Top Speed Demands Experience

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Back on the 10th of November just before the recent cold weather set in we had some days with favorable wind. During this time I was able to manage to manipulate the wind long enough to make a decent Flytrex Top Speed flight pass. I had been logging the amount of time in between each of the biggest wind gust. This was taking place about every 30 minutes. Something else I discovered with the wind during this time was, the wind was coming straight from the south. But, the hard wind gust would come from the southeast. I still stayed with the southern wind for the flight passes I made. Also, it is next to impossible to return to starting point with winds that are 20mph+. When in either Phantom or ATTI Mode the quad will eventually start dropping altitude in attempt to fly with wind resistance. It wont stop going downward until you lift from trying to fly forward.

I'm now 9th overall out of 2002 other flytrex pilots from around the world. The 1st place guy's speed is 85.29mph. He uses a inbred type quad the kind with no bodywork. He shows it has something to do with TBS Discovery. And his graph looks really strange in the speed part. It looks like a short spike as if he throws it from a mountain top. My speed graph is long with a gradual climb to peak, which makes sense.


Flight Stats:
MPH - 77.45
Altitude - 274ft
Temp - 63.2
Hum - 51%
Bar - 29.61
Battery - 81%
Satellites - 7
* Altitude Start - 272ft
* Altitude Middle - 289ft
*Altitude Finish - 275ft

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOM7xxhR9FQ[/youtube]
 
My Disco crahed and burned last week....parts are on backorder but I don't believe I've gotten much over half that speed ....I'll try her out again when she's ready to fly....

Good job representin'....
 
Come to southeast TEXAS in April and May, you will improve your top speeds, consistent winds in the 20's with gusts in the 30's at ground level. Likely much higher at altitude. I hate it it's REALLY annoying lol.
 
So speed is dependant on weather conditions and gravity boosting?

Congrtats but sounds a bit 'hollow' with luck and location playing a role.

Why not average in both directions much like other speed records are judged by?

Please, no offense, just asking.
 
Come to Hawaii. 15-20mph trade winds 365 days a year.

Or just head down to Florida and wait for the next Cat 4 hurricane. Go fly in that. It'll be a one time shot, but you'll probably get that #1 position. :lol:
 
N017RW said:
Why not average in both directions much like other speed records are judged by?

Well in my LIMITED experience, all Phantoms would about the same if you did that.

I am not a speed chaser at all but am on the board in the 60s without trying. ATTI mode and wind.

With me my speed seems limited by DJI pitch and tail wind. I think I read Frank say that wind is counter productive so he is obviously doing something I am not.
 
rrmccabe said:
N017RW said:
Why not average in both directions much like other speed records are judged by?

Well in my LIMITED experience, all Phantoms would about the same if you did that.

I am not a speed chaser at all but am on the board in the 60s without trying. ATTI mode and wind.

With me my speed seems limited by DJI pitch and tail wind. I think I read Frank say that wind is counter productive so he is obviously doing something I am not.


Right. I think you made my point.
 
Absolutely. A wind gust is required to achieve speed. In this case it was exactly 21mph. Flytrex software reads the data from the flight logger and automatically adjust your account and updates your position. Only a few of the stats I listed are from the flight logger. I have a nice weather station which is where I took that info from. You most likely wont see anyone else post it in that manner. So I only posted the pass itself. To me the rest would have been boring to most viewers. It's strange that even when the wind is violent, it doesn't look like it in your video. You rarely see the trees moving. If there was actual audio to it, it would be a completely different. I live near the top of a large area that is 100ft lower elevation. And a lot of times the wind swirls around in this area as if it was in a bowl. There is a road that comes up out of it that travels not far from my house. And at times the wind I mentioned rolls up that road and the sound is just like a train. The trees along that road are nearly folded in half at times. It the video I'm actually hovering above this road, and the area is to the left. Only thing is, you can't tell the area is lower, or even that the road coming up out of it is elevated around 36 degree's.
 
GoodnNuff said:
I'm picturing a giant Phantom Cannon or giant Sling Shot - that will give my phantom the boost it needs!
:cool:

That reminds me when I said that I would let my quad hover in the back of my Tahoe while I drove 120+mph down the highway. :lol:
 
brorex said:
Nice flight Frank I need the winds to come back up around here I was 2nd overall. And have fallen to 4th with 79.52 mph. Video is up on flytrex page if anyone is interested

http://www.flytrex.com/mission/quadcopt ... rex-65583/

Yeah I saw you on the list. I would be a few more closer if I used the speed my other flight logger recorded. It records every 200 milliseconds which makes it more accurate.
 
flyNfrank said:
brorex said:
Nice flight Frank I need the winds to come back up around here I was 2nd overall. And have fallen to 4th with 79.52 mph. Video is up on flytrex page if anyone is interested

http://www.flytrex.com/mission/quadcopt ... rex-65583/

Yeah I saw you on the list. I would be a few more closer if I used the speed my other flight logger recorded. It records every 200 milliseconds which makes it more accurate.

