What do you wish someone had told you before you started flying your DJI FPV?

[Dangerly]

I'm more excited than I can say - I've got my still shrink-wrapped DJI FPV Combo sitting on my desk right now. What do you wish someone had told you before you started flying the FPV?

I've watched hours of first-time tutorial type Youtube videos, and I'm planning to log as many hours as it takes with the simulator. I've got 4 years experience flying various Mavic drones in all kinds of flying conditions, but never tried an FPV.

Any advice for an FPV newbie?

[Is this the best forum for this thread, or should I post this question somewhere else?]

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

They aren't that great in side winds.
I was, and am, greatly impressed by the banked-turn, scenic videos posted by alex_markov and thought it would be nice to try. But having flown one, (they are scarily fast or can be I the one I was flying had the MAD mode switched off), their video is very susceptable to side winds or at least that's what I found.
I also found it necessary to lean against a wall and not be to fierce banking and yanking otherwise I started to get seasick.
I really would prefer to be able to access the menus on the phone attached to the goggles but.......

 

[Dangerly]

They aren't that great in side winds.
I was, and am, greatly impressed by the banked-turn, scenic videos posted by alex_markov and thought it would be nice to try. But having flown one, (they are scarily fast or can be I the one I was flying had the MAD mode switched off), their video is very susceptable to side winds or at least that's what I found.
I also found it necessary to lean against a wall and not be to fierce banking and yanking otherwise I started to get seasick.
I really would prefer to be able to access the menus on the phone attached to the goggles but.......

Wow, I never would have guessed that! Thanks. Does that mainly show up at slower speeds?

 

[slup]

You have the FPV side of the forum here --> FPV Drone Pilots Forum

But as you say ... in order to go manual you need to get the maneuvering into your muscle memory, & you only get it there by practice. And the cheapest way to practice is with a simulator ... get like 30h there & you will be able to switch to manual & continue practicing for real without wrecking thing's.

But as you have the DJI FPV drone ... you can start off getting used to the goggles with the drone in "Mavic" mode, & take the manual mode practice in the simulator.

I've been flying full manual FPV for a couple of years now (not the DJI FPV drone though) ... but every spring it's hard to get the muscle memory out of the winter hibernation ... so it's only flight hours that get me back on track.

Here from my first flight this year ... no crashes, but some mistakes regarding the moves here & there though

 

[Dangerly]

You have the FPV side of the forum here --> FPV Drone Pilots Forum

But as you say ... in order to go manual you need to get the maneuvering into your muscle memory, & you only get it there by practice. And the cheapest way to practice is with a simulator ... get like 30h there & you will be able to switch to manual & continue practicing for real without wrecking thing's.

But as you have the DJI FPV drone ... you can start off getting used to the goggles with the drone in "Mavic" mode, & take the manual mode practice in the simulator.

I've been flying full manual FPV for a couple of years now (not the DJI FPV drone though) ... but every spring it's hard to get the muscle memory out of the winter hibernation ... so it's only flight hours that get me back on track.

Here from my first flight this year ... no crashes, but some mistakes regarding the moves here & there though

Wow, it's going to take me a few hours before I can fly like that. As I've not yet flown FPV, I'm curious where you think the mistakes are?

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

Does that mainly show up at slower speeds?

It showed up at the speeds I reached, realistically I do not know how fast it was flying but I doubt I was right stick fully forward, they were exploratory flights. I may not have even switched out of the slow mode when moving horizontally.
I know it is possible to switch a 'normal' camera drone to FPV mode and I often do just to check the wind, but in hindsight I am inclined to think that when a normal drone is in FPV mode it damps out minor roll twitches of the drone. I think the FPV can not and the video from it was twitchier in roll than any ffrom a normal drone in FPV mode.

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

Here from my first flight this year ... no crashes, but some mistakes regarding the moves here & there though

Did you lose you lunch?

 

[slup]

Wow, it's going to take me a few hours before I can fly like that. As I've not yet flown FPV, I'm curious where you think the mistakes are?

Over rolling & flipping ... not stopping after a full turn with the quad leveled. My stick rates at max deflection is rotation with 900 degrees/sec ... you need to use the muscle memory to get it right, you don't have time to see.

 

[slup]

Did you lose you lunch?

nope, but to be able to keep it, it's a lot of practice ... it was worse in the beginning, but perhaps more to be able to stay up & not fall ... but did the practice in the sim free standing & not sitting down & after a while & stopped to lean with the turns & nowadays I usually can free stand with goggles & fly more agile than that without moving or feel sea sick, some days I lean my back towards a tree when I've been flying for a couple hours.

 

[dirkclod]

Wow, it's going to take me a few hours before I can fly like that. As I've not yet flown FPV, I'm curious where you think the mistakes are?

Sitting on the end of a picnic table learning. I’ve hit the ground more than I want to admit. I seem to use body English flying and if not in a chair I fall over

 

[akdrone]

I'm more excited than I can say - I've got my still shrink-wrapped DJI FPV Combo sitting on my desk right now. What do you wish someone had told you before you started flying the FPV?

