FCs… Worth It?

[BayDesigns]

I’m going to buy a PNP Mini AR Wing. I’m curious what you all think. Are flight controllers worth it? I’m not going to be flying long-range (for now) but I would like the benefits a flight controller offers. The one issue is cost- the Matek F411-WSE costs close to what the PNP airframe costs. At 46 dollars, I think it’s enough to warrant this thread. Thanks!

 

[JasonK]

Depends on what you want to do. Many people fly with and many people fly without a FC. I have some wings with and some without. However the 'without' ones are mostly in air-frame testing status and if they fly ok, will get upgraded to a FC because I am int rested in having the stuff that a FC gives (OSD battery monitoring for example).

 

[LitterBug]

If nothing else, launch assist is a really nice feature. Allows me to launch myself before going under the goggles when my spotter has a bad shoulder and can't throw me in the air. I've flown a TON of FPV, so the OSD aspect for battery and RSSI monitoring is really nice. For my longer range birds (800' right) I like to have GPS as well. A well tuned FC can make very bumpy air conditions less nautious when flying FPV. I prefer open source FCs which allow me to set flight modes from passthrough to full autonomous.

 

[Flightspeed]

If nothing else, launch assist is a really nice feature. Allows me to launch myself before going under the goggles when my spotter has a bad shoulder and can't throw me in the air. I've flown a TON of FPV, so the OSD aspect for battery and RSSI monitoring is really nice. For my longer range birds (800' right) I like to have GPS as well. A well tuned FC can make very bumpy air conditions less nautious when flying FPV. I prefer open source FCs which allow me to set flight modes from passthrough to full autonomous.

Yeah, launch would be nice, I always launch myself and with fpv it can get really sketchy, especially with any wind.

 

[JasonK]

I have hand launched myself with googles on numerous times. wing in left hand to my right, googles on, throttle up with mouth, toss, fly. I haven't managed to get auto-launch setup on anything yet, but that would be useful.

 

[Flightspeed]

Yeah, that’s how I do it, can be quite sketchy tho,

 

[BayDesigns]

Thanks everyone. Seems like an FC would be worth the extra money.