Learning to fly a quad - getting there slowly. And experience.

[Hands0n]

I reckon that I have wanted to get into flying RC ever since a young teenager, but it never happened. Now, in my second childhood, I have caught the multirotor bug rather badly. I simply have to learn to fly the things, and most particularly get into FPV piloting, the nearest thing to actually being "up there".

So I've gone and done the deed, bought myself a RTF from an eBay seller based on the HJ450 airframe and KK2.0 FC. I did a bit of reading around first and opted for DSMX radio gear, both being Spektrum kit, a DX6i and a "park flyer" receiver. It was sufficient to get me started a couple of weeks ago ... But you couldn't exactly call it plain sailing. It really is a bit of a learning process.

As a qualified car driving instructor (not my full time job) I know what it is like to learn to control a machine. Now the boot is truly on the other foot, I am the rookie this time and having to go through what my pupils do in the car. Fear, panic, joy, elation all in equal measure. Unlike my car though, I am already on my third iteration of the airframe, having crashed spectacularly twice when pushing my luck a little by running before I can properly walk. Basically, I panic, pull the throttle all the way back and watch the craft plummet out of the air like a stone! Breaking that "Fight or Flight" pattern has proved torturous, but I am getting there.

Here's me in the video link, earlier in the week, and I think that I've turned a bit of a corner, hit a milestone. I am not dropping out of the air as such and the last four flights outside in the garden have been rewarding in that I have managed to exercise significantly better control over the craft, hovering and even landing rather smoothly - if I say so myself.

Each individual flight seems to be an improvement, I don't seem to have gained any [other] dreadful habits yet.

Oh, and I really have seen a massive benefit in balancing the props and doing some work to isolate the FC from sources of vibration. It has made a big, big difference to how the FC handles the craft's behaviour in the air. I've also dampened the Throttle Scaling to make it a lot less sensitive to stick movement, that has helped with my confidence where I am gaining, and holding, control for much longer.

Challenges currently relate to getting my head around the points of view from where I stand. As the craft changes rotation I get confused with my lefts and rights. So most of my return journey is done with the craft flying backwards :livid: I'm going to spend the next few flights developing this so I can switch my brain around as the craft turns.

Anyroadup, enough nattering for now. If you get a mo, please take a look at the video of my indoor practise earlier this week (Tuesday IIRC). Any advice gratefully received as I look on in awe and envy at all of you proficient flyers out there on YouTube. One day ... one day :02.47-tranquillity::nevreness:

 

[tstrike]

Nice work Danny! Welcome to the virus that will drain your wallet but feel soooooo good. Here's a tip that's helped me with nose in flying, imagine the copter is
a one legged table and your pitch stick on the controller is the one leg. Any time the table starts to dip, slide the leg/stick under that side, oh yeah, and try this outside where you have some room, your kitchen cabinets will appreciate it.
Best to you-tom

 

[swisser]

If you don't mind my saying so, I think you're incredibly, erm, "brave", to be flying that copter in that space with your level of experience. Now of course, bravery is entirely up to you, because mostly it comes down to money to repair the copter and repair that nice looking kitchen. However, what I am suggesting is that you're making learning much much harder by trying to do it in that small space. I realise you're also flying in your garden, but that video is like taking someone for their first driving lessons in a Ferrari with a wicked clutch, paddle gearbox and launch control. And I say this as someone who let a learner driver drive a BMW M5, which despite protestations from others was absolutely fine.

The way to learn to fly a multirotor (if doing it solo) is to get yourself a very large open space, really the bigger the better, like the size of a football pitch ideally. Stand at least 20' away from it and ideally a bit more. Push the throttle till it takes off and with a decent modern controller you shouldn't need to do anything else at all - it will just go up in the air, not dead straight maybe but given you've got a ton of space it won't matter. When it's about 10' off the ground just let it hover. Then move it around with the sticks, as gently as possible. Do this over and over. Try to move the sticks as little as possible. And stop bouncing the thing up and down on the bloody floor!

Flying close to anything - the ground, trees or kitchen cupboards is just making it 100 times more difficult than it needs to be. If you were in a wide open space with someone who knew what they were doing you would be flying it in a safe, controllable, no-risk-of-crashing way in about 10 minutes. Can you find anyone who already flies multirotor? Where are you? If you fancy a day trip to London then I'm happy to help.

Good luck.

 

[Hands0n]

@tstrike - Thanks for the table leg tip Tom, I'll certainly give that a go and see if I can assimilate that into my brain cells. I don't think I've been worked this hard since taking up learning a new programming language a few years ago.

@swisser - Thank you for the excellent words of advice. My problem with space is that I do not yet know where I can take my multirotor to. I tried a rec the other week, it was windy, the wind took it out of my control and it crashed from over 50ft - three arms and the KK2 board lost in that one. So I've tried to use indoors for small tight control, then moved out into the back garden where I do face a tree, some hedges and telephone cables overhead. Space wise it is about 100ft long by 20ft wide. But still not as big as you suggest. I don't yet know if I have access to that kind of space around here (Gravesend, Kent). I'm aware of some of the rules having read pretty much all of FPV's website (I joined to gain insurance cover also).

