Help choosing the right board and peripherals to make a quad copter

I am looking into building a quad copter i have a little experience with programming but not with Arduino so i do not know what boards i need
Thanks

There is probably not much quadcopter build experience here (I could be wrong ) so we're not really the ones to ask but if I were going to build one I would use a 5V, 16Mhz Pro-Mini because they are small and have all the functionality of an UNO, (mostly), the
difference being the need to use and external FTDI BASIC breakout board to upload sketches. In addition, the Mini always comes with the headers so you can choose whether or not to use them. For a quadcopter you would not want to install them and connect only the wires you need. the one header you need to install is the one for the FTDI basic connection on the end of the board. You want to install this right-angle header on the top of the board with the pins facing outward. The FTDI will plug right into it. If you buy a clone instead of official arduino , the FTDI pinout may be reversed (mirror image) requiring you to plug the FTDI in upside down. You need to check the pinout before doing anything.

I would suggest looking at the various open source autopilot projects that are available on the internet. It's a complicated problem and solving it yourself from scratch would be an enormous challenge, but by adopting one of the open source projects and the hardware that it is based on, the hardest part has been done for you. Mind you, what's left will still be difficult, and I suggest you join the DIY drones forums for advice about doing that.

Yeah, and after you get it working come back and post all the details in the GALLERY/EXHIBITION section so everyone can see how you did it.

There is lengthy post about one here: BlueCopter - Arduino Quadcopter - Exhibition / Gallery - Arduino Forum