First Day of Flight Practice
I recently registered as a UAS (otherwise erroneously known as 'drones' but I can't bring myself to use that term incorrectly) pilot with the FAA. I've been spending the past few weeks educating myself in unmanned aircraft systems and flight control after decades of being certified in manned aircraft systems and air traffic control. Yesterday, I finally had an opportunity to practice and test out some of what I've recently learned.
My interests in UAS flight is related to family video. Simply put, I want to add some interest to my family videos by adding a new perspective.
I purposely chose an exceptionally small UAV (the Yuneec Breeze). I don't want to attract attention with a big UAV nor do I want to attract attention with a noisy UAV. This particular one is quite small and relatively quiet while still providing "fair" video quality (not great but not bad either). This UAV comes in a small case the size of a small personal first aid kit. So far, I'm really liking the diminutive size and relative quietness.
My feet and legs were not cooperating with my brain this past weekend and standing was exceptionally painful but I managed to get out and do a few things anyway. This was one of those things I definitely wanted to do!
As I assembled this tiny UAV for its first flight, my original intention was to go to a wide open field to practice for safety reasons. I wasn't sure I'd have the skills necessary to effectively avoid obstacles such as people, utility wires, poles, sheds, homes, trees and all the other things cluttering space around homes so an open field was the logical best place to be. What if I lost control? What if I had a defective runaway UAV? I wanted a big open field for my first few flights "just in case".
Unfortunately, by the time I had batteries charged and the UAV's firmware updated enough to use, it was too late to head to an open field. The sun was fading quickly behind some dark rain clouds.
Instead, I decided to test my skills in our cluttered neighborhood!
After placing the little UAV in the grass a few feet away from me, I swiped the screen on my Kindle Fire to start the UAV... the four rotors instantly spun to life and it confidently lifted off the lawn to a hover at around three feet off the ground.
These first couple of flights were completely about maintaining flight control and had nothing to do with operating the camera. There were a lot of obstacles to navigate around in our backyard but this first flight was done with no GPS guidance nor is this particular UAV equipped with any sort of collision avoidance system so I was flying completely manually. The larger, more expensive UAVs do provide collision avoidance systems but my new tiny UAV lacks this feature (you get what you pay for).
After practicing a few flights trying to go straight up, straight down and keeping a steady hover, I then started to try flying straight back away from me and then straight forward toward me... then side to side left to right, then right to left... then diagonally... then in a small arc. It all worked out fairly well. It wasn't until I started recording video that I realized that some of this maneuvering was a bit too jerky for nice smooth video so I definitely need more practice.
After the initial basic flight practice, I turned on the GPS and was connected to upwards of 20 satellites. Control is a bit more refined while connected to 20 satellites and hovering remains rock-steady as the satellites provide accurate positioning. The satellites also allow the UAV to accurately return to "home" (the very spot I launched from) if the batteries get too low or if I lose connection between my Kindle Fire and the UAV. Of course, this doesn't help if I launch from my kayak and then my kayak drifts to a different location but it is a great feature for flying over land.
When I was more comfortable and confident that I could get the UAV to move where I wanted it to move and fairly safely, I attempted to land on my hand rather than the ground. This skill will be necessary if I plan to use this for capturing video of our kayaking (which I do plan to do). I'll need to be good at taking off from my hand or the front deck of my kayak and then finding my way back to my new location (as I paddle across the lake) so I can land it on my hand rather than destroying the UAV by landing in the lake. Landing on my hand is a much more desirable way to finish a flight!
The actual act of landing on my hand turned out to be easier than I thought it would. The hard part is piloting the UAV to within a foot of my head without hitting my head! It is also a bit nerve-racking as those sharp little blades approach your head.
Here is a short video of some of the basic stuff on this first day with rather dull light and overcast skies... (Note the impressive landscaping in our yard! This is a new and interesting angle of view. The downside to this interesting view is you can now clearly get a view of all our renovation debris collecting behind the house!)
