Simplified INAV - First Flight

[@QuadographyAustralia1965]

I needed a good teacher like you back in the 70s when I was at school, : ) Cheers Andrew for the lesson.

[@AndrewNewton]

Haha, thanks. It's in the blood I think. Father and sister were teachers.

[@robertgoldbornatyout]

Great video Andrew. Thanks for sharing. Hope your weekend was great, our weather is finally warming up to be nicer flying weather. Have a great week.

[@WaymondJr]

Nice 💯 and timely video ‼️ I literally finished soldering the pins on my new flight controller yesterday amd went searching for a video just like these two here, you are the best‼️

[@AndrewNewton]

Ah thanks. Makes the effort worthwhile

[@Tom-wl9sx]

Hi Andrew! Informative video as always 🙂

[@blackbirdboy1]

Im a fan of Auto-launch, though I've been using INAV for a good few years now. I don't bother with Loiter, but Cruise, Angle & Acro are my 3 goto flight modes. Agree, simple is best and if you start with a nice flying plane to start with, adding INAV will make that plane fly great.

[@AndrewNewton]

Acro, Cruise and RTH are my go to modes

[@degorabo2103]

KIS is the best way. Thank you very much.

[@AndrewNewton]

Has to be simple for me

[@MessingWithCode]

Such a great video as alway!!!

[@TheCchong1]

Great 2-part video Andrew! Thank you so much.

[@AndrewNewton]

My pleasure!

[@robertgoldbornatyout]

@@AndrewNewton Hi Andrew may i ask was the video that you upload ie the one we are looking at, exactly the same that you was seeing through your goggles , thanks simply amazing 👍👍👍💯💯💯

[@AndrewNewton]

@@robertgoldbornatyout Yes, this was recorded in the goggles. 720P, exactly what I am seeing while flying

[@robertgoldbornatyout]

@@AndrewNewton thanks such good quality well done, you always make good videos .

[@nadeemimran6295]

The site is beautiful and So is the video Coverage from the plane

[@rjung_ch]

Cheers Andrew! 👍💪✌

[@mickmolloy5964]

Late night post for SA... good as always

[@AndrewNewton]

Thanks, scheduled publishing time. I was well asleep and full of leftover Christmas duck

[@AerialWaviator]

This series is nicely done Andrew. Simple, clear and informative. Only suggestion would be to create a "Simple INAV" playlist, or add the videos to your "INAV" playlist. The tutorial is superior to the INAV wiki topic of "The Basics of Getting INAV Working" under the "Fixed Wing Guide". Perhaps there needs to be a "Simplified INAV" wiki page with links to the videos.

[@AndrewNewton]

Many thanks, good suggestions

[@DugWagner]

I love it when a plan comes together! Andrew, What is the difference between Acro and Manual modes. I thought they were the same thing.

[@blackbirdboy1]

If you have ever flown a 5" racing quad, most people fly in Acro. The FC tries to maintain whatever trajectory its it when you let go of the sticks. In in a plane, it tries to ignore wind they would otherwise throw you around the sky with a small light plane on a breezy, turbulent day. It also will iron out a badly trimmed plane and make it flyable. It can hide a multitude of problems. But if you have a well trimmed plane BEFORE you add the FC as Andrew is saying, your plane will fly even better once you add a FC and set it up as Andrew suggested.

[@DugWagner]

So, manual means no stabilization at all. I've flown acro for years, but I never thought of it as having stabilization. It must be a simple rate gyro?

[@blackbirdboy1]

@daxdadog YES it does have some stabilisation, just not any kind of self level. Letting go of the sticks doesn't level the plane like Angle mode does

[@AndrewNewton]

Manual just passes radio commands straight through with no stabilisation (after applying rates, mixing and expo) Acro stabilises against uncommanded rotations, like wind gusts or lift changes.

[@gflorey1975]

Andrew - thank you - Really useful. the fonts and info on your OSD - I can't see to get those. Is there any trick to it? (I have Runcam link and a DJI V2 headset)

[@AndrewNewton]

WTF OS hack with SneakyFPV fonts

[@wattage2007]

Another thorough and informative video Andrew. I was wondering though, do you have a Walksnail setup?

