The GoolRC T36S is a tiny whoop style micro quad on an F3 flight controller. This tiny quad has a 65mm wheelbase and sports a 800TVL camera. How does it stack up? Let’s take a look. Right now there is a coupon from TomTop that lowers the price to $49.99. Enter HTY6GC at checkout.
What is the GoolRC T36S?
First, you won’t have to build this little whoop yourself. The camera, flight controller, and receiver are all put together nicely and house under the lightweight plastic shell. It looks a lot like the E013, but this one features a real F3 flight controller. That means you can fly this little quad in angle, horizon and even acro mode. That makes this a low-cost alternative to the Inductrix. It is similar to the Cherokee Whoop we flew but the Cherokee Whoop was more responsive and has more punch.
Before we go on there are a few things to address about this quad. First, it is built on the E010 frame and like the E010 has the 615 motors. The 715 motors are superior in many ways so the smaller 6mm motors are a little disappointing. They’ll get this little quad in the air just fine, but lack the punch and recovery of the 7mm motors.
The F3 flight controller is a nice addition, but it comes with an old version of CleanFlight, not Betaflight. So you’ll have to either flash a new version of CleanFlight or load an old version on your computer. I couldn’t get it to flash a new version, so I used an old CleanFlight 1.2.4 to get it set up. It worked just fine but was a little annoying. Unfortunately, the USB isn’t accessible without removing the plastic shell, so you’ll have to take that off and put it back on before flight, another annoying design choice.
Before you go on the instructions say that you’ll need to go into the CLI and enter SET motor_pwm_rate=1000. So I did. It isn’t hard, but this again is another annoying and unnecessary step. Why? If I’m going to spend $55 on a quadcopter that is built on a cheap frame with cheap motors they could at least do some of the setups, or flash the software.
GoolRC T36S Camera, VTX, and Flight Controller
The best part of the GoolRC T36S is the 800 TVL camera and 48 channel 25 mW video transmitter. That means you’ll get a solid 5.8ghz signal for first-person view flying. You can’t change the channel without removing the plastic shell and then the camera, so again a poor design choice by GoolRC.
The F3 flight controller is CleanFlight compatible and you can configure, tune and update the GoolRC T36S using the micro USB connector. We got a FrSky version, so we can bind it to our Taranis QX7 or our Jumper remote. The bind button is hidden under the plastic frame, so you’ll have to take that off to set it up.
The flight controller and video transmitter are housed under a lightweight plastic shell. It looks nice and does protect the components, but mine cracked on the very first crash. This isn’t a deal breaker, but again disappointing. I ended up removing it. The GoolRC T36 comes with a 1S 250 mAh lipo battery but has a different connector from the E010 or E011, so you’ll have to pick up your own extra batteries or do some surgery.
Should You Get a GoolRC T36S?
With the cold weather outside this GoolRC T36 is a decent solution. It is well suited for indoor flying. If you are looking for an inexpensive indoor flyer and you want something that is capable of flying in acro mode you can take a look at this drone, but I’d recommend the Cherokee Whoop. It too isn’t a perfect quad, but if you want a small indoor whoop with the ability to fly acro it is a better option. Know that the GoolRC T36 does have some limitations but if you can find it on sale then it might be a good deal.
Right now there is a coupon from TomTop that lowers the price to $49.99. Enter HTY6GC at checkout.
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