Walkera Rodeo 110 RTF FPV Racing Quadcopter Drone w/2.4GHz Devo 7 Radio

This is one of the best purchases I have made in some time. I had been waiting(a loooong time) for the Blade Torrent to arrive but after reading some reviews, watching a few YouTube videos and talking to a Rodeo/Torrent owner, I decided to go ahead and buy this. It is an extremely good quad. I had purchased a Walkera heli some years back and was less than impressed with it's flight performance. This has redeemed them. It is very stable but also very agile. Flips and rolls are no problem. Punch out is very strong. It weighs about 144gms ready to fly. Battery insertion and removal are a breeze. The carbon fiber is of very high quality and the quad is easy to work on. The whole top deck comes off with the removal of six, easily accessed screws. The motors and speed controllers also look to be of good quality. The 200mw vtx works very well. I use FatShark Attitude v3 goggles with a Team Black Sheep antenna and I get just as clear a picture with this at 1/4 mile distance as I get from my Inductrix FPV at 100 feet. 7 to 8 minute flight times are provided by the included 2s 850mah battery. It is so powerful that it feels like it's on 3s. I have seen YouTube video of a stock Rodeo on 3s and it looks pretty brutal. It also comes with a charger, usb to mini usb cable, a buddy/training cord and a complete set of extra blades. It also looks much more like a racing drone than the Torrent which looks.....weird. I must also say something about the included Devo 7(RTF version). I have a Spektrum Dx7s radio and the Devo is almost it's equal. The gimbals are very smooth and control is very precise. It has most of the features of the Dx7s plus a back lit screen which is missing from the Dx7s. It looks and feels like a quality product and in the twenty or so flights I have already logged, not one problem. The range is as good as the Dx7s. They got the ergonomics right on it too as everything is easily accessible. The headlight is a nice touch. I thought it was just a gimmick but it actually casts enough light and the camera is sensitive enough to allow fpv flight in a dark room. Outdoors is a different story. Don't do it. To recap. Awesome quad, battery, charger, spare props, all necessary cables and a nice transmitter for ten bucks less than a Torrent(with no battery). The only possible downside is parts availability. They are available at helipal.com but you are probably not going to find them in your local hobby store like Blade products. I was going to buy a Torrent later but now I'm going to buy another Rodeo and modify it hard. Update coming.

6-25-17
Ordered another one but started modifying current one. Removed camera guard and light lens cover. Removed the upper camera cover mount. Removed stock camera and mounted an 800 tvl camera($33.00). Removed motor guard/landing pads. Replaced vtx antenna with Furious micro FPV RCHP antenna($12.95). Replaced stock battery with Gens Ace 520mah 30C battery($7.99). It now weighs about 125gms ready to fly(from 144gms). The battery gives me about 5 minutes of very agile flight. Punch out is un-be-lieve-a-ble. it will disappear within two seconds if you don't cut the throttle. The Furious antenna and upgraded camera added range and clarity to an already impressive image. My mobius mini is easily mounted to the top of the battery with an extra long velcro strap and shoots very clear images. There is no jello at all. This is a SMOOTH flying drone. There is very little propeller flutter and it is vibration free. It flies so well with the mobius that you barely know it's there. I know I sound like I'm bragging about one of my kids but this is a fantastic little drone. Going to experiment with props next. Torrent...Torrent who?

8-20-2017

Haven't tried out any different props. Instead, I've been experimenting with cameras as the stock one is pretty poor. The new camera of choice is the Runcam MicroSwift 2. It fits with little modification. The picture is vastly improved over the stock camera and although it is only 600tvl, the quality of the picture is better than the 800tvl camera I had already mounted there. You also get OSD in the form of battery pack voltage and flight time. I also discovered that a Runcam 2 hd camera can also be mounted to the quad and gives even better video than the Mobius. Flight times are drastically reduced to about 2:45 but the footage is worth it. I plan to fly around my little seaside town on the central coast of Oregon during the eclipse with my Runcam2 and post footage to YouTube,

Awesome little racer. Quiet, stable , built tough, and fast. I also successfully bound it to my DX8 using a micro ppm dsmx receiver. Walkera did amazing on this one, and it's my favorite flyer next to my vortex 150.