Weight to be considered when purchase or build one quadcopter. All pilots are looking for the lightest quadcopter frame ,especially for racing drone.
Weight is a huge factor that affects the quad’s behavior, First, it must be very lightweight, the lighter the better. because more lighter that mean you can flight more times and have more fun.
Which quadcopter frame materials is the lightest?
Right now, there are about 6 types quadcopter frame materials as below.
- Carbon Fiber
- Aluminium
- Wood
- Plastic
- PVC
- Fiberglass
The only catch is that carbon fiber is known to block radio signals, which is obviously not ideal for a hobby that depends on multiple transmissions. That means you have to exercise a bit of care in how you place antennas on your craft. It can be used though, and is often. Just be aware that blocked signals are a possibility.
Wood, Build a frame with wood, It’s fast, low cost and does not require much effort. while not nearly as sexy as carbon fiber or fiberglass, is a very good material for this sort of thing. It’s cheap, RF transparent, takes brief structural overloads well, uses simple adhesives and dampens vibrations wonderfully.Aluminium is widely used for frame, you need to buy parts and have some tools to cut or connect them together. very lightweight and aluminum can transmit vibration quite well. Aluminum is easy to fabricate and can often be bent back into shape after crashes.Plastic & PVC, Frame usually be 3D printed with plastic, This material is lightweight, cheap, and perhaps a bit to ugly for your new quadcopter frame as well as PVC.Fiberglass, Another material you could consider is thin G-10 fiberglass sheet which is easily machinable. This is nice for the body area as it’s RF transparent. It also makes nice motor mounts.Which quadcopter frame materials is the lightest? If only considered the materials weight, Plastic & PVC is the lightest one, but other factors also take a importance parts, such as price, signals,hardness,Resistance to fall off etc. So which one? go ahead please.
Lightest quadcopter frames table chart
Frames | Materials | Sizes | Weight | Price |
Lisam LS-180 | Carbon Fiber | 180mm | 90g | Check Price |
SCX 200 | Aluminium | 200mm | 89g | $ |
GEPRC FPV GEP210 | Carbon Fiber | 210mm | 98g | Check Price |
YKS DIY Full | Carbon Fiber | 250mm | 141g | Check Price |
Readytosky | Glass fiber | 500mm | 405g | Check Price |
We can found that Carbon Fiber is the most common materials for quadcopter frame. Becuase they are lightweight, small size, long lifetime and great intensity, effectively reduce vibration during flight, guaranteeing the flying ability of the Quadcopter.
When you looking for a quadcopter frame from online shop (Ebay etc.), most of them are maked by carbon fiber. so why not go with the flow?
Conclusion
Weight is the most important factor for FPV events, all the pilots pursue the stronger and lightest quadcopter frame. In general, there are two way to reach that. One way is that respectively find out each parts with light weight, Another way is that direct purchase a package, which you can get a lot of parts such frame,motors,escs,props,flight controller etc. Because all of them are the best combination, maybe it’s the lightest quadcopter after it build out.