How I got started Flying Quads. (The Continuing Adventures...)

Greetings!

I’m a new member of the QuadcopterForum, and I’m glad to be here!

I’ve never owned or flown any radio-controlled equipment before,
but I’ve been interested in the hobby for many years.
I get pretty serious about my hobbies (9 guitars at the moment, home-built Win10 computer)
and I think it is time to fly a quad!

I’m posting this message for others who are also new to Quad flying, because I want to let everyone know the process I’m going through as I get started with this hobby. I’m also posting for those people who have been on the forum for a long time, because I think you’ll get some good insight into how the information posted here is having a direct, major impact on my decision making process as I start purchasing, buying, flying, and possibly building quadcopters.

And so it begins!

As I started looking around on Amazon for quads, I noticed two main things.
First: There are far too many products for sale to figure out this hobby in a short amount of time; and
Second: There are way too many products being sold that are ‘Made in China’ - the problem isn’t China, the problem is that there are tons of copies of the exact same product that have different names and prices! How is a guy to choose?

All this confusion lead to a realization:
When first starting out,
Rule #1: Do the research.

I looked at photos of drones. I looked at hobby websites. I went to drone forums. I found some websites that talk about the Federal Rules for flying a drone. I looked at websites that offer classes for getting a Drone Piloting License. I found out how much State Farm charges for $5000 worth of Drone Insurance (about $120/year). I watched You-Tube videos of guys bouncing their drones off of their heads, the ground, trees, bushes, and flying them into the water. I also watched a lot of product reviews. Then, I went back to Amazon, and looked at their products with a little more wisdom, and I figured out what I wanted… A Mavic Pro, and an MJX Bugs 3… and a Syma X5C-1, a Phantom 4, an Inspire 2… the list just goes on and on…

I then realized that I didn’t know what I wanted!

Which lead to
Rule #2: Define the target.

I needed to understand that the hobby is broken up into logical sections, what the requirements were for participating in a particular section, and how satisfying I thought each section would be.

What I really needed was an expert who would teach me all about the hobby, answer any questions I may have, and help me choose a quadcopter setup that’s right for me. But… ain’t nobody got time for that!
So I came here! (…and I’m glad I found this place!)

After browsing QuadcopterForum for a few days, it turns out that there are 4 basic categories within the RC/Quadcopter hobby:
Noobs, Racers, Photographers, and Everyone Else:
Noobs get a noob quad, and learn to fly (and that’s fun!.. and it is very good advice!);
Racers tend to build quads and destroy them just as fast (am I overgeneralizing?);
Photographers like a quad that is smart, stable, and fault-tolerant;
and Everyone Else likes everything else (which ends up being a HUGE variety of quads, activities, and directions you can go!).

I also learned something here that I didn’t expect:
Rule #3: Flying a quad can be fairly simple, or hilariously complex, depending on what you buy.

There’s a huge difference between buying/learning to fly a Syma X5C-1, and building your own FPV racing quad from parts you ordered over the internet. There is certainly a difference in flying skill, but more importantly, it is a difference in requisite knowledge. Buying a Syma X5C-1 and learning to fly is fairly straightforward. Building and flying an FPV Racer requires patience, intelligence, coordination, dexterity, perseverance, certain kinds of required previous experience, and a reasonable amount of disposable cash. And I DO mean disposable cash… as in flushable straight down the toilet!

So, the ultimate question became, “Why do I want to fly a quad?”
I took a look at the quads I really liked; the Mavic Pro (for photography) and the MJX Bugs 3 (for fun!) and the Walkera 250 Pro (for all-out speed and tinkering).
I discovered that I wanted everything good about flying quads in one machine. That’s when I realized that just wasn’t feasible. I needed to focus on exactly what I wanted to do first.
And that is (of course!) learn to fly a quadcopter.

But where do I start?
Should I buy a Syma X5C-1, and toss it in the trash in 30 days after I (crash it) learn to fly and get bored with it?
Fairly quickly I realized that I don’t like that idea. It seems like such a waste.

Fortunately, on this very website, I found these quotes from Gyro Doctor:
“…my suggestion is to first gain some proficiency for the needed skills by using a simulator !!!

