Maiden Voyage

[RPA]

Ha!

Superb!

The perfect evening for my maiden voyage. This is going to be extremely addictive I can see.

I have a vid but my fat *** features in it too much to appear on here.

Only one brown trouser moment when I lost orientation meaning all my inputs were 90deg out as well as a cross wind and no satellite lock which meant I was careering towards a bunch of trees. Let go of everything but with no lock the PV2+ was in no mood to help so I watched it drift, spotted the red tape at the front and realised what was going on.

Thank [Censored] for that, I really didn't want to be a statistic.

Got a bit cocky towards the end and managed a circular pan with me in the centre.

Chuffed. V Chuffed!!!

 

[Dirty Bird]

Cool beans my friend. Congratulations!

 

[RPA]

Chuffed to bits as we say in blighty.

 

[Double-D]

Ahh, nothing can compare to your first time. You can now call yourself a man Congrats.

 

[D_Tshudy]

Brilliant.

I am a little curious about the "no satellite lock" statement though. I have never flown without sat lock. What put you in that position? Did you mean "Atti" mode instead?

 

[DrJoe]

As we say here in the States (at least in New Jersey)...
Ay! You popped your cherry! Congrats.

 

[RPA]

Brilliant.

I am a little curious about the "no satellite lock" statement though. I have never flown without sat lock. What put you in that position? Did you mean "Atti" mode instead?

Ah yes, I see what you mean. I'm using the wrong phrase.

What happened was I had all green at take off but only 7 satellites. 5 minutes after take off it must have dropped below seven as it went from green to yellow and I noticed it drifting around rather than holding station.

When I had my "moment" I let go of all controls and it just kept on drifting so I had to do SOMETHING rather than relying on the GPS to hold it steady while I worked out what I was doing wrong. It turned out that as it crossed in front of the setting sun I lost orientation and then was 90deg out with my inputs. I'm used to flying fixed wing when I was a kid and so having a clear tail to look for when this happens. It took me a while to remember to look for the red tape.

Cheers

M

 

[XL-Studios]

Brilliant.

I am a little curious about the "no satellite lock" statement though. I have never flown without sat lock. What put you in that position? Did you mean "Atti" mode instead?

Ah yes, I see what you mean. I'm using the wrong phrase.

What happened was I had all green at take off but only 7 satellites. 5 minutes after take off it must have dropped below seven as it went from green to yellow and I noticed it drifting around rather than holding station.

When I had my "moment" I let go of all controls and it just kept on drifting so I had to do SOMETHING rather than relying on the GPS to hold it steady while I worked out what I was doing wrong. It turned out that as it crossed in front of the setting sun I lost orientation and then was 90deg out with my inputs. I'm used to flying fixed wing when I was a kid and so having a clear tail to look for when this happens. It took me a while to remember to look for the red tape.

Cheers

M

Congratulations! Yes it´s very addictive
Please use tools like http://satpredictor.navcomtech.com and apps like GPS plan so you don´t loose satellite lock and we have to read about another fly-away.
Fly safely and have fun!

 

[RPA]

Brilliant.

I am a little curious about the "no satellite lock" statement though. I have never flown without sat lock. What put you in that position? Did you mean "Atti" mode instead?

Ah yes, I see what you mean. I'm using the wrong phrase.

What happened was I had all green at take off but only 7 satellites. 5 minutes after take off it must have dropped below seven as it went from green to yellow and I noticed it drifting around rather than holding station.

When I had my "moment" I let go of all controls and it just kept on drifting so I had to do SOMETHING rather than relying on the GPS to hold it steady while I worked out what I was doing wrong. It turned out that as it crossed in front of the setting sun I lost orientation and then was 90deg out with my inputs. I'm used to flying fixed wing when I was a kid and so having a clear tail to look for when this happens. It took me a while to remember to look for the red tape.

Cheers

M

Congratulations! Yes it´s very addictive
Please use tools like http://satpredictor.navcomtech.com and apps like GPS plan so you don´t loose satellite lock and we have to read about another fly-away.
Fly safely and have fun!

Yup, I now have "GPS Plan" on my phone and the site you mention in my Favourites. I just wish the site above would remember your location because it doesn't seem to like UK addresses and my Lat/Long it not so easy to remember.

 

[RPA]

A little bit more altitude and a pretty good summer evening over Surrey, UK.

DJI00033 by RPA190, on Flickr

 

[Sasquatch]

Congrats and continued good luck and safe flights with your quad, RPA.

It sounds like you're fairly confident and sure of your skills, rightly so. From one newbie to another.......GOOD LUCK, SAFE FLYING and thanks for the updates and confidence that you've instilled in others on this message board!

 

[MrC]

Yup, I now have "GPS Plan" on my phone and the site you mention in my Favourites. I just wish the site above would remember your location because it doesn't seem to like UK addresses and my Lat/Long it not so easy to remember.

Yes it's annoying that it doesn't remember location. It will accept UK addresses but must be in strict format.
ie: name of road, town postcode, UK (commas and spaces must be in right places, note no comma after town name, must have UK at end)

so : drone close, dronetown dr01 5dr, UK

Also, if you go to google maps and click once on where you are flying it will show the lat/long top left under the search thingy. If you click again it will put an address in the search bar - you can copy n paste that into the sat website or the lat/long.

