Y100 - Walkera's next generation easy-flyer

Walkeras Y100 mini hexa,  kinda cool & kinda missing.  the question is.  is it cool enough to make up for the missing part.?

EDIT.. For a chance to wing a Walkera Y100 - make sure you subscribe to my YouTube channel..!

 

The new Y100 is intended as a WiFi bird,  it can be flown with you iPhone or Android phone.  

The price is right, I found it for $125 BNF  here.   but how do it fly,    I gotta say, Im not that keen on the iPhone control thing, so I tested it with the F7 instead.

I quickly learned that the video ONLY work over WiFi, and Walkera even propose mounting the iPhone on the radio for video. Sure that works, but only for 50-100 feet on a good day, and there is some delay on the video, so this is not a FPV system.

With that in mind, I set out to fly it LOS with my DEVO radio,  that worked well,  the center piece of the Y100 is a new generation of IMU,  it is incredible stable,   any skill-level pilot can successfully fly this hexa.  it is a fantastic LOS trainer becuase it is crazy stable and moves fairly slowly.

The body is full of little details, its a surprisingly detailed mould,  

The huge gear propellers are "slow props" for sure,  but with big blades and very effective, getting you more than 10 minutes of flights with the 150gram aircraft on a fresh battery.   Walkera have enabled a safety protocol to instantly shut off the motors if a propeller hit anything,  this is really great because it avoid harm to humans and pets alike (and my girlfriends flowers).   but it also means, that the props are almost always stopped when you hit the ground, avoiding damage to the props,  I doubt I will manage to break one of these.  Apparently Walkera feels the same way, as for once, they are not including spare props in the box.    

Welcome to the hull,  there is room for the 1S 1600mah battery,  I gotta say this is the biggest 1S battery I have ever seen, it is so big that it is actually two 800mah cells in parallel, and look like a 2S battery.

 

About the "ONE TOUCH GO HOME"  sorry guys, its not GPS.  .... 

 

Close up of the geared motor pod,  notice how it connect to the arm,  very easy to remove, simply press the two little tabs.     I have been unable to bust a prop or motor, but I imagine it would be very quick to put a replacement on here.

Soooo.. in conclusion.. how do I feel about this mini-hexacopter.?

First of all,  Its a good value for the money,  the new IMU stability system is impressive and its very easy to fly,    but I lable this a "trainer",   most experienced pilots will get bored stiff with this in a matter of hours, (if not days).    but for noob's this is going to be a fantstic LOS trainer.

I really wish Walkera had this in a BNF version with a 5.8g video and a less agressive altitude-hold, so it would work directly with the F4 or F7 radios as a trainer for the x350 and h500 series.  

 

Comments

[Bo Lorentzen]

Hey Luisjecheverria, basically turn on the copter and right away the transmitter.. then they should bind automatically. make sure the throttle stick is DOWN when you turn them on. after the light change blinking it is bound and you can push the throttle up to test the motors..

[Luisjecheverria]

hi tehere, I also subcribe to see your amazing videos

I have a question, I just got Walkera QRY100 with dev4 transmitter & I don't Know how to set up transmitter, can you help me?

with the iPhone works great, but with I just can't make the transmitter work

[timothy]

That is what I was thinking but I just wanted to hear it from someone that knows copter better thank you and looking forward for more videos and can't wait to get the scout

[Bo Lorentzen]

Hey Timothy, I would get a TX5801 with camera and radio build in, plug it into power from the Y100 you can see that on the F4. :-)

[Timothy]

So I have the qr y100 and want to upgrade the camera and take out the wifi transmitter and old camera but I am trying to find a camera that will fit into the hull of the y100 and work with the live video on my devo f4 you have any ideas?

[Bo Lorentzen]

Matt, I have not really tested the WiFi with the Devo4 setup, I only flew the Y100 as straight LOS with the 808 camera mounted under the Y100. ;-)

[Matt Maser]

Thanks Bo, so far I have not had much luck with connecting to wifi with my droid for the video feed when its paired with my radio. Almost like the 2 devices are fighting over the connection. I briefly get video, but then soon after a white background. The code pairing is in reverse order for the 2 devices as well: Radio on first then connect power to the Hex. Using droid however you power on the Hex first so the wifi network appears then you can connect with the phone. Have you been able to test this out and if so, what was your process. Other than that and challenges calibrating the compass this has been a great trainer. Thanks again.

[Bo Lorentzen]

Matt, yes you can, however its very intermittent video because the WiFi tend to buffer frames..

[Matt Maser]

Quick question on the QR Y100: Can you fly with a traditional radio like the Devo4 and also connect via wireless with android for video feed?

Thanks!

[Greg Lepidi]

Hi Bo I subscribed to your YouTube channel and enjoy your videos your a interesting chap and fun to watch and learn from I'm just getting interested in RF drones and don't have one yet this would be a great begining I emailed you for the contest for this. I'll be watching, thank you