Pre-flight checklist
February 22, 2017
From today onwards, before every flight, I’ll be following the below sequence:
- Calibrate APM (Compass & Accelerometer)
- Check battery level. Charge if necessary
- Check center of gravity. It should be about 1/3rd of the chord behind the front edge of the wing
- Balance the propeller
- Check control surfaces
- Right pitch on transmitter should move right aileron up and left aileron down. Left pitch should do the opposite
- Check centering on control surfaces when the transmitter controls are neutral. They should be flush with the body
- Run dry test: place plane on flat surface; put into MANUAL mode and provide a little thrust. Does the plane yaw left/right? If so, then the RUD needs adjustment accordingly. Do same for pitch (you can’t test roll since the motor is behind the wing)
- Switch to Stabilize mode. Move the plane across all axes and check that the compensation it makes is consistent with what you’d expect (if you roll left, expect it to attempt to counteract that roll by rolling right).
- Check Flight mode on Transmitter
- Check for GPS lock (flashing blue LED on the GPS unit)