True North or Magnetic North?

[Photo]

Just for grins, the last time I drove from Eureka to Orange County, 700 miles apart, I did not bother to re-calibrate the compass.
I did this as a test.
OC is +11 deg 41 min (+11.6883)
Eureka is +14 deg 17 min (+14.28333)
That is only a 2.60 degree difference but combined with the distance many would feel the need to recalibrate the compass.

I observed no difference in the flight performance, positioning accuracy, or any other issues between the 2 areas.
This is with an H+ with Build 822/829

This site allows you get your declination (variation) accurately:

Magnetic Declination on Map

Click on the map to find the magnetic declination at your location

www.magnetic-declination.com

This site allows easy conversion:

Degrees,minutes,seconds to decimal degrees converter

Degrees (°), minutes ('), seconds ('') to decimal degrees angle converter and how to convert.

www.rapidtables.com

Phaedrus, great, last winter I drove my car over a very thin iceroad, it all went well.

 

[AH-1G]

I just may go out and calibrate my H facing South East and see what happens?

 

[Photo]

AH-1G, all the knowledge here on this forum that we present is not a "law" or mandatory for anyone. We just want to share what we learnt ourselves from others or by crashing. You don't have to prove anything by calibrating your H facing South East or whatever direction you want. If it will be ok to calibrate facing South East will you then recommend it to others to add it to their pre flight list?

 

[AH-1G]

Yea, but I will!

 

[jandjfrench]

Has anyone noticed any unusual behavior when the recommendations in this thread have not been followed?
I recall a thread where their H suddenly flew horizontally at first takeoff. I don't recall if they specified what they did prior to this.
On a different note I regularly start my H on a recycling bin so the GPS can update before setting it out on the street.
Also, it seems as though the H would crab towards it's desired destination if the compass was not set.

 

[PatR]

A couple of days ago, I booted up and took off from a sloping surface. The TH immediately straightened itself up to level and flew normally.

They do that pretty well if we let them.

 

[PatR]

Also, it seems as though the H would crab towards it's desired destination if the compass was not set.

That’s exactly what it should do if the compass had not been calibrated. The center of the nose is referenced as a zero or 360 radians position, which should closely align with magnetic north. Calibrating the compass clears position errors from the system, which accumulate with long distance changes that affect declination from the previous calibration location, and time if the system remained powered down for long periods of time.

If you want to see an H get real confused, real fast, just let one sit for a year and take it up without recalibrating everything.

 

[jandjfrench]

That’s exactly what it should do if the compass had not been calibrated. The center of the nose is referenced as a zero or 360 radians position. Which should closely align with magnetic north. Calibrating the compass clears position errors from the system, which accumulate with long distance changes from the precious calibration location, and time if the system remains powered down for long periods of time.

If you want to see an H get real confused, real fast, just let one sit for a year and take it up without recalibrating everything.

I was curious if anyone had noticed the crabbing.

 

[DoomMeister]

I was curious if anyone had noticed the crabbing.

Do you mean the aircraft crabbing like to maintain a heading with wind?

Or the crabbing in this thread?

 

[jandjfrench]

Do you mean the aircraft crabbing like to maintain a heading with wind?

Or the crabbing in this thread?

I hadn't thought about it but it seems that either would apply. I'm not experienced enough to know but I suspect that some of the recommendations are simply Olde Drone Pilot's tales.

 

[DoomMeister]

I hadn't thought about it but it seems that either would apply. I'm not experienced enough to know but I suspect that some of the recommendations are simply Olde Drone Pilot's tales.

I was actually baiting my crab pots, but I think I came up empty. Guess there’ll be no crab for dinner tonight.

 

[AH-1G]

Crabs, where in Central Florida?

 

[DoomMeister]

Crabs, where in Central Florida?

I was actually going for the West Coast variety ?

 

[AH-1G]

You mean the ones size of a quarter??

 

[jandjfrench]

You mean the ones size of a quarter??

Now, just for the sake of clarity; what kind of crabs are we talking about here?

 

[AH-1G]

Depends what time of day.

 

[Fred Garvin]

I think everyone’s trolled out from the Blaze of Glory Goodbye Thread......

 

[Phaedrus]

Crabs, where in Central Florida?

Stone crabs in Sarasota!! Good stuff. But California dungeness crab is the best. Especially when you get it within a hour or so of coming out of the water!!

 

[RatBob]

I do my accerlometer calibration on a perfectly level surface in my basement. My H does nothing but impress the **** out of me in flight.