Yeah, it was not ideal, or bright by any means. I was at my dad's and he wanted to see it. He has only 1 spot on his entire 80 acres of land that isn't covered in trees. That happens to be where all his vehicles are parked. So, hardly any room on the ground, but the only spot without thick woods. Basically, there is nowhere at his place that is suitable for flying, but I wanted to show it to him real quick. The only reason I did feel confident enough to try it there is after flying at home I got real used to hovering and only planned to hover at my dads to show him, but he kept nagging me to get it higher so I did. It was pretty windy that night so it was moving around a lot when it got above the trees.
I wasn't directly over us. It was a good 30ft away and about 100ft up. When I came down it swooped at an angle right towards us. It was moving super fast at that point, I was pulling the stick away from us, but it had too much momentum. Hitting the throttle slowed it just enough to not crash into me. In fact, by the time it got where I caught it, it was finally about to pull away from us where I was trying to point it.
All of this happened pretty quick. I took off, flew about 8-10 seconds, came down and from the moment I decided to come down to the moment of swooping into my hand took all of 2-3 seconds.
My first 2 flights were at home where I have a lot more room, but not a huge area. Maybe 40 yards by 80 yards of open space. The 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th flights so far have all been at the park a block away from my house. There is plenty of open space and hardly anyone there either. I've been going to this open field at the park that is not used for anything other than a walking trail that goes around the perimeter of it. In the field I have over 100 yards on either side of me and over 500 yards of open space in front of me where I fly. Really just the perfect place. I feel comfortable there because no trees, powerlines, buildings, people, or anything other than soft grass to crash in that luckily I haven't crashed in at all. I had some crash landings my first 2 flights. Really not bad, just it flipping over gently right when I land. Then the scary catching close call on my 3rd flight. So far all the other flights have been totally crash free and smooth landings. Each time I fly I get more used to this by a great measure.
I agree with you 100% about the bad publicity and need for safety. I did a ton of research before getting into this and really took note of potential safety hazards to keep in mind mostly because I am entering into this more for the "hobby grade" as opposed to the "toy grade" which means flying larger, heavier and potentially much more dangerous machines.
I am guessing from the photo that you have a Syma x5c ? I am unsure of where you live and you didn't say where you purchased it from, but any reputable dealer should warranty the defective battery or charger. If you check online at ebay for the country you are in the batteries and/or charger are plentiful and cheap, if the distributor won't help. Regarding the iPod battery, I have no idea if it is the right voltage or if it is too heavy or what kind of battery( li-po,nicad etc.). Considering the correct battery online is only about $3.00 I don't know why you would bother. Hope the dealer will take care of it for you.
