Remove gimbal for learning flights?

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First, just this hour I received my new Phantom 3 Vision+ v3.0, my first quad copter, and can't wait to fly! But I am, with difficulty, restraining myself until I can safely pilot my new baby. I've done a lot of reading and have also purchased a Syma X5 4 Channel 2.4GHz RC Explorers Quad Copter to learn the basics of quad flight.

My thought is to remove the gimbal assembly from my Vision+ when I start flying it, at least until I feel I am a competent pilot. Obviously, I don't want to damage the $700 gimbal/camera assembly.

Is this a bad idea?
 
Not a bad idea. That is smart, also practice with smaller and cheaper quads.
Have to be gentle when removing wires and connectors.
 
edonovanl said:
First, just this hour I received my new Phantom 3 Vision+ v3.0, my first quad copter, and can't wait to fly! But I am, with difficulty, restraining myself until I can safely pilot my new baby. I've done a lot of reading and have also purchased a Syma X5 4 Channel 2.4GHz RC Explorers Quad Copter to learn the basics of quad flight.

My thought is to remove the gimbal assembly from my Vision+ when I start flying it, at least until I feel I am a competent pilot. Obviously, I don't want to damage the $700 gimbal/camera assembly.

Is this a bad idea?

Not a bad idea at all... you're removing one possible expensive part to repair and (while you can't do FPV without a camera obviously) you are limiting the possible financial impact of a crash

The Phantom will be moderately lighter without the gimbal - so don't get too used to the flight times - and there could be an ever so slight different feeling flying with less weight - but go for it.
 
There is one issue with removing the gimbal: You lose flight data via the app.

However, you can fix this easily enough by rerouting the 6-pin cable from the back of the wifi module and plug the other end into the CAM port on the main board.
It does take some work, though. You can make the job easier by just buying an extra 6-pin cable and using that for the temporary reroute.

With that cable rerouted, you could install any cheap 12V camera and still get FPV (video). Just need to hook up to the 8-pin port of the anti-interference board
(pins 3,4=gnd, pins 5,6=12V, pin 7=video gnd, pin 8=video signal).
 
Not a good idea ... you lose all the telemetry data that makes the Phantom easy to fly.
You'll have no display of battery life, height, speed, satellites and the radar display that shows where your Phantom is.
It's not like the Phantom is hard to fly and takes time to learn.
 
Meta4 said:
Not a good idea ... you lose all the telemetry data that makes the Phantom easy to fly.
You'll have no display of battery life, height, speed, satellites and the radar display that shows where your Phantom is.
It's not like the Phantom is hard to fly and takes time to learn.

You don't need any flight telemetry to fly a quadcopter, especially when he should just be doing basic things like learning control. It should *always* be in line of sight.
 
I wouldnt remove it. Just practice on smaller cheap quads first. The hardest part about flying a quad is keeping orientated. If you let it get too far away & you become disorientated and start to panic it can seem like everything you do sends the craft further away. Beginners dont think about home lock or course lock while panicking that their pride & joy is disappearing over the horizon. FPV instantly gives you another reference to re-orientate & fly back.
 
jumanoc said:
Not a bad idea. That is smart, also practice with smaller and cheaper quads.
Have to be gentle when removing wires and connectors.

I agree with this school of thought. remove the camera and gimbal (or don't install it right away on non-Vision P2) and just get the hang of flying the craft, learning it's capabilities and how it responds to the sticks at short range using only line of sight. Once you're comfortable, THEN add gimbal/camera/FPV ... imo then it will be easier for you to switch back and forth between FPV flight and visual flight... as opposed to just flying 100% FPV from day 1
 
Completely unnecessary if you ask me.

Once you fly a bit with Hubsan, Phantom will be piece of cake.

Also, removing the camera will make you rid of information like satelite count, battery health and this could be vital if flying in Phantom mode, which I presume - you will.

