I got my start in RC by going to a garage sale. I found a used trainer from Italy that was built but had no gear in it. I had no idea what it was and even less knowledge of RC.
Thanks to the pilots at the local aeromodeling club and my father-in-law, I had that airplane built and in the air a month later. I couldn’t believe that something I had worked on in my basement could actually take flight.
That was the first of many airplanes. I ultimately stick built my own airplanes and hand cut custom trim schemes. This went on for years.
When my hobby became my job and my kids got bigger, my RC time dwindled. Getting to the field was tricky. As I rolled into my 12th year of aeromodeling, I still enjoyed RC, but that drive just wasn’t as intense.
I had heard about FPV in its early days. I saw the videos. I even researched it. I came to think of FPV as a black art that was primarily done with a helicopter or quadcopter. I had flown helis in the past, but never enjoyed it as much as airplanes, so I figured that I probably wouldn’t like multirotors. Then one day, everything changed.
Fast-forward to today. I now spend late nights on RCGroups, researching topics such as “on-screen display,” “can I tap a three-cell to run my GoPro,” “setting up head tracking,” and more obscure FPV questions that would never have crossed my mind six months ago.
I now lie in bed late at night trying to visualize the best way to wire my GoPro to my 5.8 transmitter. Should I run everything off of the main LiPo? Do I need a BEC? Should I run two batteries? The mind boggles, but the fact is clear: I’m “all eat up” with the subject.
Three feet away from me sets my tweaked DJI Phantom. The owner of DroneFly, Taylor Chein, sent me a short email one day that read, “You need to fly one of these.” A week later it was at my house.
I had seen quadcopters at various events I had attended and videos online, but I had never flown one. I had no idea what to expect. A friend told me I would be amazed at how much fun it was ... and he was right.
Any intimidation you might feel will melt away after you let go of the sticks and the Phantom remains in place, thanks to its built-in GPS unit. It takes the stress out of flying and leaves only the best part: fun. When you are comfortable, there are settings that allow you to fly the quad naturally without any GPS interaction, and I have found it’s as much fun, but still low stress.
I will almost guarantee that after your first quad flight you will start to daydream of FPV flight. The quadcopter is the gateway to FPV and try as you might, the lure is too strong. You will find yourself online researching video transmitters, clover-leaf antennas, and FPV goggles.
After you get to this stage, it is too late! Get out your wallet, lay it on your desk, and prepare for a full-on cannonball into this new segment of the hobby. You won’t be surfacing anytime soon.
One thing I enjoy about a small- to mid-size quad is that I can fly it in the backyard. At 5 p.m., weather willing, I can throw the Phantom into the air and sit on my picnic bench. I also have LEDs on it, so I can fly it at night to the delight of the neighborhood kids.
When I thought of FPV, I always associated it with quadcopters, but just 10 feet to my left is a pretty slick 1/10-scale RC truck that is in stage two of its FPV adventure. I took a perfectly good Axial Wraith, and piece by piece, I have turned it into my FPV ground vehicle.
If you have never seen the perspective of driving a 1/10-scale RC truck from the driver’s seat, go find a video now. It is double cool.
I have traveled vast distances from the driver’s seat of this off-road rig. Somewhere in a rumbling UPS truck is my pan-and-tilt camera that allows me to look left/right/up/down while driving the truck, for an even more immersive experience while wearing my Skyzone goggles with built-in head tracking.
I don’t have a problem. I can stop at any time. Right! Did I mention that I only got into this at the end of summer of 2013?
To create the perfect trifecta of FPV perfection, I have also just ordered an FPV EPP airplane. Why stop at quads and trucks? The Hobby King FPV aircraft has a 70-inch wingspan. I am already planning my modifications and I’m excited to start stuffing my on-screen display and other FPV equipment into this aircraft. It’s going to be a fun project.
To conclude, FPV is addictive and can be used in all genres of the hobby. Quads are relaxing and can be flown safely nearly anywhere.
To illustrate how addictive all of this is, I purchased a Bumblebee quad while I was writing this column. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!
