Flying in First Person View

[AlexanderAF]

As I have a Phantom Original with a GoPro right now but have an Inspire 1 on the way, I would like to know if there are any tips or special advice on flying in first person view. I would imagine it would be challenging to fly close to your subject using FPV, but I've found line-of-sight at a further distance is almost undoable.

Disclaimer: My intent is not to fly around corners or fly well out of line of sight creating all kinds of mayhem, I just want to know if my attention can be completely focused on the monitor while flying while keeping my new Inspire 1 (and surroundings) safe?

 

[Aurora]

Technically you should always be flying with at least one eye on the bird and have it in your line of sight. At any time if the feed drops or if you get interference you'll want to safely be able to bring your bird home. That being said, FPV does one thing where it locks the camera to the orientationf of the bird, so your horizon will tilt. Other than that its a straight forward lock.
Last thing to be aware of is that you wont know whats behind you, so just be aware that you have a huge blind spot.

 

[Mazz]

Another good option is to just use a spotter. Have someone you know keep their eyes on the machine while you have your head in the clouds. Keep in close communication with them about proximity to anything as well as unforeseen dangers.

 

[AlexanderAF]

Has anyone flew on FPV alone? If your flight plan calls for you to fly up to 500-1000 meters away, it will be very hard to judge how close you are to an obstacle, like climbing a mountain.

 

[Richard in ky]

The only way I fly in FPV is to take the Inspire up to about 300 ft well above anything, and I have the RH configured for the maximum height I still stay with in 1/2 kilometer.

PS: I flew my phantom vision in line of sight and the only real difference is I just got to watching it head for the hills. I was lucky that it landed in a little tree and the GPS on the phantom kept giving it's location so I was able to track it down. I was new at flying and didn't take the time to propperly get a good GPS signal.


PS again: I did take it over someones home and when it was over them they were talking to me on the phone while they had line of site on it and I just dropped it down to 67 ft. and took pictures of them. Then straight up and home. That is another option I haven't heard anyone talk about and that is you can fly it over to a spotter on the phone and he can direct you.

 

[Richard in ky]

Technically you should always be flying with at least one eye on the bird and have it in your line of sight. At any time if the feed drops or if you get interference you'll want to safely be able to bring your bird home. That being said, FPV does one thing where it locks the camera to the orientationf of the bird, so your horizon will tilt. Other than that its a straight forward lock.
Last thing to be aware of is that you wont know whats behind you, so just be aware that you have a huge blind spot.

The line of site rule would be great if everyone lived in the desert. If you want to take pictures of a lot of things you are going to have to find a clearing go above the trees and fly out to it even if it only a few hundred ft away.

 

[Kilrah]

If your flight plan calls for you to fly up to 500-1000 meters away, it will be very hard to judge how close you are to an obstacle, like climbing a mountain.

The line of site rule would be great if everyone lived in the desert. If you want to take pictures of a lot of things you are going to have to find a clearing go above the trees and fly out to it even if it only a few hundred ft away.

Technically at this point if your job calls for that you should simply not be doing it.

Yep I fly my I1 mostly FPV, need to get used to the slight lag but not an issue at all. I tend to rarely fly above 20m AGL, I find images are more dynamic when low thanks to the increased feeling of movement.
That said I've been flying FPV with all kinds of RC aircraft since 2002, so that may play a role in feeling comfortable.