Maiden Flight

[Matt101]

Removed by OP 

[Biffa]

That would have made an interesting Christmas for someone had it dropped into their garden

[Opto-Mystic]

Well done Matt. Huge congratulations on joining the ranks of UAV Pilot!

[fruitsalad]

well done and nice vid.....but think safety..
what would of happened if that had malfunctioned and fell into that road......

[robshaw]

Blimey. You went higher and further on your maiden than I have in over a year of flying. ;-) Nice footage though, albeit a tad risky/ballsy for a maiden. You seem well in control.

[Hands0n]

Nicely done Matt - interesting viewing.  Got some kahunas there fella    I don';t think I exceeded 12ft height and no further than I could run to on my FPV maiden 

Time now to find a nice safe location to do that in, to save the hassle that can arise if things go a bit pear shaped.

[Jake Bullit]

Not an ideal flying location, let alone an FPV maiden.

[Matt101]

I know I shouldn';t really have done it there guys but with family round and no light at the end of the tunnel I had to have a go. I will be going further afield from now on though.

New toy madness and all that!

[dp106]

I think this is the problem with the phantom it gives people too much confidence the craft is just going to work and not fall out of the sky.

My last crash was down to a prop snapping mid flight, completely random and nothing I could have done to avoid it.

Please take heed of the other comments. Who knows where you would have ended up if you';d had a problem at that height.

[Hands0n]

Thats the thing, innit?  RTF, ARTF, BYO, Scratch Built, it doesn';t matter which. If we fly these things they will from time to time fall out of the sky for one reason or another. The smart ones will occasionally fly away for reasons best known to themselves.

Knowing that doesn';t stop us flying them though.    Just we have got to be aware of the rules (ie. the ANO) and conventions.

[Cloudbuster]

Mmmmm nice vid but could so easily been a disaster !!! This is the problem with DJI stuff ,it put a massive false sense of security in your hands !!! A simple prop failure here would have spelt utter disaster. Its clear from your video that you are none to far from lots of open ground that you can practice on. The one thing i have learnt from this hobby so far is dont under any circumstances take any risks. If you screw up it could not only cost you dearly but it could also cost someone else !!!! Now go and enjoy your new toy ...

All the best rob 

[Biffa]

It';s not even about the rules if I am honest. All I think when I fly anything is "What happens if?"

Because I have a family and property of my own I think how I would feel if 1.5 kilos of wirling props dumped in on top of them.

Anything  can go wrong. Inexperience, mechanical failure, set up act of God.

I still fail why some one with no experience or insurance would risk such a thing...

[Amorgos]

Mmmmm nice vid but could so easily been a disaster !!! This is the problem with DJI stuff ,it put a massive false sense of security in your hands !!! A simple prop failure here would have spelt utter disaster. Its clear from your video that you are none to far from lots of open ground that you can practice on.

To be fair though, a prop failure is disaster with anyone flying anything though. But yes I can imagine that the Phantom ads a false sense of security. I';ve not flown one myself but apparently they are very easy to fly.

[Cloudbuster]

To be fair though, a prop failure is disaster with anyone flying anything though. But yes I can imagine that the Phantom ads a false sense of security. I';ve not flown one myself but apparently they are very easy to fly.

I have been flying a hex with a naza V2 for the last few days and i would happily allow my grandmother to fly it in GPS mode. I take my hat off to the guys at DJI for bringing it to the masses but sometimes making something to easy also removes any respect for danger !!! 2kilo,s of anything falling from a 100 ft will kill someone !!!! It will only take a moment of stupidity to end all our fun. Remember what happened to our gun laws. Now the only people that have them are the criminals !!!

Regards rob

[Amorgos]

I have been flying a hex with a naza V2 for the last few days and i would happily allow my grandmother to fly it in GPS mode. I take my hat off to the guys at DJI for bringing it to the masses but sometimes making something to easy also removes any respect for danger !!! 2kilo,s of anything falling from a 100 ft will kill someone !!!! It will only take a moment of stupidity to end all our fun. Remember what happened to our gun laws. Now the only people that have them are the criminals !!!

Regards rob

Put stupidity aside for a sec as it doesn';t even take stupidity! Even if you';re a very experienced pilot that is doing everything well... If you';re flying even an octacopter 50m above someone and a motor fails then the Naza won';t help you from hitting them on the head! It';ll just tumble. Correct me if I';m wrong, but as far as I can see the Naza software just can';t handle a motor/prop failure when a flying configuration has been specified.

Although I would guess that they';ll probably be investing man hours in the future to handle prop failure as it';s an attractive feature.

[Cloudbuster]

Put stupidity aside for a sec as it doesn';t even take stupidity! Even if you';re a very experienced pilot that is doing everything well... If you';re flying even an octacopter 50m above someone and a motor fails then the Naza won';t help you from hitting them on the head! It';ll just tumble. Correct me if I';m wrong, but as far as I can see the Naza software just can';t handle a motor/prop failure when a flying configuration has been specified.

Although I would guess that they';ll probably be investing man hours in the future to handle prop failure as it';s an attractive feature.

