Well, it was a success in the sense that I didn't crash, and I learned a lot. One of the things that I learned was that I'm very good at hitting the Brake button in a timely manner!
It's actually a lot like going around in a timely manner in a conventional airplane, which I always do on the rare occasion when the need arises. The Brake button is fast and effective.
My first hard challenge was getting the blasted back cover off. It's amazing how many things in life are designed for non-klutzy people who have substantive, hard fingernails. I qualify on neither count.
When I went to tighten the throttle resistance, I turned it...and turned it, and turned it...for what seemed like forever. Finally, it started to "take", and I adjusted it to the resistance that I like. Just like the throttle resistance tightening on a C-172. I tightened down the re-centering screw as well. Is there any reason to back those screws that far out, when I reset it to normal?
When it came to the Manual mode start up sequence, I finally said the hall with it, and just gave it a shot. The vague and fuzzy and lame manual seemed to imply that you had to choose Manual mode in the goggles first, so that's what I did. The OP was right; when you complete that process, an image of the sticks appears, and it tells you where to put them. When you move them to the right spot, it goes into Manual mode.
I only went up to about 120 ft, because I figured, how hard can this be? I went higher up with each re-try after hitting the Brake button, and finally settled on 300 ft up as a nice round number.
Manual mode is definitely very different., and more than a little weird. But...Karnack Sees All!
I figured I'd get it into Manual mode, something weird would happen immediately, and I'd hit the Brake button in not more than a second or two, and all would be well. That was exactly what happened.
I went through about four "Brake and back to Manual" cycles, when the battery started to get low. My triumphant last round in Manual mode probably lasted at least 6 or 8 seconds!
Landing...in Normal mode...was a bit weird with the left stick friction still on, but it was easily comprehensible once I saw what it was doing. I landed without incident.
My biggest challenge now is that I don't have any intuitive sense of what to do with the controls to make the aircraft do what I want it to do. For example, not long after I get it into Manual mode, it starts drifting backward, and downward. It did that every time. What stick response is appropriate to arrest those motions? It's not drifting that fast (no wind today, which is very unusual), so it won't take much stick movement to arrest it...once I know what the proper stick movements are to do that.
Put another way, if you want the aircraft to go slightly up and slightly and slowly forward...what are the right stick inputs to produce that result?
Now that I've learned the basic process issues...like the right sequence to get it into Manual mode, and the fact that I have the Brake action and timing nailed...I expect I'll make a bit more progress on my second flight, which I expect later today.
Comments and suggestions very greatly appreciated!
It's actually a lot like going around in a timely manner in a conventional airplane, which I always do on the rare occasion when the need arises. The Brake button is fast and effective.
My first hard challenge was getting the blasted back cover off. It's amazing how many things in life are designed for non-klutzy people who have substantive, hard fingernails. I qualify on neither count.
When I went to tighten the throttle resistance, I turned it...and turned it, and turned it...for what seemed like forever. Finally, it started to "take", and I adjusted it to the resistance that I like. Just like the throttle resistance tightening on a C-172. I tightened down the re-centering screw as well. Is there any reason to back those screws that far out, when I reset it to normal?
When it came to the Manual mode start up sequence, I finally said the hall with it, and just gave it a shot. The vague and fuzzy and lame manual seemed to imply that you had to choose Manual mode in the goggles first, so that's what I did. The OP was right; when you complete that process, an image of the sticks appears, and it tells you where to put them. When you move them to the right spot, it goes into Manual mode.
I only went up to about 120 ft, because I figured, how hard can this be? I went higher up with each re-try after hitting the Brake button, and finally settled on 300 ft up as a nice round number.
Manual mode is definitely very different., and more than a little weird. But...Karnack Sees All!
I figured I'd get it into Manual mode, something weird would happen immediately, and I'd hit the Brake button in not more than a second or two, and all would be well. That was exactly what happened.
I went through about four "Brake and back to Manual" cycles, when the battery started to get low. My triumphant last round in Manual mode probably lasted at least 6 or 8 seconds!
Landing...in Normal mode...was a bit weird with the left stick friction still on, but it was easily comprehensible once I saw what it was doing. I landed without incident.
My biggest challenge now is that I don't have any intuitive sense of what to do with the controls to make the aircraft do what I want it to do. For example, not long after I get it into Manual mode, it starts drifting backward, and downward. It did that every time. What stick response is appropriate to arrest those motions? It's not drifting that fast (no wind today, which is very unusual), so it won't take much stick movement to arrest it...once I know what the proper stick movements are to do that.
Put another way, if you want the aircraft to go slightly up and slightly and slowly forward...what are the right stick inputs to produce that result?
Now that I've learned the basic process issues...like the right sequence to get it into Manual mode, and the fact that I have the Brake action and timing nailed...I expect I'll make a bit more progress on my second flight, which I expect later today.
Comments and suggestions very greatly appreciated!
