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Flying a quadcopter
Jan. 18th, 2014 05:45 pmMy transmitter module came on Friday, so today I went to the field behind my office to fly. Mike, my friend who ran the class for building them, came too.
Hovering inside is more or less easy. Holding a constant altitude is tough, the throttle is really sensitive, making it pretty much like every other RC helicopter I've ever flown.
Flying outside is a bit harder. I don't have to care as much how high I am, so it's easier in that respect, but then there's wind. Holding it steady in the wind (even a fairly light breeze) isn't easy. I did figure out how to recover from an imminent crash: cut the throttle, so I start falling, then gun it right before I hit the ground to soften the landing. I saved the thing from being carried away by the wind a few times by doing that.
We found out that there's an RC hobby place about 15 minutes from work, and although they don't have replacement rotors, they do have tools, servos, radio stuff, batteries, et cetera. I bought some tiny screws and a hot air gun (for something else I'm building).
I also found that some (expensive, carbon fiber) propellers can be had from Amazon for about $16. This is more expensive than the $4 / set prop sets from the Chinese site Hobbyking, but they also don't take three weeks to be shipped.
Why do I care about props all of a sudden? Because, naturally, I managed to flip it over (I blame the wind) and break a prop in half. So, it'll be Wednesday before I can fly it again.
Hovering inside is more or less easy. Holding a constant altitude is tough, the throttle is really sensitive, making it pretty much like every other RC helicopter I've ever flown.
Flying outside is a bit harder. I don't have to care as much how high I am, so it's easier in that respect, but then there's wind. Holding it steady in the wind (even a fairly light breeze) isn't easy. I did figure out how to recover from an imminent crash: cut the throttle, so I start falling, then gun it right before I hit the ground to soften the landing. I saved the thing from being carried away by the wind a few times by doing that.
We found out that there's an RC hobby place about 15 minutes from work, and although they don't have replacement rotors, they do have tools, servos, radio stuff, batteries, et cetera. I bought some tiny screws and a hot air gun (for something else I'm building).
I also found that some (expensive, carbon fiber) propellers can be had from Amazon for about $16. This is more expensive than the $4 / set prop sets from the Chinese site Hobbyking, but they also don't take three weeks to be shipped.
Why do I care about props all of a sudden? Because, naturally, I managed to flip it over (I blame the wind) and break a prop in half. So, it'll be Wednesday before I can fly it again.