Not so my friend ,the naza is quite capable of surviving a motor failure in hex or octo format

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CKZ67y0Ja08

[Amorgos]

Not so my friend ,the naza is quite capable of surviving a motor failure in hex or octo format

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CKZ67y0Ja08

Cool. That test was when a prop was removed before takeoff. I';d like to see what happens when something fails in the air. :-)

[dp106]

Matt hope you won';t be discouraged about posting again, have fun with the phantom

[Hands0n]

Cool. That test was when a prop was removed before takeoff. I';d like to see what happens when something fails in the air. :-)

Ali Shimano (YouTube) has demonstrated a DJ550 (hex) where he set a single motor to fail on a switch. Got the aircraft airborne, flew around, and then failed the motor. It wobbled like a fat bird at a disco but remained in relative control at all times which allowed him to land it. 

That said, there are plenty of  YouTube videos of DJ550 crashing because of single prop/motor failure.  So I suppose an element of pilot control and remaining flyability combine to allow recovery if the pilot is quick enough and able.

TED talks show software compensating for individual and multiple propeller/motor loss on quads.  The remainder of the flight is inelegant, but it is under relative control and safe landing (even flying) is possible.

[Hands0n]

Matt hope you won';t be discouraged about posting again, have fun with the phantom

@Matt - ditto that.        Given that was your first flight FPV we';re looking forward to seeing you out in your own element.  Bit of a natural by the look of things. 

[richardg6paj]

If you';re flying even an octacopter 50m above someone and a motor fails then the Naza won';t help you from hitting them on the head!

I wonder what the odds are of hitting someone on the head with a falling Multi Rotor!
As much chance of winning the lottery? 

Richard

[Biffa]

Matt hope you won';t be discouraged about posting again, have fun with the phantom

Indeed

I have no wish to discourage the OP or anyone from posting, but I have to be honest it does annoy me seeing anyone flying around and over built up areas. It';s even more annoying when people just shrug it off and don';t even acknowledge the fact that they are potentially putting others at risk

As a group the more we can do to discourage dangerous and risky stuff then we all will be better off in the long run.

[dp106]

Indeed

I have no wish to discourage the OP or anyone from posting, but I have to be honest it does annoy me seeing anyone flying around and over built up areas. It';s even more annoying when people just shrug it off and don';t even acknowledge the fact that they are potentially putting others at risk

As a group the more we can do to discourage dangerous and risky stuff then we all will be better off in the long run.

100% agree, I just hope Matt hasn';t left the forum already as it looks like he';s removed the video. Not sure what the answer is but we need to be able to educate new pilots but not alienate them. If we scare people away we can';t influence their future choices. Maybe a best practice / safe flying guide?

[robshaw]

Ditto ditto and ditto on that Matt. I hope the odd negative comment hasn';t offended you. I think most of us have had similar comments when we first got going. I';m with HandsOn about the fact you look a natural. If you look back at some of my posts I proudly posted a video of my quad falling out the sky from about 300ft and landing in a grave yard. I was flying in a massive open space. But still I could have ended up in a road/house/garden/car/head.  12months down the road and I still haven';t got my bottle back. It';s spoilt my flying pleasure tbh. I have fatsharks collecting dust and I rarely fly further than 50ft away from me now. Hopefully my bottle/confidence will come back one day. I think most of us are hopefully trying to avert the "learn by your mistakes"  and instead "learn by our mistakes"

[DarkButterfly]

It';s a cool video, nice view 

To echo others in terms of safety, well something "could" have gone wrong, but didn';t.
To put it another way, I remember back to my motorcycle days and when I was learning to ride, I had a close call and nearly came off, when my instructor and I got back to the yard I said to him that I nearly came off and he said "but you didn';t, you made it in one piece".

What that experience taught me was, if you worry about the ';what ifs'; too much one wouldn';t be doing or flying anything at all.

Okay the flying location wasn';t ideal, but nobody got hurt and the aircraft got down safely and in control, well done Matt for a good maiden flight. 

[Matt101]

I haven';t left guys. And I';m taking on board everything being said. As for the maiden flight I thought I did well. I have had a dabble with friends planks and they said the eye-hand co-ordination was good. Too many hours battling my son on Xbox! 

I took down the video as it was causing such an outburst I thought as a newbie it would be for the best. I';ll post another  when this bliddy weather breaks!!

Thanks all for the comments 

[Hands0n]

Removed by OP 

Bummer! Although it certainly stimulated conversation, and we';re a right conversational lot on here, it was very worthwhile in my opinion, even if it illustrated a few "no no';s" along the way.    We';ve all had to start our learning somewhere - well at least those who weren';t genetically programmed to do this hobby   

[Biffa]

I haven';t left guys. And I';m taking on board everything being said.

Good stuff

[flybywire]

I';m kind of in the middle with this stuff, my instincts are to stay away from inhabited buildings, but have overflown a few on one or two occasions.  I agree with Biffa about not wanting my property or people hurt, so I should practice what I preach.  That said, I guess we';re quite oblivious to the hundreds of jets that fly above us on a daily basis, now they do make a mess when they fall out of the sky.

I guess the word ';maiden'; was key here somewhere?!

Andy

[Matt101]

Bummer! Although it certainly stimulated conversation, and we';re a right conversational lot on here, it was very worthwhile in my opinion, even if it illustrated a few "no no';s" along the way.    We';ve all had to start our learning somewhere - well at least those who weren';t genetically programmed to do this hobby 

I can certainly put it back. Just thought it was causing more grief than anything else!