I am getting better with the bouncing off the floor thing - the brain has realised that I need to feed in more throttle when moving the craft about (doh!). I've actually done some fairly cool landings of late. If it doesn't rain Monday I plan to get at least four batteries worth of flying done through the day. Then the same again on Tuesday as I have the day off. Its all in the actual doing, a very practical skill - so I'll keep at it, the visible improvement in ability is very apparent to me, boosting my confidence that I'm not wasting my time LOL

Sadly I do not know any other multirotor fliers - there is a local club but they're all fixed wing, with a small helicopter section. I get the distinct impression that multirotor is not well thought of in RC clubs. Thats okay, I'm a motorcyclist so am used to being in the margins

Thanks for the very kind offer of help - I work in London, so if you're serious I may take you up on that

Love the BMW analogy - the mere thought of an learner in an M5 terrifies me - its "interesting" enough in a Hyundai i10 with dual controls

 

[swisser]

20' wide will be ok soon, if it's not already. It's just that if you had something 5 times that size you'd find life easier. Try to find a field somewhere near by?

I'm not intimately familiar with the KK controller but if a wind that you thought you might be able to fly in (i.e. anything less than really blowing very hard) was able to crash you from 50' that's not a good sign.

Yes, happy to guide you in North West London (e.g. Hampstead Heath) if you want to fix something up.

The M5 wasn't that big a deal really. It's no harder to drive than the Polo she'd be learning in after all, other than being physically bigger (and more expensive if she crashed!). Of course, for a complete beginner it might be rather scary given the power available, but she wasn't a complete beginner having had quite a few lessons; you wouldn't want a complete novice putting it in a low gear and stamping on the throttle it's true.

 

[Hands0n]

I'll do a video over the next two days of my current level of ability There is a sports field not too far away, its just that I've not really sussed out where I can/should fly the multirotor. I'm also wary (paranoid?) of the "giz a go" brigade. So have been looking for isolated spots.

The KK controller gets good reviews, the nicest thing is that it doesn't need a PC to set it up, the pushbutton/LCD combination allows all of the parameters to be adjusted in the field.

That day I had "the big one" that took out three arms and the original KK was not particularly windy, but I gained some unintended altitude and it must have been a bit different up there! It was a light breeze on the ground, but all of a sudden the multirotor shot off away from me, I panicked (worst thing for a rookie) lost orientation and then I think I dumped the throttle. It all happened quite quickly. And it is a bit of a curse for me right now, I have been reactively dumping the throttle when things go wrong. It really doesn't help. But I think I'm weaning my brain off that ridiculous notion. The last two flights I lost altitude through poor throttle control, or position through fumbled pitch or roll control (I'm alongside a road!) and regained control by throttling up, giving a bit of altitude in which to adjust my position and then bring it back down to where I wanted it, approx 10ft off the ground.

I work in E1, Aldgate, so not dreadfully far from Hampstead area. I motorcycle commute so have to figure a way of carrying the gear in. I'll PM you if I can work out the logistics. Thanks awfully Its is very kind of you.

I've always said that if I get my six numbers on the National Lottery I'll equip myself with an M3 with dual controls That'd be some motivation for the pupils, get up to practical test standard and they can have a few lessons in the Beemer. I've been round Brands Hatch in a stock M3 piloted by a pro driver - I don't think I've seen close on 3 ton of motor move quite that swiftly or accurately at those speeds. Impressed very much was I.

 

[swisser]

The letter of the law in the UK is that you can fly a small craft anywhere you have permission to do so from the land owner, provided you don't charge anyone for doing so and provided you don't have a camera on board (unless the camera is for FPV). Quite how far you take the permission thing is up to you, but if it's not being used for anything else you're probably fine.

Chopping the throttle is definitely not the thing to do, as you've figured out. With a decent flight controller with GPS (as I say, I don't know much about the KK one) the best thing you can do when you get in trouble is to climb away from anything you might hit if there is anything and then just stop doing anything. Pushing the sticks violently because you're panicing is bad. Just let it sit there. Then very gently push the stick left or right. Don't do forward or back because it's hard at a distance to tell if the craft is moving towards or away from you. If it moves left when you push left you know it's facing away from you, in which case you should be able to easily steer it home. If it moves in another direction rotate it with a bit of rudder and try again. Keep doing it until it's oriented away from you, then as above. If you have a return to home feature then you can activate it if you're really freaked out, but generally the above procedure will work every time. The only time it doesn't is if you literally can't see the craft, in which case, hit RTH. You can also use any kind of care-free, Intelligent Orientation type mode if you have one, provided you've set it up properly in advance. But honestly, you shouldn't need them, just take a deep breath, do gentle stick movements to figure out orientation and then gently steer it home.

Nowhere sensible to fly near Aldgate certainly but a quick 15 minutes and you'd be at Hampstead Heath. Strap the copter on the back of a backpack, no worries.

 

[Silverburn]

Welcome fellow newb!