[@AndrewNewton]

Thanks. No I have DJI V1 goggles

[@PansRocks]

Just wondering how you align for roll normally as I don't see an artificial horizon or angle on the OSD - to my eyes that plane is rolling slightly to the right. Pre flight I'd normally put the plane in a stand and use a spirit level/digital inclinometer to set the wings level and adjust the board roll alignment via the cli until it's zero in the configuator. I feel Ardupilot does this aspect slighly better than INAV in that you calibrate level on the ground after the gyro has be calibrated. Yes I'm aware that foam twists etc but most of the time I'm mounting the FC on a surface that isn't parallel to the wings to start with.

[@AndrewNewton]

I don't go to that level of precision in my setups but your careful levelling is a good idea. Yes Ardu levelling option is good.

[@joslinnick]

The documentation states that ACRO mode is the preferred flying mode. Is it also recommended to launch in ACRO mode for the maiden flight?

[@AndrewNewton]

Preferred? Acro is the default mode, that just means that if you don't choose a specific mode then it will be in Acro. I usually launch in Acro if I know the setup is good, otherwise manual is the safest until you test other modes.

[@martybaecker5612]

Andrew,,,,I am a bit confused at the flight mode setup. I am to this point and have Manual, Angle & Horizon modes on a three way toggle. With this said,,,the toggle is always on one of these selections. So how does one get into the default mode (Acro) when one of the three (mentioned modes) will always be selected? And I thought this three way switch with the three modes was the proper setup. Do I need to leave one position of the toggle vacant (in the configurator setup page) so that the default “acro mode” is accessible when that vacant toggle position is chosen? I hope this makes sense:-). Thanks Andrew for always diligently answering these questions. It is greatly appreciated.

[@AndrewNewton]

@@martybaecker5612 Correct. Every switch must have a "no mode" position to allow for Acro. Have another look at how I set them up in the Simplified INAV setup video

[@martybaecker5612]

Andrew,,,I’m back again needing your thoughts. As you may remember, I am using an F411 on an actual wing with iNAV 6.1. Do note,,,I successfully flew this airframe without TX trimming before adding the hardware. A couple of weeks ago I was ready for the maiden. Set it in Acro and couldn’t get it off the ground. Tried multiple times. At the time it felt like I had no (throttle) power. Feeling at fault (w/o much thought) I changed out the motor with one that I thought would have more power. Today I tried to launch and no luck. I’m a bit puzzled. I have flown other wings recently and what i have noticed is these have more power and more deflection on the elevons. With this in mind I paid closer attention to to my iNAV wing and (in Acro) there is very little deflection in the elevons and it seems like I am limited on my throttle stick, thus, restricted power (compared to a regular setup w/o a FC). I am sure there is much going on here,,,,but before I go to a totally different airframe,,,,does anything glaringly jump out at you? Just fyi,,,,on the receiver page I have the throttle setting just below 1100 at 1094 so my arming toggle will work. Thoughts? Thanks again.

[@AndrewNewton]

Which transmitter Marty? In the INAV receiver page you should see throttle move from 1000 to 2000 as you move the stick. Might need to adjust the end points in your radio for the throttle channel if the bar doesn't go from 1000 to 2000 in INAV. Are you sure your prop is on the right way?

[@martybaecker5612]

