Why I love multi-rotors

[flybywire]

Last Sunday, I managed to shake off my winter lethargy ';overcoat'; and head out to my regular flying ';patch';.  I';m getting a little tired of the venue now, but it suffices my needs really, a mix of trees, open farm fields and telecoms mast!
Anyway, I took along my DJI 550 Hex (Naza v2) and my newly repaired CX4 (WKM).  I made the decision to fly the hex first, in my usual field, an acre of tree encircled meadow that is mown frequently for reasons know only to the landowner (there are never any beasts in said field, nor crops that I can discern).
I had two ten minute flights, in which I amused myself fpv-style, and as always had a thoroughly good time of it.
After the second flight, I decided to try out my CX4, and in particular the newly installed osd mini & H3-2D gimbal/gopro combo.  I have never used a gopro for fpv before, so was looking forward to trying it out.
Well, I drove a couple of hundred yards down the road to the point to point course, as there is a good vantage point for flying which overlooks the valley, as I only have a 25 Mw Vtx onboard this bird.
All was well, gear transported to the field, correct model selected on Tx, lipo connected, gimbal/camera clear of the grass etc, etc.  I put on my goggles, all I was getting was the osd info on screen.  Turns out that my gopro battery had flattened itself over the last week or so.  Bugger!

N.B I did carry a spare battery, but alas, no hex driver to remove it from the gimbal 

Not being one to waste an opportunity, I thought I';d just fly the thing LOS.  Two things struck me, one was how fast the bird actually flies when it gets it';s nose down, and secondly, I couldn';t imagine the stress of not being able to ';stop'; mid-air as it were and ';chill';!  If that had been a fixed wing craft, I would have had to struggle with her to ';learn'; her ways etc, right to the last stick input on landing, plus I had seemingly drawn an audience that I was vaguely aware of behind me at the gate.
I do have a very nice glider in the loft, which missed last summer by a few weeks, and am looking forward to giving that a try, don';t get me wrong, but it';s true what they say about multi';s, they are much more relaxing!

Can';t wait to get back out there with it, and a full gopro battery as well!

Have fun

Andy

[DarkButterfly]

Very good post 

For me it';s the other way round, I find multirotors to be quite fast paced and the chances of something critical breaking and it flying like a brick is always at the back of my mind when flying, also the flight time isn';t very long.

On the flip side when flying fixed wing aircraft, I know it';s been a few years since I';ve flown one, but when I was flying them, I found as long as it';s high enough, I could just kill the throttle and glide for quite some time, so long as there is power to the servos, it was quite relaxing.

[flybywire]

I hear you DB.  I flew planks (as I affectionately call them) as a lad, and had a great time.  My reactions were a sight better than they are now mind!
It';s just something somebody once said when I was considering multi';s, and I find it to be true.  I think there is a trial & error period when you start up, like anything, you learn to trust your own parachute, as you packed it yourself. Like the situation you mentioned about the brick, I tend to look at multi';s as Bumble Bees, I believe they aren';t supposed to be able to fly?  Good job nobody told them that.

It was just the LOS flying I found stressful, and much prefer being in my own world immersed in my goggles, seeing the world as the birds do!

Andy

[guest325]

I love flying both, but not tried fpv yet....maybe late this year when I';ve got somewhere with the projects I';m lining up. At 62 my reactions are definitely not what they used to be but making allowances for that gets me by. I really enjoy the challenge of flying with my kk2 quad, more skin of the teeth! One of my next models is going to be either a Pylon racer or a Hotliner so my reactions are going to be really tested! I';m currently working on Planes that use swappable power pods, cheap foamboad airframes and great fun. This has spawned the idea of making a quad which can have swappable arms giving you the options of small and agile or bigger and stable. Still lots of research and development needed!

[Opto-Mystic]

I love flying both, but not tried fpv yet...

At 62 my reactions are definitely not what they used to be but making allowances for that gets me by.

Struth! You youngsters! I am about to go FPV at the age of 74 & 1/4!

I enjoyed your opening post Andy - thanks for the inspiration...

[Hands0n]

Nice OP Andy - I recognise the lethargy thing. But once out at the field, or wherever, the adrenaline takes over and its fun, fun, fun all the way.  I even found myself wondering what the hell that lethargy thing was.  Just two weekends of solid rain and gloomy weather had put me right off even sticking my head out of the door.