You can make tragic errors all day without ANY expense what so ever. In the virtual world, flying full speed into that tree results in nothing more than hitting the reset button ... no broken props, frames, cameras, antennas .... nada ... zero damage= zero cost.
"FPV Freerider" is a popular (and it's FREE) simulator that will do well to get you started. After you're zipping around with that I'd suggest the simulator called "Liftoff", it's not free but it has the most realistic physics of any other simms I've seen out there (you can even learn how to test and tune PIDs) and will give you real world experience flying quads before you ever even hafta buy a real one. ”…

and this one, also from Gyro Doctor:
“…Toys come with their own proprietary toy transmitters ... crude and mostly crud stuff. Save up and buy a good quality transmitter like the Taranis X9D+. I'm a huge fan of the Taranis …”

(Note: Gyro Doctor has 45 years experience as an electronics tech, and been flying RC since the ’70s.)

This is some excellent advice intended for someone who simply doesn’t have money to burn. It also focuses my learning on the things I really want to try out right now (Flying, and learning to handle a nice controller) while shielding me from the repercussions of mistakes I might make in flying (crashes) and from mistakes in the purchases I might make. If I find that I don’t like flying Racing Quads (in the simulator), I can go in a different direction. I suspect there are other simulators for ‘sporty’ quads, and still others for easy quads. A bit more research is probably necessary to determine the answer to that particular question.

(Thank You, Gyro Doctor!)

So finally, I stumbled onto:
Rule #4: Buy what you’ll keep.

Early on I was very tempted to buy an MJX Bugs 3, due to the great reviews and due to the fact that it inhabits a weird sort of middle ground (being sporty but not too complicated), and also because it was actually recommended by a couple of people as a good quad to learn with. I’m fully aware that I would need to start flying very carefully, and that it would take awhile to get up to speed with that quad because it would be so easy to make a mistake and fly it into a tree or lose control of it by flying it out of range. And, after thinking about it for a couple of days, I found that I didn’t want to risk the expense (about $130) of losing the Bugs 3 to a flyaway during my training.

So I took Gyro Doctor’s advice.
Yesterday I purchased:
1 Flight Controller: Taranis X9D+ Transmitter Bundle from Amazon for $228;
1 Flight Simulator: FPV Freerider for $4.99 from their website, and;
1 Flight Simulator: Liftoff from Steam for $19.99

The Taranis arrives on Friday. I can plug it into my desktop computer and use it as the quad controller for either of the two flight simulators. Nice!

I’m following:
Rule #5: Plan how you’ll advance, but get only what you need right now.

Regardless of how I advance in this hobby, I can use the Taranis as a controller. I may need to mod it to work with other quads (like, will it control a Bugs 3?). At some point I will probably want to increase its range, widen its feature set, and maybe even hack the software (its Open Source!). I don’t think it will become obsolete, but then again, I’m still very new to quadcopters. And, if I discover that I don’t like flying quads, I’m reasonably sure that I could sell it for a decent price (even if its not close to retail, that’s the price I pay for playing!). It is the only major expense needed to get me started, since I already own a desktop computer. I could have gone with any transmitter that will work as a flight controller in the computer simulators, and there are some very nice ones available on Amazon for far less expense (starting at around $55!). But I wanted something I could use in any scenario since I don’t know how far I will go, but I do know that I tend to dive into the deep end.

The other reason I’m going this route is that I’ve found that the less expensive quads usually use brushed motors and proprietary parts. Which means that I would be replacing motors on a regular basis, and if I crashed, I would be buying parts from the quad’s manufacturer. That could force me to spend even more money just to tread water. I’m not comfortable with that idea. I would prefer my quad(s) to be durable, reliable, and to use easily replaceable parts that are well designed for their purpose. Brushless motors are a perfect example. I’ve read that, if I take good care of them, they should last for a few years (maybe a very few years, but it sure beats replacing brushed motors every 10-20 flights!). Being equipped with brushless motors is why I liked the Bugs 3 in the first place! However, I may veer off into building my own quad first, simply due to the You-Tube videos I’ve seen of quads with carbon-fiber frames taking a ton of abuse and then bouncing right back up into the sky! I could also decide for myself precisely which features I installed in a home-built quad. Being a beginner, I particularly like the idea of battery warnings, range warnings, and possibly even pre-programmed functions in case of emergencies. HD cameras, FPV cameras, it doesn’t matter… everything would be available to me, and I really like that idea. The only thing holding me back is incomplete research on the things I want to accomplish. I just need to decide what I want to do!


