Experiencing Drones for the First Time

[2edgesword]

It's really very simple .. if there's nothing to hit, it's really difficult to get into trouble. But if your drone is close to obstacles, a simple mistake has potentially serious consequences.

I live in the real world where obstacles exist and broad expanses of open spaces are few and far between. And no matter where you live at some point you're going to want to fly where things exist that you fly around and photograph. Your idea of the situation the typical environment where most people fly is unrealistic

Your idea is an attractive concept to many flyers but a $100 drone is nothing like a modern Phantom and is much harder to fly.
A beginner's time and effort is much better spent learning how the Phantom is programmed and how it works.
It really only takes 5 minutes to learn how to fly the Phantom but it takes a lot longer to learn all the things that can go wrong and how to ensure they don't.

Really? Do Phantom's ever malfunction where they loss GPS signal or a sensor malfunctions? Do even careful individuals sometimes have a lapse in judgement when they are first learning a new skill? Do some people have a more difficult time developing a good sense of spatial orientation? Do some people have a hard time acquiring good hand/eye coordination?

These are all rhetorical questions with the obvious answer being yes to all of them. I'm not buying you can gain the basic skills, sense of coordination and spatial orientation to pilot a drone in 5 minutes. Do you know anyone that has never crashed their first drone?

Yes, a $100 drone is not like a Phantom precisely because a Phantom is 5x more expensive. It's also not like a Phantom based on the fact that I've crashed that under $100 drone 50 times, it's still flying and it's cost me nothing extra. I seriously doubt anyone can say that about a Phantom, Mavic, Tyhpoon, Anafi, Evo or any of the other more expensive "smart" drones even If you were to crash them five times.

So let's stop with the utopian vast expanses with no obstacles that's perfectly flat and get back to the real world where stuff you can run into exist. When you're learning to fly in that world start with something that doesn't cause great pain in the wallet when the inevitable crash occurs as you're learning the skills required to fly a drone.

 

[Meta4]

I live in the real world where obstacles exist and broad expanses of open spaces are few and far between. And no matter where you live at some point you're going to want to fly where things exist that you fly around and photograph. Your idea of the situation the typical environment where most people fly is unrealistic

I've only got about 5000 kilometres of Phantom flying experience in all kinds of environments and reading many hundreds of incidents from other flyers.
New flyers need to have a healthy fear of flying in an environment where obstacles are a hazard and choose a safe environment in which to do their early flying.
Failing to do that massively increases the chance of crashing, wheras flying in a large open area, clear of obstacles makes crashes unlikely.

Really? Do Phantom's ever malfunction where they loss GPS signal or a sensor malfunctions?

Losing GPS? It's never happened to me. Sensor issues? Likewise

Do even careful individuals sometimes have a lapse in judgement when they are first learning a new skill? Do some people have a more difficult time developing a good sense of spatial orientation? Do some people have a hard time acquiring good hand/eye coordination?

Yes to all of the above, which is why it is important to do early learning flights flying in a large open area.
I can't see why the difficulty with that.
If you choose to fly in an obstacle rich environment, you have chosen to accept the added risk that entails.

These are all rhetorical questions with the obvious answer being yes to all of them. I'm not buying you can gain the basic skills, sense of coordination and spatial orientation to pilot a drone in 5 minutes.

Five minutes is all it takes to be able to fly a Phantom but it takes a lot of flying experience to gain full proficiency.

 

[2edgesword]

I've only got about 5000 kilometres of Phantom flying experience in all kinds of environments and reading many hundreds of incidents from other flyers.
New flyers need to have a healthy fear of flying in an environment where obstacles are a hazard and choose a safe environment in which to do their early flying.
Failing to do that massively increases the chance of crashing, wheras flying in a large open area, clear of obstacles makes crashes unlikely.

Your experience isn't the sum total of all the experience of those that fly drones. While you can say "New flyers need to have a healthy fear of flying in an environment where obstacles are a hazard" the proof that many (probably most) do not is the numerous incidences where new flyers crash their first drone. Some of those new flyers crash pretty expensive drones with GPS and other collision avoidance features while learning to gain that healthy fear. You can talk about getting a Phantom to the relatively few that start with that fear. I'll talk to the vast majority that don't have that fear and are going to end up crashing their $500+ drone with GPS and collision avoidance.

Losing GPS? It's never happened to me. Sensor issues? Likewise

As mentioned above, based on all I've read here, other forums and seen on YouTube it happens all too frequently.

Yes to all of the above, which is why it is important to do early learning flights flying in a large open area.
I can't see why the difficulty with that.
If you choose to fly in an obstacle rich environment, you have chosen to accept the added risk that entails.

Five minutes is all it takes to be able to fly a Phantom but it takes a lot of flying experience to gain full proficiency.

The difficulty with that is that a large percentage of the population doesn't have the luxury of wide open spaces where they can legally fly drones without having to travel significant distances. It shouldn't be a requirement to get started in the hobby that you have to spend $500 on a drone and then travel an hour or two to get to an open area where you can fly it. Not everyone (I would say not most) have the luxury of time and disposable income to do that. Most people start close to home, maybe in their back yard. Again, I think what you might consider a typical scenario is in fact not very typical.

I've never flown a Phantom but having flown other GPS drones I guess you are someone of unique maturity, skill and ability, and have the benefit of acre upon acre of open spaces with no obstacles to fly in. Good for you. That doesn't reflect the situation for most people.

