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SharonNoelle · 07-15-2012, 01:04 PM

Hi All,
Went to my favorite flying spot with a friend to do some tests on my newly installed Align APS. Everything went as advertised!!

Needless to say I had great concerns after reading some of the threads about the trouble others have had, but I am here to say my 550E flew like it was on rails with very little tweaking.

I did the "magnetometer" calibration in my back yard. Did my testing 3.5 miles away. Forgot to re-do the mag-cal at the flight line, but it didn't seem to affect it.

1. Did the vibration test. "Failed" the first time probably because of a generally shaky flight and a very firm landing. "Passed" on the 2nd attempt. What was strange was the APS unit never indicated that the vibe test was not done. From the first time I powered it up it always had green lights for Link & GPS. After the first vibe test the Link & GPS lights went red, indicating "Failure". With a softer landing on the second test it came up with green on Link & GPS.

2. Accidently set "Home" while on the ground by switching to APS 1 time while Tx & heli were powered up, but not flying. But I remembered that I had done that so it was OK.

3. Did light sport flying to check tail gain and general stability in 3GX mode. Flew perfect.

4. Checked APS mode. Flipped switch to APS and prepared to switch it back to 3GX mode, but nothing!... except very stable flight control! COOL!

5. Checked GPS mode. Flipped switch to GPS mode, waited a couple of seconds and the heli began to rise, way up, then it quickly turned towards me and began FF to "Home", slowed down when it got to "Home" and slowly descended to about 1.5m above the spot I registered as "Home" and hovered there.

6. Autonomous take-off mode. Flipped the switch to APS and applied power. It lifted straight up. Not real crazy about the 0-50-100 on the pitch and throttle, seemed like it was straining with a very low head speed. But it was stable. Auto'd the landing.

So, my final review is

Recharging now and will go back out to try some more tests! I'm lovin' it!!

07-15-2012, 01:04 PM	#1 (permalink)
SharonNoelle Registered Users Join Date: Jul 2008	Align APS Maiden Flight Success! Hi All, Went to my favorite flying spot with a friend to do some tests on my newly installed Align APS. Everything went as advertised!! Needless to say I had great concerns after reading some of the threads about the trouble others have had, but I am here to say my 550E flew like it was on rails with very little tweaking. I did the "magnetometer" calibration in my back yard. Did my testing 3.5 miles away. Forgot to re-do the mag-cal at the flight line, but it didn't seem to affect it. 1. Did the vibration test. "Failed" the first time probably because of a generally shaky flight and a very firm landing. "Passed" on the 2nd attempt. What was strange was the APS unit never indicated that the vibe test was not done. From the first time I powered it up it always had green lights for Link & GPS. After the first vibe test the Link & GPS lights went red, indicating "Failure". With a softer landing on the second test it came up with green on Link & GPS. 2. Accidently set "Home" while on the ground by switching to APS 1 time while Tx & heli were powered up, but not flying. But I remembered that I had done that so it was OK. 3. Did light sport flying to check tail gain and general stability in 3GX mode. Flew perfect. 4. Checked APS mode. Flipped switch to APS and prepared to switch it back to 3GX mode, but nothing!... except very stable flight control! COOL! 5. Checked GPS mode. Flipped switch to GPS mode, waited a couple of seconds and the heli began to rise, way up, then it quickly turned towards me and began FF to "Home", slowed down when it got to "Home" and slowly descended to about 1.5m above the spot I registered as "Home" and hovered there. 6. Autonomous take-off mode. Flipped the switch to APS and applied power. It lifted straight up. Not real crazy about the 0-50-100 on the pitch and throttle, seemed like it was straining with a very low head speed. But it was stable. Auto'd the landing. So, my final review is Recharging now and will go back out to try some more tests! *I'm lovin' it!!* Last edited by SharonNoelle; 07-23-2012 at 07:10 AM..