Jerry, this ones for you !!!

Danny Z · May 29, 2017

After having a conversation with Jerry last week, my thought process has changed a bit, Let me explain:

Like everyone else that is jumping onto the FPV bandwagon (in an awesome way !) we are faced we a TON of choices and decisions to make, and just like Jerry has stated in a previous thread, you can be your own worst enemy or your own greatest advocate..........

There are SSSOOOO many choices to make and so much information to absorb, it seems like an impossibility at first, and even after you get your first machine flying, whether it's an ARF, RTF or a BNF, it stills seems like an impossibility............

And then it can all go sideways in a second, and then you find yourself spending way more time , fixing, rebuilding, programming or scouring the internet for a scrap of information to try and solve whatever problem you are trying to solve...........

My conversation with my fellow FPV pilot last week got me thinking about a couple of things:

Jerry, you are right, it seems more and more the information "network" seems to be moving to a facebook type forum, which I personally cant stand, I do not like facebook for several reasons, which is a conversation for another day.............

And the 2nd thing is more of a personal statement, I notice that a lot of people are running Betaflight or Raceflight, nothing wrong at all with Betaflight or Raceflight !

I just happen to fly KISS, so that is where my LIMITED experience comes from,

I did not think posting videos of myself flying would be of any interest to anyone, but after having had my chit chat with Jerry last week, I am beginning to re-think that particular thought process.

I myself love watching videos of other pilots fly, from complete beginners to the most experienced, mostly I love watching people progress and learn new things, I watch fpv videos a LOT, I try to learn from them, and try to incorporate things I like into my style of flying............

So after that long winded ramble bamble, here are a couple of videos from my last session out.

This was a brand new place for me and I have been dying to fly near some "hard targets", I have a type of private field near my home which is a very open space that is great for learning to try different maneuvers in an environment that is obstacle free with plenty of space to recover when needed, which is pretty much all the time !!!

the 2nd video is longer because I crashed into a tree and had to walk to the quad, and I do not yet have any way of editing an avi file..............

So please enjoy, and if I can help anyone with anything I will try my best, if anyone has any questions about the KISS FC, I will do my best, I am NOT an expert by any means. but I do have 3 RR Aliens that I have built myself, and using basically flying stock PID's and they fly great !!!!

My approach to FPV has been this, I try and fly with good equipment, proven equipment and I try and stay away from "knock-off" equipment.

For me this has been good decision, if anyone has any questions or would like to reach out to me directly please feel free PM me, I would love to share what I have learned with others !

The second video, I got to finally "play around" with a tree, holy smokes things happen FAST when you fly near those "Quad-Grabbers" !!!!

I also am waiting for the Furious True D V3 module, there was a LOT of multi pathing off that school building, I'm hoping a diversity module will help with some of that.......maybe, maybe not

Enjoy !

Danny Z

Jtrjr · May 29, 2017

Good to see you posting, Danny! Looks like you've got a need for speed! I'm sure those using the KISS FC could benefit from some of your expertise. You sure seem to know a lot about it.

You've really got some good yaw control when circling objects, that's on of my next goals. I've been playing around with it in the trees the past few packs but I've got a ways to go. I'm thrilled with my progress in the trees the past day or two. They sure do come at you fast!

Hey, I don't know if you're on Windows but if you are just download Windows Live Movie Maker. It's really easy to use. It doesn't have any bells or whistles. You can't color correct or do any advanced editing but it works great for cutting up clips and converting them to MP4's. And best of all it's free!

I hope you decide to stick around. Thanks for posting your videos!

Jerry

(P.S. Where's the dang gate? I'm sure a lot of us could use some insight into that.)

Danny Z · May 29, 2017

Thank you my man !
I will check out the Windows movie maker,
The hard part for me doing orbits, is altitude control, going around a tree is cool, but i could easily end up in the leaves, that's why I use any stationary object I can find until I get better !

Funny you mention the gate, I just built another one, it definitely forces you learn throttle/altitude control, and the pool noodles reduce damage to the machine.