But first, I think I’ll learn to fly.

So, there you have it.
My adventures in RC Flying, without yet even taking off.

I want to thank everyone who posted to QuadcopterForum. The information you provide is invaluable. I was stunned by the variation in depth of knowledge required (or not!) by this hobby, and its beginning to look like an excellent fit for my personality, talents, and skill-set. From a simple bit of advice to buy a Syma, to the discussion between Gyro Doctor and Yay about the calculus behind PID’s and their effective use; RC Quads looks like a hobby to I can dabble in - or get completely lost in until the wife yells that she never sees me anymore.

And, about that Taranis/Bugs 3 compatibility question…? Anyone?

Thanks again!
./Nova

Welcome Nova,
You seem to certainly have done your homework. The Taranis X9D is a very versatile TX, you can use it for many propriety models if you add an external module

http://www.ebay.com/itm/OrangeRX-2-...212703&hash=item23699d3291:g:M-0AAOSwcl1XPNqE

which slips into the pocket on the rear of the Taranis ( would need to research what settings to which module there are many available) I use the Taranis to Fly a Walkera F210 which is propriety to the DEVO 7 TX.

If you are just starting out I suggest you start with what you want to be ie: Photographer/Cinematography in which case DJI is probably the way to go.
Other than that if you want to Race/Freestyle get something durable like a Storm Butterfly 2:

http://www.helipal.com/storm-racing-drone-bnf-butterfly.html Mini Size
http://www.helipal.com/index_tag.php?tags=Storm Racing Drone,Owl&tags_type=Parts Full Size

To get used to controlling the UAS, Flying FPV, it is a tough beginners quad and flys like a 250 class, full Taranis capabilities, Beta/CleanFlight compatible.
Many say you should start right out flying FPV others say start small & cheap with LOS, either way it is a personal choice, like guitars can't play a song until you know the chords

I got started by buying a Syma also. I crashed it inside.....then outside . I bought a cheerson mini knockoff after that and recently upgraded to the Phantom series. Tough learning curve! haha

shoping for quads on eg. banggood you will encounter a selection of receivers, eg. taranis, flysky, frsky when you select the product.

you may have a similar vantage to mine - rc and quad = everyman. i cannot tell you how many things i have overcomplicated by having a paucity of data, reaching hysteria as i sort the vagaries of endless possibilities. this stuff is a popular hobby.

i enjoyed my $17 eachine e011 experience for learning (all three of them, until the wind takes them away.. out there again this morning, not a single plant moving, but 20 feet up, you're losing your e011 because the wind is a constant that cancels movement in one direction). can you lose props in a simulator?

trying to answer my own questions involved a lot of browsing very awful webpages, much more time than i would have liked, lots of webangst. there are some things that are just simpler to ask, even though they're common knowledge, such as "what's the next motor up from a 13xx??"

as an epistemological solipsist, i do not find any reason in discretising between an internal and external process. discerning why you want to fly quads may be perhaps the great journey of self discovery/realisation. for me, it crosses over. (1) i want the A-holes to stay a certain distance away since they ignorant (2) oh... it would also be cool for checking out those hard to reach places out in teh mountains (3) aaand.. it would be awesome to fly and fly for miles and find what no one is talking about. (4) this field is bound to excite possibilities. quads are capable physical remotes. an engineer is going to foresee them as solutions for any issue and imagine a build accordingly. an afficionado of science fiction may feel mysteriously drawn to anything that hovers with blinking lights on it. for witchcraft, it sure beats an owl that is going to fly off and eat mushrooms or a demon that wants to suck your prana in exchange for bumping around on your enemies roof at 3am or deposit a cat turd on their bbq spread when their back is turned. you know why they say "wise old owl" is because young owls are totally mental. dafter than people who prefer witchcraft to simple honest labour or even questioning their desires.

thank god we're broke eh, or there'd be nothing left of africa and west papua buy now.

Nova said:

My adventures in RC Flying, without yet even taking off.

