One thing I am scared off is by learning to fly FPV on your own, and inevitably make a mistake that can be fatal.
I am about to install a flight simulator on my PC and fly with my RC, but still I am considering to get some real world training before flying in the M mode. It might pay in the end to buy me some peace of mind, and also avoid the cost of crashing.
I am searching for locations to practice. Opens spaces are cool for that, but I would love to fly indoors as well. I have spotted some nice abandonned factories around. What puts me off about flying indoors is the risk of losing the RC connection, and the aircraft entering into RTH mode, and then flying straight to the roof of the building.
Today was my first day flying with the FPV. I was happy to fly the airplane seating like a buddha, but the airplane lost the signal and entered RTH. Fortunately I was flying in an open space, in where I have learned to fly the MA2. Afterwards, I realised that the airplane was flying very low and behind me, so the signal was weak. Lesson learned, better fly the aircraft standing so that you can turnaround to keep more or less pointing the aircraft with the RC, like when flying VLOS.
This is the second time in my life I have lost the transmission. The other time the drone was performing a quickshot around a concrete structure, and I was moving from one side to the other of the building to be able to spot the drone. Once I noticed the signal was about to be lost, I walked backwards and the signal came back quick.
So what do you think, is it OK to fly inside closed structures?
Perhaps if you are able to keep the transmitter pointing towards the drone and within a reasonable distance, and with no more than a wall with windows in between? However that is probably hard to tell because a wall can be very thick or not but still act as a shield.
This MA2 video is a good example of that theory, I was flying the drone from inside a factory through a hole in where a part of the roof had collapsed, I was able to keep pointing the drone all the time, both flying outside and inside the factory.
Thanks a lot for your inputs, it is really helpful!
You can fly the FPV drone in N and S mode indoors like that factory. I would definitely not suggest trying out M mode indoors unless you're really comfortable with it. Try N outside, then S, then M with attitude limit and then without. Once you're okay with that you could fly M indoors but with the gimbal tilted only a bit, 15 to 20° maybe, otherwise you're probably too fast.
You also should check the RTH settings in the goggles before. For indoors you just don‘t want that the drone climbs when loosing signal. Set it to land or better hover. So the drone stops and hovers in place, when the signal is lost.
Even outdoors RTH can be dangerous: My battery was almost empty and I wanted to land. Around my startimg position was a tree and close before it, the low battery RTH kicked in, heading the drone right towards this tree.
That‘s because RTH only climbs up, when the drone is more than 50m away from the starting point.
Glad I reacted fast enough to stop the rth and landed manual.
Thanks you all for your replies, it is very helpful, I really appreciate it!
That makes total sense Depp. Better to fly in manual mode and perform acrobatics outside the factory, and then switch to normal or sport mode inside it.
It is clear that I need to practice in the different modes, and with the flight sim, before attempting risky maneuvers. Everyday I learn something new and make little improvements. Today, I flew for the second time and I tightened the bolts of the RC, it really makes a difference. There is a lot of things to learn about FPV, but it is very rewarding!
Vertigocal, I missed that part on the manual.
That is so good, to be able to set the drone to hover instead of RTH. As you say, it is not only helpful when flying indoors but also outdoors, with trees etc. Glad you missed that tree. As you put it, it is fundamental to become used to the controls to be able to react quickly in case something unexpected happens.
Buster 1, you are right. I need to read the manual more carefully.
I was a bit overwhelmed by the technical details and I wanted to do a little test flight in Normal mode in an open space, to try the drone for the first time. Those last two weeks, I have been studying a lot of theory to get my the drone pilot license. I just wanted to have a bit of fun before digging more in theory.
Thanks again for your inputs. Now I can fly much more safe!
I had the opportunity to try the FPV indoors. I am not that experienced yet, so I flew with the controls set like a MA2; in case I felt that i was to close to an obstacle, I released the controls and the drone hovered. Now I have tighten the controls to practice with the sim, and I am also flying outdoors to become used to it.
The first video was shot with the MA2. I was walking behind all the time to make sure the signal was strong enough; the footage is very shaky. Following your advice, I set the aircraft to hoover in case of signal lost. However I was scared, it was too dark inside and the bottom sensors could perhaps not work properly without the GPS, and the Drone could start to drift and hit a wall.
The second video is much less shaky, but I still need to improve my skills a lot both with the MA2 and thhe FPV, in any case it was crazy fun!
I was close to loose the signal a few times. When I realized that the signal was becoming weak I slowed down, once I got some altitude the signal became strong again.
The signal seems to be much more powerful with the FPV than with the MA2. In any case I was very impressed with the reception. Before doing the circuit I spent some time foolishing around to check in what places the signal was bad and where to stand with the remote to avoid surprises; this seems like a wise routine when flying indoor.
The only bad thing was that a dog went over me after shooting the video. I do not want to face that beast again, so now I am forced to find new cool locations for shooting indoors and outdoors. This migh seem silly, but it is quite a challenge to find nice places to fly nearby.
Vertigocal Posted at 6-12 02:32
You also should check the RTH settings in the goggles before. For indoors you just don‘t want that the drone climbs when loosing signal. Set it to land or better hover. So the drone stops and hovers in place, when the signal is lost.
Even outdoors RTH can be dangerous: My battery was almost empty and I wanted to land. Around my startimg position was a tree and close before it, the low battery RTH kicked in, heading the drone right towards this tree.
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