First jump into FPV RC flight

Its been quite a long trip into flying finally i decided to jump another level, higher into advance flying. Its is called FPV: "First Person View" flight. Previous flight before i was doing Line of Sight flying (L.O.S) flying outside the cockpit a view of your plane from the ground like any normal R/C enthusiast do in traditional flying method. My flight always been attaching a video recording cam and let it fly and do recording while i'm flying from LOS, replay back my recording back at home on my monitor always keeps me amazed, curious but full of excitement able to see the whole world below me as from birds eyes point of view. The world is different up there and its more beautiful and adventurous. Through my journey into R/C flying i've discovereda new way of flying, so called FPV flight (First Person View) flying where you flying an R/C from cockpit point of view,live view wireless video feed sent from the cockpit to the pilot via video googles or ground video monitor where you no longer stand on the ground watch from below and control your plane from direct line of sight. Its a real pilot experience but the cost to setup is very high, need paramount setup skills and piloting skills too. My flying skills already on par and definately met the requirement needed for FPV piloting. I understand some risk and limitation so i decided to take 3 months of intense research, experimentation, risk management, seek advice from fellow FPV pilot online, watch and read articles, study some real aviation law and air space regulation, insurance and few factor of safety both public and general interest. It was a huge gamble for an R/C pilot like me since i don't see any local pilot doing this FPV flight so it was wise for me to keep on doing more research and survey.


Being a mountain biker who love to explore the world in and out of the jungles throughout the entire land it is natural instinct for me to born and discovery the beauty of the world surrounding me and so this FPV flying fits the void i'm missing in my heart. After 3 months of research and study, i manage to gather my startup budget to kick start my first FPV ambition. Bought some hardwares required for FPV mainly wireless FPV goggles, video transmitter and receiver, ground station wirelessDVR flight recorder, FPV antennas, On Screen Display OSD module, GPS navigation module, wireless telemetry system, BEC, pan-tilt head tracker set, 520TVL cam and fail safe hardware as required for sucessfull and safe starter FPV kits. Then it will take 1 month to setup on my existing plane which i'm going to use 1.4m winged SKY SURFER @ HK BIXLER glider plane for my first FPV platform which is popular among FPV enthusiast. It glider better, longer flight time, could carry FPV loads, made of soft foam, dihedral winged and less stall problem in the air if in an event of engine or servo failure.

After weeks on LOS (Line Of Sight) flight test and my friend as a spotter to check out my flight and assuring my safety concern the next few days it was greem and good to go to start strapping my video goggles on my head and ready for my first maiden flight. First maiden FPV flight was a success without any problem. All system was a good and fully functional without a glitch. Each day the flight path and distance gradually increase from 100m to 1.5KM slowly to make sure everything was ok. Public safety also was my major concern so i only fly on big open field clearn from anything below me. Sometimes i flew comfortably above the sea which is safer that way. Radio range ok, video feed ok, range ok, ESC, motor and plane itself also ok and i've tested under various condition: heavy wind, cold, hot weather, moisty morning, sark dusky day, various landing condition, glitch test, throttle off test, engine fail test everything was proven good and assured. I was lucky i did all my homework well to do deep research and studies on it and everyhing was well paid off without incident.

My first week into FPV flight was a bit nervous, cautious but at the same time full with excitement. Had my first glimps of birds eye view on the world below me. A month later after intense FPV flight daily i go even further but within recomended flight altitude below 400 feet. It was beautiful, the river was blue, the sea shines silver golden sunset, green fields, the sky looks blue, the clouds wispy and i can hear the wind whisper through my hear as i glide gently along coastal beach and into the sea. I see birds flying, ships passing by and enjoy the view around the beaches. I can move my head around since the camera equipped with "head tracking" device which translate my head movement into the camera pan-tilt mechanism to expand my viewing freedom. Wow! this technology is so paramount in R/C flying, i can even monitor and track down my aeroplane performance and navigation via On Screen Display (OSD) which give me intrumental reading about my plane condition, speed, height, power/battery level, signal strength and etc just like a real plane would. I'm so proud all this setup i did it myself and learned how things works which makes it easy for me to troubleshoot if things happens. My ground station also equipped with necessary hardware and device so i could track my plane progress and status from ground level which is great for safety feature. My friends buddies was amazed too with my FPV skills, they used to become my L.O.S spotter on my first month of flight and now the can let me go and let me fly on my own since its been almost over two months and daily occasion of successfull FPV flights without incident.

So far i have been flying all around local places definately far away from urban infrastructure for my typical flight. It was all good. Enjoyed my flight over the forest, river, sea and beaches and keep my flight safe and follow the rules and airspace regulation set by law. Before and after flight i always check my plane make sure its fit to fly and make me feel like part of aviation stuff. Going FPV flight have made me more aware, discipline and ethical r/c pilot because i've seen myself how flying look like from cockpit view rather line of sight because both seems to have equal risks, pros and cons. Not only make me a mature flyer but also appreciate each flight worth taking serious about and be responsible r/c enthusiast.

Since i'm the first local FPV pilot to step up on my FPV journey i need to watch out for future incoming pilot who step into this same field of activity, ensure each one given advice, guides and education to young r/c pilot to avoid future complication and keep this R/C flying hobby a good name.