"Follow the Leader"

[royster]

Amazing video, shows what Litchi can do, in the right hands anyway,
At certain times, the lead guy puts some distance between him & follower, did you do this intentionally, or was it just the routing?
When they went around that building, my son was jumping around & yelling- LOOK OUT, LOOK OUT MAN!
Great job!

 

[Dirty Bird]

Thank you very much. The increasing distance wasn't intentional. It's just the subtle differences between two different Phantoms. It is also deceiving. The Phantoms left ~25' apart & returned ~100-125' apart...not too shabby for a 7.2 mile, 75 waypoint mission with near-continuous altitude changes. It looks more on video because a Phantom is pretty small so quadrupling its distance from the lens makes a big difference in scale on video.

When I saw them return home still paired up so closely I could hardly wait to see the video!

The building spiral is three full circuits around Baltimore's World Trade Center before peeling off to a close pass with the Hard Rock Cafe guitar @ Power Plant Live. If I point the camera out further to completely capture the Phantom ahead, you can't see the building & a viewer won't realize they are spiraling a structure. Baltimore's WTC is only 405' tall so it's less than 1/4 the height of the NYC towers. I designed the spiral so at each bend of the 5-sided building the bird bleeds ~15'. Reasoned this constant altitude drop with a 10' waypoint difference would assure separation even if the chase bird passed the leader. Near the bottom I have to climb back up about 30' to clear the row of flagpoles on the front. Fortunately it all worked out well.

Amazing video, shows what Litchi can do, in the right hands anyway,
At certain times, the lead guy puts some distance between him & follower, did you do this intentionally, or was it just the routing?
When they went around that building, my son was jumping around & yelling- LOOK OUT, LOOK OUT MAN!
Great job!

 

[natvtrader]

That was an amazing video. At first I thought "I can't watch 17 minutes of any quad video, including my own" but I was so caught up in watching one chase the other and then trying to take in everything the video offered. Excellent job!! Thanks for sharing.

 

[ftttu]

Just amazing! I will eventually get Litchi, but I will never ever do anything that complex, daring or of that level of quality.

 

[Dirty Bird]

Thank you. One thing cool about flying over a city is you can watch the video 100 times & spot something new every time you watch.

That was an amazing video. At first I thought "I can't watch 17 minutes of any quad video, including my own" but I was so caught up in watching one chase the other and then trying to take in everything the video offered. Excellent job!! Thanks for sharing.

 

[Dirty Bird]

Thanks. Litchi is definitely a blast for waypoint flying. Coupled with the inexpensive P3 Standard it's the gateway to a whole lot of fun!

Just amazing! I will eventually get Litchi, but I will never ever do anything that complex, daring or of that level of quality.

 

[LordEvil]

Awesome flights! That is the only 17 minute video I could watch from start to end.

Now I am intrigued and I have a lot of play money ha ha. Did you need two phones and RC's to fly them or are they flown on the same phone and RC? I would like to do a 3 phantom fly around town type thing and lakes.

This LITCHI program, there a cost and where do you get it from? I'm sure compatible with most Phantoms?

 

[LuvMyTJ]

Very interesting video. Are you not worried about the FAA seeing this and getting slapped on the wrist for violating their guidelines in so many ways?

 

[Dirty Bird]

Thanks. I was using two phones for this particular flight but, if you have a phone or device that offers tethering, only one needs active service. Actually once the mission is on the device you don't need service at all. Each aircraft still requires a separate controller & device to load/initiate the mission. The P3 Standard/4K require Wifi-enabled devices. Handling multiple birds is a handful by yourself & takes some practice. A helper or two is a good idea.

Litchi costs $20 in the app store. It is available for both Android & iOS and works on the Phantom 3 (all models), Phantom 4, & the Inspire. For Android at least there is also a version available for the Vision+. So long as all of your devices are signed into the same account you only need to purchase one copy per platform (Android/iOS).

If you intend to try something like this start small. Learn the app & develop a flight plan on a single bird. Once you have your mission down & have ran several successful test flights, save it under a different name, move the start/end point back ~25', adjust each waypoint altitude for the second bird +10-15', then save the mission. In planning out the mission keep altitude changes in mind remembering a bird is following. Also keep yaws constant among all flights as yawing slows a bird down. If one is yawing around while another flies straight the one flying straight will be faster.

Finally, & this is very important, you need to fly the IDENTICAL MISSION with each bird in identical conditions. Make careful notes of the time it takes each bird to complete the mission. This is because each Phantom is unique. Some are slightly faster than others. You want the slower birds in the back so they aren't overtaken by faster birds behind. At higher speeds (30 mph) heading into the wind, P4s appear slightly faster than P3s. I suspect this is due to the P4's smooth shell being more aerodynamic than the P3's textured shell. If mixing P4/P3 in a flight I suggest keeping the P4s out front.

Awesome flights! That is the only 17 minute video I could watch from start to end.

Now I am intrigued and I have a lot of play money ha ha. Did you need two phones and RC's to fly them or are they flown on the same phone and RC? I would like to do a 3 phantom fly around town type thing and lakes.

This LITCHI program, there a cost and where do you get it from? I'm sure compatible with most Phantoms?

 

[Dirty Bird]

Thank you. Well they are guidelines not rules.

Very interesting video. Are you not worried about the FAA seeing this and getting slapped on the wrist for violating their guidelines in so many ways?

 

[Michael Humphrey]

Is this youtubed?
Tough time playing it here


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[Dirty Bird]

Yes it's streaming from YouTube. What problem are you experiencing?

Is this youtubed?
Tough time playing it here


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[Michael Humphrey]

May be my issue. iOS unplayable on several vids.


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[Michael Humphrey]

What name to look for on the tube?


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[Michael Humphrey]

Found it by title. Thx


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[Dirty Bird]

Cool. My username on YouTube is Schtuperman.

Found it by title. Thx


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[Michael Humphrey]

Nice job. I was nervous as y'all loop around the building. Signal loss expected. Nerves of steel.


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[Dirty Bird]

There was no signal, hence the rapid yellow flashes. The birds were flying autonomously on a programmed Litchi mission.

Nice job. I was nervous as y'all loop around the building. Signal loss expected. Nerves of steel.


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[rabster]

Absolutely Stunning!!

 

[Dirty Bird]

Thank you.

Absolutely Stunning!!