EuroUSC BNUC-S Advice needed!!

[Dominic]

Hi Guys
I am booking my place tomorrow on the BNUC-S course. So I was wondering if those of you who have taken the course could give me advice on what to expect!!

I was not the brightest spark at school and frankly, I am worried! It's the second biggest investment so far and I want to get it right first time, so any advice and tips would be really welcome.

Thanks loads in advance of your help!!!!


Dom

 

[Dominic]

Hi Again
please can any of you help???

 

[Bowley]

Dont worry about it Dominic, its not rocket science, Andre will make sure you know everything you need to know for the exam, read through the recommended reading CAP's relevant ANO articles etc to reinforce.

 

[quadcopters]

I agree nothing to worry about , I briefed you what to expect when you purchased the components from me but Andre will make sure you are fully aware of whats needed to get the pass .
Take notes when your in class , this will help .

Geoff

 

[andrewrob]

Thanks all. Also just wondering whats expected in relation to the Wookong. Do we have to demonstrate the failure signal return to home feature? I'm guessing he doesn't have to fly it in manual mode or anything like that?
Cheers

 

[quadcopters]

Yes you have to demonstrate the failsafe but your flight test wont be till a good few weeks after the ground school course.
You can fly round in any mode you like , you just have to demonstrate you can operate the machine in a safe and controlled manner and adhere to your operations manual.

 

[andrewrob]

Thanks all. We are booking the course for the end of this month. Am I right in assuming that I (the camera operator) would only need to be present for the practical test, to demonstrate taking a photo?
Also we are still a bit nervy about the fail safe test, could we set it to ground hold rather than go home and land for the test? The problem we have is that if something goes wrong we can't afford to replace the AD6 so we are a little terrified of something happening during automated landing.

 

[swisser]

To be honest, to my mind if you're that nervous about using the failsafe Return to Home feature it doesn't bode very well for putting much faith in the machine as a whole. What I'd suggest is this:

1) Check that activation of the failsafe mode works properly by flicking a switch on your transmitter, using the setup assistant. Don't rely on needing to activate it by switching off the transmitter. Make sure the failsafe mode is Return to Home.
2) Go to a nice big open space - say the size of a football pitch.
3) Put the craft on the ground, activate GPS mode, powerup and wait for no flashing red lights.
4) Take off, fly about 30 meters away, altitude of about 10-20 meters.
5) Flick the failsafe switch.
6) After 2 seconds, change to Atti mode. Put the throttle in the centre position (i.e. hovering power).
7) Watch the craft climb and then fly back to the starting point at altitude.
8) Watch it descend, land and switch itself off.
9) Keep your hands poised to take over if things don't look right - having followed step 6 all you need to do is flick the failsafe switch back again, it should then pretty much just stop moving whilst you catch your breath and you'll be able to fly yourself.

 

[andrewrob]

Thanks swisser, the only thing that confuses me about the above is step 6, if I flick it back into Atti after flicking it to fail safe won't that just give us back full control again and stop the fail safe procedure?

 

[swisser]

Best thing to do is hook up to the assistant and see which modes it is in with the switches in various positions. The point is it's easier to go in to AND get out of failsafe mode (assuming your transmitter is setup correctly) and that RTH works really well. Have some faith and give it a go, otherwise you'll be in fear of ever using it.

 

[Gunter]

Deffo make sure your fail safe is working and test it with the switch. It could very well save your bacon at some point, as some peeps on here have learned the hard way!


Regards,

Gunter.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[andrewrob]

We've got it setup to work when the Tx is off so that's working fine but just haven't got it on a switch yet so will do that this weekend

 

[wooquadfly]

hi dominic just wondering how you got on with your test EuroUSC as think of taking it myself, would be nice to know how hard or easy it was...thanks

 

[andrewrob]

PM Sent

 

[dg2010]

I am also about to buy and airframe and prepare for the bnuc-s.

I'm a long time hobby flyer and photographer. Not worried about the flight or technical aspects at all. Just hoping I can cram all the various CAA information in my brain.

If anyone has any advice I would most appreciate it.

I'm considering buying either the S800 or a CarbonCore hex, still not sure what would be best for size and transport.

My main question is around my camera operator. I'm a one man band at the moment, do I need to certify a specific operator or can I just say invite my wife to twiddle the camera tumble whilst I take the flight test? are there additional fees for the operator? and does it need to be 100% flight ready. so if I'm using a dslr do I need to fly with that during the test?

 

[andrewrob]

I am also about to buy and airframe and prepare for the bnuc-s.