As always,,,thank you Andrew for your pointers. I am going to sort of start backwards and end with my next question. Always a base that one needs to cover,,,,prop direction:-). I did check and all is good there. Never hurts to have a refresher. I got the craft in the air easily this time but I just did not have enough throw in my elevons to manage height and turns. I made it around one time with much difficulty and then never again. But the positive is/was,,,,I got it in the air,,,,easily. So,,,what I will do next on the bench is move my pushrods on the servos as well as the elevon side to gain more throw. This may take some experimentation but I should be able to get what I need to comfortably fly the wing. On to power. You were spot on with what you said about the necessary throttle deflection needed on the iNAV Receiver page. Using my Spektrum DX8G2 TX,,,I had the range set at 1094 to 1838. I set it to 1002 to 2001 as you recommended and as mentioned above,,,,I had the power I needed to launch/fly (just as in the pre-iNAV test). Thanks so much. Some things can be so easy. However, I come to my one question. With this new range setting I did notice that as I moved the throttle stick,,,the motor did not start moving until around 1220. Granted, I am able to launch & fly as is,,,,do you think there is a way to decrease the dead band range of my throttle stick (meaning to obtain motor engaging at a setting lower than the 1220)? Just curious if you have any thoughts here. I have a feeling this dead band is inherent to my setup. Thanks again. I will let you know how successful I am with my elevon pushrod adjustments.

[@AndrewNewton]

If it flew well previously (did you use 50/50 elevon mix?) I would leave the pushrods as they are. Better to increase the Pitch FF parameter until elevator throw in ACRO is about 80% of elevator throw in MANUAL. Throttle dead band means you need to re-calibrate your ESC using the INAV Outputs page.

[@martybaecker5612]

Andrew,,,great pair of videos. Thanks for your continued dedication to this area of flying. I wish I would have had these two a few years back when I first gave this venture a shot:-). I am just about ready for my first flight trial but have one question (and hope you are still monitoring). I am using a wing this time around. I very much understand your comments/instructions of the +4 degree addition to the Fixed Wing level trim line of the Mechanics tab in the PID page of INAV and its purpose. It’s necessary to fly the bird:-). My question is as follows. Before we get into the INAV setup,,,the craft has to be a tested/proven flyer (which means that this amount of elevator is ‘tweaked’ in physically to the airframe to fly). However,,,once I have the bird flight proven and we start the INAV phase of the build,,,do we physically remove this elevator pitch (with wing elevons flat with the rest of the airframe) and let the INAV settings take over (once the setup is complete)? May sound like sort of a naive question,,,but it is a detail that I wanted to make sure of. Thanks so much.

[@AndrewNewton]

Good question. Yes keep the same amount of elevator reflex you added in the test flights and start with +4º FWPT. There are two factors at play here. 1 - Flying wings always require reflex in the overall airfoil shape to stop them rotating over the nose due to the lack of a tail. That comes from either the airfoil design or your added elevator reflex. It is best to dial this in using the pushrod lengths. BUT if you enable "Continuously Trim Servos..." INAV will look at your stick positions while flying and save the new servo midpoints. 2 - All airfoils need some "angle of attack" or a few degrees of positive angle to fly level and maintain altitude. The Fixed Wing Level Trim takes care of the angle of attack requirement (and board mounting discrepancies in the pitch axis).

[@martybaecker5612]

Thanks a bunch Andrew. This will be a great project. I have the wing flyable right now,,,with the next step of adding all the iNAV hardware, etc. I really can’t wait and this little detail was the last piece of the puzzle. Take care and I’ll let you know how this Texas bird flys. Again,,,,thanks for making these two videos for they made it all come together also. The written word is great but the videos seemed to be the icing on the cake😊

[@AndrewNewton]

Happy to help. What wing is it?

[@martybaecker5612]

My apologies. I just see your question:-). It is my own hybrid between the FT Versa and the FT Bluntnose Versa. In the Bluntnose, a 7 1/2” spacer is added between the two wing halves of the standard Versa. I just added a 4 1/2” spacer. I really like all of them. A relatively easy scratch build and takes a pretty good beating. Thanks for asking:-)

[@AtlayGaming]

I'm following this, but my plane is a 'traditional' tail dragger (Xfly Tasman). Please sanity check my logic here... if I select Manual mode on the runway, the plane is effectively ignoring the flight controller, and behaving as if it just has a standard PWM receiver, right? I want to check my trims and CoG manually, before turning on the stabilisation modes.

[@AndrewNewton]

Correct. That's the safest way to begin. Make sure it flies normally in manual then try acro in flight, being ready to switch back to manual if something is not right.