Edition: Model Aviation - 2014/03
Page Numbers: 83,84
Edition: Model Aviation - 2014/03
Page Numbers: 83,84
I got my start in RC by going to a garage sale. I found a used trainer from Italy that was built but had no gear in it. I had no idea what it was and even less knowledge of RC.
Thanks to the pilots at the local aeromodeling club and my father-in-law, I had that airplane built and in the air a month later. I couldn’t believe that something I had worked on in my basement could actually take flight.
That was the first of many airplanes. I ultimately stick built my own airplanes and hand cut custom trim schemes. This went on for years.
When my hobby became my job and my kids got bigger, my RC time dwindled. Getting to the field was tricky. As I rolled into my 12th year of aeromodeling, I still enjoyed RC, but that drive just wasn’t as intense.
I had heard about FPV in its early days. I saw the videos. I even researched it. I came to think of FPV as a black art that was primarily done with a helicopter or quadcopter. I had flown helis in the past, but never enjoyed it as much as airplanes, so I figured that I probably wouldn’t like multirotors. Then one day, everything changed.
Fast-forward to today. I now spend late nights on RCGroups, researching topics such as “on-screen display,” “can I tap a three-cell to run my GoPro,” “setting up head tracking,” and more obscure FPV questions that would never have crossed my mind six months ago.
I now lie in bed late at night trying to visualize the best way to wire my GoPro to my 5.8 transmitter. Should I run everything off of the main LiPo? Do I need a BEC? Should I run two batteries? The mind boggles, but the fact is clear: I’m “all eat up” with the subject.
Three feet away from me sets my tweaked DJI Phantom. The owner of DroneFly, Taylor Chein, sent me a short email one day that read, “You need to fly one of these.” A week later it was at my house.
I had seen quadcopters at various events I had attended and videos online, but I had never flown one. I had no idea what to expect. A friend told me I would be amazed at how much fun it was ... and he was right.
Any intimidation you might feel will melt away after you let go of the sticks and the Phantom remains in place, thanks to its built-in GPS unit. It takes the stress out of flying and leaves only the best part: fun. When you are comfortable, there are settings that allow you to fly the quad naturally without any GPS interaction, and I have found it’s as much fun, but still low stress.
I will almost guarantee that after your first quad flight you will start to daydream of FPV flight. The quadcopter is the gateway to FPV and try as you might, the lure is too strong. You will find yourself online researching video transmitters, clover-leaf antennas, and FPV goggles.
After you get to this stage, it is too late! Get out your wallet, lay it on your desk, and prepare for a full-on cannonball into this new segment of the hobby. You won’t be surfacing anytime soon.
One thing I enjoy about a small- to mid-size quad is that I can fly it in the backyard. At 5 p.m., weather willing, I can throw the Phantom into the air and sit on my picnic bench. I also have LEDs on it, so I can fly it at night to the delight of the neighborhood kids.
When I thought of FPV, I always associated it with quadcopters, but just 10 feet to my left is a pretty slick 1/10-scale RC truck that is in stage two of its FPV adventure. I took a perfectly good Axial Wraith, and piece by piece, I have turned it into my FPV ground vehicle.
If you have never seen the perspective of driving a 1/10-scale RC truck from the driver’s seat, go find a video now. It is double cool.
I have traveled vast distances from the driver’s seat of this off-road rig. Somewhere in a rumbling UPS truck is my pan-and-tilt camera that allows me to look left/right/up/down while driving the truck, for an even more immersive experience while wearing my Skyzone goggles with built-in head tracking.
I don’t have a problem. I can stop at any time. Right! Did I mention that I only got into this at the end of summer of 2013?
To create the perfect trifecta of FPV perfection, I have also just ordered an FPV EPP airplane. Why stop at quads and trucks? The Hobby King FPV aircraft has a 70-inch wingspan. I am already planning my modifications and I’m excited to start stuffing my on-screen display and other FPV equipment into this aircraft. It’s going to be a fun project.
To conclude, FPV is addictive and can be used in all genres of the hobby. Quads are relaxing and can be flown safely nearly anywhere.
To illustrate how addictive all of this is, I purchased a Bumblebee quad while I was writing this column. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!
