;is bird is so advanced that it comes out of
the box ready to fly and even if you’ve never
had your hands on the sticks of a helicopter
or quadcopter before, you won’t have any
problem flying this one. ;e first thing I noticed
when I opened the box was how futuristic the
Phantom looks. It has an attractive and sleek
look to it. ;e aircraft’s main body, including
the motors, ESC, and flight computers, is
completely assembled. Just the props and
landing gear need to be assembled. A white
matching transmitter is included in the box
and requires four AA batteries that the builder
needs to provide. Under each of the arms of
the Phantom are LED lights that are used for
orientation during flight along with some red
bands on the two forward arms. Because all of
the hardware mounting and software tuning is
done at the factory, the Phantom is ready for
flight from the moment you unpack the box,
making this the perfect quad for the newbie
entering the multi-rotor world.
;e Phantom has a nice, stable hover, and green and red LED lights (green on the back two arms, red on the front two) help with orientation while in the sky.
Modes and What ;ey Mean
;e transmitter that comes with the Phantom has a three-position switch at the top of each side.
;e right side puts the Phantom in AT TI (attitude mode) or GPS mode. In attitude mode (ATTI), the
NAZA system will stabilize the aircraft but when you let go of the stick, the Phantom will keep level
but it will maintain the momentum in the direction it was flying. In GPS mode, when you let go of
the sticks, the Phantom will stop itself and use GPS satellites to maintain its position in space and
will wait for your next response. ;is is very beneficial for the new pilot just learning how to fly a
quadcopter.
;e second switch is for Intelligent Orientation Control (IOC) flight. You have a choice between
o;, course lock (CL), or home lock (HL) modes. In course lock mode, the Phantom will go forward,
back, left, or right in relation to the course it was traveling regardless of the Phantom’s orientation.
In home lock mode, the Phantom will go forward, back, left, or right in relation to the pilot,
regardless of the Phantom’s orientation. ;e di;erence between the two is that in CL mode, when
you give it left stick, the quad will travel in a straight line to the left. While in HL mode, when you
give it left stick, the quad will go left around the pilot forming a circle. ;e Phantom has to be in GPS
mode and 10 meters away from its home starting point. ;is is a great feature that can prevent a
lot of confusion — for the new or experienced pilot — because when a quadcopter gets a distance
away, it is hard to tell which direction it is facing.
;e battery compartment is completely concealed,
giving the Phantom a clean overall look.
UNIQUE FEATURES
;is machine comes in a nicely thought-out
box that protects the Phantom very well during
shipping. I found that the arms, motors, ESC,
and all of the electronics are mounted inside
the fuselage and ready to go. All I needed to do
was to mount the landing gear, camera mount,
and props to get this bird in the air. I started the
process by plugging in the included DB20-4
balancing charger and connecting the battery
up to it. I figured the charging of the battery
would be the one point in the assembly process
that would delay me from putting this bird in the
air. So, I wanted to get started on that charging
process before everything else.
;e fuselage is turned upside down and the
landing gears are bolted to the bottom. On one
side is a five-pin plug that needs to plug into
the compass magnet mounted on one landing