Click to expand...

As my old man used to say "too much talk and not enough action."

Hey Nova,

WOW!
You sure are making guys like me look bad....lol

I will barely read a manual.


Good luck and have fun!

Bill

I spent about an hour last Saturday (or was it Sunday?) flying for the first time!

The first thing I did was to go on You-Tube and find a video on how to setup my new Taranis X9D+ for use with a simulator. I learned how to create a new model (which I named ’Simulator”), then connect it to my iMac and power it up so that the Mac would recognize it. Everything was pretty easy. I used FPV Freerider as the simulator, and it recognized the Taranis with no problem. I had to calibrate the controller in FPV Freerider, but that’s pretty common with any kind of controller in a video game.

So I started it all up, and took off for the first time!
(Taking a bit of advice I saw somewhere, I started immediately in ACRO mode.)

I immediately crashed… hard. I lost count of the number of times I crashed. Some were quite spectacular! I knew nothing about how to fly a quad when I started, or even what the sticks on the Taranis did. By the end of the hour I was circling the little island in FPV Freerider, and was pretty pleased with my progress. I still can’t fly the quad through the gates on the race-course without crashing, but I can keep it in the air!

A couple of nights later I had 20 extra minutes, so I started it up again. I found that I can now circle the island much faster than before, but my control of the quad is tenuous at best. I made a little more progress, but I’ve got a long way to go.

I’m so glad I DIDN’T buy a quad. I’ve crashed so many times that I’m pretty sure I would have racked up a decent repair bill for most any sort of quadcopter. Thankfully, all is forgiven in a simulator!

I noticed that the FPV view is rather limiting compared to other flying games I’ve played. I would have liked to have had a (switchable) downward facing camera in order to land the quad on the picnic table in the game. I also suffered from a lack of perspective when I lost control of the quad and could see only sky… I usually regain my spatial sense in a game by looking at the radar screen and judging where I am and how I’m positioned in relation to an arbitrary waypoint in space. I’m pretty good at flying via instruments only, and to be restricted to visual flying without any instrumental cues was… odd.

A bit later in the week I loaded up ‘Liftoff’, which is another simulator that’s available through Steam. Liftoff’s view displays a couple of visual instrument aids, one of which is a horizon line. I found that very useful, and had a bit of fun flying around in that sim, but I like FPV Freerider’s simplicity and ease of use for learning how to fly. Then, after trying Liftoff, I found the ‘DRL Simulator’ online, from the Drone Racing League. It is Beta software, and it required me to register with the League, but the software is free. I installed it and started it up, and quickly discovered that the Taranis would only be recognized if I used preset controller #4… trying to calibrate the controller and create a custom preset went nowhere. Once launched, the environment was more complex and looked more fun than in FPV, but I did run into a few bugs while flying. The most common problem was that the software would return my drone to the starting position for unknown reasons, just sort of randomly. Oh, well.

I’ve been watching and reading more quad reviews, some of which are very good. I’ve been narrowing down what I want to do with a quad, but I do have one issue that seems like it doesn’t have a resolution, and that is the short flight times for most quadcopters. 5 minutes simply isn’t enough for me. 15 minutes seems short. 30 minutes is a bit more reasonable, but the issue now is that I would kinda like to have a sport quad, and the flight times for the majority of those seem to be around 10 minutes. The only quads I’ve found with 30 minute flight times are the (non-sporty) DJI quads, and a very few others that appear to be made for photography. I started wondering if there is a way that I can modify an existing quad to carry more batteries and then switch between them during flight (sounds like a digital switching system to me), or maybe even rebuild a quad with DIY parts and incorporate some of the DJI design elements into it so the flight times end up being much longer. I have a feeling that I would be trading speed and maneuverability for flight time, but I’m curious about where exactly the middle-ground lies. Any comments or thoughts on this would be welcome.

So, ultimately, this hobby is doing exactly what I wanted. I’m learning to fly, and I have some things to think about and research when I get the time.

Seems like there’s never enough time for play!

Never enough time or money.

Well for me anyway.

Its been a busy week!