[@wingsmh27]

When i connect gps to matekf411wte barometer doesn't show... I use BN880 gps I2C 400Hz

[@blackbirdboy1]

The barometer is in the FC. So should show up without the GPS connected. I never change stock settings and it always works fine for me. You definitely on the correct FW for that board?

[@wingsmh27]

@@blackbirdboy1 I just observe that, it's becouse of gps has magnetometer, when gps and magnetometer setup in inav-config and h/w connected to fc then baro and magnetometer shows red, doens't detected by fc. Also gps Gps bn880 I powered fc with battery pack and tested all settings but unable to solve the issue Fc automatically correct detected and FW also correct

[@AndrewNewton]

You may need to manually select the baro in INAV config.

[@stevietee10]

You may need to....1) check the baro and magnetometer are not trying to use the same address on the I2C bus (unlikely these days) or 2) add two 10k pull-up resistors to the SDA pad and 3.3v pad and SCL pad to the 3.3v pad on some FC's the BUS can't maintain the i/o levels with two devices

[@dronepilot260rc]

Is this bird even available anymore?

[@AndrewNewton]

Still listed at Finwing

[@peterhancox5268]

What version of INAV?

[@AndrewNewton]

INAV 6.1.1

[@peterhancox5268]

@@AndrewNewtonIs that better/easier than the current version 7x ?

[@wattage2007]

@@peterhancox5268 I think the setup is pretty much the same. The main differences are under the bonnet. I just don't like the frequency of these major updates and the removal of support for hardware like F411 series of flight controllers.

[@AndrewNewton]

​@@peterhancox5268 INAV 7 adds VTOL but I haven't tried it yet

[@micsherwood4930]

why wouldn't you launch in manual mode?

[@AndrewNewton]

No reason, if it's correctly set up you can launch in Acro or Angle as well

[@Андрей-к9р3л]

Андрей сколько вам лет?

[@AndrewNewton]

шестьдесят пять

[@ramonmejias2178]

Hey Andrew I think I screwed up my SpeedyBee f405 i can flash the board but nothing that I set stays is it possible to reset the board back to factory

[@AndrewNewton]

Which F405? There are 4 different versions. Make sure you use the correct INAV target.

[@ramonmejias2178]

SpeedyBee f405 wing flight controller

[@ramonmejias2178]

Model number f405wing-app

[@AndrewNewton]

Just have to try reflashing and remember to Save and Reboot whenever you are asked in the configurator.

[@ror-ys3qp]

is acro the same as manual?

[@AndrewNewton]

No. Read this newtonairlines.blogspot.com/2023/06/simplified-inav.html

[@ror-ys3qp]

So ACRO is AS3X?

[@UKbigga]

ads are too long :(

[@AndrewNewton]

Damn! They are making it harder to have minimum ads these days

[@AerialWaviator]

If you're seeing multiple ads, hitting refresh after first plays fully seems to avoid further ads. They seem to be testing longer ads, but the refresh trick keeps them to a minimum.

[@rcaddict9558]

You are a great teacher Sir!❤ I have flown helis for 10 years, from a hh gyro to a simple beast x flybarless system. I now fly drones and have a pretty much full understanding of betaflight 4.5 and have done rth on a 3.5 " drone with no bobbles or bad behaviour! Please dont think im eing big headed, i just want you to know my mindset before i ask the queastion? So i have watched your videoes a few times and i have a spare walksnail unit and fancy a challenge, flying a drone i guess is just like flying a plane, in acro mode , So i already see that matek are the best, i use their elrs and have a true d spare, What plane, wing or what you have is easiest to work with, thats on the market at the moment please, easy flying and maybe add a gimbal later, a wing, or........? Thankyou and i would really appreciate a reply, also i see speedybee are selling matek wing fc, same price, could you tell me you thoughts? Thankyou so much and i understand if you are busy, #rcaddict ❤🫡💯

[@AndrewNewton]

Thanks mate. Great question and I have just done a video to answer it. Should be live soon.

[@rcaddict9558]

@@AndrewNewton thanks , i look forwaed to it