My Maiden Flight

[kymedic121]

Well folks here it is. Nothing fancy but I did it! I spent 95% of my time doing the flight training and I didn't want to chew up the batteries to fast so I recorded very little. I will get better with time and my videos will improve after I set my preferences. To say I was nervous would be the understatement of the century, my hands were physically shaking and the sweat was pouring. But for this being my first time ever using anything with a wireless controller outside of a television I did pretty well. I am hoping this nervousness will get better with time. Being a newbie sucks! I would like to thank everyone here on the forums that offered so much help, advise and reassurance. You are each great folks and a real asset to someone like me who is so new to the RC world. It truly means a lot, thank you so much.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxuwKMFuYd8[/youtube]

 

[Sasquatch]

WOO HOO! Congratulations in finally getting your bird up in the air, it's been a long time in the planning!

Steady as she goes is the best motto and you're very much like me; overly cautious and flying with trepidation. It does get easier, but not by much. lol

Well done and you must have been elated to finally have your hands on the sticks in a real life flying scenario.

 

[Brettly]

Congrats buddy. All the patience and study has payed off.

It's all up (pardon the pun) from here!

 

[kymedic121]

WOO HOO! Congratulations in finally getting your bird up in the air, it's been a long time in the planning!

Steady as she goes is the best motto and you're very much like me; overly cautious and flying with trepidation. It does get easier, but not by much. lol

Well done and you must have been elated to finally have your hands on the sticks in a real life flying scenario.

Brother you have no idea. I nearly had a stroke when the first battery warning went off. I was so focused on the bird I was not prepared for that sudden sound and I nearly wet myself right there on the spot. I new that it was supposed to happen but never hearing that noise before it startled me. LOL. Yes, I am very cautious and I am very much a fan of diligent preparation. My bird sat here on top of my gun safe for 2 weeks in an unopened state and I vowed that I would not even open it until I was personally reassured that I had done all I could in prep. Rest assured I will continue to go slow and I dont think I will ever deviate from LOS. When I landed it the first time I had a smile I could not wipe off my face and a tremendous sense off accomplishment. Although still a tad apprehensive I look forward to the next flight........

 

[happydays]

Good man Charles, well done. Nice and low for the first few flights. I almost panicked when I saw you getting close to those trees. Trees aren't a Phantom's best friend! Get up above them. A nice clip to make is to get up quite high and then s l o w l y yaw around to make a 360 view of your area.

Well done on getting it up. (ooh err missus...)

CBS

 

[kymedic121]

Good man Charles, well done. Nice and low for the first few flights. I almost panicked when I saw you getting close to those trees. Trees aren't a Phantom's best friend! Get up above them. A nice clip to make is to get up quite high and then s l o w l y yaw around to make a 360 view of your area.

Well done on getting it up. (ooh err missus...)

CBS

Thank you so much. Actually its hard to see and the video is a little deceitful, the trees were actually a good 20' away as I was between them and the phantom. I was a little apprehensive to climb very high as my confidence in the machine is just not there yet. My rationale was better to fall from the skies at 40' than 240' therefore less damage. Is it normal that when you hover and have good GPS for the bird to sway back and forth very slowly, in a space of about 4'. Its nothing erratic and it never left the general area? Also, can someone recommend a video and camera setting that will lessen the fisheye effect? I despise that look. Thanks so much for the kind words and encouragement over the past 2 weeks it truly helped me a great deal.

 

[lsteigerwalt]

Congrats on getting her in the air!!! A little dance in hovering is normal and nothing to be worried about. I use Premiere/Photoshop to remove the fisheye effect. If you dont have a video editor then you can shoot in narrow fpv...cant remember which format it is...and it will reduce the effect. Not eliminate it but its less noticeable.

 

[Phantom_Menace66]

My first flight video was horrible. Consisted mostly of take-off, spin around in circles, fly around a bit & land. It's great fun once the nerves settle down. I had trouble getting the idea out of my head that it was $1500 flying around up there! I remember flying over trees & near poles (plenty of room to spare) but when I watched the video, they looked much closer & I thought OMG I nearly hit that tree, when in fact it was deceptively far away.