I enjoy FPV with my Naza M Lite based 450 Alien.  The Naza is quite a sedate FC.  Then LOS on the 450 Firefly with APM 2.5 and its a livelier matter altogether. I';m going to have to soften its rough edges for FPV which I';m just about ready to equip it with.

Just thinking about what you said about your VTX being [only] 25mw ... the key to longer range is at the receiver end, not the TX.  The aerial you use will make all the difference.   Definitely skew planar at the VTX, but at the VRX all that I have read and seen support using an aerial with significant gain. 

For example, the helical antenna with 4 turns has a rated gain of just over 9Db which is a massive improvement on reception. The signal reception strength is doubled for each 3Db.  So a 9Db gain is an equivalent of 200mw transmission while keeping you strictly legal.  The simplistic math (if I';ve got it right) is 25 x 2 = 50, 50 x 2 = 100, 100 x 2 = 200. 

There are other RX antenna types you can use to improve to a greater or lesser degree also.

These high gain aerials tend to be directional, how much so depends on how many turns (helical) or elements (yagi) etc... But even so, quite wide angles of reception are apparent - 52 degrees of arc with the 4-turn helical, 46.5 with a 5-turn.

Something worth thinking about if range/penetration becomes an issue.

[flybywire]

Thanks guys, it really is a decent hobby, and Darrell, if you get that hot liner going, you really will need some ';gak on yer boots';!
Danny, I hear you with the antenna magic, in fact I do use the skew planar';s and circular patches etc!  5.8 Ghz hates anything containing water, like human beings and leaves on trees.  Interestingly enough, my flights on Sunday I got the best 5.8 Ghz reception that I had ever seen, through trees up to half a mile away, but there are no leaves of course.
I will likely fpv my hotliner come summer, as it';s probably the only way I will be able to fly it!

ATB

Andy

[Gav]

Nice opening post Andy and I agree with you where you were saying ';want to stop and chill? then simply hover unlike a plank, where you can';t stop';  yep very true lol.
Built my 1st multi in 2010 after reading about the first ones being made in Germany and had to try it for myself!.  Absolutely loved the combo of simple mechanics and electronics to get a stable platform for cameras.  Not a servo in sight which makes it so reliable.  I also love RC, mechanical things, cameras and electronics is in my blood so perfect hobby!   Was always taking up cameras on my RC Helis just for fun, but it was very hard work to fight the inherent vibration on a heli without going to town on professional gimbals. Mutli';s provide the best solution for AV and AP.  FPV is the all time best, adding even more fun to the hobby.  Want to fly? then fpv is the cheapest and closest way without leaving the ground lol.
long live multirotors 
cheers
Gav

[guest325]

Darrell, if you get that hot liner going, you really will need some ';gak on yer boots';!
Andy

Yeah, don';t I know it but the challenge is something I think I need to accept; my Foam-board model weighs 650gm and has 250W on tap so it';s about half way there - it';s up to the same power to weight ratio as quite a few Pylon racers so should be good training.
One of the guys at our club flies Hot-liners, we';ve clocked him doing well over 150mph but that';s a fully moulded model with a pretty wicked power setup - about 800 watts I think with an AUW of about 1 kilo runs on 6S and absolutely screams 

[Hands0n]

One of the guys at our club flies Hot-liners, we';ve clocked him doing well over 150mph...

Now I have ridden a motorcycle at that speed and above (off road of course) and it is a blistering pace being on a machine. I cannot really imagine it being completely decoupled save for a radio link and a view from the ground 

I';m sticking with sedate hot air balloon speeds on any plank I fly    Might just get up to trotting speed of a dormouse, but nothing more adventurous 

[guest325]

Now I have ridden a motorcycle at that speed and above (off road of course) and it is a blistering pace being on a machine. I cannot really imagine it being completely decoupled save for a radio link and a view from the ground 

I';m sticking with sedate hot air balloon speeds on any plank I fly    Might just get up to trotting speed of a dormouse, but nothing more adventurous 

You won';t want to have a go at anything like this then - NOTE this is UNPOWERED flight!!!
And he is on 35Mhz if you look closely!
Spencer';s World Record 468mph Kinetic100DP flight video!!!

[Hands0n]

Thats plain bonkers!    I can';t even begin to imagine how gliding can get to those kind of speeds.  Seen similar recently on YouTube, but this bloke has it totally sussed.  TBH I can';t even see the craft on the video, just hear it skimming past.

Thinks: If that hit someone at those speeds it would slice them like a Saumari Katana. It would be a clean cut!