Near Intersection of I-35 & I-90 Southern Mn. | I finally got around to flying my Mavic Mini for the first time yesterday. I got it in the Winter but thought I should wait until a nice day on grass for my first flight. All in all it went very well. The biggest problem was that it was a nice sunny day and glare was a problem on my iPhone.
I was able to take a few videos and several still pictures. I have a USB external card reader that can handle the Micro SD card directly so I am able to view, copy and delete the files via the home computer.
I even had my first crash which was being recorded. This was an attempt at a manual landing on the helipad cloth platform that I had purchased. I missed the pad and I landed the Mini on grass which caused it to flip over and got a nice upside down picture of me as it died. I had to laugh as the text on the iPhone said something about "impact". I picked it up and it was no worse for the incident and continued to play.
Today I got thinking that I might try my iPad instead of the iPhone as the App appears to work. The right angled plug on the short Mavic to lightning cable will not allow me to get the plug to mate fully with my Otterbox case on the iPad. I have a lightning to lightning M-F extension that has a straight in plug and would give me more distance between the controller and the iPad. Hopefully that will work.
If that should work, I'm going to remove the iPad RAM mount stand that I have in the planting tractor and attempt to use it to hold the iPad when using the drone. Maybe mount it on an old portable music stand or sawhorse. I'm curious as to any tips for using a tablet that others may have discovered. I'm hoping the RAM mount and stand will allow me to adjust the iPad to minimize glare and leave my hands free for the controller.
It finally dawned on me today what FPV means. It refers to First Person View as if your are actually in the air craft. This helps one maintain the proper orientation. This helps the Left/Right reversal if you turn around have it flying back towards you. So far, I have just ventured straight out and then backed up rather than turning around as this avoids the left/right confusion.
I'll be less cautious the next time out. |
Using a tablet with a Drone
