zBigBadWolf

I was happy to see a box from Draganfly finally here this evening. Opened the box to at least have a look but decided I'd better start with the sim before I got too over-zealous. Well, I could not get the controls working right (some were reveresed and no amount of anything would change them) so I spent 20 minutes putting the kit together and figured I'd start out slow.

WOW, this is a lot more difficult than I imagined! And this is indoors where there are no breezes to affect flight although I imagine prop wind reflecting off the floor and walls creates it's own problems.

Anyway, these two videos are what I managed on the second pack charge. By the third part of the clip I actually achieve 7 seconds of hover. lol

[link=http://www.richardf.com/video/dragan_first_lift.MP4]Hi-Quality Video (8megs)[/link]

[link=http://www.richardf.com/video/dragan_first_lift2.MP4]Lower Quality Video (4megs)[/link]

If it doesn't rain again tomorrow, I'll play where I have a bit more room. Mine came with plain black blades so seeing the front is a pain. Time to break out some paint and something to soften landings.

I finally did get the controls in the sim working right so I'll play tonight.

SAVS

You mean to say you can not see the red wires to the motor on the front?

XStroX

Yeah I just look for the red wire too. Especially when flying low to the ground

Word of advice though for indoor flying and outdoors for that matter. While it goes against instinct, give a good amount of throttle and get the DF at least 3 or 4 feet off the ground. You will be amazed at how much more stable it is once it gets out of the ground effects. It is 10 times harder to try and hover a few inches off the ground like that than about 4 feet off the ground. Hope that helps.

Stro

zBigBadWolf

Yea I knew flying inside would be a bit of a challenge but being winter here I haven't had much of a choice until yesterday. It was in the mid 40s so I took my DF outside. The results were both pleasing and depressing.

After one battery pack I ended up with several "pretty good" (subjective) flights and lots of broken parts. Broken motor mount, leg, sheared off prop bolts and a broken board bubble. :-/

Here are two videos of the day. One, the crashes from my 7 flights (5 out of 7) and the other one of the better flights. I think you can tell which crash trashed the motor mount.

[link=http://www.richardf.com/video/02-21-07_df_crashes.mp4]Crashes[/link]

[link=http://www.richardf.com/video/02-21-07_df4a.mp4]One of the better flights[/link]

Fesfly

OK that is a df that is getting a s kicking if I ever seen it

zBigBadWolf

Yea, I broke a few parts but they are replaceble and it gave me something to shoot for. NOT crashing it. Serious though, I did manage to keep it in the air for a 6 minute stretch but thought that would be boring to watch. You have to understand me... I am a hands on kind of person and now that I got some of the itch out of me, I'll take my time. I broke like $8 worth of parts. On a $900 investment I consider that pretty cheap!

Fesfly

Believe me, after a while you will not need the box of spare parts. I haven't needed to replace any parts except a few plastic screws for a while now. btw found a source for plastic screws - I order 200 and they sent me 2000 for $20 now I figure I'm set for a while...

hiaber

hey whats your source for the screws Fesfly?

laceycopter

maybe he'll sell ya some....he only has 2000 of them...hehe

Fesfly

Cordscanada.com, look for the 440X.375R.

ko4ligas

I got one dozen for $1.49 from FRYS.