The Reality of a Bando Session

Bando flying has a different relationship with crashes than open-field freestyle. You're flying inside structures with hard surfaces at every angle. An arm hits a concrete pillar at speed. A prop clips a wall. A gate catches the frame on a gap attempt. These are not exceptional events — they're the session.

Pilots who show up to bando with no spares are gambling on whether the session ends on their schedule or the crash's schedule. The ones who fly all day carry the right inventory.

The Ferrum 50 Minimum Viable Spare Kit

Priority codes: 🔴 MUST HAVE · 🟢 NICE TO HAVE · ⚪ SKIP FOR DAY SESSIONS

• 🔴
  2× Replacement Arms — The single most common failure in bando. Arm breaks end sessions. Two spares cover most days. Ferrum 50 Arms →
• 🔴
  2× Sets of Props (8 props total) — Props break on every session involving concrete. 8 props = minimum 2 full replacements plus contingency.
• 🔴
  Motor Wire Guards ×4 — Prevents mid-flight motor wire cuts. Light, cheap, pack flat. Leave these on the quad permanently, but carry 1 spare set. Motor Wire Guards →
• 🔴
  Acrylic Lens Cover ×2 — Scratches on impact instead of your camera lens. Two covers per session minimum. Acrylic Glass →
• 🔴
  M3 Hardware Pack — Arm bolts, standoff screws, stack screws. Hard impacts loosen or strip fasteners. Keep a small container of mixed M3 hardware in your bag at all times.
• 🔴
  3× LiPo Batteries minimum — Repair time between crashes means you need capacity for the day, not just back-to-back flight time.
• 🟢
  1× Bottom Plate — Bottom plates take direct ground impacts. Cracking is possible on hard bando landings. Carrying one means you don't call the session early. Bottom Plate →
• 🟢
  1× Spare Motor — Direct pole impacts can deform or damage a motor beyond field repair. One spare motor doesn't weigh much. One damaged motor without a spare ends your session.
• 🟢
  Heat Shrink Assortment — Motor wire repair, antenna re-routing, quick electrical fixes in the field. A small pouch of mixed sizes weighs almost nothing. Heat Shrink Tubes →
• ⚪
  Top Plate / Mid Plate — These rarely break in standard bando conditions. Leave at home for day sessions, bring if it's a multi-day trip. Top Plate · Mid Plate
• ⚪
  Spare FC/ESC Stack — FC and ESC rarely fail from physical impact alone. Bring for multi-day trips or if you have a history of electrical issues.

Field Tools: What You Actually Need

The Arm Swap: Field Repair in 15 Minutes

Arm replacement on the Ferrum 50 is designed to be a field repair, not a workshop job. The interlocking arm system means you don't need to disassemble the full frame:

1. Remove 4 M3 bolts securing the damaged arm. 2. Slide the arm out of the interlock slot. 3. Slide the replacement arm in. 4. Torque the 4 bolts. 5. Check motor wires are routed through guards. 6. Fly.

With practice, this takes under 10 minutes at the field. The interlock system prevents the arm from rotating under stress, so there's no need to re-index or realign anything.