been flying sims for about four months and i finally want to build something real. i have a pretty big living room and a backyard but the backyard has trees and stuff so i figure smaller is better to start. everyoen keeps saying different things, some say go straight to 5inch and learn on that, others say do a tiny whoop, but i think i want something in the middle that i can actually build myself and learn to solder on.

the two im looking at are the flywoo explorer lr (the 4inch version actually not sure if that counts as toothpick) and some random 3inch frame i saw on racedayquads that was like 12 dollars. is there a massive difference in how these fly or is it mostly just durability and weight. also what FC would even make sense here, ive seen the speedybee f405 recommended a lot for budget builds but idk if thats overkill for a tiny thing

the flywoo explorer is more of a long range cruiser type thing, its not really what id call a toothpick in the traditional sense. if you want something to bash around indoors and learn on, honestly the cheap 3inch frame is probably fine. frames at that size are basically expendable anyway, you will crash it into walls and break arms, so spending 12 bucks vs 40 bucks matters when youre buying your third one.

speedybee f405 is solid and not overkill at all, runs betaflight well and has decent uart options. i wouldnt call it budget either its just good value. pair it with some 1404 or 1606 motors and a 3s or 4s 650mah pack and you've got a proper little ripper. solder the motor leads first and get comfrotable before you do the stack wiring, the pads on smaller FCs are annoying.

four months on the sim is plenty, dont let anyone talk you into starting with a whoop if you dont want to. i did three months on liftoff before my first real build and the transition was totally fine. the muscle memory carries over more than people admit. just be ready for betaflight to confuse the hell out of you the first time you open it, nothing makes sense until suddenly it does