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I am in RC for a very long time having built and flown more than a hundred different airplanes, gliders, helicopters and now quads and not having any interests in XK-Innovations or any other company related. I simply want you to enjoy your hobby to the fullest knowing the grieves after a “hard” touchdown. Having spent a small fortune in the hobby over the years I try to make sure to not crash/destroy my “investments” at the first intent (or after..). So I try to do my home work before….
Once you receive the XK make sure that you have the latest official version of the firmware installed, at the moment of this writing it should be WL380008. Down loading it from the internet to your PC and from there to the quad is simple following for example the instructions at “firstquadcopter.com”. Use the download from the official XK site “XK-innovations.com”.
You should make some simple modifications before you fly the quad for the first time, just to be on the safe side:
-Open it up (I know…there are lots of tiny screws and you might lose your guarantee) and install an extra shield of copper tape or similar over the GPS and connector cable, if possible ground it with a wire. You can find how to do this very well documented on the “rcforums” Website.
-Install a rubber band or locking latch over the battery compartment door to be sure it will not open during flight.
-Balance props as you don’t want to vibrate anything loose and get better videos at the same time.
-If you use a gimbal connect it directly to the battery at the balance connector and shield the cable. Do not connect, at least the 12V power cable, directly to the quad. It seems that the XK’s electronics are very sensitive to power surges which can be caused by a gimbaled movement or anything else you connect directly.
-Make sure to color code front or back of your quad well as it is essential to now where front and back is at all times, even though the green led on the back helps a lot. Once you have experience using the headless mode you will get her back in any position without a problem. If you get confused while flying, just let the sticks go and start from there to get oriented again.
-Once you decided to take her up, do all three calibration procedures, first. I do them every new flying day or when I change flying location.
-Recommend to read through the whole XK Detect X380 thread at rcforum. You’ll learn a lot about your quad and it is entertaining.
Even though this quad is very easy to control and fly you should teach yourself, or better with the help of an experienced RC-pilot, to fly using a cheap, all manually steered quad copter. I believe that lots of first time flight mishaps occur because first time or low hour pilots just get overwhelmed in certain situations at or after takeoff.
Using the auto take off you always should keep your hands at the controls just in case it might want to flip over if it’s no correctly calibrated or the winds are to strong or gusting. Do not recommend to land in auto mode if winds are gusty. Make also sure to have no metal objects on you or metal structures close by. Calibrate always from where you take off and use a level surface.
Once you feel comfortable flying make sure to go through all paces with your quad, especially Auto Return Home and Headless mode. This are safety features and you should be very familiar with them. Do the drills on a routine bases. Do not activate any of these modes if you are already in FAP or PAN mode! You will have to exit to normal flight mode first.
Just completed today 120 flights between the two XKs I own with no incident so far except of a minor crash (flight 64) at four feet into a bush once I got confused with front and back in a tight space working on a project with the quad.
Hope this helps you to have many enjoyable hours with your new Quad.
