- Joined
- Feb 24, 2017
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- Central Florida
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Okay so with all that has happened lately, I thought I would just ramble some more about the Plus. I mentioned in another thread that I was going to hold off putting the Plus to work and somethings have unfolded that may have me reversing that, but for now I just want to recall my thoughts from the last couple of days.
August 28th, 2018
As it turns out one of the first jobs I was going to take my Plus on, was what we call a 'water' job and it's a water job in that; typically the realtor or owner wants plenty of shots of the water, canal access, boat ramps, what have you as; that is what sells. So I thought for this job; (with all that was going on) I would use my Typhoon H, as she has never let me down. And still hasn't, this time there was a no show of owner and realtor leading to a delay into the typical mid day stormy weather we have here in Florida.
So Naturally I thought when we get home I was just going to fly the batteries down to storage but; our house was just getting a new roof so I thought I would wait till they left. As it turns out these guys did not leave until dark. On the good side - they completely stripped off the old roof reinstalled all fixtures sunlights and a new 135 MPH architectural roof in a single day! Anyway, today would be the day and so I decided to go ahead and start back through the trust building process with the Plus and fly her a couple times too.
The 480 Flights
This afternoon was overcast and dead calm, temps around 80. First up would be the 480, ( I had pre-flown the day before the job with a prior 16 minute sit - you know the drill) so after boot up and sats acquired, lift off to about three feet and let it hover. I had almost forgotten how much a 480 wanders around as it tries hold its hover and quite frankly, never thought ill of it and still don't, its just that I realized how you get used to a machine and it's actions and then learn to operate with them. Maneuvering around in my small backyard is not as easy as I thought it once was, not that it is hard but it just seemed not to have the kind of precision I once thought ( I guess you can see where I am going with this). But the flight overall was what I have come to expect - the H is a solid machine and it felt good knowing if I needed it it will always be there for us. On the down side, having left the batteries fully charged for nearly 30 hours, flight time to 14.8 volts (which is close to storage) happened in just about 8 minutes. I flew the second battery down as well.
The Plus Flights
Prior to leaving yesterday for the water job, I reached a point at which I remembered my dad always telling me - 'its better to have it and not need it; than to need it and not have it'. With that I quickly zapped the two Plus batteries and the ST-16s . . .you know - just in case. As it turns out, now I had to fly them down as well. Typically when I fly here in my backyard, I don't like to wander around the neighborhood too much and now; with all that is on a Plus owners mind, I felt that caution would be the order of the day making sure that any spots directly beneath me are clear or owned by me.
So began flight 73 in some very favorable conditions, cool, calm, and cloudy - I didn't even need a sunshade. Upon lift off to a three foot hover, it was is as if the Plus was sitting on a glass shelf, quietly holding it's position; prop speed changes were so vague as to be undetectable. A grin comes to one's face at these times, I am smitten I will admit. After about a three minute flight below fence line (containment? I decided since it was mid morning, everyone is at work, kids in school so I decided to just pop up about 25 feet or so and thought I would just fly around a little, maybe take some pics of the new roof and in general just build back the trust. To be honest as I flew from corner to corner of the property snapping pics of the roof it felt so good as the control feel is so smooth and precise. I flew between mine and my neighbors house just along the fence line much like I would do if I were shooting at another's property and it's hard to image not having this machine working like this.
After a 12 minute flight, the Plus reaches an indicated 48% just as she always has and at this point I can elect to fly for up to another six minutes or so or; land and after cooling, the battery will be right at storage level, so since it looked like rain was coming, I stopped, plugged in the next battery and proceeded to complete flight 74 - Uneventfully.
August 28th, 2018
As it turns out one of the first jobs I was going to take my Plus on, was what we call a 'water' job and it's a water job in that; typically the realtor or owner wants plenty of shots of the water, canal access, boat ramps, what have you as; that is what sells. So I thought for this job; (with all that was going on) I would use my Typhoon H, as she has never let me down. And still hasn't, this time there was a no show of owner and realtor leading to a delay into the typical mid day stormy weather we have here in Florida.
So Naturally I thought when we get home I was just going to fly the batteries down to storage but; our house was just getting a new roof so I thought I would wait till they left. As it turns out these guys did not leave until dark. On the good side - they completely stripped off the old roof reinstalled all fixtures sunlights and a new 135 MPH architectural roof in a single day! Anyway, today would be the day and so I decided to go ahead and start back through the trust building process with the Plus and fly her a couple times too.
The 480 Flights
This afternoon was overcast and dead calm, temps around 80. First up would be the 480, ( I had pre-flown the day before the job with a prior 16 minute sit - you know the drill) so after boot up and sats acquired, lift off to about three feet and let it hover. I had almost forgotten how much a 480 wanders around as it tries hold its hover and quite frankly, never thought ill of it and still don't, its just that I realized how you get used to a machine and it's actions and then learn to operate with them. Maneuvering around in my small backyard is not as easy as I thought it once was, not that it is hard but it just seemed not to have the kind of precision I once thought ( I guess you can see where I am going with this). But the flight overall was what I have come to expect - the H is a solid machine and it felt good knowing if I needed it it will always be there for us. On the down side, having left the batteries fully charged for nearly 30 hours, flight time to 14.8 volts (which is close to storage) happened in just about 8 minutes. I flew the second battery down as well.
The Plus Flights
Prior to leaving yesterday for the water job, I reached a point at which I remembered my dad always telling me - 'its better to have it and not need it; than to need it and not have it'. With that I quickly zapped the two Plus batteries and the ST-16s . . .you know - just in case. As it turns out, now I had to fly them down as well. Typically when I fly here in my backyard, I don't like to wander around the neighborhood too much and now; with all that is on a Plus owners mind, I felt that caution would be the order of the day making sure that any spots directly beneath me are clear or owned by me.
So began flight 73 in some very favorable conditions, cool, calm, and cloudy - I didn't even need a sunshade. Upon lift off to a three foot hover, it was is as if the Plus was sitting on a glass shelf, quietly holding it's position; prop speed changes were so vague as to be undetectable. A grin comes to one's face at these times, I am smitten I will admit. After about a three minute flight below fence line (containment?
I decided since it was mid morning, everyone is at work, kids in school so I decided to just pop up about 25 feet or so and thought I would just fly around a little, maybe take some pics of the new roof and in general just build back the trust. To be honest as I flew from corner to corner of the property snapping pics of the roof it felt so good as the control feel is so smooth and precise. I flew between mine and my neighbors house just along the fence line much like I would do if I were shooting at another's property and it's hard to image not having this machine working like this.After a 12 minute flight, the Plus reaches an indicated 48% just as she always has and at this point I can elect to fly for up to another six minutes or so or; land and after cooling, the battery will be right at storage level, so since it looked like rain was coming, I stopped, plugged in the next battery and proceeded to complete flight 74 - Uneventfully.