Its interesting, how the confluence of new(ish) technologies made FPV Quadcopter flying possible. Two high-frequency bands made available for consumers to use that came from a totally different industry (WiFi), high-energy batteries, cheap video screens, and cheap single-board computers all work together. At first it was called ‘remote presence’, which was then coined into the term ‘telepresence’. I suppose it doesn’t really matter what the device is… the first movie and television cameras were a form of telepresence, except that the viewpoint was usually from a single, stationary source, and there was no interactivity. All that has changed.

It turns out that a new Taranis controller comes from the factory uncalibrated. That might explain why the quad I was flying in FPV Freerider was so twitchy. I found a You-Tube video that explained how to get into the calibration screen in the Taranis, and now I can actually fly through the course gates in FPV Freerider. it made a huge difference. I’m still not a great flyer, but its much better.

Another thing I noticed was that flying a quad using the stock Taranis settings was not intuitive. I couldn’t seem to load the instincts into my brain that would allow me to fly the quad without thinking about which stick did what on the controller. I started flying a long time ago, and pretty much used only twisty-stick controllers. They put pitch, yaw, and roll all in one single control. Moving from there to a combination of pedals and stick wasn’t as easy or intuitive as I thought it would be. And, moving from either of those to the Taranis was a nightmare. So I did a little digging and found out that the Taranis can map any control to any output. Its like a computer, where it has input controls (buttons, knobs, switches and sticks), an onboard signal router, and output channels that can accept input from any control. I remapped the controls so that ailerons and throttle are on the left stick, and pitch and yaw are on the right stick (also known as Mode 4). Its a lot more intuitive to use now, and the quad is much easier for me to fly. I can’t say if it will work for others, but it sure helped me. The only issue I foresee is when I buy a quad that comes with its own controller, and I can’t remap it. I’ll have to learn to fly ‘the right way’, I guess.

Speaking of which… I bought a quad last week! Its the Traxxas Aton Plus. I haven’t flown it yet, and I don’t plan on flying it for at least a couple of weeks, if not longer. There are a few reason why I picked this particular quad, and I’ll go over some of those in this post. I think the main things that sold me on it was the 50mph top speed (in Expert Mode), the docile Film Mode which I can use to learn the to fly quad itself, the failsafe mode it has where it will Return To Home automatically when flown out-of-range, and the AirBrakes button which I can press and hold whenever I get into trouble while flying - causing the quad to stop and hover in place. Also, people seem to give the quad great reviews, and I’m not too worried about the expense. Here’s why…

I finally figured out what I want in a quad. I want it be be sporty, so that flying it fun! I want it to have electronics that are accessible, and the Aton can load and execute Ardupilot software, which is Open-Source, and is directly connected to the OpenTX software, which runs on the Taranis X9D+ Transmitter/Controller. That software combination would give me full access - down to the source-code level - to the Transmitter, Quadcopter, and Mission Planner software that runs on a laptop. It also creates a nice environment for downloading, installing, and managing firmware for the quad. This environment is important for me to have due to the second reason I want a quad. I would like to get into the professional side of Drone Piloting, and I will need to guide my hobby development and my education into directions that will ultimately lead into a Commercial UAS Pilot’s License (that’s FAA Part 107). I know I’m going to be required to take a class or two for that, but I want to get started early. Its not going to be cheap, so I’m not really worried about the expenses. Its roughly equivalent to paying for an education!

Another reason I bought the Aton is that I’ve heard that Traxxas has excellent customer support. I gave them a call before I purchased the Aton, and got someone on the phone within a couple of minutes. He was happy to talk about the quad, and gave me some good answers. It wasn’t long before I was clicking the ‘Purchase’ button on Amazon’s webpage.

Yeah. yeah. I know. It would have been a lot cheaper and smarter to build my own quad. I would have learned a lot more in the process. I’m paying a premium for the Traxxas name. I know all of that stuff. But I like dealing with people who I can actually call up, who know a ton about their products, and who have good advice and spare parts a’plenty. It makes my investment more likely to last, and relieves me from the responsibility of micro-managing all aspects of the quad from the very beginning of my ownership. I get some breathing room while I learn about the systems, sub-systems, and mechanics of quad flying. I’m also covered by a warranty, as long as I adhere to their reasonable requirements. All of these factors will translate when I move into the professional domain. The quads will be prefab, the warranty requirements will be adhered to, and the insurance covers all. I just need the skills and certifications to make it happen.

