alright so ive been flying whoops for like 8 months and i finally want to step up to something with more punch. want to do a 3inch build, probably running it in the backyard and occasional open field stuff, nothing crazy. i have a budget of maybe 80-90 bucks just for the frame and id prefer something thats not going to shatter if i clip a fence post which honestly is going to happen at some point.

ive been looking at the floss 3, the source one v3 and someone on reddit mentioned the mr steele stretch x but i think thats more of a 5inch thing? not sure. im going to run it on 3s probably, 1404 or 1504 motors, havent fully decided yet. just dont want to pick a frame and then realize its not great for what im doing. any thoughts from people who have actually built on these frames and not just watched a youtube video about them

the stretch x is definitely a 5inch design, you'd be building something weird trying to force 3inch props on it so yeah skip that. for what youre describing honestly the source one v3 in 3inch is really solid. its true x geometry so tune is pretty straightforward and the frame itself is tough enough for backyard stuff. the arm thickness is decent and replacement parts are cheap and actually in stock which matters more than people admit when youre learning and breaking things regularly.

floss 3 is fine too but i feel like its more popular because of hype than actual durability? ive seen people crack the standoffs pretty easily. might just be skill issue on their end idk. either way for a first 3inch build the source one is the safe pick imo. dont overthink the motor size thing too much, 1404 2750kv on 3s is a really common combo and works well.

just gonna say ? whatever frame you pick, buy two sets of arms before you even fly it. seriously. learned that the hard way on my first non-whoop build, snapped an arm on day one and had to wait two weeks for parts to ship. ruined my whole momentum on the build