Ever had that heart stopping moment when you take your eyes off your model for a quick glance at something else, only to find that (for what seems like an eternity) you’ve lost it? I bet you have!
The reason is that when looking up into a clear sky our eyes tend naturally to focus at infinity until there is something to see – ask any full size pilot. It may only be for a second or so, but if the model is travelling at say, 50 mph it certainly ain’t gonna be where you last saw it!
Many newer radios now offer telemetry with the information being sent back to the transmitter display, (I’m sure you can see where this is leading!) so the temptation is there to take you eye off the model to look at the screen. I think the golden rule has to be “don’t be tempted under any circumstances!” Either have someone else with you to read it, or better still, if you are lucky enough to have a built in audio feature, use it via an earphone. (Not the speaker please; we don’t want the flight-line full of chattering transmitters do we?)
This, of course, applies equally to FPV. There are proper guidelines set out in your BMFA handbook for operating this type of model, stipulating that there must be a “watcher” on a buddy box at all times to take over control if necessary.
The somewhat grey area here is the small foamy with a built in camera, and screen integrated into the transmitter. As far as I am aware a buddy box is not an option with these, so if you have one of them, at least make sure you have someone with you when you fly!
