As winter approaches, it’s whoop season once more! BetaFPV has one thing particular for us — a brand new Air65 II body for his or her common 65mm Tiny Whoop. The improve guarantees higher efficiency and sturdiness. On paper, it seems like a small replace, however after testing it, I can confidently say this model takes the Air65 to an entire new stage. Let’s dive into what’s modified, the way it performs, and the way it compares to the unique body.
Be taught extra about tiny whoops on this purchaser’s information: https://oscarliang.com/best-tiny-whoop/
The place to Purchase
Get the brand new Air65 II Body and exchange it your self:
Get the Air65 Whoop BNF (authentic body):
New Air65 II Body
Left: Authentic Air65; Proper: Air65 II
Try my evaluate of the unique Air65 right here: https://oscarliang.com/betafpv-air65/. Whereas the modifications may appear minor at first, they bring about some significant enhancements in sturdiness, efficiency, and flight really feel.
Left: Authentic Air65 Body; Proper: Air65 II Body
Body Design Enhancements
Essentially the most noticeable replace is the diminished variety of assist struts beneath every propeller — from six right down to 4. This enables extra unobstructed airflow, enhancing thrust effectivity and general flight efficiency. The ducts are additionally barely narrower, which helps cut back drag and enhance dealing with in ahead flight.
Apparently, regardless of having fewer struts, BetaFPV claims the body is extra sturdy. The remaining helps are positioned extra strategically in high-impact zones, serving to the body soak up crash vitality higher.
In hand, the brand new body feels stiffer than the unique, which possible contributes to the quad’s sharper and extra responsive flight traits. After loads of indoor flights — and the inevitable bumps into partitions and furnishings — I can verify that this body holds up rather well. It feels more durable and extra resilient than earlier than.
Weight-wise, the Air65 II body is nearly an identical to the unique Air65 body (V2 weighs 2.57g vs. V1’s 2.63g — primarily no distinction in follow).
V1 Body Weight (left) vs V2 Body Weight (proper)
A small however considerate design element: the motor mounting pads now embrace three raised contact factors simply outdoors the screw holes. This helps stop the steel motor screws from scratching your flooring or furnishings throughout indoor flights — a pleasant contact for whoop pilots flying round the home.
Flight Efficiency and Sturdiness
On paper, the Air65 II’s new body design sounds promising — however does it make a noticeable distinction in flight? I flew the brand new Air65 II and the unique Air65 back-to-back, and actually, the distinction wasn’t enormous. Maybe the brand new model felt barely extra responsive and snappier — although that may be as a result of my older Air65 has seen over 100 flights and the motors aren’t in the most effective circumstances.
One factor I did discover, nonetheless, is the elevated body rigidity. Once you twist the brand new body by hand, it feels stiffer with much less flex. Within the air, this interprets to a firmer response and sharper management really feel. It’s doable that BetaFPV tweaked the fabric combine or body geometry to enhance structural stiffness. A stiffer body may produce cleaner gyro knowledge that helps PID tuning.
That stated, the development isn’t dramatic — most pilots possible wouldn’t discover until flying each variations back-to-back.
With a 1S 300mAh LiHV battery, you possibly can anticipate round 4 minutes of flight time, relying on how laborious you push it — fairly typical for a 1S 65mm whoop.
After about 20 packs of indoor flying (and loads of crashes into partitions, doorways, and furnishings), my Air65 II body remains to be holding up completely. In comparison with my older Air65, which began to indicate seen scuff marks and minor duct deformation, the Air65 II stays in noticeably higher situation.
Out of the field, the tune from BetaFPV is superb — easy, locked-in, and responsive. It handles sharp turns easily, throttle management feels clear, and there’s no noticeable oscillation or jello. That stated, I feel there’s nonetheless some room to fine-tune it additional. Would you wish to see my customized PID and filter tune for the Air65 II? Let me know within the feedback beneath — I’d be completely happy to share it.
Enhancements
If you happen to’re trying to squeeze a bit extra efficiency out of your Air65 II, listed below are a number of easy upgrades price making an attempt.
First, take into account changing the inventory steel motor screws with PEEK screws (m1.4). They’re lighter and have a decrease tendency to return unfastened throughout flight. Get them right here: https://oscarliang.com/product-afj6
There are additionally a number of small areas the place you possibly can trim pointless plastic or materials to avoid wasting weight:
- Take away the “arrows” on the body
- Trim any extra warmth shrink on the VTX antenna.
These tiny tweaks shaved off round 0.7g from my construct, lowering the whole weight from 17.3g right down to 16.6g. That may not sound like a lot, however it’s a couple of 5% discount — and in a tiny 1S whoop, that’s sufficient to note enhancements in flight time, throttle response, and agility.
Battery Suggestions and Charging Recommendation
Correct battery care is essential to getting constant efficiency and lengthy lifespan out of your 1S packs. Listed here are my suggestions:
- Keep away from discharging beneath 3.0V throughout flight. Land earlier than it hits 3.2V per cell, after touchdown, the voltage ought to recuperate to round 3.6–3.7V.
- For security, it’s really helpful to cost at 1C (0.3A). If you happen to determine to cost at sooner charges, be sure that to watch battery temperature usually for security.
- If you happen to received’t be flying for greater than every week, retailer your LiPos at 3.8–3.85V per cell to lengthen battery life.
I like to recommend utilizing a devoted 1S charger with storage mode, such because the Vifly WhoopStor V3 or GEPRC WooPower. Each are compact, simple to make use of, and feature-packed 1S battery chargers.
Easy methods to Setup
Firmware:
- The FC comes with Betaflight 4.5.0, and the FC goal is BETAFPVG473. You could find the default CLI diff right here.
- ELRS Receiver: BETAFPV 2.4GHz AIO RX ExpressLRS firmware model 3.5.6
- ESC: A-X-5 – Bluejay, 0.19, 96kHz
Firstly, bind the receiver, observe this information should you don’t know the way: https://oscarliang.com/bind-expresslrs-receivers/
Listed here are the Betaflight configurations:
- Load ExpressLRS Preset
- Set Your Charges
- Allow Telemetry
- Set Arm swap, angle mode swap, turtle mode swap
- Set OSD (disable “Core Temperature” beneath warnings)
- Scale back present sensor scale to 660 for extra correct mah studying (would possibly want additional adjustment).
Conclusion – Ought to You Get the Air65 II (or the New Body)?
The BetaFPV Air65 was my favourite whoop of 2024, and with the brand new Air65 II body, I can confidently say it stays my favourite going into 2025. It’s one of the well-balanced whoops obtainable immediately — providing a wonderful mixture of energy, effectivity, construct high quality, and tuning proper out of the field.
Whereas the Air65 II doesn’t look drastically completely different from final 12 months’s model, the refinements add up.
That stated, the efficiency enhancements are delicate in real-world flying. If you happen to already personal the unique Air65, there’s no pressing have to improve. However should you’re out there for a brand new whoop, or planning to interchange the body, the Air65 II body is completely price getting — it’s a refined evolution of top-of-the-line 65mm whoops you should purchase.
Get the brand new Air65 II Body:
Get the Air65 Whoop BNF (authentic body):
