Up up and away!

So with Little Red fit as a fiddle and my lesson learned about flying in the back yard over asphalt I took the chance last night to flight in calm sunset weather up at a little field on the north side of town.  This field is a lot larger and gives me room to move.  Now, what that really means is that I've got more room to make even bigger mistakes.

I powered up, bound up, spun up and trimmed up.  I got used to the hover again, this really being only my second flight outside the workshop.  I started again with back and forth, side to side, get control again, bring it back, crash into the grass, run and get it, rinse and repeat as needed.  All was going well.  So here is where I should write that I learned from my mistake from the first flight and kept things low and slow and under control.  But.... like I said: I've got more room to make even bigger mistakes.

So I figure I am out in the wide open with lots of room around, I can get some altitude and see what it looks like from up there.  I brought Little Red home, turned on the camera and sent him back up.  And up.  And up.  And ... hrrmmm, he sure is drifting, gah, that was rudder, not aileron, no, don't panic,  no not that way, this way, THIS WAY.  Little Red soared higher and off to the west over nearby 8-foor apartment buildings.  Did I say over?  Run, try to regain visual contact, ease down on throttle ... PRAY he isn't right over the top of an apartment building .... throttle's full off.  Okay, for better or worse, he is down.  I ran through the breezeway to the other side of the tall buildings and scanned the area.  Who's bright idea was it to build gazebos and pavilions?  Why on earth plant so many bushes and trees?  Don't they know that people might want to try to find an errant quadcopter here some day?  So, I stood stock still, took a deep breath, listened very closely and goosed the throttle.  Off to the left I hear an faint whine.  Whew.  Okay, so he's not on top of a building or snuggled down in a mockingjay nest.  I kept goosing the thottle lightly and listening, following the whines.  At last I found him behind a little gazebo upside down and blinking madly. I quickly recovered him, stopped the recording and started the trek back to the field.

Lesson learned:  Stay within my abilities and learn to walk before trying to run.

I am VERY lucky on several counts:

1. I didn't loose or break Little Red on his second flight.
2. I didn't damage anything/anyone when he soared out of control
3. I learned how easily it is to get disoriented when a little square quadcopter turns into a black speck at altitude.
4. I got some amazing pictures from this flight.