I read a lot of comments and questions from people online wondering what a beginner DIY drone kit is good for a total newbie, someone who has never built a quad before, and I often find myself answering the questions with about 5 asterisks because it really depends on “what” you’re looking to do with it.

When I started there were no FPV drone “kits” to speak of, there were only pilots you liked on YouTube, and the builds they put together.

Nowadays things are different, and that’s largely because of the massive amount of parts that are now available that for the most part work together. However, having a kit to lean on while you’re going through your first build is more important than interoperability simply because it’ll show you the best way to get it done.

If you’re looking to build your first FPV drone and want a guided build that gives you a build-it-yourself experience but is on rails where you can’t really fail, then this is the post for you!

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FPV Drone Kits

My advice is actually pretty simple.

Joshua Bardwell, who is in many respects one of the older YouTubers that seems to have a video on….EVERYTHING FPV related… has a kit. And I endorse it. Why?

  • The kit comes with nearly everything you need in one box. Frame, motors, flight controller, ESC, all together.
  • The parts are *good enough* to get started with (more on this below).
  • Joshua has a build video that holds your hand through the process. It shows EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO DO.
  • You can get airborne within 5-6 hours of building.

That’s pretty much all you need.

The hardest part of this hobby is choosing the parts!

Things you will still need to work out…

  • Video system* – Depends on the kit you get. The original kit didn’t include a camera or video transmitter, but there is a kit that now comes with the goggles. But it isn’t the end of the world if you need to buy the goggle and the camera/VTX separately.
  • Radio link – You will need to choose a radio link and a radio. There are tons of options out there, the most widely used and EASIEST to set up is likely a TBS Tango 2 radio coupled with a Crossfire module on the quad.
    • ELRS is becoming a lot more popular, however I do not recommend it to beginners because it is not out of the box ready to go. It requires some amount of background knowledge to get it working right, and there are thousands of resources available for Crossfire.

What Next?

Grab a kit from GetFPV.

Check out some peripheral gear that might be of use.