Lucidity
UFO Pilot
To lay bare my biases, I'm a fan of Horizon Hobby. Basically the first piece of RC equipment I ever purchased came from Horizon Hobby – a Spektrum DX8 – which I picked out because I thought it looked cool and “eight” was a nice, round number (that didn't cost as much as “ten.”) You should have seen Techinstein roll his eyes when I offered that explanation...
Anyway, it was a relationship begun in pure ignorance (on my behalf), but it's one that I've never regretted. As I watched multirotors burst forth from the tiny, exotic niche within RC flying that first drew me into the hobby into a dominant market segment within the industry that is now pushing rapidly into professional applications as diverse as filmmaking, public safety and civil engineering, I've kept an eye on Horizon.
There is no doubt that they came late to the party, releasing palm-sized toys while DJI surged ahead with the original Phantom and its increasingly sophisticated successors. I cringed when I saw the original Blade 350 QX, which appeared to be little more than Horizon's underdeveloped attempt to imitate DJI's game-changing product.
However, to their credit, Horizon stuck with it and continued to refine their products. When the 350 QX 2 came out, carrying a two-axis gimbal, I figured DJI still had a huge lead, but at least there was a race being run.
Now, seeing the 350 QX 3 Aerial Photography Combo Package that Horizon put together and released at AMA Expo, I think we're seeing the beginning of a serious competition. The three-axis, ball-turret-style camera gimbal is really slick, and I like the fact it comes out of the box pretty much ready for a two-operator setup: using the included DX4 transmitter to control the camera while another Spektrum radio provides primary flight control.
I didn't get to fly it, but Techinstein did, and he said it was a nice flying aircraft – extremely smooth and stable in the air. We're hoping to get our hands on one in order to do a full review, so stay tuned for that.
Kudos to Horizon for fighting on, especially against what must have seemed like insurmountable challenges in the beginning. The competition has brought out the best in them, and I think it will serve to keep DJI on their toes, as well.