Apr 22, 2026

Building a 3″ 1S Toothpick FPV Drone

FPV

For my first ‘proper’ FPV drone, after previously only flying pre-built tiny whoop drones, I decided to build a 3" 1S Toothpick FPV drone.

The name ‘3" toothpick’ usually referes to a quadcopter drone that combines 3 inch propellers with a light weight FC and frame, powered by a tiny 1S battery. This type of drone is in something of a sweetspot - the large propellers and light weight allow for long flight times, a low noise profile and less kinetic energy than larger builds, which enables flight in places where larger drones would be unsafe or draw too much attention.

For me, it was also very nice as it allows me to reuse the batteries of my Betafpv Air75. In the future, I may also fly with a 18650 lithium ion battery, which could allow for flight times of up to 20min!

Here are the parts used:

  • Happymodel X12
  • Rcinpower 1202.5 11500 Kv
  • Caddx Ant Nano
  • Crux3 Frame

Takeoff weight with the battery is about 54g.