I bought some other stuff to go with the Aton… a B6AC charger, a temperature sensor for the charger, a digital LiPo battery cell checker, an Apex fireproof battery bag, and a small Sentry Safe fireproof safe.

Aaaand… you already see where this is going. Traxxas batteries have proprietary connectors, which won’t fit into either the B6AC charger or the battery cell checker. I didn’t know that until I got the Aton and pulled the battery out of the box. I looked at the battery connector, looked at the B6AC connections, looked at the the cell checker, and said, “Whoops...”

Two nights ago I ordered the Traxxas EZ-Peak Live charger from Amazon. Traxxas says they don’t support using their batteries with chargers from other manufacturers, so I’m stuck in yet another walled garden. Traxxas used to sell an adapter that allowed connection of their batteries to traditional balance chargers, but that’s been discontinued. I’m guessing it was discontinued for good reason. I’ll have to trust Traxxas products for the foreseeable future. Fortunately for me, I know what that feels like. I use Apple products, too.

So, I need to figure out wether I will need the B6AC charger at some point in the future, or to return it to Amazon for the $65ish bucks. Dirt Cheap R/C in New York sells a couple of different adapters for the Traxxas ID Power Cell Batteries (the kind I have), but I kinda’ don’t trust them. I don’t know wether I have a Battery that is charged via the main connectors or via the balance connectors (I can make a pretty accurate guess, but I need to be 100% sure…). I could use one of those to connect to the B6AC, but I think I would rather just get a big charger from Traxxas and have the charger ID the battery and do right by it without my intervention. That would, hypothetically, also put the liability onto Traxxas for the proper operation of its products… assuming I use them correctly. And I will. I’m not taking any risks with the battery charging situation, as far as I can tell. With the risk of a fire that would approach 2000 degrees Fahrenheit, I want to be extremely careful.

Last night I pulled out the Quick-Start Guide and the Owner’s Manual from the Aton’s box. I read through each of them completely, and it turns out that all of the info in the Quick-Start Guide is mirrored in the Owner’s Manual. It is all good information, but it certainly isn’t comprehensive. There’s a ton more to the Aton than what’s covered in the Owner’s Manual, and I guess I’m going to have to go out on the ’Net and trawl for details, just like I did with the Taranis. Oh!.. and just FYI… Painless 360 is a guy who created a great set of videos on You-Tube on the Taranis X9D+, from configuration and programming to advanced topics. Highly recommended!

As for right now, I gotta find out if Traxxas sells a device that can check individual cells in their batteries. Wish me luck!

I've heard a lot of good feedback on the Aton, and Traxxas has certainly been around a long time in the RC world. Yes, you pay a premium. It may well be worth it in the end.

You could probably have used the B6 charger with the Traxxas batteries, but you would need to make an adapter from the iD connector it uses to something you have a B6 connector for. An iD to XT60 would be an obvious choice. Not a difficult job if you choose to go that route.

Let us know how you like the Aton once you start flying it!

Well, I’ve got a little more information on the Traxxas Battery Cell Checker thing.

I wrote Traxxas an email asking,”Does Traxxas offer any products that allow me to check the values of individual battery cells in ID Power Cell Batteries?”
The response was, “Unfortunately we do not.”

Last night I received a new Traxxas EZ-Peak Live Charger from Amazon. After watching Game Of Drones with the wife, I hooked up the new charger and attached the battery I received with the Aton quadcopter. The charger can be controlled with an app that’s available for Android and IOS called ‘EZ-Peak Live’. After starting Bluetooth on my device and launching the app, then pairing the two devices, I discovered that I can check the individual battery cell voltages on one of the pages within the app. Cool!

And just FYI… all three cells in my brand-new battery measured 3.8 volts from the factory, which is the perfect level for storage (or so I’m told).

