A day of firsts

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Today has very much been a day of firsts with regards my drone experiences.

Got up this morning and looked outside to see beautiful clear weather, so I decided that I would take the drone to a local spot, which I have been dying to fly around for ages.

Arrived there and there wasn't another sole in sight, perfect for my first flight over water. Got the bird set up and walked to my chosen take-off spot. Then the magnitude of my planned flight dawned on me!! Using the Litchi app to set up the mission, it doesn't look like a large area (and in all honesty it isn't that big, in comparison to many others) but when I actually saw my furthest waypoint, I must admit it bottled it! For my first time using Litchi AND flying over water, I didn't want to risk it.

Nevertheless, I did a much shorter waypoint mission, which to be honest turned out a bit crap - flying way too fast and had the camera on focus POI - lesson learnt.

Also realised when I took the bird up just how windy it was and another first, flying in ATTI mode, drew a few nervous moments, especially as I was taking off/landing quite close to a building and a wall, which inevitably resulted in another first - the first time I have clipped anything!!! Landing the bird after the last flight, I was too close to a low wall. A strong gust of wind took the bird and the front blades just clipped the wall. Luckily the bird was inches from the floor, but the front left blade clipped the wall and stopped, causing the motor to make a horrible grinding noise for a split second. My heart sank, thinking I had done some serious damage, but a check highlighted only a slight scuff to the tip of the blade - which I will now throw away. I flew the bird again after this, just to see if there were any adverse effects on the motor and thankfully (hopefully) all seems well.

I also learned today, that trying to fly when your hands are numb with cold, isn't the best way to do it, as the feeling in your fingers does not easily translate to the control sticks - lesson learnt, take gloves next time!

Finally, a quick review of the video that I took shows that I need some serious lessons in camera setting etc. The video, although lovely and sharp, is very over exposed, due to the sun on the lens. This is something I need to learn about quickly, otherwise all my footage will be useless!

So, a day of firsts - first (very short) flight over water. First time using Litchi. First time flying in quite high winds in ATTI mode. First time flying when I can't feel my fingers! and first time clipping an obstacle!

I will post up some of the footage, after I have a play around with processing it.
 
Im new too but I reckon you need to keep checking that motor as it may be weakened and vibration may become an issue. I read somewhere on here the is a phone app monitoring vibration levels. That may help. Happy flyinh. My drone arrives in an hour. Cant wait.

Sent from my D5803 using PhantomPilots mobile app
 
Im new too but I reckon you need to keep checking that motor as it may be weakened and vibration may become an issue. I read somewhere on here the is a phone app monitoring vibration levels. That may help. Happy flyinh. My drone arrives in an hour. Cant wait.

Sent from my D5803 using PhantomPilots mobile app


Yeh I will keep a close eye on it. Might even get some guards for the time being too, just until I get more proficient at flying in different weather conditions.
 
Yeh I will keep a close eye on it. Might even get some guards for the time being too, just until I get more proficient at flying in different weather conditions.
I wouldn't bother. If you'd have had them fitted, the wind would have caused the AC to be less stable, as they would've acted like a sail and it would've clipped the wall even harder. Controlling the AC in ATTI needs a lot of practice to get used to manual flight and, frankly, no close-by walls too!
Incidentally, there is no way I'd be flying in the weather we've had down here in the south of the UK today - yes, it really looked beautiful, but even 6 feet up, our weather station recorded gusts of 29mph upto 11am (and it recorded 41mph overnight).
 
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I wouldn't bother. If you'd have had them fitted, the wind would have caused the AC to be less stable, as they would've acted like a sail and it would've clipped the wall even harder. Controlling the AC in ATTI needs a lot of practice to get used to manual flight and, frankly, no close-by walls too!
Incidentally, there is no way I'd be flying in the weather we've had down here in the south of the UK today - yes, it really looked beautiful, but even 6 feet up, our weather station recorded gusts of 29mph upto 11am (and it recorded 41mph overnight).


Yeh maybe in hindsight it was a bit too windy & hopefully that was my first & only minor mishap - but I know that won't be the case!

It was just such a beautiful day,I didn't want to miss out. After all we don't get that much nice weather here in Blighty and even less so for us up north.

Anyway, here's a link (hopefully) to a very quick edited video from this morning.

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