Hello from Carson City Nevada

[MrTommy]

Another noob logging in, in the hopes I can help myself not convert my new Phantom 2 Vision into either a brick, or a crumpled pile of plastic. :nevreness:

I'm also hoping I can find other Phantom pilots in my area. Or just helo pilots in general...

Stumbled on this site by accident and haven't as yet scoured it totally to see if there's others as new to this hobby as me. I've managed to get two successful flights under my belt. One at a local park with LOTS of room. Another last night as it was getting dark, getting windy, and looking like it was going to storm any minute. It was in my back yard. It got scary really quick (wind just came up!) so I brought it down - and scurried inside. :cold:

If I ask dumb questions, chew me out (I can take it), but then please help me by answering my question - ha.

 

[jbrumberg]

Welcome MrTommy. The best way not to brick your new Phantom is to practice flying. I do not know your skill level. I am a newbee. I've been flying RC aircraft for over a year and "toy" grade quads with a programmable Tx for around 6 months. I fly my "toys" a lot as often as possible, and I am starting to see the benefits of practice and using a flight simulator. My suggestion- practice, practice, practice till you are sick of it and practice some more. What I am talking about is manual control (no self leveling either). Tail in orientation exercises, right side in orientation exercises, left side in orientation exercises, and then head in orientation exercises. Figure 8's, banked turns, banked turn figure 8's. This is the stuff that I am still working on and it is slowly getting easier and more natural. I will always be flying those little "toys" they are pretty complex aircraft, and they are relatively inexpensive if I happen to "lose" one.

There are no dumb questions here.

Post freely and often and good luck

Jay

 

[Carapau]

MrTommy, a big welcome to you sir. No such thing as a dumb question so don't worry about getting chewed out. Great wealth of info on the forum here so use the search facility, ask questions until your heart's content and enjoy this great hobby. Just remember, slow is pro. Take things at a nice steady speed, dont rush and you will get loads of enjoyment with minimal damage to your wallet (and i use minimal in a very relative way here!).

 

[Bartman]

Welcome to the site Mr. Tommy! We've got lots of people new to the multi-rotor hobby and you'll find a lot of helpful folks with all levels of experience (the good kind and the bad kind)

Check out the Beginners' Lounge for a start and feel free to ask whatever questions you might have as they pop up.

Enjoy the site!
Bart

 

[MrTommy]

Thanks, all you guys. I've been having a ball with my new "molti-rotor" machine.

I initially got interested in helicopters back in the 50's while watching a b&w TV show called Whirlybirds. Have been in love with them ever since. Back in the 80's I bought a big-buck gas engine helo kit (many hundreds of bucks!) and put it together. Joined the Marin County RC club in northern CA. I watched the two guys in the club with their custom made really cool 'birds' fly theirs - and immediately sold mine. Scared the crap out of me! I never even fired up the engine. Fast forward 15 or more years, and my son got me a little Styrofoam RC helo from (I think) Discovery Channel. I LOVED it! Then fast forward to a month ago when I went to a local hobby shop in search of some glue. The owner was demo'ing a Blade 180 QX HD RC quad copter. Holy crap, was this cool! The other guy didn't buy it - BUT I DID - on the spot. Started flying, crashing, and burning right away. But before long I was doing lots of flying - and NO crashing. I still love this little thing. Even the questionable quality of the camera and the vids it takes. I wanted more and better and went on the hunt. I accidentally found the DJI Phantom 2 Vision - and knew I had to have it.

I'm loving this new machine! And it's surprising how much easier it is to control and fly than the little 180QX. Even my wife can fly the Phantom.

So now, following the advice of many (and my own common sense), I've been practicing mainly relatively low level flying, maneuvering, doing circles, squares, flying back at myself, and just generally following the instructions for learning that came with the Phantom.

I'll be scouring this site for more helpful hints and hopefully learning from others mistakes, how to avoid disaster.

Thanks again for the hearty welcome.