ArduCopter Takes its First Flight

[Nigel]

Well all, I'm happy to report that the new ArduCopter was finished
today and took its first flight. Absolutely no problems at all.
Using an Overlander Extreme Pro 2200mAh battery and it hardly got
warm, same with the speed controllers.

I guess my experience with r/c helicopters didn't hurt but it felt
very stable indeed - a little like flying a coaxial heli, but with
more potential for speed. Didn't have to trim it at all. I'm sure
that with care an absolute beginner could fly one without any
problems.

More tests to follow...

[Nigel]

More to report...

- Quad without battery weighs almost exactly 700g
- Re. duration, my Overlander Extreme Pro 2200mAh battery gives 10 mns
21 secs for a recharge of 1589 mAh so I guess it should comfortably
give 12 mins duration. I may try some heavier batteries soon.
- GPS mode is not working with the code I'm using (don't ask!)
- Stable mode is like flying a coaxial heli as mentioned above
- Acro mode is a little more like flying a traditional heli but it is
still pretty stable. Nicer to fly really because you can fly more
smoothly.
- In Acro mode I found that the quad yawed to the right a little. I
haven't set the magnetometer yet (CLI problems) so I cheated and put
in a program mix to add in some left yaw when I flicked the Acro
switch.

That's all for now...