Hello all! Well here it is, finally my first custom build after flying a Beta85X Whoop for quite a while to get some flight time under my belt. A big thank you to ReadyMadeRC for supporting my onslaught of questions!

My focus was, long-range freestyle flying and plenty of options to feed my inner-nerd, such as getting some experience with Betaflight's GPS features and the various customizations the Radix allows. I view this build as a bit of a "trainer" and test platform for my entry into FPV. I focused more on the quality of components, extra features, and availability of support vs. pure low cost. I do expect my future builds to be more specialized, instead of putting every feature plus the kitchen sink on-board! Here are a few of my overall first impressions and build notes:

1. Incorporating both the GPS and Caddx HD DVR made the build tighter than I had anticipated. Ultimately, I found room for the Caddx board on the underside of the frame. Without the protection of being inside the chassis, I used a heavy clear shrink wrap around the board...time will tell if it holds up! The cable to the camera was just long enough to make it across the frame. The Caddx Turtle V2 allows me to still take good quality HD video while not worrying about having a $300 GoPro on the top.
2. Note to self, don't forget to make room for the capacitor!
3. The BrainFPV Radix FC / Hobbywing ESC combo was an excellent choice for a first time build. Their documentation, support and differentiated feature set (OSD, baro, etc.) saved me hours while giving me plenty of options and customizations to tweak. Will definitely use again!
4. There was just enough room on the top of the stack to mount the TBS VTX on the underside of the top cover, just above the FC. It's not very clear in the pictures below, but you can see the back side of the white double sided tape just forward of the battery strap, through the "S".
5. This frame is rock solid, and easy to build. Frankly, I picked it because I liked the look and wanted to support RMRC/STRIX...glad I did. So far, it has withstood quite a bit as, let's just say, my acro mode flying isn't quite there yet
6. Start out simple with your OSD! I had all the bells and whistles turned on for my maiden flight, to learn that I couldn't make sense out of any of them as I tried to focus on flying. Since then, I have drastically simplified it and over time will slowly add some back.
7. I ended up mounting the GPS on the top back end of the frame. I am considering making it velcro to the top of the battery if I go with a larger capacity one than I have now. Integrating it into Betaflight was straight forward and I find the direction arrow and distance very helpful, however, I still haven't had the guts to flip the GPS Rescue switch!
8. I am flying in a 4S configuration weighing in at 336g w/o battery and get almost 10 minutes of flight time with a 1300mAh LiPo (149g). Obviously comparing this to my Whoop, the power is off the charts! I wish I had more experience to be able to make similar comparisons, but I can say that it did meet my expectations after watching countless YouTube videos!

For those getting into FPV and have similar tech interests, I do recommend an approach like this to get a flavor of what is out there from a technology standpoint and still end up with a useful platform for beginner+ freestyle flying. It will cost you a little more, but will worth it IMO. I'm definitely interested in anyone's questions, thoughts, or suggestions. Thank you!