I'm regularly bombing along at 80+ mph now, but there's a behavior that seems odd to me.

Zapping down the canyon, if I have the pitch (right stick) set to max pitch down, and the drone set to max power, the drone gains altitude. Is that normal, or weird?

Is there a lag between the full pitch forward command, and the aircraft reaching full pitch foward. I didn't think of that at the time, but perhaps that could explain it.

On the other hand, I can't expect much better than 83 mph, on hot day at high elevation.

Is max level speed obtained at less than full throttle?

Suggestoins and observations greatly appreciated!

Thx,

TCS

interesting, but there are so many variations that can affect flight, starting with air density, currents/winds, altitude, etc., and the extreme angle of attack makes things difficult to analyze.  

FlyLow Posted at 6-9 13:39
interesting, but there are so many variations that can affect flight, starting with air density, currents/winds, altitude, etc., and the extreme angle of attack makes things difficult to analyze.

The consensus I've seen so far suggests that this is a limitation caused by the fact that I haven't gone to the "full" Manual setting yet, with unconstrained angles.

That makes sense, but if I'm only going to squeeze out another couple of mph by releasing those last restraints, it's not clear that I want to do that.

I'm not really interested in acro. I just want to go fast.

Thx,

TCS

Chaosrider Posted at 6-9 14:19
The consensus I've seen so far suggests that this is a limitation caused by the fact that I haven't gone to the "full" Manual setting yet, with unconstrained angles.

That makes sense, but if I'm only going to squeeze out another couple of mph by releasing those last restraints, it's not clear that I want to do that.

I suggest you disable angle restrictions.
I had it on by mistake and it was driving me crazy: can't go down at sharp angles. And if you fly 80+ mph in Manual with restrictions you should be able to fly without. Just try it up in the air. I think it's really worth it.

Depp Posted at 6-10 21:42
I suggest you disable angle restrictions.
I had it on by mistake and it was driving me crazy: can't go down at sharp angles. And if you fly 80+ mph in Manual with restrictions you should be able to fly without. Just try it up in the air. I think it's really worth it.

Perhaps a good idea. I've been resisting that, because I have no interest in acro, and I prefer to have stability systems in place. But now that I've bumped up against the constraint...

I've started calling the two Manual modes Baby Manual, and Full Manual.

What I'm now trying to determine is whether there are any differences between the two other than the angle restrictions. Do the two behave identically, prior to reaching the angle restrictions?

Thx,

TCS

? There is only Normal and Normal Sport. Manual is totally different, you have to coordinate all actions, anticipate, you have total control.

FlyLow Posted at 6-11 05:44
? There is only Normal and Normal Sport. Manual is totally different, you have to coordinate all actions, anticipate, you have total control.

That's not the actual terminology that DJI uses.

For my own clarification, I now specify four different modes:

1) Normal
2) Sport
3) Baby Manual
4) Full Manual

For simplicity, I consider the Manual modes to be a completely different aircraft, that just happens to occupy the same HW. Sort of like demonic possession...

;-)

TCS

Chaosrider Posted at 6-11 05:32
Perhaps a good idea. I've been resisting that, because I have no interest in acro, and I prefer to have stability systems in place. But now that I've bumped up against the constraint...

I've started calling the two Manual modes Baby Manual, and Full Manual.

I don't think there are any other differences but I'm not sure. I pretty much stopped using "baby mode" after a few days and never looked back (only after I got a new drone and forgot to turn it off. I hated it, completely unnatural!).

Depp Posted at 6-11 11:43
I don't think there are any other differences but I'm not sure. I pretty much stopped using "baby mode" after a few days and never looked back (only after I got a new drone and forgot to turn it off. I hated it, completely unnatural!).

Well, it's a matter of perspective, and preference.

I never had any interest in acro. Still don't.

My single overring interest in FPV, was FPV...First Person View. The immersive visual experience. If I could have gotten that conveniently for my Mini-2s, I'd probably have just done that.

My secondary interest was just to go faster, and the Mini-2s were never going to do that.

I spent 2 weeks in Normal mode with the FPV before I shifted to Sport, and another two weeks in Sport before I shifted to Baby Manual.

The transition from Mini to FPV Normal was easy. Anyone who can fly a Mini in Sport Mode, can fly an FPV in Normal mode.

The transition to Sport was more challenging, because the consequences of mistakes are more sever, and can happen much faster. 90+% of my drone flying time is around the opposite wall of the canyon, and any drone lost over there, is pretty much lost and gone forever. So, I eased into the added capability of Sport mode gradually.

But after two weeks, I was throwing the thing around the ridge on the other side of the canyon, 1000 ft up and 2000 ft away, with complete ease. I had planned to shift to Manual on June 1st, which I did.

Another gradual transition. But after 10 - 12 Manual flights now, the transition from Normal to Manual is apprehension-free, and seamless. I started increasing the speed of my CanyonBall runs, but at just a bit over 80 mph, I couldn't pitch the nose any farther forward, and adding power just made the drone climb.

I had reached the angle limit on pitch.

I continue to have no interest in acro. The only reason I'd switch to Full Manual, would be to go faster.

But how much extra speed would I actually get? My flights start at just about a mile MSL, so I'm not going to get the 87 mph they advertise for the FPV in any event. Since I'm already getting 82 mph, how much speed am I going to gain by going to Full Manual? 2 mph?

My question then is...why? It's not obvious that there's anything that Full Manual gives me, that I seriously want to do.

If the Top Gun thing is what you really want to do, that's one thing. I wanted to be an Air Force pilot when I was kid...but I wanted to fly bombers, not  fighters!

I'll take a B-52 over an F-22 any day!

:-)

TCS

Chaosrider Posted at 6-11 13:08
Well, it's a matter of perspective, and preference.

I never had any interest in acro. Still don't.

If you just want to fly as fast as possible and straight or up then just stay in baby mode.
Acro just means full control. You don't have to fly freestyle when you're flying acro.
If you fly in a canyon you might want to add fast down hill action. I found that I couldn't go down hill with an angle of more than say 10 or 20° when in baby mode.
And there's really nothing to fear switching out of baby. If you can control baby it's not hard to control full acro.
Angling forward at high speed and getting no reaction from the drone just makes me crazy.
On my other "real" fpv drones when I stay in "angle" mode I can't fly fast enough because I can't tilt forward far enough.
Just try it 50 m up and see if you need the angle protection...

Wow 80mph that’s crazy fast!

Depp Posted at 6-11 21:48
If you just want to fly as fast as possible and straight or up then just stay in baby mode.
Acro just means full control. You don't have to fly freestyle when you're flying acro.
If you fly in a canyon you might want to add fast down hill action. I found that I couldn't go down hill with an angle of more than say 10 or 20° when in baby mode.

This is helpful, thanks!

Based on this, I'll bump up to the Full Manual mode, but I want to get a bit more graceful with Baby Manual first.

:-)

TCS

Fred Fred Fred Posted at 6-13 08:27
Wow 80mph that’s crazy fast!

Indeed it is!

It's hard to describe, until you actually see it. And once you see it, it's hard to give up!

:-)

TCS