Oh and here is another site that does remember your last location lol, seems pretty close to the first site as far as number of sats etc goes - http://www.trimble.com/gnssplanningonline/#/NumSats
I still use the first one though. Remember on first one to choose bst/gmt+1 for the timezone at the moment. On the second one choose UTC+1.

I was flying during that sunset tonight, great conditions.

 

[Gator113]

Congratulations, RPA.

Yes, it sure is addictive. I had my maiden flight about 1 1/2 weeks ago. I have now logged 14 flights and no crashes. You're braver than me... I haven't yet reattached my gimbal and camera.

Perhaps I'll begin to get video and pic after another week of practice.

Good luck, fly safe and have fun.

Cheers.....

 

[RPA]

I'm confident flying line of site and at limited altitude simply because that's what I'm used to with fixed wing.

If I tried FPV I have no doubt it would be lost in seconds. When I eventually try FPV it will be back to kindergarten with flying limited to the field I'm in and near enough for me to hear where it is and it's prop pitch.

Here's a vid. Please don't expect Spielbergesque or David Bailey quality stuff and certainly no scooting through trees or around building or monuments yet. Just a sharp climb and brief view of the sunse.


http://youtu.be/jkFD8rE73Hs

 

[D_Tshudy]

When I had my "moment" I let go of all controls and it just kept on drifting so I had to do SOMETHING rather than relying on the GPS to hold it steady while I worked out what I was doing wrong. It turned out that as it crossed in front of the setting sun I lost orientation and then was 90deg out with my inputs. I'm used to flying fixed wing when I was a kid and so having a clear tail to look for when this happens. It took me a while to remember to look for the red tape.
M

It's nice to read a "had a good flight" post rather than a "crashed and broke my gimbal" post. I've flown mine a lot over the past couple of months and I still find myself saying, "geez that was fun" each time it lands. We really are on the front lines of what will soon become a ubiquitous technology. It's so cool.

 

[Sasquatch]

First maiden flight a success!

Hey guys,

I bit the bullet tonight and finally flew my bird! I asked earlier about the wind conditions and tonight around 8pm, the wind had died down to about 10mph in gusts.

Got to the school yard, unpacked, set up, did the check list and lifted off. Had a good stable lock with 12 sats, but I was unsure if my compass calibration worked. It flew like a dream! Very responsive, rock solid in hovering position about 20 feet up. I did some very basic maneuvers and went up and down the large field a few times. There were a couple of times the wind blew it a bit and I could see it was drifting (which scared me) but it mostly corrected its position.

The only thing I noticed that seemed off was the height telemetry in the app, It kept reporting it was about 15-20 feet higher than it actually was. I took video as well but it didn't seem to record. The light was flashing and I've tested it before stationary at home, so I know the video capture works. Strange though.

Anyway, it was a blast, I had a ton of fun in the short 10 minutes I was flying my bird. The battery still said I had 70% left, but I didn't push my luck and landed her. Landing was perfect, I couldn't believe I managed it so smooth and lightly.

Now I can't wait to go out again!

 

[ToThePoint]

Re: First maiden flight a success!

What i do on takeoff is let her hover for 30 sec.
If she wobbles or doesn't stay within at least 1 or 1,5 feet the i land her back or i check if she is indeed on GPS mode.
Gusts of wind are a factor you take in account and you can hear it also on the motor sound that she fights against winds.
Thats only the case in GPS mode.
I start always in GPS mode because then you know that works ( when enough sattelites ) and also i don't start the motors before there is a home point locked.
Its a bit scary in the beginning but just for fun put S1 into atti instead off GPS the she will drift more and will continu to do that but she will keep altitude.
Never mind the altitude displayed, learn to handle that beast you have, you've got plenty to worry about.

Happy flying.

 

[Dirty Bird]

Re: First maiden flight a success!

I am happy you finally put that bird in the air! Glad everything went well. You were probably so nervous you forgot to hit record! LOL. Make sure the video icon has a blinking red light on it, and the camera should be blinking orange/red also when she's recording.

 

[Double-D]

Great to hear of your successful flights. I'm still building my confidence flying out of site.
A tip re losing orientation in sun. I often look at the radar image on the app which will show you orientation relevant to where your take off home lock point is. Another benefit of Naza mode is you can always use home lock.
Safe flying

 

[Sasquatch]

Re: First maiden flight a success!

Thanks ToThePoint and Dirty for the responses,

Yep, after I punched the throttle and got her up about 20 feet, I let her hover there for probably 1 or 2 minutes. I was just actually amazed at how stable and rock solid she was hovering.

I'll be flying in GPS mode for quite a few more times and until I feel more comfortable. I did the very basic moves and even though it worked out good, it was pretty obvious I had never flown a UAV before. To a pro watching, the movements would have been jerky, random and unsure.

When I tried to set the home lock with the S2 switch, nothing seemed to happen though, none of the lights blinked. Same happened when I tried to calibrate the compass. The rear lights went to solid green almost as soon as I turned on the phantom and stayed solid.

I really have no idea what happened with the video. Maybe I didn't click it but I thought I did. The thing was, I truly was not paying much attention to the FPV. The only times I was looking at the screen was to monitor battery life, sats and the height telemetry (which was off).

Sure had fun though. Thanks Dirty and a couple of others here who have helped me and gently pushed me to just get out and get my first flight under my belt. I've put my toe in the water and now almost want to dive in the pool!