I should be able to get the gates up one night this week, I will post a video as soon as I can

I will definitely stick around !
Talk to you soon

Danny Z

Speeder · May 29, 2017

Hey Danny,
That looks like some very controlled flying ...i am trying to do the same thing ,however i cant seem to do it at anything more than half throttle....i have a problem understanding how to stop the bird and change direction quickly.

Anyway well done sir.

Keith

Danny Z · May 29, 2017

Hi Keith,
Thank you for the compliment, I will try and pass along what I have gone thru during my short time flying fpv.

Once I got to the point where things started to "click" meaning, I was comfortable with my 2D spacial awareness in the goggles (for me the hardest part about flying in the goggles is that your world becomes a 2D "picture", I struggled with that at first. All of my years flying RC Helis did not really help me once I was in the goggles.....................

As I became more comfortable flying and started to get more aggressive I noticed that whenever I started making quick turns, I would balloon up 10-20 feet, BECAUSE I was above 1/2 throttle !

Once I started to consciously reduce throttle as I entered the turn, a couple of things happened:

1-the turn became more controllable
2-(and more of a fun factor for me) if I started the turn with a hefty amount of forward speed, and did not pitch forward as much, I fell into another "move", I would actually go into a "backwards skid", which is cool as hell in the goggles !

The other thing I am learning about tight turns (for me anyway, I'm quite are that the pro's are well aware of this) is this:

Less pitch and roll into the turn = a more skidding type of turn (safe to learn this one first, from a crash point of view)

More pitch and roll into the turn = a more tighter and quick turn, but here is where throttle control comes into play (IMHO)

The last thing that helps me A LOT (and I'm sure people will think I'm nut's !) is that I actually turn my head "into" the direction that I am turning the quad, I cant explain it, but if I do this little"jedi mind trick" I don't seem to get as dizzy ! and things seem more controlled for me !

Hope this helps !

Danny Z

Speeder · May 29, 2017

Hi Danny,
Yes that helps... i know exactly what you mean about ballooning up. I have only been flying for 1 1/2 months...
I love it ...it is a thinking persons hobby...

Thank you Kindly
Keith

Danny Z · May 31, 2017

Trying to keep from "ballooning" up is what separates the men from the boys in this aspect of the hobby.

unrelated to this particular point:

I was out flying last night, I had set up my homemade 5'x 5' gate, which I have become pretty good at going thru on a fairly consistent basis, BUT last night I kept running into it, to the point where I thought my RR Alien, was just gonna roll over on it's back and give up !

I mean I beat the crap out that poor machine last night, I could not understand why.............until I realized that I had set the gate up on an incline, and when I set up my approach, I did not take into account the change in elevation, which was maybe 2-3 feet from where I would start my run at the gate.

I would hit the gate at a fairly high rate of speed and the quad would tumble and twist and scream and shout and then hit the grass, I was actually surprised at how far away it would land from the gate, thank god for the "Drone Keeper" I installed, made it very easy to find the quad..........

It's weird, when I am setting up my home made gate, it is 5' tall and 5' wide, and I think to myself, this gap is huge, I'm not gonna have any problem getting thru this................................yea, right..............

I think I'm gonna build an elevated 10 'x 10' pvc square (elevated to 10' by 3/4 " pvc legs to start practicing flying "down thru" obstacles !!, stay tuned for that video, I'm sure I will have parts and pieces flying every where !

but if you aint crashing you aint learning !!!

Just thought I would share that ........

God I love this stuff......................

Danny Z

VirtueViolater · May 31, 2017

as far as watching videos..... i personally connect with the guys videos that are in the learning process. i do enjoy rotor riot and other guys who fly the props off but enjoy guys like Danny and the rest here much better, wish there were more being posted here. gonna try and pick up a new camera today or tomorrow so ill soon be posting again.

Speeder · May 31, 2017

Hey Danny,
Well in accordance with your boys to men comparison... i am only 1 1/2 months old so blowing up in the corners is acceptable at 'this point ...no? I will get a lot better at this !

Keith