Just getting started in North Carolina

zinkracer

zinkracer

Member
Intending to begin an aerial photography business here in the resort area of western NC. Doing lots of research and getting a bit overwhelmed. Have a lot of RC plane experience and about zero quad or heli experience. Could use some advice on starting with enough of a rig to do commercially acceptable work without breaking the bank. Not ready to DIY a rig at this point.

Stumbled onto this site the other day. Hope to learn a lot and maybe be able to contribute some day.

JG
 

jbrumberg

jbrumberg

Member
Welcome JG. I saw your other post. They are different from flying a fixed wing, but you already have a leg up with orientation and an understanding of a Tx. Post freely and often. Flying a quad helped me understand my build. Building my quad helped me better understand flying my quad. You already have some really decent skillsets to build upon. Have fun.

Another helpful site: rcgroups.com The ABCs of Radio Control - Aircraft, Boats, and Cars!
 

zinkracer

zinkracer

Member
Thanks for the welcome, jbrumberg. Where is the best place on the forum to post a thread about RTF versus building an MR? I'm beginning to think I might ought to build one, but I'm leery until getting more experience. This aerial photography thing really has me jacked up. I also love to fly my big 40% Carden Extra too. So many options, so little time.

JG
 

jbrumberg

jbrumberg

Member
That's one nice sized, good looking fixed wing. As to where to post your question, that's a good question, and I do not have a good answer. Somebody will come along and help.
 

zinkracer

zinkracer

Member
I love this airplane. 118" span. DA150 on cannister mufflers, JR digital servos, Carbon prop and spinner, pro built. Flies and lands like a baby - a baby with a ton of power.
 

zinkracer

zinkracer

Member
Well, I took the plunge and agreed to purchase a low time F450. Will practice a lot first before mounting a gimbal and GoPro. Pretty stoked. I have a bought some really small quads to practice with both in and outdoors. Much wall and ceiling bumping going on.

Appreciate any thoughts and recommendations. This one is pretty stock with DJI motors, ESC's, props, NAZA Lite with GPS. Should be easy to repair. Ha!

FPV? Gimbal? Which GoPro? Batteries - the builder flew with 3S, 5000 lipo. I will be flying with a Spektrum DX8 and so will need to know how to program this radio. Any links to that exercise would be greatly appreciated.

So, here we go!

John Gaither
Blowing Rock, NC
 

jbrumberg

jbrumberg

Member
It's amazing how well those quad props will pull/suck a quad into walls and ceilings and all large immobile objects. Quads seem particularly attracted to large immobile objects outdoors. Maybe its a security/insecurity "issue" for those "mini" sized quads outdoors.

Good luck.
 


zinkracer

zinkracer

Member
Finally at last flew my F450 this afternoon. Much travail figuring out what was wrong with getting it to program with Assistant and my DX8. Combination of a bad cable and some weird connection thing to the NAZA that solved itself once I unplugged and plugged most of the connections. Didn't do any fancy flying to start but did test the GPS hover mode. Did pretty well in a light breeze. Overall, pretty happy & now just need stick time before adding all the expensive stuff. Will test fly with my Mobius Action cam on the next flight.

Finally, I'm a quad flyer.

JG
 

jbrumberg

jbrumberg

Member
John- Congratulations:applause::applause::applause:

Practice flying; try to avoid the alternative.

Good Luck.

Jay
 

zinkracer

zinkracer

Member
Thanks, Jay. Maiden flights are always a little nerve wracking. This one was fairly uneventful - except when I got a little frisky. I didnt do much high energy stuff for sure. I did time it and got about 10 minutes before I quit trying. Still not certain what the LED is telling me. I recharged the 2100 3S battery after the flight. It took 1709 mah to top it off, so I flew out 81% of its max capacity. Probably cutting it a little close. I have a 3S 4000 battery that I will be using mostly but haven't tried it yet. Also, I was using the 10" DJI props. Also have the 8" ones. Will try those as well - once the weather improves again. We got about 4" of snow here in the NC mountains last night and this morning.

Next steps are what you suggest - practice flying and not the alternatives (which include not flying at all!).

Should be fun, but I can see readily that I want to see what the copter sees and to capture it for later playback. Gonna have to warm up my credit card.

JG
 



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