P2V rear view in the distance

Joined
Dec 1, 2013
Messages
34
Reaction score
1
Age
85
Location
Cecil, Georgia
I am somewhat a noobe (at age 75 I like to be 'new' at something!) and need some advice. When flying my new P2V I am having trouble with orientation when the P2V gets more than about 400 feet away. I have tried colored tape on the landing gear legs but that doesn't help very much. What do you experienced pilots do to keep the nose orientation in sight?

Thanks :geek:

ChesterT
 
Hey, I am getting ready for cateract surgery and I don't let the Phantom get much more than a 100' from me right now. :D
Might do a search on ebay for some lights under Phantom Lights. You can put them on the Phantom which may help you see it in the distance better.

Have fun.

Chuck
 
ChesterT said:
I am somewhat a noobe (at age 75 I like to be 'new' at something!) and need some advice. When flying my new P2V I am having trouble with orientation when the P2V gets more than about 400 feet away. I have tried colored tape on the landing gear legs but that doesn't help very much. What do you experienced pilots do to keep the nose orientation in sight?

Thanks :geek:

ChesterT

Dear ChesterT,

I really don´t think there´s much to do regarding having the Phantom coloured with stickers, paints or lights. When it´s far away and you don´t know it´s orientation it means you are flying beyond your confort/experience zone. I remember this from old R/C aircrafts I had and I think it just comes down to experience and attention. If you are flying far away and you get distracted you should slowly manouver and see how it reacts. After awhile you´ll easily tell it´s orientation by it´behavior.

Do some exercises, fly until you are 50m away and then 75m, 100m and so on. Until you are confortable.
 
I'm not sure why nobody has mentioned what I believe to be the obvious answer... Look at the FPV screen! That should be a quick reference for which direction your phantom is pointed.
 
I find the radar function on the app works well when the phantom is far away. If your phone has a compass/gps and you are pointed in the general direction of the phantom, then the phantom orientation is shown as a triangle with the point showing the relative orientation to the home point. All you have to do is get it pointed towards you and then go forward with the controls. I find that radar function is also good to confirm how accurately the compass is calibrated on the phantom before you take off. If you stand directly behind the phantom then its arrow on the radar screen should be pointing away from you.
 
cb1 said:
I find the radar function on the app works well when the phantom is far away. If your phone has a compass/gps and you are pointed in the general direction of the phantom, then the phantom orientation is shown as a triangle with the point showing the relative orientation to the home point. All you have to do is get it pointed towards you and then go forward with the controls. I find that radar function is also good to confirm how accurately the compass is calibrated on the phantom before you take off. If you stand directly behind the phantom then its arrow on the radar screen should be pointing away from you.


Very good advice, thanks
 
Relying 100% on gadgets is not the answer. Sure, they MAY help - but you and I both know that the further away, the less reliably they are going to work. The BEST suggestion (already made, above) is with regard to experience and concentration - the establishment of orientation by irrefutable response to stick input. It is a skill that ChesterT is going to HAVE to develop. There really is no shortcut or substitution. Reference to the OSD or screen icon is fine, but should not be the ONLY way for a pilot to orient oneself to the craft. Redundancy = safety in all aeronautics, model and full-sized. Visual flying is number 1, then electronics is number 2.

For now, I recommend that the flying take place in and close. Get lots of hours of stick time, GRADUALLY increasing the distance as your comfort level and skills will allow. Find interesting targets to photograph or view from your craft that increasingly challenge your skills, but do so commensurate with your well-established skills. If you are in your 70's (I'm 60) and retired you can devote as much time as weather permits, and I assure you your progress will be swift. The Phantom is a well-engineered and stable bird with plenty of safety features if properly invoked.

The thing that will END your progress is a devastating crash. So...out of a 10 minute flight, spend 7-8 minutes flying comfortably, and 2-3 minutes extending your skills and range. Practice tail in flying, then circles left and right, then figure 8's, then circles AROUND yourself in a progressive way. THEN concentrate on "nose in" flight. [HINT: Put a bright LED headlight on the bird's nose. When you see it growing near to something it can crash into, put the right stick TOWARDS the side of the danger. Ex: Tree on left as you are flying towards yourself, aileron stick over to the LEFT]. When none of that is anxiety provoking nor leads to a crash, fly further out in front of you and do it all over again.

PF
 
myvrodrocks said:
hurseyc said:
Some people use headlights like these and really like them:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/DJI-Phantom-Qua ... 1e784985d6

They say you can see them in daylight as well as night for orientation.

Nice suggestion but doesn't help anyone on this PV forum. How do you add lights with this "smart" battery?

I wont use a daylight but in the old days you had to do everything yourself and it is not difficult to add a little lipo battery and solder a plug on it with a switch for the light. I think it depends on the person if it is useful or not but a Phantom can carry easily a lipo for the light. For example 650mh, low weight.
 
myvrodrocks said:
Nice suggestion but doesn't help anyone on this PV forum. How do you add lights with this "smart" battery?

Simple LED installation on a PV has you stymied? Spoiler alert: Stand alone LED and velcro. An LED headlight is meant as a temporary training tool, not an elaborate or permanent modification - unless of course you dig the look.

PF
 
Oh the Radar on the app. Bloody brilliant!

I fly around the outter 500m marker and still get full video. The radar makes flying the Phantom more like a video game.
Before I used the radar function, you would be spending most of your flight time working out the orientation.

No disputing the wisdom of the hard core pilots here, the radar app is just another valuable tool to keep from crashing or loosing your property and your pride.
 
