quadcopter for practice

[ududidj]

Another vote for Hubsan! I love my Hubsan X4 for indoor use (and outdoors if it's calm). I bought 8 of them for Xmas and gave them to my relatives. It was absolutely a crazy scene with half a dozen flying around at once (no apparent radio cross talk either which I was surprised about).

For my own indoor enjoyment, I have the smallest X4 H107L, the H107C (has on-board camera recording to micro flash just for fun), the H107D FPV (currently broken awaiting to hear back from Hubsan) and a Blade Nano QX.

All of them are fun and can help you learn to fly the Phantom better. I am less keen on the Blade though for two reasons- 1) price point is quite a bit more expensive than the base model Hubsan (even after adding a prop guard) and 2) there is very little warning that the battery is drained- just a couple of seconds before it plummets to the floor/ground or wherever you are flying it. All of the Hubsan models provide ample warning time that it's time to land by flashing their LEDs. The H107D indicates battery life on the remote. That said, the Blade does have a certain smoothness to the control algorithm compared to the Hubsan.

 

[PhantomFan]

I think the simulator for the Phantom (Heli-X) is more cost effective... and you aren't looking for props that sprang off when you collided with the house plants. ;-} I credit stick time in this simulator with saving my phantom during an especially windy flight.

All the above are harder than the real Phantom but that is what you want.

LadyKate: I use RealFlight 7 as a simulator, and I'm not at all impressed with the limited quadcopters available to fly. I have the proprietary Realflight USB connector from my Futaba to the computer. Can I use THAT USB connection, or do I need to buy/build some other to work specifically with Heli-X?

FWIW, I don't even own a Phantom anymore. Been flying my own scratch-built quads using a KK2.1 flight control board. it has no GPS or other stabilization, so you must be a competent pilot. I can fly pretty well in the acrobatic mode, but I'd prefer to crash a simulated quad instead of one of my precious v-tails or other quadcopter creations when it comes to attempting rolls, flips and loops!

Thanks!

PF

 

[Ozon8r]

Love my hubsan x4 h107l as much as my p2. Highly recommend learning to fly the hubsan b4 tackling the phantom. But comparatively speaking the phantom rates a 2 on ease of control and operation on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being difficult. And the hubsan is a 6 in my opinion.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[PhantomFan]

Tried Heli-X, the 64 bit version...it loaded the Realflight controller driver and recognized it, but there was no response from the program to my attempt at calibrating the sticks. Nothing in the program moved, although the program was running (apparently) nominally. A default helicopter loaded and the rotors were spinning, but there was no response to the sticks. None.

From what I could see, the graphics are not nearly as good as Realflight 7. I was not tempted to look into this further. I have a "+" configured quad and a Gaui quadcopter to fly in Realflight. I've tweaked the EDIT function on both so they fly close to the real thing, so I guess I'll just satisfy myself with that.

Maybe the 32 bit version would work better...but my state of the art gaming computer and over-the-top graphics card ought to handle the 64 bit version with ease.

My impression: Meh. Not worth the trouble.

PF

 

[F6Rider]

Having never flown a RC aircraft of any type I found the P2V very easy to fly in Phantom mode, and after several hours switched to NAVI-M for a more 'Hands on' approach. So far so good, just keeping a close eye on the S1 & S2 switch positions. The fact that I am a retired (for a long time) Army Helicopter Crew chief and Tech Inspector has a lot to do with it I am sure.

 

[PhantomFan]

I've sold my Phantom, as it did not suit my temperament as a hopeless pattern plane flier. If I'm not yanking something across the sky at high speed, (more likely than not, low and inverted) I'm not a happy camper. Unfortunately, I learned to fly planes first. I'm having a bit of difficulty letting go of the routine of certain maneuvers which do not carry over AT ALL to quadcopter flying.

Given your background I'm sure you're aware, merely performing a simple coordinated turn is completely different. Sure, aileron and rudder are required (that part remains the same) but instead of elevator, ya gotta tweak the throttle to "pull" up. Frankly, flying pattern you could pretty much ignore rudder, unless you needed to compensate for wind going through the maneuver...

Anyway, I'm slowly getting the hang of it. I'm doing decent loops and rolls with quads, but my flips are still sloppy as hell. With all the $hit weather we're having, I'm stuck in the workshop building, and not getting much stick time except with RealFlight 7 and my Syma X-1 when I'm desperate for amusement. :evil:

PF

 

[Buster2]

I was an AH-1 Crew Chief and I had longed for the oportunity to do what the Phantom does so easily. I had spent a lot of money and time trying to learn and became frustrated.

GPS is such an advantage coupled with FPV......it's not just RC, it's Flying!