I'm a long time hobby flyer and photographer. Not worried about the flight or technical aspects at all. Just hoping I can cram all the various CAA information in my brain.

If anyone has any advice I would most appreciate it.

I'm considering buying either the S800 or a CarbonCore hex, still not sure what would be best for size and transport.

My main question is around my camera operator. I'm a one man band at the moment, do I need to certify a specific operator or can I just say invite my wife to twiddle the camera tumble whilst I take the flight test? are there additional fees for the operator? and does it need to be 100% flight ready. so if I'm using a dslr do I need to fly with that during the test?

Your camera operator only has to be present for the practical part and you don't pay extra for them. In the flight test you have to demonstrate taking photos if that's what you're going to do with it. The examiner isn't fussed about the out right quality of the shot just that it covers the bits hes asked for in the shot.
When you're working after the test are you going to be operating the camera and flying? You don't have to have a camera operator for the test if you're not going to use one in your work.

 

[dg2010]

When you're working after the test are you going to be operating the camera and flying? You don't have to have a camera operator for the test if you're not going to use one in your work.

I want to be as flexible as possible, so whilst I may be able to do some jobs solo, I want to have the capability for a two man setup with live down link, so that is what I will be developing my system to do.

I understand that the certificate is type specific, so if I had a s800 with a gopro strapped to the undercarriage and then passed my exam, I would not be certified if at a later data removed the go-pro and added a Zenmuse gimble, is that right? So effectively I need to have my aircraft 100% ready prior to the test. Correct? The jist of this is that I will need to spend the money on the Zenmuse now, rather than later, even if I don't plan on needing it just yet.

 

[andrewrob]

I want to be as flexible as possible, so whilst I may be able to do some jobs solo, I want to have the capability for a two man setup with live down link, so that is what I will be developing my system to do.

I understand that the certificate is type specific, so if I had a s800 with a gopro strapped to the undercarriage and then passed my exam, I would not be certified if at a later data removed the go-pro and added a Zenmuse gimble, is that right? So effectively I need to have my aircraft 100% ready prior to the test. Correct? The jist of this is that I will need to spend the money on the Zenmuse now, rather than later, even if I don't plan on needing it just yet.

That's the golden question. Its not 100% clear on how much you can actually change without a retest (practical only). Certainly if you changed from a 6 to an 8 rotor system but I'm not sure if the gimbal is enough to justify it or not (although I've heard some reports of people being told that different firmware updates are enough).
If you're going from one 3 axis gimbal to another I can't really see what the fuss it about.
Have you considered the new brushless gimbals coming to market rather than the zenmuse? Much lighter and a hell of a lot cheaper. Check this out for more information http://www.multirotorforums.com/showthread.php?8979-My-brushless-gimbal-result/page23

 

[dg2010]

Hi Andrew,

Yes I have been watching the Alex Mos development since I first saw his test videos, nice to see we have a home grown board licensed by DesireRC.... So yes that would be a great option.

I suppose it depends who you ask, the testing centre will of course say that any modification would require a re-test. I assume that the line has to be drawn at some point. What about changing motors? What about different props? What about change of landing gear? or reflash your ESC? All these things potentially have an impact on the flight characteristics and capability but clearly we can't all be retesting when we change props.

Ideally I would like to be certified n a basic camera setup, in which case I would be free to chose the best camera gimble later in the year. If that isn't the case then I either wait anyway and certify later, or get certified on the more expensive Zenmuse and then kick myself when clones are available for half the price

 

[wearypanda]

This is a really interesting point about changing gimbals/cameras.

I am booked to do ground school and the exam in April. I plan to operate both single and dual operator. I have a Vulcan 900mm hex with CS3 gimbal which is capable of carrying anything from a GoPro to a Red. I am thinking about including a second smaller single operator multi with brushless GoPro/Nex5 gimbal in my Ops manual and take a flight test on that too.

From reading the section in the course handbook about Operating Manuals it seems to me that this does not need to include gimbal specification. If that is really the case then the gimbal(s) must be regarded just as part of the payload. In the Ops Manual you would have to set out max operating weight and appropriate prop/pack combinations but I am hoping that you don't have to specify a specific gimbal and (even worse) camera combination.

Interesting that you have to do the test with an operator. I would like to think that it would be possible to buddy up with someone else doing the the test on the day for them to be the camera operator.

As ever, any information or insights (from people who have already completed the BNUC-S course & flying test) that can be shared here or by PM would be greatly appreciated.

Andrew