A little history…

Box-style vertical arm frames have been very popular in the EU racing circuits for the past couple years, so why have they not gained traction in the USA? Well, I spoke with Ashley Davis of Velocidrone who had some interesting insights into why this may be. He mentioned that the first box-style frame that was introduced in the US a year ago was a total bust. It was not durable and was very difficult to build. For this reason, these frames got a bad reputation within the American racing community.

More recently, some of these style frames have become available in the states. There are two variations - Box-style and just vertical arm style. The vertical arm racing drone won’t give you the airfoil effect that the box-style does, but it will give you some of the added benefits of less air resistance.

My thoughts…

For me, practicing IRL on the regular is a pipe-dream. Living in a major city make the life of a pro pilot very tricky. I currently only fly once a week IRL with the Baylands crew, which is an hour drive both ways. This means that I have to use the sim to maintain and develop my skills.

The major difference I’ve noticed between the sim and IRL racing is the way a real drone drifts. The drones in the sim seem to track better and are more “on rails”. Until I had flown the box-style frame, I couldn’t put a finger on this. Then, I flew the SouthEastFPV Knife Vertical Box 5" Race Frame and had an epiphany. This is what I had been missing. I was flying so many hours in the sim each week and then going out to the field, having to adjust to the slightly different flight characteristics.

The Box style frame feels just like the Sim!

Best Lap with Box - 27.5s

Best Lap with Hybrid - 29s

With this realization, I now am confident that my stick time in the sim will translate to real-life racing even more so. This could be a game-changer for me and other pilots who don’t have the luxury of having a personal track in their backyard. I’m going to keep testing and try all the options available. There are only a few frames currently so it shouldn’t be too difficult.