When is it time to say... it's not for me?

[Solly747400]

So I've spent around $1500 so far on 3 quads, two of which I built and everytime I I decide to push that throttle up (go fly) I'll just stuff everything up and crash within 2 seconds lol. I have been using the flight sim lately and I can keep it in the air most of the time, just not good at going through things.
The first time I flew the first one I built, I lost it, noughbour brought it back. I haven't even broken anything by crashing lol.

My point is, I haven't had much success at all. I have not been able to go up for a full battery to at least say, Oh yeah, I did alright today.
I've built more than I've tried to fly TBH, because I'm good at building/electronics, no problem there. It's just the flying.

So is it time to say it's not for me and go back to my P4P?

I might go to our local soccer oval this weekend and give it another shot.

 

[VirtueViolater]

Don't give up you're experiencing the learning curve just keep trying and all of a sudden you'll have it

 

[theGreenOrange]

You may need to lower your rates and add a dead zone of about 5us to your channels to make it easier to control.

Also, a tiny whoop can help a lot. You just need to burn packs and a tiny whoop lets you squeeze in a few packs basically anywhere at any time.

 

[Solly747400]

You may need to lower your rates and add a dead zone of about 5us to your channels to make it easier to control.

Also, a tiny whoop can help a lot. You just need to burn packs and a tiny whoop lets you squeeze in a few packs basically anywhere at any time.

I have a lizard 95

 

[Solly747400]

Someone also suggested to lower throttle endpoints. Yes?? No??

 

[theGreenOrange]

L

I have a lizard 95

A lizard 95 is a great drone, but not at all like a tiny whoop. A tiny whoop is like a Volkswagen beetle compared to the lizard Ferrari.

As far as changing throttle endpoints, I wouldn't do that personally, I would lower the rates.

 

[VirtueViolater]

This ought to help

These two adjustments can make flight much easier

 

[HighTechPauper]

I had the exact same issue Solly, but I started in angle mode and used a low pitch prop and eventually started doing ok. Then I moved to horizon mode and again another learning curve as the angle was much steeper and it would flip if I pushed the stick too far. Eventually I started LOS in acro mode and again a learning curve. But if you persist and concentrate, you WILL get it. In my opinion a lizard would have been a bit too powerful to learn on without reducing your rates significantly.

If you hang in there, you will get it. Every time I flew a battery it got just a little better (not much, but a little) and then one day that particular piece just clicked and then I was moving forward to the next hurdle. Now I r a pilot, even if I am not a great one, I fly all my batts now and come home (usually) with all my quads intact.

 

[HighTechPauper]

And just as a reference point, I had zero skills so I spent probably 3 months just trying to hover LOS close by with nose forward orientation and keep it close to one position before I was able to fly. Each new "step" I tried to take got a little easier once I could control it 20 feet in front of me about 10-20 feet off the ground. This helped me to "get used to" the fine stick movement often needed to stay in control, and then one day that part went well enough that I was hopeful. After practicing each piece many times, it really does start to just occur naturally, and then your on to the next "step" of having the time of your life.
IMHO

 

[DavidKersting]

I almost gave up too. Hung in there and now Im loving it. I will say that I spent a lot of time on the PC and LibrePilot making adjustments until I was comfortable with the way it flew (meaning-set it to my skill). You have a Small drone that can zig,zag,zip etc really quickly.

If your like I was, I thought I could be a pro out of the gate (as I know heli, planes etc), built a nice drone, showed all my freinds and family the wicked machine I made, configured the software like a pro would.................and never got more than 2 seconds in the air. $$$

I humbled myself.
2) Set it up for a beginner. Sick movement is very forgiving and gives time to react

2) Dont allow the drone to tilt outside of a reasonable angle-even at full stick. I set everything to a maximum of 20 degrees.

I agree with HighTech Pauper

Hover hover hover.....changing the drone nose position to away, right, facing you, left....working to keep the drone in one spot at each...when in panic, point the drone away from you as your brain will instantly understand what to do on the transmitter. This activity teaches your brain how to use the sticks for directional control when zipping around the sky (without FPV). Eventually its natural. Happens pretty quick too.

Side note:
I got ya beat on crashed drone $$$ learning. No, I wont tell you my spending. However one event was a 250 ZMR, Fatshark FPV equipped, Go pro equipped....lost in a residential area..Bad day for me,,,,,,my wife agreed.

Hang in there.

 

[Solly747400]

Thanks guys, I've got my martian 2 ready to go. I'll go down the footy or soccer oval and give it a go. I'll probably take my Lizard with me as well.

I was on the sim last night and I usually always fly fpv on there and I'm doing OK. Well I switched to LOS and hell I couldn't even make a turn lol

 

[VirtueViolater]

You can learn los acro later, use a self leveling mode for los

 

[jeffx]

My son and I both learned to fly fpv acro last summer from the Josh Bardwell video series and my son won his last 3 MultiGP races (he's 11). Highly recommend these videos.

 

[venomoussvt]

Expo!!! It does wonders for giving a little bit of cushion when you've got something that's on rails. Learning acro is a huge step especially if you've spent a lot of time flying in self level . I vote 100% for you trying a simulator. Time on the sticks is what will make you a solid pilot. It's like learning a language, you're mind just needs to learn what muscle memory it needs to make the moves it.needs.dor the quad. That doesn't come in a day, a week, or even a month in some cases. A good simulator will give you an easy excuse to spend time on the sticks and get better slowly without consequences of crashing. Get comfortable in acro on a Sim and you'll be able to handle a quad in acro in real life fairly decent. It's not a 1 to 1 comparison, but it DOES make a difference once you transition to your existing gear from the simulator. I say put your quads on the shelf for 2 weeks. Spend an hour a day minimum in the simulator doing the tutorials and practicing regular flying. Forget tricks and loops and Matty flips. Just fly and get comfortable with correctly maneuvering the quad and with what adjustments need to be made to keep the quad happy in the air. After 2 weeks of patience and practice. Give a shot and carefully fly a pack through one of them just playing around.