Which Tracker is that? Vision plus utility? Somebody needs to to get to about 86 so a phantom can be at #1. Good luck with your speed runs.
 
Sure is a gas making the runs though... I think I'm 10th or so on the overall list at 61mph-ish... I was setting up my vision plus on long runs up wind... Takes forever fighting the headwind to get 2000ft or so up wind from home point and maybe 3 or 4 hundred feet altitude... Then flip to ATTI mode and rush the home point full blast... WHHOOOOOOSSHHHHH!!!! ... Comes back home like a rocket and the sound of the quad going right over head at over 60mph is awesome to say the least...

But I don't do it too much... I think the wind riding makes me more nervous than the long ranger stuff we do :ugeek:
 
Yea 1/10th behind me Chuck !

Mine was not planned :) I am pretty sure the low battery warning makes them go faster
 
brorex said:
flyNfrank said:
brorex said:
Nice flight Frank I need the winds to come back up around here I was 2nd overall. And have fallen to 4th with 79.52 mph. Video is up on flytrex page if anyone is interested

http://www.flytrex.com/mission/quadcopt ... rex-65583/

Yeah I saw you on the list. I would be a few more closer if I used the speed my other flight logger recorded. It records every 200 milliseconds which makes it more accurate.

Which Tracker is that? Vision plus utility? Somebody needs to to get to about 86 so a phantom can be at #1. Good luck with your speed runs.

Yes, V+UP.

The new upgraded vPlus parts are going to be a big help all in the right area for all Top Speed Flights. I don't know if you looked at my data close or not, but in the front half it went from 272ft, then in the middle 289ft, and then finished at 275ft for the pass. That characteristic might be what it takes in order for the quad to build speed the way it does?
I have also noticed flimsy props rob a lot of torque.
 
rrmccabe said:
Yea 1/10th behind me Chuck !

Mine was not planned :) I am pretty sure the low battery warning makes them go faster

I don't know what the facts are for the batteries with the current software, but you are right rrmccabe on the older setup. When I climbed to 44kft I made the mistake of hovering at that altitude for a couple of minutes out of habit. So after about 3 minutes of descending and trying to run the numbers in my mind while building up a burst of anxiety. As is it continued I kept saying to myself it's not going to make it. At 2kft the battery was at 5% and I was feeling sick. At 1500ft I noticed it jumped to a 15mph descent rate! At the time I thought it might have rand the battery down to a survival point and was in some kind of free fall. It showed 15mph on the telemetry but it looked like 30mph on the monitor. At 1000ft it went back to 4.5mph until 800ft and then one more 15mph burst to around 350ft returning to normal. From that point only the option with the controller was down. After landing it showed 2% on the telemetry reading.

It had been a long time since I had remembered when we actually was able to descend at that speed. I do remember it being about two weeks after the Vision Plus came out that dji changed due to so many new pilots crashing and breaking gimbals.

Now for a professional pilot I call it unsafe to descend at that rate of descent. They adjust power settings based on the number of flights. No reason they can't do the same for descending. At least allowing it to be 4ms/9mph opposed to the 2ms/4.5mph current setting. (if not, there might be another option)
 
flyNfrank said:
brorex said:
flyNfrank said:
brorex said:
Nice flight Frank I need the winds to come back up around here I was 2nd overall. And have fallen to 4th with 79.52 mph. Video is up on flytrex page if anyone is interested

http://www.flytrex.com/mission/quadcopt ... rex-65583/

Yeah I saw you on the list. I would be a few more closer if I used the speed my other flight logger recorded. It records every 200 milliseconds which makes it more accurate.

Which Tracker is that? Vision plus utility? Somebody needs to to get to about 86 so a phantom can be at #1. Good luck with your speed runs.

Yes, V+UP.

The new upgraded vPlus parts are going to be a big help all in the right area for all Top Speed Flights. I don't know if you looked at my data close or not, but in the front half it went from 272ft, then in the middle 289ft, and then finished at 275ft for the pass. That characteristic might be what it takes in order for the quad to build speed the way it does?
I have also noticed flimsy props rob a lot of torque.

Have you tried the 9450 props? That is what I use here in Colorado very little flex in those props. I ordered the new 2312 motors and esc boards yesterday off Amazon (paid more than I should of) they should be here this week. It was time to do some changes anyways my phantom just hasn't flown right for quite a while hope the upgrades help.
 
No I have tried those yet, but it is great to know that they are stiff in comparison to the older ones. I would much rather use those then carbon fiber. I have not taken the time yet to order the upgrade parts. I have though talk with a few dealers last week to see if they received those parts in their dji shipment.

My current vPlus is not that old. But I have put the motor through some hell. In a couple of instances I flew full throttle for 10-12 minutes non stop without lifting off the levers. But had I not done that I most likely would have lost my quad, or crashed it.

Just so we understand this a little better, they have our quads at a set limit. Basically meaning overall is that the prop rpm is locked. Or...the amount of resistance/volts feeding into the motors is limited. I wouldn't be surprised that the real magic is in the new ESC's. And it could be possible adding the new ESC's to the old motors. who knows?
 

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