I would leave it as it is, just fly away from obstructions and ground, that is it :)
 
un hombre said:
like satelite count, battery health and this could be vital if flying in Phantom mode, which I presume - you will.

the information is absolutely NOT vital if you're flying visually at short range not FPV... My entire point was that learning to fly the craft visually without FPV or any telemetry data is (imo) a valuable skill to have before you start flying FPV.

like learning basic math before you try to learn calculus... or learning to drive a cheap car before you start driving around a mercedes.

also I don't think you can discount the idea that newbies tend to crash more, and not having the expensive camera/gimbal attached is one less thing to break when you're a brand new pilot.

You're assuming folks learned on some other drone but many folks just pick up a Phantom as their first device
 
I still think it is unecessary but then again, learning to fly on a 1200$ Aircraft is a bit foolish, with or without the camera on.
I was not even thinking about FPV mode, phantom app presents many useful hud info like satellite and battery status and this is important for me regardless of flying in sight or fpv far away.
 
Gentlemen, thank you all for your comments! I am learning on a Syma X5 and it is a blast! I'm practicing basic skills - so far I've had to climb a tree and use a pole to get it out of a tall bush! Of course my fault for flying in the wrong area but I just couldn't wait to fly again so I went out into the front street last night!

So, is this likely to become a sickness?

Anyway, I did buy and install a gimbal guard and camera protector. My approach is to fly the Syma and then fly the P2V+ strictly VFR until I am very proficient.

Not sure yet if I will remove the camera/gimbal but I'm leaning that way. I am a tinkerer and would enjoy the process, opening up the drone and seeing it's insides. Besides, from all I've seen, I'll likely end up having to do it anyway. I'll stay in Phantom mode and time my flying time so shouldn't need the telemetry data while I learn to move from spot to spot, etc.

Finally, are the bushing posts salvageable? ...and I assume I would just push the three exposed cables up into the body and maybe put some duct tape across the opening?
 
The plastic "drop protect" posts are probably best discarded. You can remove the washer by pushing it further onto the post (to spread it open), then quickly pushing it the other direction to pop it off. Rather than replace it, people recommend using loose cable ties.

The rubber dampers are reusable provided you don't tear them when removing them. You just need to squish them a bit to remove them easily enough, one at a time. To replace them, run a piece of string around them, then pull the string through the opening on the bracket.

You can't really push the cables into the body, since that's where the battery will go. It's not really an issue to leave them dangling. You could put some tape over the opening if you think dust may be an issue.
 
edonovanl said:
So, is this likely to become a sickness?

Yeah it's a sickness... an expensive one :) I know a lot of us here put thousands into these things :)
 
Thank you all for your comments - I appreciate your perspectives.

I have been practicing with my Syma and am already better! This will certainly boost my confidence when I take the P2 V+ out. I think, at this point, that I will take the gimbal/camera off and just work to improve my line-of-sight control near the ground.

Thank you all again....
 
My P2 was my first quad. Flew it from flight one with full FPV and cameras. I think if you are careful you will be fine. Go slow and find a big field. Its really not a hard rig to fly. Mine came fully assembled and tested. I really didn't want to remove everything either. Just my opinion.
 
edonovanl said:
First, just this hour I received my new Phantom 3 Vision+ v3.0, my first quad copter, and can't wait to fly! But I am, with difficulty, restraining myself until I can safely pilot my new baby. I've done a lot of reading and have also purchased a Syma X5 4 Channel 2.4GHz RC Explorers Quad Copter to learn the basics of quad flight.

My thought is to remove the gimbal assembly from my Vision+ when I start flying it, at least until I feel I am a competent pilot. Obviously, I don't want to damage the $700 gimbal/camera assembly.

Is this a bad idea?
gREAT call going with syma first. I think everyone should do this. It's a small investment that can pay off big time.
 
Really it's a ridiculous idea.
It's not helping you get over fear - it's reinforcing it.
Get over the fear and just stay away from trees.
The Phantom takes 5 minutes to learn to fly (although quite a bit more to become proficient)
It's easier to fly than any "trainer quad".
A big part of learning is using the app.
Don't cripple your Phantom to learn to fly.
 

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