Rob's first real FPV flight.

Stambo

Well-Known Member
My friend Rob and I have been toying with FPV for a while now but where I have the room to get out and just do it, he has a smallish yard that does not allow for any sort of freedom.
We both started at around the same time but things have conspired to keep him grounded.
First setback was with a Naza controlled quad.
It was flying quite well, RTH was doing what it should, what could go wrong.
Famous last words.
About a minute in to the flight, I was spotting he was FPV piloting, things went wrong.
The quad decided to head for China. The infamous Naza flyaway.
Nothing he did made the slightest difference.
RTH ineffective.
Finally in desperation he shut down the transmitter hoping failsafe would take over and bring it home.
It just kept going, we feared never to be seen again.
We headed off over farm land in the general direction it was last seen, meeting and talking to people on the way.
We found a couple of kids that said they had seen it head "that way".
We carried on looking, Rob hopped in his vehicle and drove around the roads in the direction we saw it heading.
Finally a beep from the Frsky module indicated that it was within RSSI range.
He picked me up and we carried on looking.
We were getting video flashes so new it had to be close.
Holding the transmitter close to his body and rotating until the signal was totally gone meant it was behind him.
Finally 2km away from where it took off, in amongst some trees we found a battered and broken quad.
To be continued. :)
 
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Lee

Well-Known Member
Lucky you found it.
Can you not just put those things into manual mode and crash it to stop it flying away?
 

Stambo

Well-Known Member
Part 2 :)
Rob's second FPV attempt was with micro gear on a V212.
Video was acceptable, we have both been throwing these quads around for a while so he gave it a go.
We figured over grassy farm land with the little V212, a crash would not be an issue.
At less than 100m away and 10m up he lost control of it and it just fell out of the sky.
We tried again with a new battery with the same result.
My V959 can get way beyond that with the stock TX so it has us baffled.
Rob's confidence has taken a huge hammering by now and he seems to have lost some motivation.

A few weeks later I crashed my KK2 controlled 500 size quad after which my confidence took a hit also.
I have been watching Bruce Simpson (Xjet) and his MiniQuads with interest and I finally ordered a mini and a Naze32.
Rob has also got hold of a HK mini FPV quad.
When my MiniQuad arrived, I assembled and test flew it and could not believe how stable it was with default settings on the Naze32.
I attached FPV gear and went out and just did it.
At this stage I am raving to Rob about how good this thing is.
Meanwhile I have started posting videos and I see a spark of motivation returning.

On Sunday we had arranged an early fly but by the time we got organised the wind had come up enough that he was not confident.
We decided to drive around the City and scout potential flying sites.
We found a few but it was still too windy for him.
I managed to get in a few flights and watching from the monitor made him even more keen.

Monday after work he came out to my place and finally did it.
Two tentative flights but by the end of the second one the smile on his face and excitement in his voice was priceless.
He is now good and proper hooked. :)

Today after work we go again, hopefully with his confidence growing it will not be too long before we are playing FPV follow the leader.
That opens up some whole new possibilities. :)

- - - Updated - - -

Lucky you found it.
Can you not just put those things into manual mode and crash it to stop it flying away?

Nope, it just ignored anything from the TX and carried on it's merry way.
 
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