Flying in Circles

[Snarls]

Sometimes flying in circles is a relaxing day at the field. Other times you are literally flying in a circle and trying hard not to crash.

There is a neighborhood in town with a circle that was built in anticipation of new houses. To this day the lots remain vacant and the circle goes unused.

 

[markyoe]

Nice video! Looks like a great place to fly. Any tips for a newbie wanting to try a flip with a 230 miniquad or is it simple?

 

[Cyberdactyl]

Nice flying!

 

[C0d3M0nk3y]

Nice flying. Is that footage from a Yi by any chance?

 

[Snarls]

Thanks guys! markyoe to do your first flip I recommend increasing your roll/pitch rate on your control board quite a bit. You may want some expo too as a result. Then go up three mistakes high, get a feel for how sensitive your controls are, and when you are ready jam the stick all the way to one side, lower throttle during the flip and then increase it when you get near the end of the flip. You will find that the flip is too slow or way too fast most likely the first) then you can adjust the RC rates accordingly. Tall grass helps too! David W explains it well in this FT classic. The first flip is hard, but once you do it you will be flipping like crazy!

 

[C0d3M0nk3y]

Nice video! Looks like a great place to fly. Any tips for a newbie wanting to try a flip with a 230 miniquad or is it simple?

If you're flying FPV, I'd say try it line of sight a few times to get the timing down.

 

[RandomChaos]

Also, what flight controller are you using? Some have a nice mode that works like stability mode, but when you bang the sticks, it allows you to flip and roll.

Also, I recommend accelerating upwards right before you flip. This allows the quad to keep upward momentum during the flip, instead of immediately beginning to loose altitude as soon as you start your flip.

 

[Cyberdactyl]

I think most do that now. I still use the KK2 on a couple of mine and with Steveis' firmware you can dial back self-level to where it's not hardly felt.

 

[markyoe]

KK mini and a Spectrum dx5e. How do I do expo? Do I fly acro mode? Can I put self level on a switch to help level out at the end of the flip?

 

[markyoe]

I will turn the stick scaling up too. Is that expo?

 

[Snarls]

Nice flying. Is that footage from a Yi by any chance?

Nah, this was earlier that week with the GoPro 2. I'm on vacation now with the Yi so I should be trying it out soon with some scenic shots. Can't wait.

Also, what flight controller are you using? Some have a nice mode that works like stability mode, but when you bang the sticks, it allows you to flip and roll.

(Edit: Realized you might be talking to markyoe, but I will answer anyway) Just the classic Naze32 with luxfloat and flying rate mode. I know what mode you're talking about (horizon I believe). When I started flying quads I used angle (level) mode, but later when I returned to flying from a break I found rate mode to be way more natural. In fact the first flight after my hiatus I was flying in rate mode mistaking it for level and thought "wow I don't remember it being this stable." I only found out it was not on auto level later that day. From an FPV perspective, rate mode makes turning easier because you are not fighting against the self leveling in a turn. When I get my AP quad out though I will likely use auto-level to allow me to focus more on slow shots

Also, I recommend accelerating upwards right before you flip. This allows the quad to keep upward momentum during the flip, instead of immediately beginning to loose altitude as soon as you start your flip.

Yeah good tip. I only recently started doing this in the simulator and find I loose virtually no altitude.

 

[narcolepticltd]

really nice spot and ace flying

 

[Snarls]

KK mini and a Spectrum dx5e. How do I do expo? Do I fly acro mode? Can I put self level on a switch to help level out at the end of the flip?

Unfortunaetely I don't think the KK board has expo and the dx5e only has dual rates. Acro mode is generally used for flips, but horizon/stagility mode might also work if the board has it. I believe you can put self level on the dx5e aux switch, but I can't confirm how affective it will be for ending a flip. Worth a try though.

Stick scaling in the KK mini is equivalent to RC rates in multiwii based firmwares. So you will want to increase the stick scaling to get faster flips.

 

[Snarls]

really nice spot and ace flying

Thanks!

 

[markyoe]

Unfortunaetely I don't think the KK board has expo and the dx5e only has dual rates. Acro mode is generally used for flips, but horizon/stagility mode might also work if the board has it. I believe you can put self level on the dx5e aux switch, but I can't confirm how affective it will be for ending a flip. Worth a try though.

Stick scaling in the KK mini is equivalent to RC rates in multiwii based firmwares. So you will want to increase the stick scaling to get faster flips.

Thanks for the help. I will mess around with my settings and give it a try tomorrow.

 

[cranialrectosis]

Expo will be on your transmitter. It makes the center of the sticks less responsive (less twitchy).

RC rates make the copter react faster or slower to the sticks (more or less twitchy). Turn the rates on the copter up so the copter will react vigorously to the sticks. Then turn expo up on your transmitter so your sticks are less responsive in the center. This allows you to make HUGE moves on the copter when you are away from the center of the sticks (large movements on the edges of the sticks like flips) but then allows your copter to be tame and gentle when you want to land (small movements at the center of the sticks).

Trying to flip with low rates is futile. Your copter rotates so slowly you meet ground before the flip completes. Trying to land on high rates with no expo is challenging as the copter is trying to flip when you are just trying to adjust for ground wash.

A KK won't flip in autolevel mode without specific firmware. You need to flip in acro mode on a KK2.

 

[jhitesma]

Trying to flip with low rates is futile. Your copter rotates so slowly you meet ground before the flip completes.

I don't know that I'd say it's futile...extremely hard and frustrating with poor results...yes. But futile....

I've manged to flip my Syma X1 a few times, and that thing only has a self-leveling angle mode and slow rates. It's NOT easy. I've only managed to do it when conditions are just right by using LOTS of altitude and some assistance from the wind. It's possible...but not at all advisable If you do try flipping with low rates I'd definitely suggest doing so with something like the X1 which is darn near indestructible...I smashed it into the ground from great altitude many many times for each of the 2 or 3 flips I was able to coax out of it. And they weren't very impressive flips either

Maybe I should have had a bigger breakfast today...

 

[airhawk]

amazing job snarls great spot too

 

[Snarls]

Thanks Airhawk!

Lately I've been experiencing and troubleshooting some range issues with my RC TX, but I will try to get another video out later this week.

 

[nilsen]

Hey Snarls! Just watched the video, that's some great flying and cool editing too.¨
Thanks for sharing.