A 2026 guide to building, tuning and flying
You watched the freestyle edit. Then you opened the retailer page and the listings made no sense. That confusion is normal — nothing on a shopping page tells you which quad does which kind of flying, or which $400 mistake you are about to buy twice.
This book is that order, with the reasoning left in.
15 chapters · 4 parts · 157k words · 2 complete builds
Not published yet. 15-chapter draft complete; preparing for beta readers; publication date not set. Chapter 1's text is free; its remaining photography is still being produced. The tools, guides and downloads are usable now. You can join the publication list below when signup is open.
The book is built around a real first year: a lower-cost, lower-risk aircraft first, then something fast you can crash, repair and tune. You buy the radio, goggles and charger once and they serve both.
Build One
43.87 g HDZero reference
catalogue planning AUW; weigh the finished build
A 65–80 mm ducted quad you solder yourself. Low mass and guarded props reduce crash consequences; damaged props, frames and surroundings still cost money.
Build Two
626.32 g 5-inch reference · 185.9–234.5 g toothpick references
catalogue planning AUW; weigh the finished build
A 5-inch HD freestyle machine — or a toothpick planned below 250 g for readers whose local rules make that mass condition useful. Same chapters, two paths, both taken seriously.
Weight is not trivia. For a privately built aircraft, the EU Open A1 route requires maximum take-off mass including payload below 250 g and maximum operating speed below 19 m/s; all other applicable Open Category and national requirements still apply. Weight alone is not permission to fly. The book therefore treats low-mass planning as a first-class option, not a promise of legality. Use the AUW calculator, then verify the finished aircraft and current rules with EASA privately built drones FAQ and your local authority before flying.
Read it in order. Each chapter assumes the one before it, which is the whole point — the sequence is the thing a scattered playlist cannot give you.
Five questions about where you fly, what the rules are where you live, and what you want to film. Ends with a supported path—or a clear reason to defer Build Two—and the reasoning behind it.
Plan all-up weight from catalogued weights and labelled estimates before you order, across 7 reference builds. Shows the remaining planning headroom to a selected target.
The whole bind procedure, and what every receiver blink pattern means. Binding is where new builders stall.
Five joints on scrap, from tinning a wire to a surface-mount capacitor. About an evening, using roughly $17 of dated practice material before regional shipping and tax.
Every part the book specifies, what it weighs, what it costs, and what you can substitute.
The tabs, CLI safety rules, failsafe chain and OSD baseline, version-pinned to the firmware the book actually supports.
Read or print the pre-flight and crash-debrief cards before the first pack leaves the bench.
Every term the book defines, with the chapter that introduces it. Useful on its own when a forum post loses you.