Flight Controllers Help Lots Of It

[Peter John Robertson]

Hi Stamford, thanks for the tips. Funny you mention about hands shaking, well I can tell you mine are shaking without goggles on. The little beasts put the fear of god in me. Without the goggles on and everything I can think of in parameters as low as possible I can hover the things without too much trouble. It’s when I try moving forward I have trouble, to a certain degree at slow speed I can move forward, and now realise I have to add a bit of throttle to stop it hitting the planet, problem is with these things as soon as you apply what you think is a very small amount of stick the thing wants to get to the moon ASAP. That’s where I have been loosing it and earth bound she comes quicker then I can blink. Getting better I must admit as the days go on, having fun though and a good laugh at myself. Tried out the angle mode today and that did seem to help as I managed a couple of 50mtr runs forward and backward. When I say backward that is reverse as haven’t had the courage yet to turn her round and come back forward. Lost signal a few times today and lucky the failsafe kicked in as she just fell out of the sky. Found when I got back home the ground wire from the receiver had come more or less away. Must of happened on one of the crashes. Love repairing them, keeps me from talking to the wife ha!

 

[Stambo]

In the Betaflight configurator you have the option for adding expo to the throttle which gives you softer throttle response around mid stick.
I think you can also limit your max throttle, that will soften it even more.
Flying a quad line of sight is hard, you have very little to judge your orientation.
Much easier with the goggles on, put them on and just do it.
Those are a couple of powerful little beasties you have there.
Kinda like never having ridden a motorcycle and jumping on a 1000cc beast to learn.

 

[Peter John Robertson]

Think you are right don the goggles, and try and keep my eyes open, have been taking the goggles with me every time and I turn them on to see if I see a picture and I always do. I shall go into betaflight and do as you suggest. Stand by for the next episode of the “Red Baron hits the dirt again”.

 

[Tony]

Kinda like never having ridden a motorcycle and jumping on a 1000cc beast to learn.

Well, I didn't jump on a liter bike, but my first time riding a motor cycle was right after I purchased it from the dealership. Signed for it and said "okay, now teach me how to ride it...". His jaw dropped and he said "you don't need this bike, I will tear up the paperwork". Hell no, I was going to learn or die trying. And what was my first bike? A 2004 Yamaha R6 LE. Verified 168mph bike lmao. Don't sit up going that fast, found that out the hard way hahaha.

 

[Peter John Robertson]

Good man. Reminds me of trying out parachuting, forgot the chute!!!!

 

[Stambo]

Think you are right don the goggles, and try and keep my eyes open, have been taking the goggles with me every time and I turn them on to see if I see a picture and I always do. I shall go into betaflight and do as you suggest. Stand by for the next episode of the “Red Baron hits the dirt again”.

Set up a camera, we love video.

 

[Grant Ridgley]

G'day Peter
Nice to see another older bugger having a go at this FPV racing stuff. I am a real newby at this, and a bit like you, jump in the deep end. I had a real chuckle hearing about your adventures with these little beasts. It is almost a replica of my friend Mike and I trying to fly them. We have short and long grass in our yard - we try to crash into the long grass but hit the short stuff nearly every time. Lucky these things are fairly resilient. We also have been learning to hover with a sort of success for a few minutes then all hell breaks loose. They can certainly head up at a great rate of knots. My first effort saw the quad shoot up above the 70 foot wall of hoop pines behind the house and start heading off out of sight. Luckily I cut the motors (came down like a brick) and it happened to land in some long grass. The highest we go now is probably about 30 feet. Can't see the little devils once they get much higher than that, and we have a job orientating the direction the quad goes in once it turns anywhere but away from us. We have not been game to don the goggles yet, but from all reports it sounds like we need to bite the bullet and have a go.
No matter what, this game is a real buzz. We are having a lot of fun already.
Good luck mate. Looking forward to hearing more of your adventures.
cheers
Grant

 

[Tony]

Most of the people on here are 40+ and trying to get back into what they were into when they were kids. Most are also blown away by just how far technology has advanced and how easy things are now once they do get a hang of flying them.

And the quads are awesome to start with. Most crashes you just need to stick a new prop or two on them. If you REALLY put them in, you may need to replace an arm.

 

[Stambo]

Grant, what version of betaflight are you using, if your flight controller will allow you to install BF4 then you have access to acro trainer mode.
Big thing I take from your post is you are trying to hover, believe it or not this is actually one of the more difficult things to do with a small quad until you've had some decent stick time.
Get those goggles on, just do it.
I would suggest your first few flights with the goggles on be done in angle (self level) mode.
Make sure it hovers reasonably well in self level mode, if not we can help you get there.
It will not sit dead still but at least it should return to level and not drift too fast in any direction.
Biggest tip I can give a beginner for FPV is keep going forwards, slowly, but forwards.
You can only avoid what you can see, and you can only see what's in front of you.
Don't try to hover with the goggles on.
Pick a big open area, and don't go too far away.
VERY IMPORTANT, HAVE A SPOTTER.
They can tell you where you crashed, I can almost guarantee you will.
They can also tell you if people are coming in to your flying area and where they are.
Lastly I will repeat myself here, KEEP FLYING FORWARDS, and have fun.

 

[D.O.G.]

+1 on what Stambo said. Just to be on the safe side too, I would highly recommend installing a beeper. Even with a spotter, you will get close to your quad but the beeper will direct you to your quad exactly. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Grant Ridgley]

G'day Guys
Peter , sorry to invade your thread.
Thanks Tony, I feel 65 years young now.
Thanks Stambo and Keith for your flying advice. Will have a go with the goggles when the wind settles, hopefully in the next day or two. Will relay the adventure when it happens!!!
Stambo, where in Whangarei do you live. I am originally from Kamo, and come back regularly from Aussie to help a mate at Poroti pick his avocado crop. Will be back in October this year. Would you be interested in catching up face to face by any chance?

cheers

Grant

 

[Stambo]

Wow, small world, I am out at Portland on a small block of land.
Yeah why not, maybe we can do a bit of flying or whatever.

 

[Grant Ridgley]

G'day Stambo
Rather than tie up Peter's thread, is there a means we can chat via the forum but not on a thread. I have not checked out all the ins and outs of it all as yet sorry. Otherwise, my email address is grant.ridgley@gmail.com
cheers
Grant