WOW!! What great suggestions from this group! Thanks ton's to all !!

Firestat I just had cataract surgery last year on both eyes and you are going to love the results you get and you will be able to see way beyond that 100 feet area!

I think the most helpful advice came from demianmoura and PhantomFan both of whom mentioned that I was exceeding my capabilities and should establish a real 'training session' for myself and not try to fly beyond my capability at this time...and I am going to do that and forget about putting a 'bandaid' on the problem, in terms of some light of some sort.

The pilots who mentioned the monitor were also quite correct. The main reason I haven't done that is because I am soon going to attach a 7 inch Nexus 7-2 tablet to my RC. I already have DJI Vision android app running successfully but I am in the process of gathering the necessary hardware to attach the tablet to my RC.

Thanks to everyone who took the time to make suggestions -- they all are greatly appreciated!
ChesterT
 
PhantomFan said:
Relying 100% on gadgets is not the answer. Sure, they MAY help - but you and I both know that the further away, the less reliably they are going to work. The BEST suggestion (already made, above) is with regard to experience and concentration - the establishment of orientation by irrefutable response to stick input. It is a skill that ChesterT is going to HAVE to develop. There really is no shortcut or substitution. Reference to the OSD or screen icon is fine, but should not be the ONLY way for a pilot to orient oneself to the craft.

Keep in mind that the phantoms are fly-by-wire device. IT relies 100% on sensors itself anyway. GPS, gyro, altimeter won't work less reliably the further away they are located from the pilot. Although there are potential interference sources to watch out for.
 
cb1 said:
I find that radar function is also good to confirm how accurately the compass is calibrated on the phantom before you take off. If you stand directly behind the phantom then its arrow on the radar screen should be pointing away from you.

That's brilliant, what a great idea! Now why didn't I think of that? I'm adding that to my checklist.

Tnx!
iDrone
 
LeoS said:
Keep in mind that the phantoms are fly-by-wire device. IT relies 100% on sensors itself anyway. GPS, gyro, altimeter won't work less reliably the further away they are located from the pilot. Although there are potential interference sources to watch out for.

Although you say the Phantom is fly-by-wire, that is not true. It is fly by PILOT by radio. The problem as I see it is reliance and interpretation. You can't really rely on the "instruments" without already knowing how to fly from the controls first. Also, it takes more than a bit of time to know where to look to instantly find the precise information you need to make that critical stick decision, too. Look at the folks who transition from line of sight flying to FPV. They initially find it unnatural and struggle quite a bit, and we are USED to using our eyes all the day long. The OSD data is far more non-intuitive at the outset at least.

My advice stands. One MUST develop stick skills first, then increasing reliance on the data stream from the PV has actual meaning and benefit. Only THEN can it be successfully integrated into your flying.


PF
 
PhantomFan said:
LeoS said:
Keep in mind that the phantoms are fly-by-wire device. IT relies 100% on sensors itself anyway. GPS, gyro, altimeter won't work less reliably the further away they are located from the pilot. Although there are potential interference sources to watch out for.

Although you say the Phantom is fly-by-wire, that is not true. It is fly by PILOT by radio. The problem as I see it is reliance and interpretation. You can't really rely on the "instruments" without already knowing how to fly from the controls first. Also, it takes more than a bit of time to know where to look to instantly find the precise information you need to make that critical stick decision, too. Look at the folks who transition from line of sight flying to FPV. They initially find it unnatural and struggle quite a bit, and we are USED to using our eyes all the day long. The OSD data is far more non-intuitive at the outset at least.

My advice stands. One MUST develop stick skills first, then increasing reliance on the data stream from the PV has actual meaning and benefit. Only THEN can it be successfully integrated into your flying.

PF


I couldn't agree more. On my second flight, with three days of rain following my first, I was a bit over-enthusiastic and relied totally on the FPV. Got in very serious trouble very quickly and didn't know which way to move which stick. I was so very, very lucky and got the bird back on the ground. I've been working on actually learning how to properly fly this thing ever since. It takes practice, patience and a lot of, hopefully small, mistakes to gain ground. But you do gain ground.

-slinger
 
There is quite a contrast between learning to flying an R/C plane a quadcopter. Back in the day when I was first learning R/C flight, you bought (more likely BUILT) a TRAINER. After learning (with the assistance of an instructor) you could take off, fly and land. After that, you practiced the craft like mad, got skills, moved on to whatever suited you. Scale, Old-timers, pattern, you name it.

With quads, there is no such schedule of advancement. You CAN fly them straight out of the box with no instructor except YOURSELF. What I'm advocating is a return to the R/C plane model of flight training. But, this is up to the owner of the quad to implement voluntarily. Responsible quad builders/owners SHOULD (IMHO) voluntarily train themselves at the sticks REALLY WELL before venturing off any meaningful distance where the quad becomes a tiny X in the sky.

My $.02

PV - who is now stepping outside to fly!!!! :lol:
 
There is a training guide Maybe a bit off topic because i find it more easier for when it is nearby.

http://www.dji.com/download/phantom-2-vision-downloads/
Phantom 2 Vision Pilot Training Guide v1.0 2013-11-16

I followed the steps in the manual before the ioc was activated in the new firmware and i think it is very useful and happy i did some practicing.
So now and then i still fly without ioc in case something happens suddenly.
 

Members online

No members online now.

Forum statistics

Threads
143,066
Messages
1,467,358
Members
104,935
Latest member
Pauos31