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Q.
What is Microfly?
A. Microfly
is a tiny indoor hovering UFO, which spins during flight and
is entirely self-stabilising. It has a proportional throttle,
but no other controls or adjustments. Lift is provided by a
propeller on the underside of the aircraft. It also has a little
blue light on top, and looks very cool!
Q. Is Microfly suitable for learning
to fly?
A. Microfly only requires
a single channel of control (throttle) in order to hover. However
it has excellent climbout, so it is necessary to use the throttle
with some skill to maintain a steady hover. This same skill
is equally applicable to any hovering aircraft, so Microfly
is an excellent way to learn this crucial aspect of flying,
without having to think about anything else.
Q. Does Microfly have proportional controls?
A. Microfly has only one
control, the throttle which controls lift. It is proportional,
yes.
Q. Are spares available?
A. No.
Q. Can the Microfly be trimmed?
A. Because the Microfly
spins during flight, no trimming is necessary or possible.
Q. What is the control range?
A. Infrared range varies
depending upon the environment. Although IR works in straight
lines (rather like a torch beam), it provides good omni-directional
coverage of a room because it reflects and re-reflects from
the walls and ceiling, filling the available space with energy
travelling in all directions. A torch beam can illuminate a
whole room in the same way. However this only works well if
the room is not too large, and the ceiling is not too high.
Generally a domestic room with 8 – 10 foot white ceilings is
ideal, when range will be 10 – 15 feet. Microfly will not work
outdoors.
Q. How can the IR control strength be
maximized?
A.
1) It may seem obvious, but when flying, point the controller
at the plane! Many pilots tend to point it downwards, so that
the infrared energy has to reflect off the floor before it has
a chance of reaching the receiver. This is even worse if there
is furniture between pilot and aircraft.
2) Don’t fly the aircraft close to lights. Unfortunately, many
compact fluorescent lamps operate at a similar frequency to
infrared, and can disrupt reception if too close.
3) Avoid direct sunlight, which will reduce range dramatically
if it hits the aircraft.
4) Microfly will not tolerate other infrared devices operating
in the same room.
5) Use fresh, alkaline batteries in the handset.
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