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Is the Typhoon H480 a good Christmas present?

Just got an email from Yuneec US - special prices on their goodies with 20% off with a coupon code (friends and family discount). Prices look pretty good. Coupon code EXTRA20. I registered my TH480 with them so that's likely why I got the email.

Shopping

This came just after I cancelled my original order with B&H and ordered another SKU Typhoon H.

Hard to beat the current prices and as Pat sez this is a heck of an aircraft.
 
Food for thought.

People that buy a consumer drone that can only see a dollar sign ($$) flitting around the sky should take a step back. They aren't prepared to be participating in RC aircraft activities. Until you are very good at aircraft control, providing control inputs to maintain full control of the aircraft before the aircraft needs it, you will eventually crash. Those that react to what the aircraft does instead of establishing aircraft attitude and position before the aircraft does something are "behind the aircraft". For what they are and the advanced systems that control them, drones are extremely easy to fly but you still have to be competent and have confidence in your ability. Our systems are also very cheap in comparison to fixed or rotary wing RC which are at very high risk every time they are flown but those lacking experience spend lots of money over and over replacing them after making a single mistake in control input.

If you are not prepared to lose the value of an aircraft you are not ready to participate at that level in this activity. If your fear of losing the money spent is controlling your every thought and action the tension generated by such a mental state places you in a position where a crash is pretty much assured. Rare is the person that doesn't crash an RC model. Unheard of is the person that has never crashed, unless they have never flown. Everyone has their own comfort zone for different things but where RC aircraft is concerned that comfort zone is defined a few different ways. The first is what you can afford to lose. If you cannot afford to crash an aircraft and immediately replace it with another of like kind you are trying to do something you cannot afford to do. You need to be flying something cheaper where crashing it will not devastate you or your wallet. A second comfort zone is in your personal ability. Those with little or no experience should never, ever, be flying a machine costing more than a couple hundred $$. Someone new to this stuff is going to crash, and they will do so often as they learn how these things fly and develop their hand/eye coordination, depth perception, and become familiar with the transmitter controls. Crash something cheap, not the good stuff. When you crash don't instantly blame the aircraft. Odds are high it was you, not the aircraft, that caused it. Take a little time and review what you did, how and where you did what, the conditions surrounding the crash, and review how the system is supposed to work and how it was working at the time of the crash. Did it fall out of the sky? Be honest, was the battery really installed properly? Did you crash while landing? Think real hard about what your fingers were doing when it happened. Did it fly away? Hmm, did you have control but fly it the wrong direction because it was too far away, or experience a GPS interruption and elect to try using RTH after the GPS failed. Lots of problems are generated by the operator.

We do not "invest" in a multirotor. We buy them for our pleasure. They depreciate 50% the second they are shipped to us and depreciate further as we use them. We will never be able to sell them for more than we paid for them. Investments maintain value or appreciate, multirotors don't. Any "investments" are the ones of time and experience that increase your skills with flight control, system understanding, and in development of your photographic skills. If you can't have fun while flying a multirotor, try something else. Even something challenging and expensive can be enjoyable if the mindset is correct for the activity, but always be prepared for a crash.

Every RC aircraft has an expiration date, but that date was not provided when you made the purchase. I don't know that we ever fully own one but we get to have and enjoy them until the earth reclaims them.
 
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I have no inside information about what is happening with the H480. If you can get one for a good price, it's still an excellent platform and a pleasure to fly. However, it's a steep learning curve for casual pilots, so if you're buying for a 15 year old kid, you should think carefully.

As others have said, the H520 is pretty much a new platform - and is meant to address a lot of the development issues that arose with the H480. The biggest challenge with the H480 was that there was not much room for upgrading what it did, so it couldn't grow into a dramatically more sophisticated system (and as others have noted, things like RealSense have not changed since the first release). So, if you like what it does, the H480 is great. If you want to develop custom software, smarter autonomous flights and so on, it's a bit of a dead end. It's early days for the H520 platform, but the sales pitch is that it can evolve much further than the H480 has done.

I'd be very surprised if we didn't have more news from Yuneec at CES next year. Their best camera is incompatible with their best consumer drone.
 
If possible, no one should start flying for the first time with a TH 480.

If you get one for Christmas go buy an inexpensive drone to learn how to use the sticks. Once you’ve mowed the lawn and said howdy to some trees with the first drone then consider firing up the 480 after you’ve read a lot and watched YouTube videos on what it’s all about.
 
