Wow! These Phantoms look awesome fun.

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Hi everybody, been interested in rc for a while had two helis last year but ended up smashing them up a few times and gave up, anyway just noticed these things on youtube and thought they looked great fun and seem easier to fly, I'm kinda excited to get one of these especially from a filming point of view,

Can i ask is it real as easy as it looks flying these phantoms because from what i have seen i am truly gob smacked how easy it seems to be. Ive always wanted too fly some type of rc and this thing looks like it was made for me!
 
Like any good hobby or game that has withstood the test of time; chess, golf, etc., it has these two qualities: 1. easy to learn, and 2. hard to master.

Tyros should be cautious. Read a lot before your Phantom arrives, and don't get in the habit of taking stupid risks. And yes, they're awesome fun. Like motorcycles, millions of folks ride and enjoy them every day without event. A few numbskulls wind up in trouble because they weren't careful (and they diminish the reputation of ALL motorcycle riders in the process).
 
in vision mode (the default mode when you first take it out of the box). It pretty much flies itself. All you do is really control the power and direction. once you've ensured that your GPS unit (built into the airframe) has locked it's position and you've calibrated the compass to let it know which way is north. You're pretty much set to go.

Great fun and as you progress you can them move to NAZA mode which is slightly more challenging but all the more fun for it.

hope that helps

Bmews
 
As far as easy to fly, an emphatic YES to that...a very sophisticated flying machine.
Read all the manuals FIRST!
 
bernardb said:
As far as easy to fly, an emphatic YES to that...a very sophisticated flying machine.
Read all the manuals FIRST!

Yep, downloaded the Manuel the other day, read it a few times in the hope it will sink in, must admit after discovering these last week I'm very excited to get one, i have a go pro 3 so I'm trying to get hold of a phantom 2 with the new gimbal but no one seems to have them in stock here in the uk. anyone?
 
Hopefully I can help you avoid some o the pitfalls that plagued me my first couple of days, so you don't make the same mistakes. Some of these are NOT obvious based on the documentation:

1) Always always ALWAYS wait for a GPS lock before taking off. Sounds logical, but initially it's easy to forget, and there's nothing stopping you from taking off prematurely. You'll know you have a lock when you've got pure green lights. The OSD will also tell you how many sats you've got.

2) Do a compass calibration your first time out. This one is easy to remember because the OSD will tell you it needs calibrating. You DO NOT need to do this every time you fly, but you DO need to wait for a solid GPS lock (#1).

3) You start the motors by moving the sticks down and inward toward the center. You DO NOT STOP THEM THAT WAY. This almost hosed me several times because it gets very unstable on the ground if you do that. You stop the motors by holding the throttle (and ONLY the throttle) all the way back/down for several seconds after landing.

4) Don't fly anywhere near foliage, people or structures. The GPS may be able to hold it stable fairly well, but not as well as you may think, and if there's people around, you're going to decapitate somebody. There could be several meters of uncommanded movement, especially in wind of any kind. A small backyard is not an advisable launch/retrieval location.

Good luck!
 
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varmint said:
Hopefully I can help you avoid some o the pitfalls that plagued me my first couple of days, so you don't make the same mistakes. Some of these are NOT obvious based on the documentation:

1) Always always ALWAYS wait for a GPS lock before taking off. Sounds logical, but initially it's easy to forget, and there's nothing stopping you from taking off prematurely. You'll know you have a lock when you've got pure green lights. The OSD will also tell you how many sats you've got.

2) Do a compass calibration your first time out. This one is easy to remember because the OSD will tell you it needs calibrating. You DO NOT need to do this every time you fly, but you DO need to wait for a solid GPS lock (#1).

3) You start the motors by moving the sticks down and inward toward the center. You DO NOT STOP THEM THAT WAY. This almost hosed me several times because it gets very unstable on the ground if you do that. You stop the motors by holding the throttle (and ONLY the throttle) all the way back/down for several seconds after landing.

4) Don't fly anywhere near foliage, people or structures. The GPS may be able to hold it stable fairly well, but not as well as you may think, and if there's people around, you're going to decapitate somebody. There could be several meters of uncommanded movement, especially in wind of any kind. A small backyard is not an advisable launch/retrieval location.

Good luck!

Hi, thanks for this, I'm going to right all the important stuff down on a piece of card so when i first go out I'm not relying on memory.

Is there a mode where forward and back is the same no matter what direction your pointed in,
 
BobUnplugged said:
Like any good hobby or game that has withstood the test of time; chess, golf, etc., it has these two qualities: 1. easy to learn, and 2. hard to master.

Tyros should be cautious. Read a lot before your Phantom arrives, and don't get in the habit of taking stupid risks. And yes, they're awesome fun. Like motorcycles, millions of folks ride and enjoy them every day without event. A few numbskulls wind up in trouble because they weren't careful (and they diminish the reputation of ALL motorcycle riders in the process).

Lol i know what you mean, BMW F800GS here, we ride the world in fact in about 9 weeks we are off round Europe (France Germany Switzerland ect) for a few weeks should be good fun. ps use to be good at chess but know good at golf (not got the legs).
 

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