did 'YOU' fly today??

[Hands0n]

w00t! I flew today - on my day off, just me and the lad hanging around the house and no "management" about to get us doing all the stuff we';d rather not.  (you can tell that Management does not read this forum  )

I spent an entirely fruitless day with the APM - but that';s another story for that other thread on here.

I dug out the Alien 450 with Naza M Lite, charged up six LiPo and went off to Cliff Woods rec for some fun with something that actually flies properly!

There were loads of people coming and going - a group of local lads on their scooters and another yoof crowd round the back of the disused building had me a little anxious initially, but they left me to my own business.  Several dog walkers in the area, one who';s gorgeous Collie brought us her ball to chuck for her.  Fortunately the lad was with me, so he obliged.  One little Yorkie decided to chase the exciting thing flying in the sky, much to her owner';s obvious frustration. So I guided the Yorkie back towards her and she managed to regain the dog';s attention 

I was able to practise my Head In flying and control, it is all making much more sense and the muscle memory feels like it is kicking in. Thanks go to the little Hubsan that I';ve been using indoors.   I was also able to practise banked turns and some high speed stuff which was exciting.  Also I did push the aircraft out to the limits of my vision as a means of practising seeing or gaining the orientation of the aircraft, something that has plagued me since day one.  Even if I couldn';t see the colours of the arms (and I realy couldn';t) I was able to maneuver the aircraft to gain a hint of which way it was facing and then apply the correct control to bring it back.  I';m not ready for DarrellW';s favourite tornado conditions, however. 

While there I got the lad to grab two videos of two of my flights, each lasting just over 6 minutes on a 2200mAh 3S Turnigy. 

No. 1
http://youtu.be/cVhJ4fcID3o

No.2
http://youtu.be/SgAOMlFcFRo

[Gav]

Sounds like you had a great time.   Nice one.

[Biffa]

...Also I did push the aircraft out to the limits of my vision as a means of practising seeing or gaining the orientation of the aircraft, something that has plagued me since day one.  Even if I couldn';t see the colours of the arms (and I realy couldn';t) I was able to maneuver the aircraft to gain a hint of which way it was facing and then apply the correct control to bring it back...

A great day by all accounts

I find colours don';t help too much. One thing I try and do if flying LOS at distance is to try and remember what I had/have been doing with the sticks and the model prior to almost losing sight of it.

Much easier to do with a plank though I try and keep my multi rotors well within sight.

[guest325]

Some pretty solid flying there, but personally I would keep a bit closer in - I do fly that far away but am very careful that I know exactly which way I';m going, it';s not easy to spot it correctly if you loose concentration for a second or so.

[Hands0n]

Cheers Darrell, I try to keep it in ... but the exhilaration does rather get the better of me.      It is rather in my nature to push the envelope a bit. It used to drive my parents nuts 

This time I found it easier [by degrees] to recover from a position of WTF!? as it got near the tree line.  Instinctively I reached for the RTL switch but then thought better of it and made the effort to try and understand what it is I was looking at.

I';d not have been quite so brave with the KK2 board I dare say 

[guest325]

3 packs through my Crack Yak early on, later 2 packs through my 450 quad -first proper go at flying in the dark, it was great fun!
Not had a go with my Crack Yak for ages, forgot how much fun it was!
This is what it looks like and what it can do in the right hands.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iT04PnPxjdA&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Not me flying it but getting better - more time in the air now and no damage (touch wood) cracking little model and pretty robust!

[fruitsalad]

great fun in the darkness.
one of my vids of a maiden flight in the dark
homebuilt epp foam ww1 rc rumpler taube night flight..

[FlyinMarty]

Quickly poped out and put three packs through my Teslaquad, first time I have managed to get out for five weeks.  More hit than miss (when I say hit I am referring to meetings with the ground ).  I can vouch for the robustness of Chris'; s quads though.

Still managed to achieve a few good flights (in between doing the walk of shame ::) )...well chuffed with myself though as this is only my third proper outing with the quad.

[teslahed]

Here';s my latest flight testing Gavs new aerials recorded via the ground station;

http://youtu.be/Iuc9Z8p_9QU

Quite pleased with the reception i';m getting compared to my old hobbyking aerials.

And here';s a previous one recorded via the gopro 3 silver;

http://youtu.be/WpWpdQsUW6U

[FragglePete]

I flew today; down at the in-laws for the weekend and my father-in-law asked me if I could take a look at his gutters.  Duly obliged, tilted the camera further down than normal a flew around their house taking a look at their chimney and gutters for them.  Also did the neighbours chimney for them also as they just had a new flue and stack fitted and wanted to inspect what was done!  Houses are quite rural so plenty of space to work with!   

Had the GoPro set at 720p but at 60fps... as we reviewed the footage he asked if I could slow it down a bit.  Now, I never really thought about it, but playing the footage back at half speed within Media Player with video at 60fps resulted in silky smooth video that just looked awesome!  They were happy as I got some good footage of what they wanted and it gave me a chance to have a bit of fly around; well chuffed!

Pete

[guest325]

Had a good day today, 4 good flights with my HK Club Trainer in gusty conditions plus 3 ace flights with my quad, it';s so easy to fly in wind compared to fixed wing! Then I had a phone call, grandad duties required, had to have paramedics out to my son';s partner - she';s ok now, bit of a water infection - quite painful.
Anyway here she is bless her!

[kilby]

Managed ro go through pair of 3000mAh today though the wind caused me a hairy enough moment to decide to land the quad.