I've watched hours of first-time tutorial type Youtube videos, and I'm planning to log as many hours as it takes with the simulator. I've got 4 years experience flying various Mavic drones in all kinds of flying conditions, but never tried an FPV.

Any advice for an FPV newbie?

[Is this the best forum for this thread, or should I post this question somewhere else?]

bring a chair

 

[Crouching Leopard]

bring a chair

Practice maneuvers whilst Flying high, don't underestimate how fast it is going when heading down. 80 metres becomes 30 metres in the blink of eye.

Dont underestimate how much height you need to pull it out of a dive.

Watch the battery. It goes down really fast. In S mode perhaps 6-8 minutes. Mine "landed" at close to 140K/hr because I failed to watch the battery level.

When the battery says return home , Return home straight away. Dont be tempted as with Mavics to get one last turn or shot. 20% is nothing with the FPV.

The FPV has been known to cut power at 4-8%.

Fit a battery protector to protect the casings weak spot on the right hand foot. A hard landing can push the rubber foot up into the circuit board packed in tight behind the foot. Bad design. Google for photos and videos of this.

I printed the one in the photo but you can make up something out of foam and double sided tape. Its worth the effort. The FPV has a tendency to land on its right hand rear foot first. 1 hard landing and the battery is gone. DJI wont warranty repair. I tried.

"'Dont underestimate a senior who flys FPV""

Hold onto your hat and happy flying.

 

[Deleted member 84685]

You have the FPV side of the forum here --> FPV Drone Pilots Forum

But as you say ... in order to go manual you need to get the maneuvering into your muscle memory, & you only get it there by practice. And the cheapest way to practice is with a simulator ... get like 30h there & you will be able to switch to manual & continue practicing for real without wrecking thing's.

But as you have the DJI FPV drone ... you can start off getting used to the goggles with the drone in "Mavic" mode, & take the manual mode practice in the simulator.

I've been flying full manual FPV for a couple of years now (not the DJI FPV drone though) ... but every spring it's hard to get the muscle memory out of the winter hibernation ... so it's only flight hours that get me back on track.

Here from my first flight this year ... no crashes, but some mistakes regarding the moves here & there though

Watched today ,pretty cool

 

[Deleted member 84685]

I would have asked if they are able to fly FVP ,cost me lots coin trying old school way with p4 and dji white spoosed up motorcycle helmet cross mixing bowl 10kg headset only to get motion sickness lol,
That's some in your face stuff,,love watching it though ,,airborne rollercoaster

 

[slup]

...airborne rollercoaster

Funny that you mention roller coaster ... before I started to fly like in above clip I couldn't handle roller coasters at all, if the kids persuaded me I always took the ride with my eyes shut... to be honest, I sincerely hated it, roller coasters was in my opinion wasted money. Nowadays it's totally problem free, easy to follow the flow without feeling motion sickness.

@Dangerly ... nothing wrong with using a chair & sitting down when using the goggles, but still recommend you to try to free stand & practice that first in the simulator & then later when using goggles in the beginning & fly manual for real just lean your back towards a wall, your car or a tree. If you can get used to it you don't have to drag a chair with you every time you fly FPV.

 

[Cgbass439]

I'm not happy that the simulator only works with IOS, not Android. If I would've know that I might not have bought it.

 

[Starz]

And if you want to try the motion controller, you can have mine as long as you cover the cost of shipping and any PayPal fees for the shipping cost.

 

[EpicFlight]

All good advice given so far, but I have a bit different suggestion... Forget the simulator, forget manual, take it out immediately and fly a bunch in N and S modes. Get used to the goggles and FPV. Have a BLAST with it first!

 

[EpicFlight]

Fit a battery protector to protect the casings weak spot on the right hand foot. A hard landing can push the rubber foot up into the circuit board packed in tight behind the foot. Bad design. Google for photos and videos of this.

This reminds me: Land in NORMAL mode. Always. Unless trying to land in manual without crashing is one of the thrills you got this for. Otherwise, let the FC do the mundane stuff.

 

[dave canada]

You have the FPV side of the forum here --> FPV Drone Pilots Forum

But as you say ... in order to go manual you need to get the maneuvering into your muscle memory, & you only get it there by practice. And the cheapest way to practice is with a simulator ... get like 30h there & you will be able to switch to manual & continue practicing for real without wrecking thing's.

But as you have the DJI FPV drone ... you can start off getting used to the goggles with the drone in "Mavic" mode, & take the manual mode practice in the simulator.

I've been flying full manual FPV for a couple of years now (not the DJI FPV drone though) ... but every spring it's hard to get the muscle memory out of the winter hibernation ... so it's only flight hours that get me back on track.

Here from my first flight this year ... no crashes, but some mistakes regarding the moves here & there though

why don,t you go out a try to find some elk sheds there at 17.00 a pound now looks like you could cover a lot of country with that machine