When you are first starting out in this hobby, you need to rely on internet sources a lot.

Why?

Because the manuals that come with transmitters and flight controllers and motors and ESC’s are either non-existant or unreadable.  I’ve come to accept that.

So when you have questions, the easiest thing to do is to ask Google.  Chances are somebody out there has already asked the same question or had the same problem.  And if they haven’t there are online communities where you can ask your own questions.

The following websites are some of the best places I’ve found (so far) that give you the information and practical advice you need to build and fly quadcopters and other multirotors.

Quadcopter Forums

1) RCGroups.com

RCGroups.com is huge. With over half a million members, over 2 and a quarter million threads, and over 31 million posts, you are bound to find exactly what you are looking for.  And if you don’t, you can always ask.

The Multirotor section of RCGroups has 7 sub-forums.  There is a beginner sub-forum, a sub-forum dedicated to mini quads, and separate sub-forums for multirotor electronics, power systems and tricopters.

You can also find a lot of good information in other areas of the forums.  For example, the General Aircraft – Electric section has 4 sub-forums dedicated to batteries, electric motors and power systems of RC airplanes, helicopters and multirotors.

2) /r/Multicopter

If you’ve never been on Reddit before, Reddit is kind of like a forum but … different.  Typically when you reply to a post on a forum, that thread gets bumped back to the top of the forum.  That doesn’t happen at Reddit.  Instead, users can upvote or downvote threads.  This tends to keep content fresh and moving quickly.

Reddit is composed of various subreddits.  The largest subreddit that has to do with quadcopters is /r/Multicopter. Reddit tends to have younger users and a lot of them are interested in size 250 frame quads.  So if that is what you are interested in, you will probably fit in well there.

Images and videos tend to get upvoted quite often but there is plenty of discussion too.

3) MultirotorForums.com

Multirotor Forums is dedicated to multirotors.  No airplanes.  No RC cars.  No boats.  Just multirotors.

That means by its very nature it will be smaller than a place like RC Groups.  But it will also be more specialized.  Which is often exactly what you want.

Quadcopter Blogs

4) Oscar Liang

Oscar’s blog is the go-to blog for anybody who is interested in building quadcopters.  No other blog has more practical information that his.

He also has a Facebook Group called Multicopters International that is worth joining.  And his Youtube channel has lots of great FPV action.

Must Read Posts

Complete 250 Mini Quad Parts List – FPV Quadcopter Component Choice

CleanFlight Setup Tuning Guide for Naze32 / CC3D

5) My First Drone

I first ran across My First Drone when I found some of Korey Smith’s videos on Youtube.  His videos on how to fly a quadcopter are great because he put an overlay of what his hands were doing with the transmitter.

Korey also has a popular Facebook group and lots of buying guides for ready to fly (RTF) drones.

Must Read Posts

How to Build a Quadcopter

How To Fly a Quadcopter

6) DIY Drones

DIY Drones is a community blog/forum that is different than any of the other websites on this list.  They allow all users to contribute to the blog.  They are committed to open source UAV development.

If you’ve ever heard of Arducopter, you can largely thank the DIY Drones community for it.  Chris Anderson (3D Robotics) is a big supporter of the community.  I won’t say “leader” but he is very influential there and plays an active part in the community.

Must Read Posts

A Newbie’s Guide to UAV’s

FAQ: Confusing Terms Explained

7) RChelicopterFun.com

While RChelicopterfun.com focuses mainly on helicopters, a lot of what he writes about applies to multirotors, too.  Author John Salt is extremely knowledgeable about all facets of the RC hobby.

Salt has written a number of e-books on flying and building RC helicopters.  You can tell he truly loves RC as a hobby.

Must Read Posts

Understanding RC Lipo Batteries

Understanding Quadcopters

8) Black Tie Aerial

Black Tie Aerial isn’t that well known of a blog but it has great content.  If you read through all of Scott Hatfield’s posts, you will have a much better understanding of quadcopters.

I have to say that Scott’s website is one of the better looking websites on this list.  All his photos look great and his website design is very clean.

Must Read Posts

The Physics of Quadcopter Flight

An Introduction to FPV

9) Roger Parks

Like a lot of the websites on this list, Roger Parks doesn’t focus solely on quadcopters or multirotors.  He has a lot of other projects and tutorials that are both interesting and fun to read.

But when he does turn his attention to quads, he does a great job.

Must Read Posts

ZMR-250 Mini Quadcopter Build

Crossfire 2 3D Printed Quadcopter

10) Shane Colton

Shane Colton is an MIT graduate who has documented a lot of flying RC projects on his blog.  He also has a few instructables that are very helpful.

Of particular interest to me was his Master’s Thesis on prototyping brushless motors and controls.  If you have any interest at all in that subject, Colton’s thesis is a must-read.

Must Read Posts

Flying Things

Quadcopter Instructables

11) UAV Speak

A fairly new blog, UAV Speak is off to a good start.  Keith Monroe already has a number of useful posts, including a how-to build series of posts featuring his Lumenier QAV250 build.

