Questions for an experienced manual flyer

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OK, so you have switch S1 bottom position set for manual. All switches are up and you take off and your hands are off the controls. The quad is just "floating" in the air. You switch to manual. My first thought is it drops to the ground because you had no throttle. Control is just centered. Is this true?
With right control centered, does the quad start to move in any direction it wants to?
If you have a little more weight on one side, will it just tip over towards that side?
I was just wondering knowing how BAD my Hubsan X4 flies, if the Phantom operates about the same in manual.
Thanks
 
Good question on the throttle. Hadn't thought about that!

For pitch and roll, though, yeah... I'd imagine it'd still be lots and lots of constant adjustment. You'd basically ignore the self-centering and never take your hands off the sticks.
 
I'm no expert but this is what I do. I also have S1 set to manual in lowest position. Actually I use manual to lift off without touching sticks. It pops up and I immediately go to gps or atti. If you have no wind, in gps it just hovers there. In atti it will also. I suggest your quad should always be balanced. Now if you are flying....no wind...and drop to manual, be ready to give it throttle and do any correction with right stick. I have flown a small amount in manual, mainly hovering with small input from sticks cause it can get away real fast. Always be ready to go back to gps to save your butt. The reason I use manual for liftoff because it is much quicker to speed up the rotors than gps which leads to tip overs.
 
You're absolutely correct about the throttle. If you have your stick centered when you flip to manual, unless your Phantom is completely naked (nothing attached) it's going to drop like a rock, and with no stabilization. I always give myself at least 20ft of drop clearance just in case when I switch to manual, and I bump the throttle to at least 65%.

Even if the Phantom is totally unladen, it takes a little more than 50% throttle to hover, so it would still drop even then just not nearly as fast as when its packed.
 
Let me explain the takeoff better. I start in gps after compass calibration. I slightly give a little throttle to make sure all seems ok, but not to lift off. When ready to lift off, I drop s1 to manual and it shoots up to about 6 feet and I quickly go back too gps.
I shound mention..my tx throttle is self centering. I do not touch it when switching to manual for takeoff but I have my fingers on throttle just in case.
 
This is due to the fact that when you are 'flying' in Atti or GPS you are not actually flying or controlling the craft - The Flight Controller/Naza is - There is no linear control of any of the inputs as everything is 'translated' by the Naza to stabilise flight.

A well set up craft will hover at midstick which is what I have designed my home built Hex's to do and take into account AUW v grams of thrust per motor (times four for a quad)for a given voltage/current draw/prop length/pitch/rotation.

A 'naked' Phantom will hover at slightly under mid-stick which is fine if you take off in manual since you get a linear response to your inputs. However, if you spool up in GPS or Atti you are adding both the FC logic and the barometer into the equation (actually they are all interlinked) and the Naza will try and lift the craft off pretty much automatically as soon as the craft goes light on the skids. If at this point you switch to manual the throttle is still 'high' since the Naza was just about telling your Phantom to lift off (more than mid-stick in linear terms).

I hope that makes sense (it's not easy to explain) but it is advisable (if you want to fly manual) to either take off in Atti or GPS, gain enough altitude, put your throttle to mid stick AND THEN flick to manual or actually take off from the deck in manual.
If you do the former you will immediately see one of three things.

1 - Your Phantom will drop in altitude which would probably mean you have an heavier AUW than standard
2 - Your Phantom will start to climb (This I would expect with a stock naked Phantom and a fresh pack (remember hover is just below mid stick on these birds
3 Your Phantom pretty much stays where it is altitude wise which would probably indicate that your mid stick hover (rather than 30-40% throttle) is being off set by the extra weight/payload (Camera, Gimbal etc).

I hope the above makes sense.
 
If you fear "the drop", why not put prop guards on and take off in manual and get a feel for it first, before switching in the air back and fourth.
 
witold said:
If you fear "the drop", why not put prop guards on and take off in manual and get a feel for it first, before switching in the air back and fourth.
That is what I was thinking about doing IF I decide to check out manual. At least that way you already have power to the props that will keep it in the air.
Many interesting thoughts here about manual, thanks.
 
I did exactly that.
I wanted to try manual mode because if I get into trouble I thought I was supposed to go to manual mode and fly out. Manual is very manual. I crashed. I was at about twenty feet AGL and I flipped S1 into manual mode. It dropped about 10 feet and I recovered. I went to roll left and OMG it totally went sideways then into the ground. 20 feet is not enough room to try manual mode. More like 200 feet. Since then I have learned that the sticks are very touchy in manual mode. Slight tap, wait and see, then the counter tap to stop it again. Also I have learned if I get into trouble go to ATTI mode, not manual mode. I think if I wanted to, which I don't, I think I could flip the Phantom in manual mode. it is very very touchy in manual mode. Give yourself lots of room and time.
Here's my crash, really it is more like a very hard landing. no damage.
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I did exactly that.
I wanted to try manual mode because if I get into trouble I thought I was supposed to go to manual mode and fly out. Manual is very manual. I crashed. I was at about twenty feet AGL and I flipped S1 into manual mode. It dropped about 10 feet and I recovered. I went to roll left and OMG it totally went sideways then into the ground. 20 feet is not enough room to try manual mode. More like 200 feet. Since then I have learned that the sticks are very touchy in manual mode. Slight tap, wait and see, then the counter tap to stop it again. Also I have learned if I get into trouble go to ATTI mode, not manual mode. I think if I wanted to, which I don't, I think I could flip the Phantom in manual mode. it is very very touchy in manual mode. Give yourself lots of room and time.
Here's my crash, really it is more like a very hard landing. no damage.
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And hopefully you've also learnt that in order to switch to ATTI on S1 you have to be in Naza-M :oops: and not in Phantom mode. :eek:
 
that was the very first thing I did when I bought my Phantom. I never even tried Phantom mode. I wanted CL and HL. That's how I got to manual mode on S1 if you think about it. As I understand it the switches don't do anything in Phantom mode unless you toggle S1 5 times to start the compass calibration.
 

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