Just wondering how much stick time most multi-rotor pilots have. So far this weekend I've managed 25 packs of flying and probably about 4 hours total flying time for the week. I'm not into doing flips and tricks, just like flying patterns around the field or trying to fly really accurately and smoothly as practice for AP/AV.

I think that I must have about 75 hours of total flying time (but going up rapidly as I have lots of free time at the moment) with my multi-rotors, which is not bad when you consider that I get less than 10 minutes out of a pack.

How much do you get to fly and how many hours have you flown?

i have 62 gigabytes of footage from my FPV quad's. I shoot in 720p at 30FPS, so that's about 58MB per minute.

so, 1068 minutes= 17 hours FPV flying time.

That is a lot of FPV time! I have only done about 10 FPV flights with my copters and haven't enjoyed it due to using a rubbish 1.3GHz set because I'm using 2.4GHz for control.

I've done 100s of flights with my FPV planes with 2.4GHz video and 35MHz control and have great video quality. Think I need to switch to a UHF system for my copters so I can use my 2.4GHz video setup for my copters. I've thought about switching to 35MHz, but it's not practical to have the long antenna on a copter.

you'd have to ask my former girlfriends i think

Originally Posted by lovegroove

I have only done about 10 FPV flights with my copters and haven't enjoyed it due to using a rubbish 1.3GHz set because I'm using 2.4GHz for control.

It might be your gear/set-up rather than a frequency. I use 1.3 (1280) for FPV and the picture is crystal clear for 4-5 Km.

As far as flight time, about 30 packs. I still suck, but Im having fun.

I started flying RC in 1968. You can figure that out.

Originally Posted by SeismicCWave

I started flying RC in 1968. You can figure that out.

I don't think they had mulit-rotors back then though!

Fixed wing stick time, too much to remember. Quad stick time, less than 10 packs. I'm just getting to the point where I need to find a bigger area than my back yard. Altituded is severly limited due to the branches from a walnut tree covering most of the yard. The thing I'm having the hardest time with is flying towards myself backwards. Planks don't back up...

Originally Posted by lovegroove

That is a lot of FPV time! I have only done about 10 FPV flights with my copters and haven't enjoyed it due to using a rubbish 1.3GHz set because I'm using 2.4GHz for control.

I've done 100s of flights with my FPV planes with 2.4GHz video and 35MHz control and have great video quality. Think I need to switch to a UHF system for my copters so I can use my 2.4GHz video setup for my copters. I've thought about switching to 35MHz, but it's not practical to have the long antenna on a copter.

haha thanks! which 1.3 set are you using? i hear that one is normally pretty clear.

I personally use 2.4ghz for video and love it. although it does suck alot when a spectrum user is nearby lines show up like crazy. I did just get a 1.3ghz receiver tho, so i think i'll try that channel next.

When I first started flying multi-rotors about a year ago I found that I sometimes couldn't tell which way it was pitching and I would sometimes get caught out when flying towards myself and have to do a sudden dive for the ground. It still happens to me sometimes, like this evening when I was night flying and 2 people stopped to ask questions while I was flying. A brief lapse in concentration and I nearly lost control.

I've only just started night flying with my hexa, having just put the lights on it last night, but it's really good fun getting loads of altitude, much more than I could do in daylight. Even managed a round of applause from the local yobs that like to hang out on the street corner drinking and smoking.

Originally Posted by gundamnitpete

haha thanks! which 1.3 set are you using? i hear that one is normally pretty clear.

I personally use 2.4ghz for video and love it. although it does suck alot when a spectrum user is nearby lines show up like crazy. I did just get a 1.3ghz receiver tho, so i think i'll try that channel next.

I'm not sure why I have video problems with 1.3GHz, because I've used the same setup on a plane and it's been fine. I have dual 1.3GHz and 2.4GHz diversity built into my ground station and am using an 800mW transmitter from bestofferbuy.

I want a LRS for plane FPV anyway, so I'm definitely going down that route eventually. I might just try and experiment with a different, lower power 1.3GHz video tx anyway, just to see if I get better results. My friend has a 200mW video tx from BEVRC and I pick him up crystal clear, so maybe I fried mine, but it was working perfect before I put it on my copter.

In the 60's we bought fuel by the gallon... 70's by the 5 gal can, 80's and 90's by the drum....when I started flying again almost a year ago no fuel, but I've had to replace several of my dozen or so lipo packs......couldn't count the time...

I've just had to order a load of new packs because the ones I've got are starting to have a lot of charge cycles on them. I don't run my packs too hard though and they usually have about 15-20% left in them at the end of a flight. They seem to last longer that way!

I have around 80 hours on my Y6, which is strictly for AP jobs. I also have a tricopter, so in total I have flown around 85 hours with multicopters in 2011.

Originally Posted by lovegroove

I don't think they had mulit-rotors back then though!

I did but definitely not very successful. I was making my own with 4 Cox .020 engines. No gyros, no flight controllers and no successful flight.