 

[Solly747400]

Thanks mate. By the sounds of it I was expecting to be able to pickup the controller on the second week and go fly.
I am using FPV freerider which I have purchased. I have also purchased Liftoff. Lift off has some awesome features but the graphics are very choppy and it's buggy. It is a beta and I knew that when I purchased it. Freerider is alot more basic but very smooth. So I have been flying that for quite a while. Maybe I'll record my screen while I'm flying so you guys can see what I'm like, then you can give me more input, good or bad, I don't mind, I'm a big boy I can handle it lol

 

[venomoussvt]

Thanks mate. By the sounds of it I was expecting to be able to pickup the controller on the second week and go fly.
I am using FPV freerider which I have purchased. I have also purchased Liftoff. Lift off has some awesome features but the graphics are very choppy and it's buggy. It is a beta and I knew that when I purchased it. Freerider is alot more basic but very smooth. So I have been flying that for quite a while. Maybe I'll record my screen while I'm flying so you guys can see what I'm like, then you can give me more input, good or bad, I don't mind, I'm a big boy I can handle it lol

its interesting, ive heard some things about liftoff being choppy but it seems to run smoothly for me on my machine. I am running a pretty decent setup with a 4gb video and 64gb ram though. You can dial back the graphics which may help smooth out liftoff a bit. Do the tutorials!!! Boot up liftoff and do the tutorials (whether you can already do them or not) one at a time. Literally learn the sim in and out. The first 3 hours i spent in the game I was in the tutorials. I didnt even make it through the last tutorial which is a full course. I stopped at the second to last tutorial and just practiced the 2 gates and 4 corners over and over again. I did that until I could do it slow and steady. Not looking for anything race ready yet. I then went to the first stage in the field with the hay bails, I turned on the simplest course (course 1). and freeroam mode and just practiced flying... when I got comfortable I started trying to hit a gate or 2 intentionally. I then started just tracing the gates by flying over them until I could get hold the line fairly well.. (seriously another 4 hours or better in the simulator). Once I could follow the line and hold my altitude close over the gates, I would try and dip into them as many as I could but not stress about making the gate. Im still very green at this, so I still cant fly the basic course and hit every gate without creeping along to do it. I do however go into the level with all the white buildings (cant remember the name right now) and their course 1 doesnt have gates... just corridors to follow.. its a great way to start honing in on your flying without stressing over gates that feel super small as a beginner.

 

[Solly747400]

I'm on a laptop (DELL XPS15) with i7-6700, 16GB RAM, not sure about my graphics though. I guess 16GB RAM may not be enough. I have reduced the graphics in the sim options but not much better. I've never had issues with anything that I've thrown at this laptop, including games and CAD programs. Anyway I'm not too fussed about it.
I only really get time to practise on the weekends. I get around 12-16 hours of work in the weekdays (Truck driver) so when I get home I'm ready for bed lol.
I will keep practising on the sim I reckon. I'll give it a couple more weeks before I think about taking my birds out.

 

[venomoussvt]

I'm on a laptop (DELL XPS15) with i7-6700, 16GB RAM, not sure about my graphics though. I guess 16GB RAM may not be enough. I have reduced the graphics in the sim options but not much better. I've never had issues with anything that I've thrown at this laptop, including games and CAD programs. Anyway I'm not too fussed about it.
I only really get time to practise on the weekends. I get around 12-16 hours of work in the weekdays (Truck driver) so when I get home I'm ready for bed lol.
I will keep practising on the sim I reckon. I'll give it a couple more weeks before I think about taking my birds out.

Definitely don't get discouraged. This hobby is all about time on the sticks. I know this advice is coming from someone that is just buying their first fpv quad , but it's legitimate advice. Anyone that have become a seasoned pilot should tell you the same. It is discouraging at times because watching videos makes it look so easy yet there is A LOT going on to fly like that. But, like learning a new language, you can do it. You just need time repeating those words. Or in our case, repeating those stick inputs and seeing the results on the screen. You got this.

 

[Solly747400]

Definitely don't get discouraged. This hobby is all about time on the sticks. I know this advice is coming from someone that is just buying their first fpv quad , but it's legitimate advice. Anyone that have become a seasoned pilot should tell you the same. It is discouraging at times because watching videos makes it look so easy yet there is A LOT going on to fly like that. But, like learning a new language, you can do it. You just need time repeating those words. Or in our case, repeating those stick inputs and seeing the results on the screen. You got this.

A little ironic that I'm finding this acro flying difficult as I'm actually a pilot. I've had my PPL (Private pilot) for 18 years lol. Needless to say I have no issue flying the real thing

 

[venomoussvt]

A little ironic that I'm finding this acro flying difficult as I'm actually a pilot. I've had my PPL (Private pilot) for 18 years lol. Needless to say I have no issue flying the real thing

I could fly acro line of sight decent, but threw on the headset and it was like going back in time. I lost years of experience it seemed. But now, with the time I've invested, I can fly acro better fpv than I could line of sight a few weeks ago