Jerry Ginn
Member
I don't know why I bought a drone. bored I guess. I didn't expect much so I didn't spend much. A Syma X5c was cheap and big enough that I can see it. List of lessons learned so far:
5 -7 minutes is a very short time.
120 minutes is a very long time.
50 meters is not very far.
5 mph is not much wind.
Keep your eye on the bird.
After several cycles of very short and very long times, I realized that there is more to this than meets the eye. I don't guess you don't gain a lot of skill in the first hour of flight (over a 4 day period), just enough to want more.
My flying field is 10 acres, mostly clear but one fourth of it is occupied by house, garage, barn and pool.
The perimeter is lined with trees and covered with pasture grass, kept mowed but not lawn grade. I learned very early, to start in the center, fly upwind, with the sun at my back. On the first flight of day five, I had begun to gain some confidence, occasionally needing an emergency landing to regain orientation. On one occasion, I brought the quad down about 25 feet away. It landed upright and I know right where it was. I started to walk to it and stepped in an unseen hole. I'm old but I know how to roll into a fall and with grass and soft ground, nothing broke. I got up and started walking to the quad and realized it was not there. It was nowhere to be seen, not in the field, not on the farm. It was gone! Add one more lesson to the list.
When the quad lands or otherwise hits the ground, turn the transmitter OFF!
My best guess is that when I fell, I kept the transmitter in my left hand and as I rolled, my left thumb pushed the throttle full up. Nice little chopper flew straight up as it was told, way up. I was not in the center of the field and there was more wind than it could handle by itself. It just flew awaaaaay!
Second chopper was another X5 but this time, I spent another few dollars and got one with altitude hold. I thought it would help with the learning curve and it did. I gained more confidence, enough to try a night flight on a full moon night. LEDs are easy to spot at night, there was no wind, I got ahead of myself and went for high altitude. I was hoping to get a panoramic video of the neighborhood.
LEDs are easy to spot but at night, it is hard to estimate their distance. I think that a combination of altitude and range, it lost the transmitter link. The LEDs started to blink. The throttle dropped. It fell from the sky, but not to the ground. I came down in the trees to the east of our property, a heavily wooded area. Even if I could spot it, I could never reach it.
To add insult to injury, FedEx delivered a box of spare batteries the next day.
I'm through with cheap, flyaway light weight quads. I guess I will have a lot to learn before the next flight day. I have started to design and build a custom quad. It will be about 350 cm wheelbase and weigh about 1000 gm up to maybe 1200 gm. I can't be sure until I have a better feel for the frame.
The present design uses pre stressed basswood and 1/32" birch plywood in an H pattern. I am hoping to keep the frame weight around 350 gm but that remains to be seen. I will need a lot of help with selecting motors and controllers and all of the rest. I don't expect to be flying before spring but I will post updates if this intro gets any response.
5 -7 minutes is a very short time.
120 minutes is a very long time.
50 meters is not very far.
5 mph is not much wind.
Keep your eye on the bird.
After several cycles of very short and very long times, I realized that there is more to this than meets the eye. I don't guess you don't gain a lot of skill in the first hour of flight (over a 4 day period), just enough to want more.
My flying field is 10 acres, mostly clear but one fourth of it is occupied by house, garage, barn and pool.
The perimeter is lined with trees and covered with pasture grass, kept mowed but not lawn grade. I learned very early, to start in the center, fly upwind, with the sun at my back. On the first flight of day five, I had begun to gain some confidence, occasionally needing an emergency landing to regain orientation. On one occasion, I brought the quad down about 25 feet away. It landed upright and I know right where it was. I started to walk to it and stepped in an unseen hole. I'm old but I know how to roll into a fall and with grass and soft ground, nothing broke. I got up and started walking to the quad and realized it was not there. It was nowhere to be seen, not in the field, not on the farm. It was gone! Add one more lesson to the list.
When the quad lands or otherwise hits the ground, turn the transmitter OFF!
My best guess is that when I fell, I kept the transmitter in my left hand and as I rolled, my left thumb pushed the throttle full up. Nice little chopper flew straight up as it was told, way up. I was not in the center of the field and there was more wind than it could handle by itself. It just flew awaaaaay!
Second chopper was another X5 but this time, I spent another few dollars and got one with altitude hold. I thought it would help with the learning curve and it did. I gained more confidence, enough to try a night flight on a full moon night. LEDs are easy to spot at night, there was no wind, I got ahead of myself and went for high altitude. I was hoping to get a panoramic video of the neighborhood.
LEDs are easy to spot but at night, it is hard to estimate their distance. I think that a combination of altitude and range, it lost the transmitter link. The LEDs started to blink. The throttle dropped. It fell from the sky, but not to the ground. I came down in the trees to the east of our property, a heavily wooded area. Even if I could spot it, I could never reach it.
To add insult to injury, FedEx delivered a box of spare batteries the next day.
I'm through with cheap, flyaway light weight quads. I guess I will have a lot to learn before the next flight day. I have started to design and build a custom quad. It will be about 350 cm wheelbase and weigh about 1000 gm up to maybe 1200 gm. I can't be sure until I have a better feel for the frame.
The present design uses pre stressed basswood and 1/32" birch plywood in an H pattern. I am hoping to keep the frame weight around 350 gm but that remains to be seen. I will need a lot of help with selecting motors and controllers and all of the rest. I don't expect to be flying before spring but I will post updates if this intro gets any response.
