DJI Mavic, Air and Mini Drones
Friendly, Helpful & Knowledgeable Community
Join Us Now

Ken Heron on the FT Aviator

This vid actually is Ken’s second try. The first time he came to the park totally unprepared, opened the box, and tried to fly. No Preparation at all (at that time Fluidity already had a software update) , no Bluetooth connection, no organization of how to set up his equipment, etc. As a first time viewer I was not impressed with his casual approach to a lot of flight prep fundamentals, and, for me, this vid confirms a bias in his evaluation.

If he’s the pro how come mine works flawlessly?

Jake
I agree with you

However, I don't think he's a 'pro'. I think he is an entertainer that became fairly influential largely because he was into both drones and youtube early in the time line of drone adoption.

I believe you have an FT

If so, may be you could put together a similar video, but the way you believe it should have been done, than share it on this forum.

Those interested may get a lot of questions answered
 
  • Like
Reactions: Dragonfish
The stick is promoted to make flying easier. This gives the impression that as you unpack it, you simply fly away with it. What Ken shows here is, that it is not exactly the way the promotion suggests. It takes at least some training (contrary to a normal controller).
The question I ask myself is, why would I need a thing like this? To look cool? nope, no need for that. To be able to hold a coffee in my free hand? There is no free hand, so nope, I don't need it for that too. So for me, no valid reason to invest in it.
 
I took numerous issues with the concept when it was first introduced, and tried to have a meaningful exchange with Scott, the Phd - astronaut - inventor.. and like most Phds was far too arrogant to really participate. PhDs in general are even harder to work with than regular engineers... they have spent too much time in the theoretical and can't comprehend practical.. not to mention that just because your are a payload specialist .. doesn't exactly give your the bona-fides as a pilot

as a military pilot and aerospace physiologist as well as a software engineer with a masters in aeronautical science to boot I felt fairly qualified to weigh in on the perceived development flaws..

fist and foremost.. it is marketed as a one handed controller.. which it patently is not.. it requires both hands.. and rather than a clean design - requires you not only to 2 hand monkey with the FT but also deal with the DJI controller and the rats nest of cables, connections, screens.. etc

once you get past the ergonomic fail, the bigger issue is human physiology is not taken into account... flying is done with the fingertips.. even in transport aircraft ... especially required when fine, small corrections or inputs are required... this device is not flown with fingertips but gross motor input.. IE your are holding it with your arm, and you have to coordinate BOTH arms as well as deal with the fatigue .. it is far from ideal.. .

a three dimensional controller is not a bad idea for a drone.. and fusing 2 sticks into 1 is not an uncommon idea.. just look at most CAD 3d controllers.. .. but again, you don't operate it with your arms.. its fingertip...

lastly.. I don't think the effort was adequately capitalized for the development phase and their aggressive kickstarter/pre-sale effort to try and find venture capital didn't seem like it got very good traction so I am sure corners were cut on development expenses.. if DJI or some larger company does buy them out (I think at this point I see no proprietary IP that requires a buy out - just start clean sheet) hopefully better, more sensitive pots will be used and that human physiology will take a bigger roll in development of the interface / stick / ball - whatever the pilot has to manipulate needs to be manipulated by fine motor muscle groups .. not gross motor movement...

my 2 cents...
 
I have no interest in acquiring the FT aviator, but I thought his review was a poor effort.

I thought that at the very least he should have gotten the drone up 200 feet and then evaluate it's responsiveness.

He has been flying for a long time, and has muscle memory around the DJI joysticks, so any change, let alone a radical departure, is going to be completely foreign, and require adjustment.

I don't know what P***** him off, but he is too influential to be putting up that kind of review. At most, he could have said, 'well, I've tried it, but it's not for me'.
You are correct. I was considering buying one, but after watching his video not any more now. And there are probably lot of people who are thinking like me after watching his "review". :rolleyes:
 
I've flown teh FT Aviator with the Mavic 2 Pro and the Inspire 2. I like it and can see using in certain use cases. The real drawback is trying to use a phone or tablet as a monitor. If it was able to work with my BT350's then it would be a way better experience.

Where was the DJI remote control device? I couldn't see it.
 
I don’t subscribe to kens channel anymore I find the guy quite irritating ?
You definitely have to be in the mood for that humor. It can be over the top, and corny. I don't believe I ever subscribed, but I see one of his videos every so often
 
In QuadFlyerPhilly's video did anyone notice that the FT Aviator was not connected to the DJI RC? I didn't think the FT Aviator could be used stand-alone or have I missed something obvious?
 
In QuadFlyerPhilly's video did anyone notice that the FT Aviator was not connected to the DJI RC? I didn't think the FT Aviator could be used stand-alone or have I missed something obvious?
It’s bluetoothed to the iPad, which is tethered to the tx. On the ground in front of him. He hits the screen to take off.

Jake
 
Here’s my flight setup. I use the mic stand because I don’t want all that weight hanging from my neck.
View attachment 79440
I fight everyday trying to figure out how I want to do my monitoring. That is the major downfall for me so far. So for right now I train getting used to the joystick and doing maneuvers with it safely and comfortably. The camera part will be the easiest to work. If/once it is BT350 compatible then it will definitely make me rethink it being my full time go to. It works a lot better when I am operating the I2 and someone else is operating the camera.
 
This isn't a rebuttal to Ken, this is just documentation of my experience with the FT Aviator. In have arrived at a much different conclusion than he did.


Jake
 
After the latest updates, the FT-Aviator works great. As a longtime videographer, I'm looking for a 'flying dolly. The drone fits the bill, and coupled with the FT-Aviator, it's even easier. Sure, it has a learning curve, but if you have a good eye for video, you won't be disappointed.

Dave :)
 
I know this is an old thread, but I gotta try anyway. I only flew my drones a couple of times during covid in 2020, and I recently decided to pick the hobby back up. I loved the FT Aviator when it first came out and, for me, it worked really well with my Inspire 1 and Mavic 2 Zoom. That is until the firmware update at the end of 2019, just before I got busy and stopped flying. After the update the bird was very glitchy and prone to erratic movements. At the time I didn't know if it was the M2Z, the FT Aviator app, or the FT Aviator itself.

I got everything connected and tried flying with it a few days ago and things seem worse now. It now has developed a really bad delay in motion execution that gets worse the further the controller is from the drone. Like up to 15-20 seconds from the time you initiate an action and the bird executing the action. Definitely not safe or usable in its current state.

I tracked it down to being the FT Aviator itself. It's been very well cared for, never dropped or abused, and not really used all that much at all. So I don't think it's a physical build issue. I suspect corrupt firmware, most likely due to some fault of my own with doing the update in mid-December 2019.

I want to either go back to the original firmware that was working very well, or get a copy of the updated firmware and trying to update it again.

The thing is, I have no idea where to get the firmware. Nor do I remember how to do the update. Fluidity isn't selling or supporting the FT Aviator at this point, and they're 'working on cutting edge stuff'. So far they have not answered my emails. The zendesk help isn't working at all, as Fluidity has stopped using zendesk. So all that useful info has just vaporized.

Does anybody know where I can get the firmware so I can try to bring my FT Aviator back to life. I have a project coming up for which it would be perfect. Thanks!
 
Lycus Tech Mavic Air 3 Case

DJI Drone Deals

New Threads

Forum statistics

Threads
130,599
Messages
1,554,262
Members
159,605
Latest member
petravka