Lotus T580 Quadcopter

Having broke my x650 the other day, being left without a quadcopter, I realised I was already becoming addicted when I found myself talking to the owner of Quadcopters.co.uk and arranging to buy a Lotus T580 Quadcopter in person after driving 90 miles through the wind and rain.

I have to say it was well worth the trip though because he really is a very nice guy and we ended up talking about quadcopters and planes for ages, and he helped me out setting up my Futaba radio so my quadcopter would fly in a more stable fashion. Anyway, if you're in the UK I would recommend Quadcopters.co.uk any time if you're thinking of buying the Lotus T580 or an xAircraft x650.

I've had a little test flight with the T580, which comes pretty much ready to fly out of the box - just need to screw on the legs and rotors - and it seems pretty stable. I think it's a bit tougher than the xAircraft x650, at least it doesn't break with a slight bounce on the ground like my x650 did. It doesn't have sophisticated GPS modules to add on, though I think it may have some day soon, but I must admit to feeling a little pleased with it even before I switched it on. You know when you buy a piece of kit and it just feels right? That's how I felt, and still do so far. It's cheap, simple but practicle and easy to use.

Update 24/11/2001: There have been many reports of the Lotus T580 flipping over, the Flip of Death, without any warning. All I can say it this has never happened to any of mine (I've had three) and though they could be better and have a few problems with little wobbles that make them unsuitable for high-quality aerial videos, they are a great RTF (ready to fly) platform to practice flying quadcopters and are ideal for still photography as the slight wobbling will not affect that.

My Lotus T580, which I've taped a Gopro to the top with some bubble wrap underneath to soak up vibrations to make a better video:

My first little test flight of the Lotus T580 Quadcopter:

My second flight (below) the next morning was awesome, the most fun I've had so far with any RC machine - though I've only been flying them for a few months so I probably sound like a total noob.