Drive and fly hybrids
A flying RC car is a radio controlled machine that is part car and part drone, built to do two jobs in one run: drive along the ground on wheels, then leave it and fly under rotor thrust as a multirotor does. The class is small, it has always been small, and the reason is arithmetic rather than fashion. Every component that makes the machine a car has to be carried into the air, and every component that makes it an aircraft has to be dragged along the ground, so a hybrid is heavier than a car of the same size and heavier than an aircraft of the same capability.
What a drive and fly hybrid is
A drive and fly hybrid is a rotorcraft with running gear, and it is built in one of two ways. The first fits wheels, or a rolling cage, to what is otherwise a small quadcopter, and uses the same 4 rotors that lift it to push the machine along the ground. The second starts from a car and adds rotor arms to it, which is far rarer, because a car chassis is built heavy on purpose and heavy is the one thing an aircraft cannot be.
Almost every hybrid on sale takes the first route, and the rolling cage is the reason. A cage, or 2 large light wheels on a free axle, lets the machine roll, tumble along a wall or run up a ramp on rotor thrust alone, with no gearbox, no drive motor and no suspension. It is the only version of the idea that does not carry two power systems, and it is the version that works. It is also, strictly, not driving. The machine is flying at ground level inside a wheel.
What flying a drive and fly hybrid is actually like
Flying a drive and fly hybrid is like flying a small quadcopter that is heavier than it looks and less efficient than it should be. In the air the machine handles like any toy grade multirotor: it holds a rough hover, drifts in a breeze, and is at the mercy of anything above a light wind, because the cage that lets it roll gives the wind a large surface to push on.
The ground half is the entertaining part and the fragile part. Running along a floor, up a skirting board or across a table is a genuinely different thing to do with a radio controlled machine, and it is why children like them. It is also very hard on the airframe. Ground contact happens at speed, the rotors are turning throughout, and the cage takes repeated impacts that a normal aircraft never sees. Expect broken propellers early and a cracked cage soon after.
Caution
A hybrid runs its propellers at full speed while it is on the ground, at the height of hands, feet and pets, which no other class in this hobby does. The cage is a guard, not a guarantee, and fingers fit through most of them. Keep animals and small children away from a machine that is powered up on the floor, and disconnect the battery before picking it up.
What it costs to get into drive and fly hybrids
The cost of getting into drive and fly hybrids is low at the point of purchase and higher afterwards, because the class is almost entirely toy grade. A caged machine sold as a stunt toy sits in the under fifty pound band, and there is very little above it: no established mid market, and nothing carrying a stabilised camera worth the name. Where a camera is fitted at all, it is a small fixed lens filming through a cage, which is why footage from this class is shaky and partly obstructed.
- Buy several propeller sets, because ground running destroys propellers faster than flying does.
- Buy spare cages or guards, if the maker sells them at all.
- Buy two or three flight packs, since run times are short and shared between driving and flying.
- Check that spares exist before buying, because a toy grade machine is often unsupported within a year.
The hidden cost is replacement rather than repair. Toy grade hybrids are moulded rather than assembled, so a cracked chassis usually ends the machine. Budget for the whole thing again rather than for parts.
Drive and fly hybrids against a multirotor drone
A multirotor drone beats a hybrid at flying by every measure that matters: it is lighter for the same rotor area, so it stays up longer on the same pack, it holds position better in wind because it presents less surface, and it can carry a stabilised camera because it is not spending its weight budget on wheels. Quadcopters without running gear are simply better aircraft, and anybody choosing a machine to fly should choose one of those.
The hybrid wins on one thing, and it is a real one. It goes places an aircraft cannot: along a corridor, up a wall, under furniture, through a doorway at floor level, indoors and in weather that would ground anything else. That is a different pastime rather than a lesser version of flying, and it is worth saying that the ground half also raises a question the air half does not, since driving a machine across ground belongs to whoever owns the ground. Flying over private property covers the related question in the air.
Why the class stayed small, and what exists now
The class stayed small because a hybrid is beaten in both of its roles by a machine that only does one of them. A radio controlled car of the same money drives better, over rougher ground, for longer. A quadcopter of the same money flies better, higher and further, and takes a usable picture. The hybrid is bought as a third thing, for the novelty of the transition, and novelty supports a toy market rather than a hobby one. Radio controlled aircraft, taken as a whole, reward specialisation, which is exactly what a hybrid refuses to do.
What exists now is therefore a short list: caged stunt quadcopters at the toy end, a small number of larger enthusiast builds, and occasional crowdfunded projects that appear and are not repeated. Home builds run into the same wall. Adding wheels, an axle and a drive motor to a quadcopter adds weight all 4 rotors have to lift for the whole flight, and the flight time falls faster than most builders expect.
A machine of this kind was sold from this web address around 2013, and it has not been available for many years. Line of Sight is a new and independent reference with no connection to that project, to its makers, or to any previous owner of this web address.
Should you start with a drive and fly hybrid?
No, not as a first flying machine. A hybrid teaches very little that transfers, its flying performance is the weakest in this section, and its short life means the money buys a few months rather than a hobby. Anybody who wants to learn to fly should start on a trainer aeroplane, and anybody who wants pictures should buy a plain camera machine instead.
Yes, in one case: as a second machine bought for indoor amusement, for a child, or by somebody who already flies and wants a novelty they can run in a hallway in February. Treat it as a toy and it is a good one. Treat it as an aircraft and it disappoints in every direction, including against RC helicopters, which are far harder but at least reward the effort.