interest in FPV and flying further than i can see.
already flew it far enough that i had to use the standard camera to see what way it was facing (distance, not hight) that's far enough for me and obviously working very well.

I don't think a fly away is a standard thing that WILL happen.
As before, it is a pilot error a LOT of the time. People that don't do homelock, get cocky, always fly on the edge of the machine, etcetc.

I've seen clips of people taking it strait up high on their first flight ever. Those are the people that encounter it for sure.
Maybe a few % is an actuall error, but i don't really believe that.

lostkiwi · Sep 19, 2014

I bought the FC40 as it was significantly cheaper than the Vision and for what I needed it made more sense. I was a little put off by the short flight times but in reality it hasn't troubled me and the batteries are cheap enough to just have a few fully charged spares. And now that I have a 4000mAh one even thats not required now.
I also felt the FC40 was a better tinker platform - a different camera was always on my agenda (really must get round to getting the Panasonic mount finished!). so it made no sense to go with the Vision.

Mandrake · Sep 19, 2014

I wanted a cheaper model to try out first .. Am now considering building ( assembling ) a he a 550 maybe ... Its been a steep learning curve and I enjoy it immensely..

un hombre · Sep 19, 2014

Thanks for your input.

If you were to choose again, would you buy FC40 again or pay extra 300 Euro to get the Vision, if you could?

I think I am overthinking this but honestly, I am scared as **** that I may get a fly away, crash it by my mistake although unlikely, as I am usually very cautious and only cocky on my hubsan...

Then again, if I like it very much I will probably want to upgrade. But then again, Vision is not ideal as well and picture is just a bit better and more stable than fc40, not a true gimbal... Arghhh...

lostkiwi · Sep 19, 2014

I'd still buy the FC40 if I were to do it again (even with hindsight).

dtviewer · Sep 19, 2014

I bought my FC40 because I had convinced my self that it was all I needed.

Knowing what I know now, I would have went for a Phantom 2 and added on the pieces I want.
A 2 plus an aftermarket gimbal, a sj4000 or ilook camera and a decent FPV set up can be done for right around $1000 or so.

That said, the P2V+ is very tempting but the fragile gimbal and gimbal ribbon cable scare me to death.

varangian · Sep 19, 2014

un hombre said:
Thanks for your input.

If you were to choose again, would you buy FC40 again or pay extra 300 Euro to get the Vision, if you could?

I think I am overthinking this but honestly, I am scared as **** that I may get a fly away, crash it by my mistake although unlikely, as I am usually very cautious and only cocky on my hubsan...

Then again, if I like it very much I will probably want to upgrade. But then again, Vision is not ideal as well and picture is just a bit better and more stable than fc40, not a true gimbal... Arghhh...

I can definitely answer that question, along with the first. I bought the FC40 as the next step up from my AR Drone power edition and a small fleet of lesser quads. It had all that I needed for now. Plus the P2 batteries are too stinking expensive, I could buy a FC40 for what I would spend on four packs.
As to buying one again, yes I just did. I lost my 40 hour old FC40 after just six flights this morning. I take the blame for this, I didn't set up the ioc or modify any settings in the naza software. That would probably have save me. I ordered another as soon as I got home. Didn't like it, but **** happens when you're stupid.

Guipago · Sep 19, 2014

I knew I'd put it into the ground learning to fly it(haven't disappointed myself, it's landed at odd angles!) If I had a vision +, gimbal would be scrap metal by now, so until I fly better the FC40 is good for me(gimbal=$750, FC40=$650)

OI Photography · Sep 20, 2014

One of the nice things about the FC40 is that you can upgrade it like you can do with a P1, and transfer everything to a P2 shell so you can carry bigger batts and more easily mount a gimbal if you want. You also wouldn't be subject to the flight restrictions baked in the P2 firmware.

When that's done to a P1, the common name for the result is "P1.5"....so I guess an FC40 converted like that would then be an FC40.5