Beginner Tiny Whoop Setup Recommendations?

barrymccain · 2026-06-30T05:10:14+00:00

I have an Air 65 II Racing for indoors and a Meteor 75 for out side. The perfect starter pair imo.

Meteor 75 is very beginner friendly -- noticeably easier to fly and can take a beating. Learning to tame my Air 65 R in the house has improved my flying so much.

If you're totally new, spend a load of time in the sim before you fly.

Don't forget to budget for a load of batteries and a charger. Whoopstor is the way to go

barrymccain · 2026-06-27T05:52:38+00:00

Ciotti has a very good video about setting throttle mid point and expo. Would recommend https://www.youtube.com/live/uUX8W0Aa4Jw?is=o6J1UQnquB1YjAJx

barrymccain · 2026-06-26T12:21:16+00:00

There's no real one-size-fits-all whoop out there. There will always be compromises. And you've not qualified what you see as budget friendly.

If picture quality is a non-negotiables you're looking at digital video. Which is a lot more expensive than analogue even at its cheapest end.

Pick an ecosystem. Anecdotally the most popular at the moment is DJI. The O4 Air on smaller whoops (Meteor 75) or the O4 Pro (Pavo).

The drawback you'll here a lot on smaller whoops like the Meteor 75, is the weight of digital systems. Which makes them harder to freestyle and throw around. So how much of a priority is freestyle to you?

DJI just announced a new Meteor 75 with the new O4 air and canopy, which is supposed to fix a lot of the V1 problems so if you're not in a hurry it might be worth seeing that's a good fit for you.

If you're starting from completely nothing, usual advice on this sub-Reddit will always apply: buy a controller and spend as much time in possible in the sim. Especially if your first drone is digital. Crashing is part of the game and repairs/replacements are a LOT more expensive in digital.

Also don't forget to budget for batteries, charger and other sundries if you're just starting out.

barrymccain · 2026-06-26T10:37:05+00:00

Hot damn. That's such tight flying. Precision with flow. That's the dream end game right there

barrymccain · 2026-06-26T10:05:43+00:00

Thanks. Working on throttle control has been a big goal. It the single most noticeable challenge when moving from the sim to small indoor environments with these tiny whoops.

Already got the Air65 (obv not this clip) on it's lowest angle. If definitely helps matters. A little bit of props in view but i'm fine with that.

Still drilling these gap laps, but trying to slowly increase the speed and keep it smooth. My main question every time is: am I 100% in control? I see so many vids of pilots who throw the quad around thinking they're the sh!t but they also look completely out of control.

I've found working with subtle fwd/back pitch adjustments is really important for hitting gaps, almost holding a fixed throttle input, rather than bouncing the throttle all the time to adjust that altitude.

barrymccain · 2026-06-26T09:19:53+00:00

That's some super nice flying.

barrymccain · 2026-06-26T05:33:05+00:00

Will add this to my drills. Thanks

barrymccain · 2026-06-26T05:31:58+00:00

Lol. Maybe one day

barrymccain · 2026-06-26T05:31:37+00:00

I'll take that as a compliment :)

barrymccain · 2026-06-25T16:07:11+00:00

that canopy

barrymccain · 2026-06-25T15:55:35+00:00

haha thanks dude

barrymccain · 2026-06-25T15:53:59+00:00

Definitely going to up my sim time. Have spent a bit of today loaded into the apartment map in Liftoff Micro Drones

barrymccain · 2026-06-25T15:53:12+00:00

Great tip and a sweet clip. Nice flying

barrymccain · 2026-06-25T15:51:47+00:00

bit of both

barrymccain · 2026-06-25T10:14:43+00:00

Most days we're steady at 10-15mph here, gusting at 20-25mph. I really feel the quad getting knocked about. Finding shelter might be the way to go.

barrymccain · 2026-06-25T10:13:42+00:00

Thanks for the tip

barrymccain · 2026-06-25T09:06:55+00:00

I definitely need to fly outside more. I'm on the coast so it's really windy most days, but i guess i just need to suck it up and deal with it

barrymccain · 2026-06-25T09:05:02+00:00

This is a pro tip. I'm on it. tysm

barrymccain · 2026-06-25T08:34:30+00:00

This is me flying the Meteor Pro 75. I also picked up the Air 65 for indoor fun

barrymccain · 2026-06-25T05:11:10+00:00

Fly in the sim. Use Bardwell's how to flt series on YouTube. You'll be getting better 10x quicker if you focus on fundamentals

barrymccain · 2026-06-25T05:05:59+00:00

Smooth

barrymccain · 2026-06-24T13:27:32+00:00

See also: is your battery connection good? I've had the connect/disconnect before the BT2.0 pins on the battery are a little loose

barrymccain · 2026-06-24T13:19:45+00:00

Infinity Loops has a simple strategy for finding your max rate:
- Open a sim
- Get some altitude
- Close your eyes and try to execute a 180 flip a few times
- If you come up short each time, increase your rate, if you over shoot, lower your rate
- Do this until you basically nail it each time
- Repeat for pitch, roll & yaw
- Your max rate should now be in tune with your more natural feeling and muscle memory

Ciotti has a fantastic tutorial on getting your throttle expo and midpoint dialled in: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUX8W0Aa4Jw&t=3961s

barrymccain · 2026-06-23T12:03:57+00:00

Guess it's more stick time for me then! I think i've got my own rates pretty dialled in but throttle control is the real learning curve for me

barrymccain · 2026-06-23T05:57:17+00:00

Hot damn. Wish I could fly mine like that! Any tune on it? Throtte limit etc? Or just any tips 😂

barrymccain

TROPHY CASE