I also tracked down some information on the proper way to update the firmware in the Aton quadcopter. There’s a video on Traxxas’ website that shows the process for upgrading Aton firmware. During the video, there’s a shot of an iMac running Disk Utility, and, if you look closely, you can see the user is formatting a 64GB micro-sd card using the ExFAT setting. It turns out that those settings will mess up your Aton. After much research and post-lurking, I’ve determined that the proper size and format for the Aton’s firmware sd card is no more than 32GB using FAT32 formatting. Its also a good idea to use an sd card with a Class 10 speed rating. They’re fairly inexpensive. I ordered my 16GB San Disk for about $10, and it should be more than big enough. One poster said that the size of an average Aton flight log is about 5MB. The sd card can be used to record flight logs if its left in the Aton, without the firmware file on it. I just have to remember to recalibrate the Aton after I flash the new firmware.

Incidentally, I called my parents over the weekend and told them I would like to visit them this fall. I told them about my new hobby. Unexpectedly, they asked me to bring the Aton with me when I visit. They both want to see it in action!
So, now I have to learn how to fly it...

The learning curve is HUGE.

But like Jackson said, stop reading and start flying. It is really the only way you will improve no matter what equipment you purchase or how much knowledge you have. Bottom line. Reading will never give you the muscle memory you need in your fingers or rewire your brain to help you with orientation.

About simulators. Spend an hour to figure out how the controls respond, then put it down. using them will only confuse you when you are learning after you start flying. They do not respond the way a quad does in real life. gravity, wind, momentum, fluctuating battery voltage, different battery weight, frame size, they just are not there yet. Pick it up again for another hour or so when you move from stabilized flight to manual/acro mode. Then delete it from your computer.

Let me get this straight. You say you spent a lot of time researching all the various options, and you still bought a Traxxas Aton?

Greetings, Rick M!
Thanks for the connector tips. I'll definitely check in here when I start flying, and let you know how it goes. The best part is, I get to start the prop count at zero! Let see how long I can keep track of them...
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Hey rosco11!
You're quite right about the learning curve... it looks like I've got a very long way to go. Fortunately, flying isn't my day job.
Likewise, there's a lot of computer work associated with flying quads, and I'll get to know some of that as well. That task doesn't require me to fly. But it will still be interesting. And there's always the source code, if I need to kill a LOT of time. Time I kinda' don't have too much of these days.

Also, thanks for the advice about the simulators! I understand that they're pretty new and unrefined, and I don't expect to learn to fly any particular quad just by using one. I also don't expect to learn to fly a racer by flying a Syma. But there's lots of time ahead of me... its just not really close by, at the moment.
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Hello, Jeff!
Yes, its true. I bought an Aton. I'm guessing that you think I should have gone with something else. Since I'm still new to the hobby, I wonder if you would describe what you would have done if you were in my position? Or, perhaps, why you think the Aton was a mistake? It would really help. Thanks!
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Speaking of mistakes... I was kinda under the impression that I could bind the Taranis X9D+ to the Aton and use it as the Transmitter. It turns out that Traxxas has pretty much locked other transmitter brands out of the loop, and they're using a good amount of proprietary code in their control protocols in combination with some open-source code. The open-source license they're using allows them to create proprietary software for the Aton that includes the open-source software, but it does not require them to publish their proprietary code as well. It looks like they've decided to keep their control protocols a trade secret, for now. So, no Taranis as a controller.

That pretty much breaks my Rule#5 above. However, the Taranis is still a great controller (so I've heard), and it does use OpenTX, which is completely open-source. That's a great place for me to start deciphering R/C transmission protocols. So I can still advance that side of my education (among others) while sitting down.

Traxxas has made the products associated with the Aton pretty bulletproof... as much as they can. There's still some room for user error, but the quad itself looks fairly versatile. The batteries are simple, and the charger I ordered is somewhat idiot-proof. It looks deceptively easy to use. That might be why some people had trouble with it... they underestimated the prerequisite knowledge required to fly it without any trouble. Some didn't even read the manual after buying an Aton for their first quad... Yikes!

./Nova

At some point you need to stop reading and start flying! The Tx that came with it should be fine. You can buy a Taranis later and use it with another quad (and yes, there will be another).

Very true, Rick M!

The main thing delaying it is my 15 hour a day job, the wife and kids, and the fact that I have to fly out for a couple of weeks, very soon. Also, Traxxas' battery instructions say to cycle the 5000mah battery 5 times before use at about 3 hours each cycle. I've had time to do that only once, so far. But the quad itself is ready to go.

Just need a wide open place to calibrate and fly.