Must Read Posts

DIY Air Gates for FPV Racing

Avoid Vortex Ring State: How To Properly Descend Your Multirotor

12) Oddcopter

It’s too bad that Oddcopter isn’t updated anymore.  The last blog post was from February of 2014.

The author of Oddcopter started the blog near the end of 2011.  His goal with the blog was to write about his attempt to build and learn to fly a quadcopter and a tricopter.

Must Read Posts

Quadcopter Wiring

Easy DIY Quadcopter Build

13) Drone Flyers

Craig Issod runs Drone Flyers and he’s done a good job of combining informative reviews and helpful information for beginners.  He has also written a number of books that are available on Amazon.com.

Must Read Posts

Quadcopter Beginner Guide/Links

FPV for Beginners – a quick DIY quadcopter project

14) Quad Questions

One of the things that sets Quad Questions apart is it has awesome graphics and diagrams.  A good diagram can often explain more to a reader than a wall of text.

Anthony Jacobs, the owner of Quad Questions, also runs an online store that sells both parts and assembly/soldering services.

Must Read Posts

Lumenier QAV250 Quadcopter Wiring Diagram for NAZE32, KISS ESCS and BEC

FPV Video Transmitter Selection Guide

15) RC Advisor

Carlos Reyes mainly writes about RC airplanes at his RC Advisor website.  But he has a lot of good information about the components that quadcopters and airplanes have in common.

For example, his series on measuring motor constants is very good and applies directly to quadcopter motors.   He often explains concepts through video, too, which is helpful.

Must Read Posts

Measuring Motor Constants

RC Connector Soldering Tips

16) Untested Prototype

Scott at Untested Prototypes has a unique blog because he puts various CAD drawings and plans on his website.  These drawings are based on things he’s working on and he makes them freely available for use or for modification.

He has posts on a number of projects he’s worked on, including various mini H quads, micro quads and a foldable quad.

Must Read Posts

12 V Super Simple OSD

Quadcopter Plans

17) RC Explorer

You may have seen David Windestål on the Flite Test Youtube channel in the past.  I don’t believe he appears on there anymore but he does currently blog at RC Explorer.

David has some of the more interesting projects I’ve seen and does some stuff I never would have thought of,

Must Read Posts

The Clover Leaf FPV Antenna

FPV to Space and Back

18) Quadcopter Flight School

Like a few others on this list, Quadcopter Flight School is no longer being updated.  The content that is already there is very useful to the absolute beginner, however.

Quadcopter Flight School focuses mainly how to fly quadcopters.  It does this by mixing blog posts with Youtube videos.  The videos are very helpful … especially for a beginner.

Must Read Posts

Quadcopter Flying Tutorial 4: Banked Turns

Quadcopter Flying Tutorial 9: Rapid Descent

19) Modified RC

Modified RC does everything from product reviews to daily deals to “RC school.”

Follow along on his ZMR250 Miniquad Build.

Must Read Posts

How to Build a ZMR250 FPV Racing Miniquad on a Budget

ZMR250 Wiring Diagrams

20) Hoverbear

The blog of Andrew Hobden, Hoverbear is not exclusively about quadcopters.  In fact, Andrew only recently started a series on quadcopters.

But some of his posts on how different parts of quadcopters work are well worth reading.

Must Read Posts

Quadcopters: Sensors

Quadcopters: Yaw

Quadcopter Youtube Channels

21) RC Model Reviews

Bruce Simpson runs the RC Model Reviews Youtube channel.  You can tell he has been in the hobby for a long time … not just because of his gray hair but because of the wealth of information he brings to the table in every video.

I highly recommend checking out his channel first whenever you are wondering how something works.

Must Watch Videos

Low Cost Miniquad Racing Drone

Naze32 Multirotor Controller Board

22) FliteTest

FliteTest seems like a very professionally shot channel but it offers a lot of practical advice.  They focus on all types of RC aircraft, not just multirotors.

Must Watch Videos

Race Quad Tips – Fly Like Charpu

Water-proofing Electronics

23) Team Blacksheep

Team Blacksheep has a great YouTube channel with lots of awesome videos of places where they have flown.  Phillipines, Mexico, Buenos Aires, Dubai … the list goes on.  If you want to see beautiful footage shot from multicopters, definitely check out the Team Blacksheep channel.  They also offer a number of different products, including the read-to-fly racing hexacopter.

Must Watch Videos

Hong Kong Fireworks

Team Blacksheep in Dubai

 

That’s it!  23 forums, blogs and YouTube channels that have helped me so far.  With how popular multirotors are becoming, I’m sure new ones will be popping up all the time.

As I said at the beginning, this isn’t an exhaustive list at all.  And there are plenty of blogs that focus more on news or reviews or photography or other commercial uses of multirotors and drones.

What are your favorite multirotor sites on the internet?  Let me know in the comments.

 

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