Unintelligent Orientation Control

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How many of us are able to fly a craft back, position over a suitable spot and land all while in an orientation other than looking straight at the battery LEDs? I have personally tried to develop this skill starting with low cost quads up through my P3P and I honestly just can't do it effectively. I have crashed my P3P zero times but attempting to land camera facing me is the root cause of 100% of my near misses.

Edit: I need to clarify that this is LOS not FPV since most the time in Florida all I see on the screen when landing is the reflection of the sun.

Thanks
 
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It is certainly something that requires practice. Don't give up, keep practicing.
To answer your question though, I'd guess that most of us can fly with the camera facing any direction. You will be able to do it as well. Stick with it. I first learned with an RC car many years ago. Maybe you can try that just to get a better feel for controlling it when it is coming towards you. Good luck!
 
Weird, I almost always take off facing the batt lights but land with the camera facing me :D
 
Are you saying that you want to land while keeping camera focussed on your face?
 
Are you saying that you want to land while keeping camera focussed on your face?

Not so much that, it's more about being able to maintain flight control when the camera is pointed at the pilot. ie: pitch/roll controls are inverted etc.

Thanks
 
Get a mini/micro quad, like the Hubsan X4 ($35-40) and practice flying while facing you, with less risk to yourself and your wallet :D
 
It is certainly something that requires practice. Don't give up, keep practicing.
To answer your question though, I'd guess that most of us can fly with the camera facing any direction. You will be able to do it as well. Stick with it. I first learned with an RC car many years ago. Maybe you can try that just to get a better feel for controlling it when it is coming towards you. Good luck!

Thanks Oso, good point with the only exception that you don't have to worry about the car also having the capability to go sideways. :)
 
My lady is struggling with the same problem. It is a skill that comes over time with practice. Not sure why but to me it just seems natural. Perhaps a benefit of those countless hours playing Descent 2? It is easier to pick up on this spatial orientation with fixed-wings as the front of the aircraft is obvious & you can't pause & hover. At a distance it can be difficult to determine a Phantom's orientation visually. But it does come in time.

How many of us are able to fly a craft back, position over a suitable spot and land all while in an orientation other than looking straight at the battery LEDs? I have personally tried to develop this skill starting with low cost quads up through my P3P and I honestly just can't do it effectively. I have crashed my P3P zero times but attempting to land camera facing me is the root cause of 100% of my near misses.

Edit: I need to clarify that this is LOS not FPV since most the time in Florida all I see on the screen when landing is the reflection of the sun.

Thanks
 
You'll know your there when you can fly a cheap drone in any orientation and you know have to think about it. I wore out a udi 818 in hotel rooms while traveling. Now it's second nature. BTW, for me it wasn't when it's facing me that screwed everything up, it was moving sideways with drone pointing left or right that took some practice.


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots mobile app
 
Thanks Oso, good point with the only exception that you don't have to worry about the car also having the capability to go sideways. :)
Sure of course. I just thought that since you are struggling a bit and have already tried low cost quads, maybe a ground based vehicle can help get you comfortable first with controlling it coming towards you. That way you don't have to worry about sideways for now. Once you got that down, move on to the next step. Sort of like a incremental learning process. Just a thought. We're pulling for you!
 
My X5C has taught me well. I still crash in the house at times, but it's always a good learning experience.

When approaching for landing I have the Phantom point to me until 50' altitude or so, then hand catch with the nose pointed away. Having it pointed at you while descending isn't a bad idea to keep from CSC happening.
 
My distance vision isn't all it used to be and I often have times where I can't really tell the orientation of the Phantom, much less a little drone. I've gone to doing a very subtle 'test roll' to see which way the craft turns. Then I can decide which orientation it is in. Takes lots and lots of practice.
 
My distance vision isn't all it used to be and I often have times where I can't really tell the orientation of the Phantom, much less a little drone. I've gone to doing a very subtle 'test roll' to see which way the craft turns. Then I can decide which orientation it is in. Takes lots and lots of practice.
Use the radar on DJI app, it gives an excellent orientation.

Use of Goggles gives you an excellent control. I have been following road curves, ridges and beach lines very well. Left is left and right is right then :)
 
Orientation, is easy here, with the onboard LED diodes shining rather brightly. Sounds to me, for some, a flight school may be in order...?
One of them can be discovered here:
RC heli flight school v1.1 learning to fly 3D RC Helicopters |
Practice 1/2 hour a day and in 20,000 days you will be an expert.
Practice 1 hour every day, and in 10,000 days you too will be a star... Hahahaha yes, it's the same calendar for us muscled musicians...
Just think, all you need are your two thumbs, we need all ten fingers, and sometimes even twenty prodigious dexterous digits ain't enough.
That's why I won't ever be hand catching any of my electric craft.

I laugh at them daring guys who juggle chain saws & meat cleavers.
All it takes is one minute miscalculation, and zing... Oh bloody no!!

The onboard flying SIM is there for a simple reason. You need to start someplace. But I like my RealFlight, as it is the cheapest way to learn heli and fixed wing. And they have released a drone specific version, just for us. ;-) I am strongly considering it.
You can't go wrong when you do it right.

RedHotPoker
 
One word.... Practice. The first sticking point with RC Heli's is the nose in hover, and they are much less forgiving than a quad, especially a phantom.

Take off and fly out about 5m and just above eye level. Yaw around so the quad is directly facing you. Practice and get a good feel for keft and right, do the same for facing 90 deg away from you in both orientations and all andgles in between.

The next step is to fly figure 8 patterns, when you can perform a figure 8 with the nose leading you will be there.

Give yourself plenty of space and relax. If you loose orientation simply let go of the sticjs and settle into a hover.

You will get there. You will know when you are because you wont have to conciously think about the stick mivements.
 
Yup, practice makes perfect, just like with learning a new song...
Please correct those four horrendous or hilarious spelling mistakes, friend. Haha
Keft
Andgles
Sticjs
Mivements
Did you turn spell check off? ;-)
Ah, then again perhaps you are Swedish or Dutch? ;-)
image.png

Hahaha, like I'm the greatest speller.

RedHotPoker
 
Yup, practice makes perfect, just like with learning a new song...
Please correct those four horrendous or hilarious spelling mistakes, friend. Haha
Keft
Andgles
Sticjs
Mivements
Did you turn spell check off? ;-)
Ah, then again perhaps you are Swedish or Dutch? ;-)
View attachment 45313
Hahaha, like I'm the greatest speller.

RedHotPoker
You got the gist Mate Im guessing.

Typing with one thumb (had a bacon and egg roll in the other hand).
 
Ah, man, yeah, I've also got a hunger now too. Why did you have to go and mention food!! I was trying to hang on a couple more hours. Meeting a friend at Red Robin across the street. ;-)
Now a small snack may be in order. How was it??

RedHotPoker
 

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