I enjoyed the P2V so much that I craved more than it had to offer so I took the P2 GP plunge! I should have it all together and ready for my maiden flight soon!

Here is a P2V pic it took a couple of weeks ago!

That tiny dot to the left of the middle of the pic is me!

Here's another one of my favorites!

 

[pault]

Just got a Hubsan X4 and it makes you realise just how easy the PV2 is to fly. It really is a lively little thing

 

[pez63]

Buster, very nice pictures but I am amazed that this flight didn't get you in trouble...

 

[PhantomFan]

I'm surprised the IMAGES didn't get him in trouble. If you were caught taking pictures or movies near a bridge, building or subway in New York you would be arrested in a heartbeat at the very least. If you were a complete *** about it the Feds would probably shoot you dead.

PF

 

[chopperflyer]

In the UK we have quite a few people that fly small indoor quad's and some have a built in camera's. During the winter month's the BMFA, which is the same as the AMA hold flying at local sport's centre's or hall's that can hold the space. This is a mixture of flying with other pilot's that have fixed wing and helicopter's, each person has to have insurance before they can fly for safety reasons. With the weather how it is now it is somewhere to go out of the way. Perhaps over in the State's a band of people may like to try this, I know you get better help with the model flying sport than we do over here. We cannot fly big model's as they produce quite a large downdraft in a confined space, I found that out when I flew my 450 at a meeting, anyway may be an idea for the winter as not much flying is going on now.

 

[CaptainChet]

A short video of my learning to fly the Hubsan X4. This is after about 25 or so flights and I think I'm finally getting this little beast under control. Had no idea how tough this is. This is flying in ground effect (fun) and the camera is about 2 inches off the floor. Not sure how I'm doing so far Next goal is to not crash instantly the minute I lose orientation. Feedback greatly appreciated. I will order a Phantom2 once I feel I have this under some decent control!

http://youtu.be/THTe9pnS0lk

[youtube]http://youtu.be/THTe9pnS0lk[/youtube]

 

[Airfix]

Hi Cap, don't let your skills with the x4 dictate whether you feel ready to fly a phantom.
The x4 is a great little trainer for orientation, and when the weather is against you but needs constant hands on sticks.
The phantoms on the other hand are so well stabilised that, (most of the time) if you feel out of your comfort zone you can
simply release all controls and it will "just" hover in place, allowing you to gather your wits and collect your thoughts for the next manoeuvre.
Try that with the X4 and you'll never believe you'll be good enough

Tim.

 

[Pull_Up]

That's true. If you've managed to get even a basic handle on controlling the X4 then moving to a Phantom (especially in GPS mode) will make you feel like you've hardly got any work to do at all - as Airfix says, just let go of everything and it will sit where you left it in the sky like an obedient aerial puppy.

Just with less propensity for peeing all over the house.

It also comes in very handy when you're well into your second or third week of being grounded by winds or rain or plagues of locusts or whatever - a little X4 time can stave off the flying twitches for a bit.

 

[TomBro]

I read somewhere that a Blade QX Nano was a good trainer and then heard the advice repeated by the owner of a nice little hobby shop in Stonington Conn. It was already being delivered from Amazon so I picked up some extra batteries (I now have 5) and started practicing regularly; indoors at first and then out. I've even had some success in breezes (keep in mind this thing only weighs in at fractions of an ounce). Early on I smacked it into the side of a house and cracked the frame which held together for a few more flights with the help of some glue and tape. The aforementioned shop had a replacement in stock for about $7 and so far I've avoided further damage.
All of this of course let up to finally working up enough gumption to fly my Phantom 1 for the first time. That happened yesterday and it was a blast. Second flight occurred earlier today and I know my Blade practice is paying me back dividends. I've got 2 more batteries being shipped and so far so good.
Thank goodness for this site otherwise the thing would still be sitting in it's box.
Tom

 

[TomBro]

Since posting about my Blade Nano experience and getting over my first Phantom flight inertia the poor Nano has sat alone and unloved like a red-headed step-child. If I had a large great room I'd love to fly it around the house but I'm not going to go buy a new home to make that happen. I enjoyed flying it out-of-doors on light air days but now that I've got spare batteries for my Phantom that's just not going to happen either. So if anyone's looking for a nice little used trainer take a look on Ebay in the next 48 hours or so. I have the spare batteries and a spare frame listed separatly. Ebay seller id is gromit7

 

[Buster2]

Buster, very nice pictures but I am amazed that this flight didn't get you in trouble...

I've flown over the Midway several times, always being careful not to get too close and respect the environment. The sea lions were cool and the local Lifeguads didn't give me any flack what so ever. I even spoke with them about the dive conditions (was tempted to do some Scuba on that visit too).

This is a Pic from my last trip to the Midway.