On the Inductrix, especially for a novice flyer link myself, the most common damage piece is apparently the main frame which houses pretty much everything. Now, thankfully for about $8 you can get a replacement part (and my local hobby shop stocks them).
The downside? The damn thing is the main frame. Everything – and I do mean everything – is attached to it.
Lesson 1: The Screwdriver & Work Space
So I got lucky here, as I’d just replaced my son’s Nintendo 2DS screen, and happened to have a precision screwdriver here. For reference, that guide recommends a #000 Phillips screwdriver, and while I have no eartlhy clue if mine was the right one or not, I will say that likely the #000 is the one you want for this thing.
The next thing I will say you’ll need if tearing down the Inductrix is of course a good work area. Honestly, until you get the board off I thing you’d do well to have a bit of white cloth to catch the tiny black screws. And I do mean Tiny. I also had foresight (and a six year old “helping”) so I ensured to use the plastic the thing came in, as well as a magnet to hold the screws.
Lesson 2: The Board
Now I’m regretting not taking pictures here, but I know in the course of learning about drones I’ve learned a bit about the parts. The thing about microdrones is that they’re a LOT lighter on parts than their counterparts. It’s just four props, four motors, the main frame, the board, the camera, and the canopy. That’s IT.
However – looking at the board, you can see some stuff. I get the feel of the motor controls, I can see the antenna. It’s a good feeling.
Lesson 3: Reassembling & Rotation
Well… this one was a hard lesson. I knew the motors and props had to be an a specific orientation, and THOUGHT I did a good job of making notes, but… six year old helping. Anyway. I did not. What I ended up with was a drone that would only flip over.
A few quick googles and I found this image:
The above image shows the position of the clockwise & counter-clockwise motors. Sure enough, I’d set a clockwise motor in the wrong position.
Conclusion
The more I muck with this thing, I’m convinced that this really IS a great “off the shelf” FPV unit for indoor flights, aside from frame durability (more on that later). It’s also a solid confidence builder, and I’m chomping at the bit to do more.