80% throttle I started to slowly climb. Turning
downwind I was not able to gain any altitude and
gave full throttle to try and get some airspeed.
Turning back into the wind I had run out of both altitude, and ideas so put it down in what could only
be described as a controlled crash, but luckily due
to the strong EPO construction not a dent was left.
I was perplexed! I had never had such a strange
maiden flight. What had I done wrong? The first
thing to try was flying with an aft C.G. The C.G I
had set was like all my maidened planes, right on
the money as per the manufactures recommendations. Could they be wrong? It would not have
been the first time, so I decided to work in quarter
inch increments and review the results. After some
more flights, I found that the most aft position was
the only way to make this model fly well. Very
strange that my findings and that of the manufactures could be so different, but the end result was
a nice flying little park flyer with some very cool
features. The gyro and auto stabiliser really does
take some getting used to as it wants to take control the entire time and initially I found this really
disconcerting. What would have been nice is the
option to switch this off. That said, once I flew
some more flights I got used to it and could really
see the benefit to a new pilot. What I really did like
is the amazing flight times I could get with some
very light lift. 39 minutes was my best on a tiny 2s
450 mAh Lipo! Amazing really.
Ok, so it did have some negative points. The
Gyro and Auto stabiliser was overly sensitive and
it would be better to have the option to be turned
off. The CG issue clearly was a misprint but not a
deal breaker as I just moved it back to the aft
stops to create a nice smooth flying model. The
only real issue I had with the design was the LCD
and optional goggles. Whist it’s a cool idea it is not
very practical in full, high sunlight conditions. For
those new to the world of FPV let me explain why.
Imagine watching your computer screen or LCD
TV when the sun starts shining through your window and hits the screen. It basically makes the
screen hard to view. When flying FPV it’s imperative to avoid ALL sunlight on your screen. Fortunately, this is not designed to go any real distance
and is actually great fun when the sky is overcast
or late in the afternoon when the sun is low and
not shining directly onto the LCD. The goggles I
found had no real sunlight prevention, and second-rate video quality, so I’m sorry to say I would
not recommend using these at all. Could they be
made to work well? Yes they can, as the good old
ski mask modification (a blacked out ski mask
worn over the outside of the goggles) but why
bother? Just enjoy this model at the end of the day
when you need to relax, the sun is low and you
can just unwind. Fun for all involved but remembers... Batteries not included.
Blue Skies and happy landings
Park Pilot
Airborne
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