@MachWun.. It seems like your just skimming thru posts and then reflexively reacting. It's kinda clear you didn't actually click the link or check out the Kickstarter. Its a shame, because someone like you could add a lot, but instead, you've mostly just blustered about your quads and your sponsorship, and raised totally irrelevant technical issues.
I think this is because your only looking at this through FPV racing goggles. But there is a big wide world out there that includes things like filmmaking, story telling, or just generally doing something odd for the hell of it. For example:
While the technical points you raise are largely irrelevant, I still generally agree that this could be a horrible idea (not unlike the contraption shown above). Combining a Solo with an FPV racer could very well end up being some weird bastardized creature thats of use to no one.
None-the-less, here is a (rather tiresome) point-by-point response. I may have missed something here or there, but I tried to cover everything.
Gopros in general are known to have a lot of lag in the fpv community. It is so bad, that I will bet my solo you can not find a pilot that has made a name for himself that flies through the go pro.
Now this is just completely irrelevant. As clearly discussed above, you would use "a separate FPV camera and transmitter to go with some fatshark goggles."
This is an example of why it seems like your just skimming and reflexively reacting. You definitely didn't check out the Arrow drones. Both models come installed complete with all FPV equipment (camera, vtx, and if I recall, a goggles option). The GoPro is just for recording video.
The 800kv motors on the solo will do dick on 5 inch props, even less on 5 inch props.
Irrelevant. At no point has any one suggested using Solo's motors. For specs, go check the link in the original post, or check out Arrow's website, or their Kickstarter, or google. Here I'll repost the link:
Arrow Drone - The FPV Racing Drone: An Entry Level Racing Drone That the Pros Will Love, Too
The mass a gimbal has, will not work well with flips and rolls. My Kreigerpus running betaflight can do 5 or 6 snap rolls PER SECOND. If there was a gimbal on it, I'd expect the gimbal to break in the air.
I'm guessing you didn't see the Gimbal Upgrade option for the Arrow? Yeah, so, no one suggested you'd use the Solo's gimbal. You'd have to use Arrow's gimbal.
Furthermore, while I'm sure we are all very impressed that your "Kreigerpus ... can do 5 or 6 snap rolls per second," its totally irrelevant. You simply wouldn't do that, no matter how sturdy Arrow's gimbal is. The idea is to create a very fast and agile Solo, not some bat-shyt crazy FPV racer.
2.4ghz resonates on 5.8 so my interfere argument is still valid. That is why the racers place the Vtx antenna as far away as possibly from the rc antenna.
Come on, this isn't limited to FPV racers. Every single DIY drone builder in the known universe tries to separate TXs as far as possible. As for 2.4 or 5.8ghz, those numbers represent the middle of a range, and they don't resonate on every channel. And there are other bands to use, like 915mhz. Its obviously something that would need to be experimented with, but its not like it would be the first time anyone hung multiple transmitters on a drone.
Once the pic hawk processes the video and transcodes it to digital, I would surmise the lag has more than doubled. Now we need to transmit it, and decode it. Where as a simple 5.8ghz Vtx sends out an analog signal, with a lag that is less than 100 milliseconds, perhaps half that depending on the source camera.
Wow. Really? Once again, ""a separate FPV camera and transmitter to go with some fatshark goggles." You would probably have to use the Arrow's controller and radio equipment for rtx and vtx.
Having said that, you'd have to find a way to retain SoloLink 2.4ghz wifi to stream GoPro video (for framing Smart Shots), and to communicate with the companion computer (for example, using the Solo app to execute smart shots or auto missions). Actually, you could still use the Arrow's stock controller to initiate auto missions, or you could use Tower and a MavLink antenna on a phone to initiate auto missions. I could live without the GoPro feed since we have the FPV camera, but it would obviously make framing harder. Losing access to Smart Shots would be a deal killer.
If you want an fpv racer, set aside 600 and I will put together a parts list for you and you will actually enjoy flying it while your solo is parked in the air filming you
Edit: better yet if you want an fpv racer, I will trade you one that will do over 80mph, for your Solo
Now your just in full bluster mode. Besides, if you bothered to check out the Arrow at all, you'd know that for $649, I can get a fully assembled ready to fly FPV racer that is set up for a beginner. You'd probably also have noticed that they *claim* 150kph (~90 or 95 mph) on one model.
So taking a step back, I think all the technical challenges could be resolved on both the hardware and the software side... but the real problem remains that you might very well end up with a weird drone thats not really good at anything and is of use to no one. I admit that.
But lets all be honest. Most of our drone footage is really boring. No matter how much we edit things down and add music, its all kind of boring. I think adding speed and some light acrobatics would be far more compelling.
But I'm also not willing to give up on the Smart Shots or Auto missions. I think it would be a lot of fun to rip down a canyon, do a couple loops, and then time it right to switch over to a Smart Shot at the press of a button. Take this video for example, shot with an FPV drone. It still too slow but I think these guys are moving in the right direction. Just imagine at the end (where this video kind of fizzles out a bit) doing a couple loops and then segwaying right into a multi point smart shot that was set up in advance.