Quadcopters - Learning the FPV thing.

Friday was a bit of an adventure. I had a visit with the powers that be, and after getting the all clear from the local judge, I was free to go out and play. As it turns out, so was SwitchElectrician.

SwitchElectrician came over, and we did some flying. He brought his X-Factor and his Diatone #29 / Flip 230.

We got some onboard video of his flights.  There's some good views above Northlake.  Keep in mind, it was really windy during these flights. 

I also got in a few FPV flights.  But only one with onboard video.

It got off the ground, one motor shut off, and it crashed.  No damage beyond having the 720p camera fly off.

He also  did some beauty shots of the quadcopters.  ...  We did do this wrong though.  The photo session was done AFTER we flew that afternoon. 

Since it's my blog, we'll start with my quad.  Here's my X-Factor: 

And the backside. 

 And here are the group photos. 

They're a pretty good looking group of quadcopters. 

Flying FPV is a strange experience.  I can fly a flight simulator without any problem. But the sound matches what I'm seeing.  When flying FPV, the sound of the quadcopter feels louder.  These 250 quads are powerful, and loud.  And can hurt.  Being under the hood makes that whole equation seem a lot more scary. 

Also, SwitchElectrician and I were flying at a big field.  With almost no frame of reference.  It felt very lonely and scary flying in that field. 

When I went to fly on Sunday, I chose to fly in my back yard.  I broke a few more props, but I had a much better time, as I had a frame of reference to work with.

Until next time....