I took my Phantom 2 Vision to the inaugural GRITS "Winternationals" regional rocket launch this weekend in Southern Georgia. The weather didn't cooperate and turned the three-day event into a one-day launch. But, the weather that one good day wasn't bad and I was able to fly the 'copter many times.
Because the event was compressed into one day, the rockets were launched quicker than normal. As soon as one set of launch pads was full of rockets ready to fly, they were launched as rockets were set up on other pads. Even though I had two batteries charging while I used a third, it made it harder for me to ensure that the Vision was in the air for some of the launches. For example, I missed capturing the launch of a massive 1/2 scale V-2 which flew on a cluster of three motors - one O and two Ms - as I had to land to change the battery.
It's going to take me a while to process and edit the video, but I've posted still photos at:
http://www.rocketreviews.com/grits-wint ... -2014.html
Here's an example:
The organizers of the event have used the above photo on the home page of their web site (http://www.gritslaunch.com/).
For some reason, I forgot to set the camera to the mode where it captures multiple frames each time you trigger the shutter. So, I missed some shots that I might have captured otherwise. And, I captured video most of the time, so I don't have a large number of stills to show.
The helicopter attracted some attention. I thought it was most cool that the land owner had read about multirotors and talked with me about how they could be used on his farm.
The 'copter even shows up in photos that others took at the event (see: http://berrien.smugmug.com/GRITS-Georgi ... -3zrWrwv/A for an example).
The ground was muddy and covered by cut-off cotton plants, so I I landed and took off from the lid of a plastic storage box. I landed more than a dozen times and only tipped the 'copter over once.
I flew farther away than I have before. I didn't fly any higher than before (though we had a 22,000' waiver <grin>) because I didn't think I needed to and the winds were more gusty at altitude.
I only had the camera signal drop a couple of times and was able to recover it by yawing the 'copter. The control signal dropped a couple of times. By now, I knew I could adjust the antenna and get control back. Only once did I lose the signal long enough for it to trigger the RTH function. I was able to reacquire control quickly though.
I used Home Lock a couple of times to bring the P2V back to me. This was the first time I had really tried an IOC mode. I used it a couple of times when I lost sight of the P2V in the distance. I switched to home lock and pulled the right stick down and was able to spot the aircraft as it moved closer. I also used Home Lock a couple of times while landing, though I prefer the normal Vision mode.
Once again, I was impressed by the P2V. It's a great toy and I had multiple barrels-of-monkeys fun flying it. Maybe more fun than before because I'm getting more confident and capable.
-- Roger
Because the event was compressed into one day, the rockets were launched quicker than normal. As soon as one set of launch pads was full of rockets ready to fly, they were launched as rockets were set up on other pads. Even though I had two batteries charging while I used a third, it made it harder for me to ensure that the Vision was in the air for some of the launches. For example, I missed capturing the launch of a massive 1/2 scale V-2 which flew on a cluster of three motors - one O and two Ms - as I had to land to change the battery.
It's going to take me a while to process and edit the video, but I've posted still photos at:
http://www.rocketreviews.com/grits-wint ... -2014.html
Here's an example:
The organizers of the event have used the above photo on the home page of their web site (http://www.gritslaunch.com/).
For some reason, I forgot to set the camera to the mode where it captures multiple frames each time you trigger the shutter. So, I missed some shots that I might have captured otherwise. And, I captured video most of the time, so I don't have a large number of stills to show.
The helicopter attracted some attention. I thought it was most cool that the land owner had read about multirotors and talked with me about how they could be used on his farm.
The 'copter even shows up in photos that others took at the event (see: http://berrien.smugmug.com/GRITS-Georgi ... -3zrWrwv/A for an example).
The ground was muddy and covered by cut-off cotton plants, so I I landed and took off from the lid of a plastic storage box. I landed more than a dozen times and only tipped the 'copter over once.
I flew farther away than I have before. I didn't fly any higher than before (though we had a 22,000' waiver <grin>) because I didn't think I needed to and the winds were more gusty at altitude.
I only had the camera signal drop a couple of times and was able to recover it by yawing the 'copter. The control signal dropped a couple of times. By now, I knew I could adjust the antenna and get control back. Only once did I lose the signal long enough for it to trigger the RTH function. I was able to reacquire control quickly though.
I used Home Lock a couple of times to bring the P2V back to me. This was the first time I had really tried an IOC mode. I used it a couple of times when I lost sight of the P2V in the distance. I switched to home lock and pulled the right stick down and was able to spot the aircraft as it moved closer. I also used Home Lock a couple of times while landing, though I prefer the normal Vision mode.
Once again, I was impressed by the P2V. It's a great toy and I had multiple barrels-of-monkeys fun flying it. Maybe more fun than before because I'm getting more confident and capable.
-- Roger
