Breeze or Spark as a Trainer for Typhoon H

[h1pst3r88]

Hey folks,

My Typhoon H Pro arrives on Friday... my first ever drone.

I keep seeing videos and reading about starting out with a smaller drone to work out the inevitable newb crashes and mishaps. Woot! has the Breeze with controller kit for $120 right now and BestBuy has the Spark Fly More kit for $500 (I have $250 of BestBuy rewards). I partly bought the T because videos from guys like Captain Drone on youtube eased my concerns about it being a solid drone for beginners... but then again, really good pilots make things look easy.

I am wondering you guys think it might be worthwhile to grab one of these less expensive drones to cut my teeth on before I lean into the Typhoon H. I would hate to make a total rookie error with the Typhoon and watch it crash to the ground before my love of flying even takes off.

I appreciate your unvarnished thoughts. Thanks!

 

[Ty Pilot]

If you've never flown anything and can afford to get a cheaper drone to learn I would say go for it. Some other things I would do: Read up as much as you can on the Typhoon H, understand why Smart Mode can be dangerous if you don't fully understand it, learn all of the control switches and what they do precisely, don't experiment in the air. Read up about battery charging, storage and care - the batteries that fly these things cannot be treated like your cell phone. Spend the first flights concentrating on flying - not filming or taking photos, there is no reason to divide your attention at first. I am sure other will have some more thoughts but if you take baby steps, don't get over confident too fast - you'll be fine.

 

[Eagle's Eye Video]

A Droner's Guide to Surviving Virginity

 

[h1pst3r88]

Thanks, Ty!

I've read a lot of your posts already so I welcome the advice.

Any recommendations on a cheaper "training" drone that could provide solid performance so as not to be a waste of time (and money ;-)

-Chris

 

[record.play.rewind]

There are $40 drones that are fun to fly, great trainers

 

[DoomMeister]

There are $40 drones that are fun to fly, great trainers

I second the cheapo drone to train on. The $40 or so drones don’t have GPS stabilization and will have you piloting the bird. You get good with it and the TH will be easy by comparison. Use the extra money to get a good third party charger and extra batteries for the TH.

 

[h1pst3r88]

DoomMeister, thanks for the reply. On the subject of chargers, is the DY5 the one to get or a Venom?

I would love a recommendation for a dual charger that's fast and reliable.

 

[DoomMeister]

I would go with the Venom dual pro. Much more versatile.

 

[h1pst3r88]

Hey guys, for a trainer drone, I am thinking:

- Yuneec Breeze with controller - $120 refurb
- Parrot Bebop 2 with controller & goggles $299
- DJI Spark "Fly More" - $500

The last two would be $250 less because I have BestBuy rewards.

Love any opinions.

 

[DoomMeister]

If you are using it as a backup and more portable, I would go with the Spark. It has better range than the other two.

 

[Eagle's Eye Video]

I would still recommend a nano drone over the Spark, initially... a fully manual non-GPS quad will give better training in terms of "feel for the sticks". Also what has not been brought up, is that it is highly advantageous to not have the distraction that a camera inherently introduces. Like driving a car... learn the basics, before starting to F with the sound system. Learn to fly by watching the aircraft first.

 

[h1pst3r88]

Thanks, Eagle -- any suggestion?

 

[Eagle's Eye Video]

That first post in the Droner's Guide above has a link... the Blade Nano QX... Nano quad + 4 port charger and 4 batteries will run about $125... you can pick up at a local hobby store, and not wait on shipping.

 

[AeroJ]

I'm with Eagle's Eye there. Whilst it's true - there's not much difference between the price of a decent micro drone, and a Breeze on special offer, I still think the micros win in your case. They're so much lighter, and do far less damage to themselves (and the thing they hit) when they crash, so they are much less worrying to put in the air, and you get a lot more chances to play again when you go wrong. Even the breeze is heavy compared to these, and probably won't take repeated crashes without flight-affecting problems like a micro will.

I learned to fly on an old-school QR Ladybird by Walkera, which can certainly take the knocks, though if I had my time again I'd maybe get a micro that comes with prop guards.

 

[Ty Pilot]

Also what has not been brought up, is that it is highly advantageous to not have the distraction that a camera inherently introduces. Like driving a car... learn the basics, before starting to F with the sound system. Learn to fly by watching the aircraft first.

Ahhemmm. 'Birds of a feather' brutha

. . . Spend the first flights concentrating on flying - not filming or taking photos, there is no reason to divide your attention at first.

 

[h1pst3r88]

You guys are awesome, thanks!!

 

[rdonson]

After learning a bit more about the sticks, avoiding obstacles and landing in one piece with a starter drone perhaps consider...

Simulator for Yuneec Aircraft | Yuneec USA

 

[h1pst3r88]

I saw that, but isn't it the same thing that can be downloaded for free from the US Yuneec website. I downloaded on my Win10 machine earlier today... but maybe I need the $40 USB key to use it??

Thanks!

 

[rdonson]

I saw that, but isn't it the same thing that can be downloaded for free from the US Yuneec website. I downloaded on my Win10 machine earlier today... but maybe I need the $40 USB key to use it??

Thanks!

I'm not really familiar with it as this software requires Windows and I'm on a Mac. Hopefully others can chime in.

 

[h1pst3r88]

I have both: a MacBook Pro (which is the daily driver) and a i7 Yoga 720 Win10 machine for data work that I do.