Still good to get it into the air for the first time in 3 days

[Biffa]

Anyway here she is bless her!

Nothing quite as awesome as a peacefully sleeping baby.

[mutley2]

Ludlow Bridge at Dawn
Got up at dawn to have a blast around Ludlow old bridge, total calm and just a few dog walker. My quads only a few weeks old so still getting some jellow, will sort it.

[John A]

yes, I flew my quad today. It was my first serious outing (only trimming flights in the garden until now) I managed to put 1 2200mAh pack through the machine. I must confess, I was very anxious as this is the first time I took her above 3 metres. I was a little disappointed with the self-level, which was not as responsive as I had hoped but guess it is because I have the old firmware on the KK. I was amazed at the rate of climb. At one point I opened the taps to full throttle and watched in amazement as she went very quickly skywards. I did find that she was affected by the wind far more than I had expected, with several long walks to recover her after my nerve went and I set her down before she piled in. All in all, a good day. The best part? I came home with an undamaged aircraft... :-)

[Gav]

Yes got out for first time to the flying field since Nov last year.  Had some antenna to flight test and Donald';s Naza GPS puck to test.  Bit windy but enjoyed getting back in the air!  FPV down to the end of the field n back and some general hacking about.

[Jake Bullit]

Not flown since November!

I get withdrawals if I go a few days without flying.

[Opto-Mystic]

I like that machine, Rob. It looks as if it can do the business!

Thanks for repairing the puck and testing it ... 

[Hands0n]

Wow that was a long time on the ground    Your rig is looking really good there    An awesome build 

I made it out also today, got to the field around 10:30 and was there until 1:30 - the LiPo seemed to last forever and a day in the calm air. My new 3S 3.3A Nano Tech delivered ages more fly time than the 2.2A Turnigy "blue" I have been using since the get go.  I also had with me a Zippy 4A and a 5A to play with - in total I took 12 batteries with me, but didn';t actually get to use them all.

First up was the APM 2.5/Arducopter 3.1 Firefly 450 quad. It needs some work with the PID after Auto Tune as it is quite lively in Stability mode - when coming off pitch forward it actually did a full backward flip all by itself! I nearly pooped myself    In every other mode it flies beautifully well.  There is a specific PID for Stability, so I';ll put it on a twiddly knob thing and fix it next time out.

After a few flights I decided to have me some FPV time and loaded up the Naza M Lite Alien 450, as predictable as ever. I had several long flights out across the Channel Tunnel Rail line into fields I';d not ventured before.  Gav';s skew planar antenna performed beautifully, pushing out over 600m across undulating landscape the video signal held solid. At times some altitude was required, but that was absolutely fine with me.

Just as I';d completed my last flight - I had actually had enough and was getting peckish for lunch - a young lad pulled up in his car. Ben, introduced himself and we had a good long chat about all things multi-rotor. He has a Blade 350 QX and is a new flier, we traded stories where he told me about his first flight and another where the Blade fell out of the sky (see vids below).  I offered him a LiPo alarm that I have several spares of, which he accepted. That should give him confidence to stretch the only battery he has out a bit more than he feels safe to right now.

It was a good day 


Ben';s flights - he';s not shy of heights ::)

First proper flight with my new Blade 350 QX

Ben';s sky fall
Blade 350 QX falls out the sky and crashes

[Gav]

Sounds like you had a good day.  Yeah nice sky dive by Ben there.
No I really have not flown since November because of work and some big DIY jobs at home.  Not to mention weather lol. 

[Gav]

Met up with Tony this morn for an fpv session.  Flew both my mini and coffin copter.  Absolutely perfect condition for a relaxing flying sesh.
Cheers Tony for letting me fly your 3D Aero plank!   Enjoyed it.

[Chippercheese]

I did, I did!

[guest325]

Been off Slope soaring today, 3 flights of about 40 mins each conditions were great, plenty of lift and some great thermals - Could have been up for hours but get too tired plus face is tingling with the sun and breezes.

[dp106]

Been off Slope soaring today, 3 flights of about 40 mins each conditions were great, plenty of lift and some great thermals - Could have been up for hours but get too tired plus face is tingling with the sun and breezes.

How do you know where to go to get the lift?

[Hands0n]

I got up also - met a lad from a Facebook Kent MultiRotors group page. Also took  my mate';s 13 year old lad who loves to FPV with me.  And met and talked to dozens of passers by who stopped over to look and ask questions.

[kilby]

No flying today for me, LEDs are going into the teslaquad then I will be encouraging the Naze to work with a satellite RX instead of the giant orange carbuncle that is on there at the moment

[guest325]

How do you know where to go to get the lift?

If there';s no cloud about you try and circle around trying to feel if there';s any lift, if there';s a breeze it helps to keep some height until you find the lift. If there';s clouds you look to see if any of them are billowing at the edges, this usually means there is an up draught-lift!
You can stay in the air with a reasonable breeze without thermals but with them it';s much better.

[BrianS]

Started building my mini h quad but didn';t realise that the Tiger motors had M2 mounting screws.

So i had an hour flying the bixler and my first FPV with a plane.

[Gav]

here';s little cobbled together vid from last sat  http://youtu.be/U1hdZ8GpwXE

[QuadBod]

Ben';s sky fall
Blade 350 QX falls out the sky and crashes

Apologies  for dredging up an old post (still catching up on six months worth of forum activity!), but - what height do you reckon he was when he started his free-fall?