I think it's important to remember that *everyone* bounces it on the floor and gets their orientation mixed up when starting. I've been flying 3 months now, and am slowly getting better, and beginning to realise that it helps to always have throttle on, and try to avoid dipping below mid stick. I still bounce it every now and then... Smooth actions on the sticks as guys above have said; chopping at the sticks can get you into a trickier spot than the one you were just in!

I like to imagine the quad as a puck on the air hockey games you get in the arcades; push it, and it will continue "friction free" (well, you know what I mean) in that direction until you compensate. Add too much, and it makes the compensating action harder to judge. So small movements, with slow sticks.

Thankfully my crashes are few and light due to flying over soft ground. Only had one severe one - when I let my flight batteries get too low (the alarm was set too low, and was too quiet). It fell from 3m, breaking an arm and a prop.

I do cheat sometimes because I have an APM2.5, and use alt hold - then I just fly about on the yaw, pitch and roll, and not have to worry about my throttle (which still feels very sensitive). One thing I have learned is voltage sag - as the battery get near end of charge you need more and more throttle to maintain hover.

Of all the skills, I think throttle control is my hardest to get right, especially descending. Landing is ok, funnily enough - I think it's because you can judge the speed better; when your 30m up, it can get hard for us newb to tell the rate of descent...get it wrong and once you do realise the rate of descent, it's really moving, and you need to apply a lot of compensating throttle level it out. Tricky. The difference between a controlled descent, and plummeting seems to be a very small amount of stick!

I also can't get my transitions smooth from a banked turn to forward motion correct; I've either still got too much bank or yaw on at the end of the turn, or not enough pitch on. So it gets done it two step; get flight level and facing right way, then accelerate again. Doesn't make for "flowing" flight.

One thing that does still freak me out is the height. In APM, RTL etc have preset heights they go to before descending to land. The quad looks really small and really vulnerable up there, and more often than not, it's right above you, making progress and trajectory really hard to judge. My fear is the program failing, and it plummetting to the ground from 50m up.

My tip: try and make your home point at least 30m away from anywhere precious or expensive!

 

[Hands0n]

@swisser - Well I've just gone out and burned up two 3S batteries - total flying time around 15 minutes, despite some "energetic" throttle control to save the airframe from another total. I did what you advised and nipped over to one of the local school sports fields, it is three pitches wide and down in a dip so loads of space. It make a massive difference, getting it wrong I felt a whole lot happier sticking on some altitude while I worked out what the hell is going on. Todays' changing weather meant some quite strong winds (yes, I know, but I'm desperate for some air time) made it interesting. I must have at one point had to hold the craft as 30 degrees to bring it back towards me before descending to seek out some still[er] air. I have increased the throttle sensitivity by 10 on the KK board that makes it much more reactive today, it seemed to be the better thing to do. The sluggish throttle setting was becoming noticeable when handling the gusts that kept occurring.

I did a little practise taking it up to about 10 or 15 feet then dropping it vertically to recover with a hard throttle up - just to give me some more "feel" of the left stick. It definitely helped later when it was up around 50 ft and I had to cut the power to bring it down out of a strong lateral draught. The air dynamics are beginning to make some sense to me - I also dive, fluid is thicker of course, but similar issues at times when down there. The trick seems to be to see what is going on up there in time to react correctly.

I'm trying to keep the stick movement small - you should have heard me cursing myself "SLOW, SLOW!!" A good thing I was by myself. I'd have preferred a still day, or much less windy, but these conditions are a bit of a baptism by fire. Not my ideal of course.

Despite all of that, my take off and landing have definitely improved. Occasionally the landings look quite professional. Other times they're a bit bumpy or harsh. But this time I came back home with no damage whatsoever.

I did run the third battery at home in the garden - it was awful compared to what I just experienced. The lack of space is now very apparent to me. And I lost a prop in a tree when the rubber O ring snapped. I've gone back to the bobbin prop holders - rubber loops seem too much risk to me.

I am thinking of mounting a plastic rod to the front of the aircraft and fit it with a foam ball or something so that I can see the orientation of the craft. Up there the red and white rotor arms silhouette and I'm none the wiser.

@silverburn - thank you for the great info and ideas. The KK board is rudimentary compared to either the APM or Naza - hence it's ridiculously cheap price, typically around £30. It only has flight levelling built in (a full set of gyros of course). There is no RTL or Loiter, no GPS capability, nothing. Not quite Wrights brothers stuff but it is very basic. I do, however, have an APM2.5 with GPS en route to me - it will go into the airframe that I'm going to build - an H frame.

Your comments on throttle control for mid-flight is spot on, exactly what I experience. I reduce it a smidgin and its then heading towards earth, I have to bring it up a little and now its heading for the International Space Station! No happy medium, or only occasionally. Being buffeted by the wind didn't help - I could hear the self levelling control trying its damnedest to hold the craft steady up there. I had to up the gains for the self levelling as it wasn't reacting quickly enough.

My next quest is to learn to fly forwards, that is to use yaw and roll to fly the thing properly instead of cheating. With some still air I may be able to get my head around that.

So, two ~7 minutes flights and no major incidents - only two panic landings - and I bring the quad home with me intact and fully operational. I call that progress