You guys are a bad influence. I just bought the Whole Enchilada from Yuneec with the 20% I got in an email. I get to have the RealSense Doohickey and a bunch of spare stuff. I still have the option of returning my original order to B&H but if I know myself, I probably wont.
 
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If possible, no one should start flying for the first time with a TH 480.

If you get one for Christmas go buy an inexpensive drone to learn how to use the sticks. Once you’ve mowed the lawn and said howdy to some trees with the first drone then consider firing up the 480 after you’ve read a lot and watched YouTube videos on what it’s all about.

And then spend $35 on the simulator and wing that for another week or two, to really get used to the controls of the ST-16... then take the H outside for a spin.
 
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I agree with what is being said about trying to fly one of these with no experience. I started flying RC 9 years ago and before I ever went to a field I flew on the Phoenix Simulator all winter. I got the E-Flite T-34 "Trainer", I used quotations because it really isn't a trainer I have come to realize. I bought a spare. Well I still have both with no crashes, yes no crashes in the 9 years I have been flying all types of aircraft. I don't count getting a UMX Foamy in a tree. I try to be as methodical and regimented as possible. I make others at the club uncomfortable, being described as having a stick up my ***. So far, so good.
 
It’s not possible for anything that has to fly as fast as that T-34 to be called a “trainer”. Having flown them I know they are a hand full all the time[emoji4]

Flying a 35%-40% full tilt boogie in 3D is deliberate high risk but that little T-34 is in many ways more difficult to fly and always be in full control.
 
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Yes, thank you for saying so. I even made one go really fast with a 4S and Power 32, it still keeps me on my toes. Lately I have been flying High Wingers, a lot more fun and relaxing.
 
What is going on? I got an email from Yuneec that my order was cancelled, after being on hold with overwhelming anticipation I was told it was cancelled because my billing and shipping info didn't match. They fixed that and now we wait for a tracking number again. Also.............This is back in stock and on sale again at B&H YUNEECTyphoon H Hexacopter with GCO3+ 4K Camera, Wizard Wand, and Backpack
 
If the aircraft are being drop shipped from Yuneec and their inventory control is messed up then it might explain some of this. But.... I really don't know, I'm just guessing....
 
Having moved their warehousing facility it’s very possible there are still a few kinks in the new location inventory tracking system. Having to move all the inventory to another state would have had all the product on trucks or rails for a period of time so I could imagine it taking longer to get that facility up and running than one only 30 or so miles from the previous location.
 
Just got off the phone with Yuneec, a very straight forward fella was surprised at me suggesting the H is being given the boot.
Yuneec needs to get off their butts and promote their products, introduce new and improved features etc. They should have a rep at forums like this who keep in touch with current and prospective customers. You know who does that?

Perception is reality.
 
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I can't believe this video. Yuneec put this out?

Where's the problem? Note the video release date; May, 2016. You're really late to the party. That video was made before the H had been released and published for public view at almost the same time the H finally hit the streets. It was a general promotional "unboxing" video. Since that video was made there have been a great many videos that explain H operation, systems, maintenance, camera functions, and firmware upgrade processes. Anyone with a minimum amount of interest can easily find them in the same venue you found that one. I rate it as better made than 98% of the "unboxing" videos I've seen because it's not filled with some yo-yo talking just to hear themselves talk, which are, IMO, generally a waste of time.

Again, where's the problem?
 
Release date? Late to the party? Are you serious? I was watching Yuneec's progress back in 2013 while I was returning Blade 350 QX2's and 3's. The problem is any anxious person with no experience flying anything RC is being told there are only 6 steps, with not one of them being to charge the batteries among many other critical steps.
 
Any "no experience" person watching a Typhoon h instructional video is looking at something they aren't ready for. Personally, I feel there's a presumption that people involved with this stuff have at least a minimal understanding of how it all works, Charging batteries is one of those "no brainers" right up there with putting gas in the car before driving it. I also feel that's a large part of the problem with multirotors, many don't want to learn anything before they try flying something. So they crash, and really like blaming the "flies itself" aircraft for the incident. There's a lot of stupid people out there, and even more that refuse to accept any responsibility for their own actions. Watching just one video will not enlighten them. Watching 20-50 videos still won't qualify someone without some experience to fly an H.

If you've been following that long, why bring up that video now?
 

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