Do I Want To Do FPV?

[e- chaser]

Been flying RC since 86', full scale since 88', just started FPV in the last year. First plane was an Easy Star with RMRC 300mW 1.3 mHz system. First flight went 1.2 miles, stock antenna on plane, tuned patch on receiver. Flew the pants off that plane till it was lost at night.... Highly recommend getting something to record your flights. If I had to do it over I would have gotten the Japan-DVR right away. You can fly from the monitor initially without going to goggles. Plus it records meaning you won't outgrow it when you go to goggles.

[george formby]

Totally agree with most of your posts.
New to FPV.
Personally been flying off and on line of sight RC for 30 odd years.
Read nearly all the posts that there is on here over the last 3 months.
Purchased all good immersionRC gear from Simon at FPVUK who has been very helpfull.
Installed kit into 72 inch powered glider and had a go.
Jesus Christ.
It is all so alien.
After so many years of flying line of sight it is as if someone is putting their hands over your eyes, really.
First flight FPV thought this is brilliant, after one min, where am I?
This is in a grass field next to my workshop that I have been at for the last 5 years.
Dont panic, got myself together, yes there I am, one min later lost again. Found myself again, took goggles off and landed.
Had 2 more flights, same thing.
Purchased OSD add on and fitted. As of today need to find a good spotter and start all over again.
Very steep learning curve. Used to win competions at this game, not any more.
Really do need to take my hat off to you guys.....
Really talented.

[Moelich]

After so many years of flying line of sight it is as if someone is putting their hands over your eyes, really.
First flight FPV thought this is brilliant, after one min, where am I?
This is in a grass field next to my workshop that I have been at for the last 5 years.
Dont panic, got myself together, yes there I am, one min later lost again. Found myself again, took goggles off and landed.
Had 2 more flights, same thing.
Purchased OSD add on and fitted. As of today need to find a good spotter and start all over again.

It's really easy to get lost up there, even in an area you know well from the ground. That's where an OSD with home arrow is so useful.
My first FPV flights were always with a spotter who could tell me if I was flying too far away. I also made sure to study the area in Google Earth before flying, so I could recognise landmarks and make it easier to find home. Even now that I'm flying with an OSD, I still study any new flying area in Google Earth before flying, so I know what to expect once I'm up there.

[aaron_gx]

I rarely get lost, even without osd anymore. This was not always the case, but you do develop a sense of direction from the birds eye view with experience.

I always look around me, before I launch at new sites, and spot landmarks. Once in the air, do a few circles (always looks different from the air), just to familiarize what i look like on the ground.

[Vitamin J]

Yeah first thing I do is go up a little bit and start looking around and figuring out what things look like. Even if I've flown at that location before it's always good to re-orient yourself for a few seconds and figure out what home looks like.

Another thing that might help you newbies is to just relax and let the plane fly itself. When I was new I flew my plane in a perpetual stall because I was so scared of nosing into the ground and kept pulling up. If you just relax and let the plane fly itself then you can focus on looking around and navigating.

[ggcrandall1]

OK here is where I think I will go.

http://www.readymaderc.com/store/ind...roducts_id=781

It is the ReadyMadeRC Custom Goggles FPV Starter Package: 5.8GHz
Bluebeam Whip Set of antennas
RMRC-700XV NTSC camera
ImmersionRC 600mW 5.8GHz video transmitter
FatShark Dominators goggles with 5.8GHz receiver

The aircraft will be a Skywalker.

For aircraft control I have three choices:
1. Spektrum DX6i
2. Futaba 7C on 2.4GHz
3. Futaba 7C on 72MHz

OK guys does anyone have a comment?
Nothing has been ordered so I am still open to suggestions.

Glen

[Vitamin J]

Looks good. Grab a Corona RP8D1 receiver to use with your 72mhz radio, that will give you 1.5 miles pretty reliably.

[IBCrazy]

I have been flying FPV for almost 4 years now. I still get lost... all the time. This is why if not flying with OSD, I rarely exceed 50 feet altitude. The World at least looks somewhat similar when flying low as it would if I were on foot.

-Alex

[george formby]

What I am going to do this weekend, weather permitting is just fly visual and record flights.
Whtch them over and over.
It should then become second nature>

[BCSaltchucker]

yeah early flights are real disorienting for navigation, but now I hardly need the OSD. Also, going to headtracking pan/tilt makes navigating a bit easier also - otherwise I find myself banking around a lot checking landmarks. But the headtracking has its own learning curve - suddenly you lose visual of your straight-ahead horizon and have to think about it more.

50 feet altitude? That would be not be for me. That is only 3 seconds cushion from impact, and all the trees here start at 50ft, and up!