Contents
Zero to Quad: Build Your First FPV Drone
From Your First Solder Joint to Your First Dive.
- Chapters
- 15
- Words
- 156,043
- Diagrams
- 98
- Photographs
- 105
- Glossary
- 243 terms
Not published yet. The manuscript is complete and in beta reading; the photography is still being shot. There is no price or buy link because there is nothing to buy yet — the signup at the foot of any guide is how you hear when there is.
Chapter 1 is free and complete. It is the chapter that decides whether the rest is for you. Read it now — no email, no signup.
The fifteen chapters
Read in order. Each chapter assumes the one before it — that sequence is the thing a playlist of tutorials cannot give you.
Foundations
- 1
What FPV Actually IsFree
The hook: spectacular footage, chaotic listings · What FPV actually feels like · The five-piece starter ecosystem · Why four of those five pieces are reused · Rough 2026 starter price bands · The quad category map
- 2
The Physics in Plain English
Lift, thrust, gravity, and torque · Thrust-to-weight ratio · Prop pitch and bite · The four-motor mix · Inertial measurement: gyro and accelerometer · The control loop
- 3
The Radio Link, the Video Link, and the Goggles
The cart you cannot finish · What you will be able to do · Why this gear is shared · What the control link actually does · ELRS is the default, and here is why · ELRS 4.0 features you should know exist
- 4
Power — LiPos, Chargers, and Not Burning Your House Down
The video that scared you, and the system that fixes it · Why LiPos earn their place — and their risk · The three-state operating model · Voltage landmarks: the four numbers you will recite in your sleep · S, P, and why six 4S packs are not a 6S setup · Reading the label
- 5
Sim Before Sky
Your first hover lasts 1.2 seconds · Why sim-before-sky belongs before soldering · The simulator landscape · What to install · First-run setup and beginner settings · Binding the radio over USB
Build One: The Tinywhoop
- 6
Picking Your First Quad — The Whoop Build Sheet
The cart that doesn't add up yet · What you'll get out of this chapter · The BOM is the chapter, not a footnote · Build One, default path: HD digital tinywhoop, ~$284–$340 · Parallel cart: analog tinywhoop, ~$160 · Frame: 65 mm versus 75 mm, ducted, brushless
- 7
Building the Whoop
Workbench tools — the one-time investment · Consumables — what gets used up · Safety — the non-skippable callouts · Tool setup — temperature, tips, and tinning · Lead-free versus 60/40 — the tradeoff, briefly · Soldering technique — from zero
- 8
First Flights — Indoor to Park
The 1.2-second hover and the question that follows · Safety before configuration · Verifying ExpressLRS 4.0.x before you bind · Binding and confirming channel order · Backup before you change anything · The Betaflight tab walkthrough, scoped to first flight
Build Two: The Freestyle Quad
- 9
Picking Build Two — 5-inch Freestyle or Sub-250 g Toothpick
Choosing Your Path · Regulatory Humility — the build-two implication · The Sub-250 g Camera Cliff · The Build Two BOM, Side by Side · What Each BOM Column Buys You · Frame Geometry for the 5-inch
- 10
Building the Quad
Build Two on the Bench · Two Paths, One Workflow · Frame Dry-Fit Before Anything Gets Soldered · Soldering the Battery Lead · Battery Lead Routing and Strain Relief · Low-ESR Capacitor
- 11
Betaflight Deep-Dive
A first connection, and a 3D model that doesn't match your quad · Version pinning: 4.6.x is the baseline · Safety pre-flight: props off, supervised pack, smoke stopper · Firmware and target sanity check · Baseline backup: save `ch11_v0_baseline.txt` before you change a single thing · Tabs that matter, and the order to touch them
- 12
Tuning — From Stock to Smooth
The first decent flight, and the question that follows · Setting up safely for tuning flights · Betaflight version context · The four tuning levers in plain language · Why feedforward earns equal billing · The filter chain, gyro to motor
- 13
Capture and Share — Filming What You Watched
The 1.2-second hover all over again, except now it's the footage · The camera ladder · What the camera weighs to your build · When air-unit recording is enough · The Naked GoPro and what airflow does for it · Camera settings for a first edit
Beyond the Build
- 14
Maintenance, Troubleshooting, and Crash Repair
When the bench looks worse than the crash · The 60-second pre-flight check · The wallet-card · After the crash: the safe order · Won't arm · Yaws on takeoff
- 15
Your First Year as an FPV Pilot
Six months in · The roadmap · The first 30 days · The next six months · The first year · Community, not directory
What it assumes, and what it leaves out
Assumed knowledge: none of it
- Soldering. Chapter 7 starts at what a soldering iron is.
- Electronics theory, or any RC, FPV or simulator time.
- Motor, ESC or PID vocabulary.
- LiPo handling, radio regulations, or camera and editing familiarity.
Not covered
- ArduPilot and PX4 in depth — referenced as a next step, not taught.
- Colour grading beyond the Rec. 709 basics needed for a first watchable edit.
- FAA Part 107 commercial certification — referenced for awareness, not taught.
- Racing strategy and league play, beyond the closing chapter.
- Custom firmware development or PCB design.
- DJI ready-to-fly platforms — Mavic, Mini, and Avata as fixed-configuration aircraft.
- Fixed-wing, helicopters, RC cars, or anything that is not a multirotor.
Parts and prices go stale; the reasoning does not. Every recommendation is a part you could buy in 2026, checked against the manufacturer's own published figures — and where a source could not be reached, or turned out not to say what it was cited for, the book says so rather than borrowing the authority. Some of these parts will be discontinued before you read this. The chapters explain what each one has to do, so you can substitute.