Anyway, baby steps & patience my friend. Happy flying & above all, have fun!

 

[Lasvegascfp]

That's awesome! I felt the same way... You're not alone.

 

[Catalina36]

Well done. I can relate to the nervousness. I just bought mine a week ago today and still get butterflies when I take off. It does get easier though.

 

[Double-D]

Congratulations on popping your cherry I admire your patience.
Looks like you have a good place to practice, just watch those trees.
Now get out there every day, you'll be surprised how good you'll get.

Are you flying in phantom mode? My advice would be switch it over to Naza strait away and get familiar with ioc and home lock, it's a life saver.


I'd been following the progression of the phantom since day 1 so when I finally bought my vision+ I couldn't wait and flew it first day, though I flew with great care. I then flew my 2 batteries every day as often as I could and I racked up 40+ flights in 2 weeks.

 

[JWarren]

Congratulations!!! I've been watching for this thread wondering when you'd get your wings. Looks like you are a natural. Now take her up to about 800 ft

 

[kymedic121]

I doubt I ever venture passed 400' LOL. I am not as adventurous as most. It was a blast and I am going back again today if weather permits. I can see the benefits of the NAZA now. I took her out around 700 yards and I looked down at my video screen (understand I was flying by LOS the entire time) when I looked up I couldn't see her because of the sun. I started to freak out. I knew she was still flying as I could see on the screen so I calmed myself. I then remembered the radar, all I did was point her back toward me and pushed ahead she came right to me. Yes If I had NAZA I could have flipped the S2 switch for Home Loc no worries. I am seeing the benefit for the NAZA mode but I am afraid I will screw up because those switches are so easy to move. I wish they were a little stiffer so they wouldn't move so freely. Other than that I love the phantom. I am surprised how powerful and agile something this small with only one battery can be.

 

[JWarren]

Do you feel like the simulators were a help?

 

[kymedic121]

Yes I do, very much so. I didn't know yaw from roll before the simulator. It helped me learn my orientation and basic control functions. But, the simulator for the Phantom in Phoenix 5 does not offer any gps stabilization so you are learning to fly in manual mode as the aircraft is effected by external forces and your momentum. Now in saying all of this flying the simulator is nothing compared to the real thing when it comes to anxiety and pucker factor. I can pick up the simulator remote and crash it and within less than a second there is brand new one in front of you ready to go again. With the real life version you are flying a machine you have invested a great deal of money and if it crashes it will take come time to repair or replace. But all in all yes I think the simulator achieved its primary mission which is to teach a beginner the basics of rc flight control. I would recommend the trainer to any new person to RC

 

[Damon]

I used a free quadcopter flight program on my android tablet. Definitely useful to learn controls especially if prepping for fpv flight. The developer informed me he is in process of developing a phantom version to replicate its flight features. https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta ... erFX&hl=en

 

[Double-D]

Just be careful using the radar. I still look at it, and it is mostly correct but if you lose that wireless signal, and you will sooner or later, you will want active ioc home lock.

Also I use the ioc home lock switch to test my fail safe at the beginning of EVERY FLIGHT. Just fly it out more than 10m at an angle, flick the switch all the way down, pull back right stick and she'll come back.
I have a habit of using the back of my ring fingers to check the switches are both in the up position.

 

[JWarren]

I guess I'm one of the few who use Phantom GPS over NAZA. There really isn't all that much difference in IOC and Fail Safe I'd say anyway and the few times I have lost visual sight the radar gets her back to me no problem. But I'm not flying out half a mile either.

 

[Dirty Bird]

Glad to see you finally set that bird free! Perfectly normal to have the shakes your first few flights. Don't be afraid to record...it uses very little power...doubt you would even notice the difference. I always hit record just before I start the motors, and record the entire flight. Never know what you might miss otherwise! Look forward to seeing your videos.

 

[Sasquatch]

Hey kymedic,

Maybe I missed it, but have you had your second flight yet? I know I was itching to get my bird out there really soon after my first flight!