When I have a little more time and the weather clears up, I will need to get out to an open field so I can practice some of the more "automated" features such as "selfie mode", "journey mode", "orbit mode" and especially the "follow me mode".
I hope to utilize this UAS for adding aerial views of our kayaking, swimming and hiking. The video and photo quality isn't up to my standards but the interesting views should make up for the hit in quality.
My interests in UAS flight is related to family video. Simply put, I want to add some interest to my family videos by adding a new perspective.
I purposely chose an exceptionally small UAV (the Yuneec Breeze). I don't want to attract attention with a big UAV nor do I want to attract attention with a noisy UAV. This particular one is quite small and relatively quiet while still providing "fair" video quality (not great but not bad either). This UAV comes in a small case the size of a small personal first aid kit. So far, I'm really liking the diminutive size and relative quietness.
My feet and legs were not cooperating with my brain this past weekend and standing was exceptionally painful but I managed to get out and do a few things anyway. This was one of those things I definitely wanted to do!
As I assembled this tiny UAV for its first flight, my original intention was to go to a wide open field to practice for safety reasons. I wasn't sure I'd have the skills necessary to effectively avoid obstacles such as people, utility wires, poles, sheds, homes, trees and all the other things cluttering space around homes so an open field was the logical best place to be. What if I lost control? What if I had a defective runaway UAV? I wanted a big open field for my first few flights "just in case".
Unfortunately, by the time I had batteries charged and the UAV's firmware updated enough to use, it was too late to head to an open field. The sun was fading quickly behind some dark rain clouds.
Instead, I decided to test my skills in our cluttered neighborhood!
These first couple of flights were completely about maintaining flight control and had nothing to do with operating the camera. There were a lot of obstacles to navigate around in our backyard but this first flight was done with no GPS guidance nor is this particular UAV equipped with any sort of collision avoidance system so I was flying completely manually. The larger, more expensive UAVs do provide collision avoidance systems but my new tiny UAV lacks this feature (you get what you pay for).
After practicing a few flights trying to go straight up, straight down and keeping a steady hover, I then started to try flying straight back away from me and then straight forward toward me... then side to side left to right, then right to left... then diagonally... then in a small arc. It all worked out fairly well. It wasn't until I started recording video that I realized that some of this maneuvering was a bit too jerky for nice smooth video so I definitely need more practice.
After the initial basic flight practice, I turned on the GPS and was connected to upwards of 20 satellites. Control is a bit more refined while connected to 20 satellites and hovering remains rock-steady as the satellites provide accurate positioning. The satellites also allow the UAV to accurately return to "home" (the very spot I launched from) if the batteries get too low or if I lose connection between my Kindle Fire and the UAV. Of course, this doesn't help if I launch from my kayak and then my kayak drifts to a different location but it is a great feature for flying over land.
When I was more comfortable and confident that I could get the UAV to move where I wanted it to move and fairly safely, I attempted to land on my hand rather than the ground. This skill will be necessary if I plan to use this for capturing video of our kayaking (which I do plan to do). I'll need to be good at taking off from my hand or the front deck of my kayak and then finding my way back to my new location (as I paddle across the lake) so I can land it on my hand rather than destroying the UAV by landing in the lake. Landing on my hand is a much more desirable way to finish a flight!
The actual act of landing on my hand turned out to be easier than I thought it would. The hard part is piloting the UAV to within a foot of my head without hitting my head! It is also a bit nerve-racking as those sharp little blades approach your head.
Here is a short video of some of the basic stuff on this first day with rather dull light and overcast skies... (Note the impressive landscaping in our yard! This is a new and interesting angle of view. The downside to this interesting view is you can now clearly get a view of all our renovation debris collecting behind the house!)
When I have a little more time and the weather clears up, I will need to get out to an open field so I can practice some of the more "automated" features such as "selfie mode", "journey mode", "orbit mode" and especially the "follow me mode".
I hope to utilize this UAS for adding aerial views of our kayaking, swimming and hiking. The video and photo quality isn't up to my standards but the interesting views should make up for the hit in quality.
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