Hi guys, first of all thank you in advance!! I'm a Director of photography and camera operator.. I've been bitten by the aerial bug.. But I'm not a techie. I love to make pretty pictures but hate to read books and learn about every chip, wire, solder point. I have a phantom 2 and love it because I don't have to think too much about anything but safety and operating. I don't know what's inside that makes it go, I just know how to make it go. I will be getting the CS8 HL soon and what my questions are: 1 - what do I need in my on set oh shit kit without needing to buy the entire store. (Besides: backup blades, motors, booms, landing gear.) 2- What usually breaks in a non catastrophic crash? 3- What shorts out and needs to be backed up? (Cables, connectors or boards) 4- What part or piece saved your ass that you didn't think you needed? 5- What secret have you found out that makes you feel safer when you fly? 6- while in the air, what's your biggest concern? 7- do you have a preflight/post flight/inflight checklist? 8- parachute? Yay? Nay? 9- ever thought about liquipel? Ok so,this is overwhelming, but I really appreciate whatever you can give me.. If you pick one answer, please just put the # of the question or the question so I can compile everything and hopefully help out the next goof. Thank you so much!! -- Justin www.movimiami.com www.marxthespotfilms.com
I'll take a crack at a few of these. 1) TBH, the best backup is a complete working back up copter. It is good for a couple reasons. The most important, of course, is quickly being able to get back in the air. But another reason to have one, is to help you diagnose how things should be working, and what potentially went wrong. 2) landing gear and props are the most common thing. But really, anything could break at any time. 3) batteries 4) see #3 5) my best flying tip for less experienced pilots is this: when you get nervous, climb. You are generally safer at higher altitudes then you are at lower ones. 6) right now it's moisture, but I hope to fashion some kind of protection for the electronics to help with that 7) yessir 8) nay 9) no
Steve great answers.. Definitely been looking into a backup.. Just gets real pricey backing up MoVI and copter.. Climb has been my savior many times! Also just hovering to gain my bearings.. Any chance you have your checklist(s)? Batteries a plenty-- check! Moisture --- I'm going to really look into liquipel. Overheating is my only concern..
1 - what do I need in my on set oh shit kit without needing to buy the entire store. (Besides: backup blades, motors, booms, landing gear.) You will go through different stages where you want backup everything to just back up props and a motor or two. But it depends on your shooting environment. Sometimes if you can't afford to stop shooting many have a backup copter. 2- What usually breaks in a non catastrophic crash? Wooden props are the weakest. Booms can crack in a minor crash if you have your clamps extremely tight like I do. Landing gear can also crack. 3- What shorts out and needs to be backed up? (Cables, connectors or boards) If you have something short out your not wiring properly. Plain and simple. Boards also just don't short out. 4- What part or piece saved your ass that you didn't think you needed? 2mm and 2.5 mm screwdrivers. Extra 2mm and 2.5mm screws, and standoffs. Extra SD card, laptop with MK tools and GPXtools. Extra cables and antennas for FPV gear. 5- What secret have you found out that makes you feel safer when you fly? Practice and experience. No other way around it. 6- while in the air, what's your biggest concern? Flyaway or crashing around people 7- do you have a preflight/post flight/inflight checklist? Preflight check list 8- parachute? Yay? Nay? No 9- ever thought about liquipel? No
As soon as you move past the Phantom 2, you move in to the confusing world of RC Xmitter to MR Flight controller configuration with its inherent risk of misconfiguration that can quickly lead to crashes and/or fly-aways. IMHO - You want to free up your right hand for right joystick control only... Additional functions for the left hand should be mostly configured on the left side of the Transmitter. The following is just one example based on the DJI A2 + Futaba systems (includes the complete mapping between RC Xmitter and MR FC for the built-in DR16 RC Rx.... may also be applicable to the DJI WooKong M using Futaba Rxs.
4. Agree with Dave, metric 2 and 2.5mm wrenches. Had an arm twist as I was carrying my CS. An extra micro SD card for the Navi. I went 10 miles to do a flight, with no laptop, and couldn't fly because I had "no start without SD card" checked. It took me 1/2 hour to figure out why then no laptop to fix it = laptop with MKtools. Extra SD for the camera. 5. a)Agree with Steve > climb! b) Switched from Spektrum to Graupner MX-20. I like the battery voltage telemetry being spoken to me, I've had some weird battery problems. 6. People. I've even had kids come up and pull on my arm. 7. I usually do a quick test flight in the front yard, 30 seconds or so, to make sure everything works. Just last week my CS wouldn't arm, I had somehow pushed the elevator/nick trim all the way up, didn't figure it out till I saw the channels in Mktools (laptop). I also use the Xbee, which makes it convenient: http://www.quadrocopter.com/Xbee-3DR-Radio-Sets_p_551.html I'm told can also be found on ebay. These are complicated machines and there is alot to learn, take your time, have fun.
Great stuff guys!! Thank you so much! Had a Phantom Crash today and makes me thing so much harder about what to do and not to do when carrying a heavy load..