 

[Remote Pilots Australia]

I can see all sides of this discussion, I'll chip in with my view

Background first, I've been flying R/C for 30 years or so. I went solo and then got instructors rating in a ridiculously short period of time, so short it wouldn't happen in today's regulated environment. In fact someone at the club was so put out over it they made a formal complaint to the MAAA who ruled if I could pass the assessments it didn't matter if I had been flying 5 minutes or 5 years I got the certification, these days there are minimum hours in place.

I was a nationally ranked first person shooter player at the time and afterwards which gave me a large advantage, I'm ambi, I do not have a dominant eye or hand and within a year I could always fly all 4 modes, inverted, whatever just as I can play guitar left or right handed. I never have to think about it much. It most certainly does not make me think that I'm better than anyone else and I *do* realise not everyone is as fortunate as I am and some people have to work far harder than I did at it but I've taught a lot of R/C pilots from 6 to 86 so on balance I'm across the situation pretty well.

So let me start out the inescapable facts

1. You ARE going to crash. Probably multiple times over the course of your time flying. Accept it now and let the worry go.

I have piled it into the dirt twice in my time flying. Both times being totally 100% pilot error.

2. Fear has no place in your mind while you are in the air

It's totally normal to have a few nerves before take off, especially if the conditions aren't the best or you have a challenging flight ahead but from the minute the bird leaves the ground you should be focused to the point you don't have time to worry.

3. Yes, you should do your initial flights up to the point where the control throws start to happen without thought in an open area. A foot ball field size is plenty. Practice vertical and horizontal boxes, diamonds and circles both nose in and nose out. Spend the last 10 minutes of every training flight flying figure eights tighter and faster as you imporve. Don't even use a tablet if you are flying with a machine that will do it. Don't worry about using the camera. That will come when you can fly well enough to spare attention for it. AT the start make it just the controller the aircraft and you. 5 to 10 hours of that and the average person is ready to take off the trainer wheels and go live.

4. After you are flying mostly instincivly really where you are flying should be immaterial. Obstacles are are part of life. If you are flying in an obstacle rich environment and you haven't "walked the course" before hand making notes of distances and objects you're not being careful enough.

5. Fly within you limits. 20 minutes of flight time is enough to leave you mentally fatigued, if as a learner you are not then you're probably not trying hard enough. At the same time don't be frightened to call a halt if you are feeling out of your depth, it's not a competition.

Don't be shy of stopping where you are and taking the bird up to a safe height and let it hover there while you get your bearings, adjust your camera setting, wipe away the sweat ..then go back to the flight. If you find that you don't have enough time to comfortably accomplish your goals in the battery life and you are rushing then you are planning poorly. Set yourself more modest goals per flight and make more flights. Scale it back to the point where you can achieve your aims and be relaxed enough to have fun.

6. Never leave anything to chance, make pre and post flight checklists, take notes, stick cheat sheets to your controller. Double and triple check everything before and after you fly and then when you are in the air trust in your preparation and put worry out of your mind. Remember, Safety and safety followed closely by safety.

Addressing the other two common points in the thread. By all means find a local aero modelling or "drone" club and go down on a flight day. I'd be surprised if you couldn't find someone who would give you a go on the sticks. I know when I was instructing no one who showed enough interest to turn up at the field ever went away without a turn on the controller. I'd do the take off and landing of course but they'd get a go in the air. Even now when I am working on a job I very often will give a flight to someone who comes over to me with genuine interest, if I have the time and they will hang around until I have finished working I break out one of the company's Sparks (I always carry one even if I don't need it for that job) and let the person burn through a battery or two. I've brought a fiew people into the hobby and changed more than a few preconceived views. If the O.P. lived in Australia and near me he'd have already received a PM and an invite to go flying.

As for the final point "cheap starter aircraft or more expensive and autonomous aircraft?" For my money the latter 11 times out of 10.

I spent 95% of mt R/C flying life before the advent or IMUs, compasses, gyro's, "Return to home" or any redundancies what so ever and I've flow it all. Fixed wing, Gryo, Heli and now muti rotors ... for most of my life it has been just "mark one eyeball, hand and eye and me". There wasn't even dual controllers when I started and I generally didn't use them to instruct. I well remember the terror I felt before take off when I started and the same fear in the eyes of virtually every student I have taught ... honestly, why would you do that to yourself now that we don't have to anymore?

Yes, it is obviously important that every pilot have the skills to fly and recover under any conditions, loss of satellite, disorientation , equipment or aircraft malfunction whatever. You need to be able to manage that when and if it happens, but that's not the way you learn in manned aviation. You are allowed to reach a level of comfort first before the rug gets pulled out.

My advice for anyone wanting to learn to fly R.P.A. and for the O.P. is this. Buy a good second hand Spark. It's going to cost you about twice what a new Tello would cost. It's one of the most robust and bullet proof machines around as long as you take a little care, cheap on batteries and accessories and if you buy it second hand it's already depreciated as much as it's likely to. When you outgrow it or if you lose interest then you'll most likely sell it for what you paid for it and in the meantime ..

You get a learner machine that has a good enough camera to capture footage you'll be happy with. It has some obstacle avoidance. It has GPS and barometric pressure sensors ... if you get disoriented just take you hands of the sticks! It'll stop and hover. As long as you set the app up correctly if you fly out of range or the app crashes .. it'll fly itself home. It'll monitor battery level for you (just set real world warning thresholds in the app) If you lose sight of it, have a panic attack or just get too fatigued then just stab the RTH button and she'll come home wagging it's tail behind it. Is it bullet proof? No of course not but it's way more than we had "back in the day" and I believe in embracing progress. Just because we had to jump off the deep end doesn't mean you should now.

There's that old English saying "Penny wise and Pound foolish" I've seen a lot of people go through 2, 3 or more cheaper aircraft when for that money they could have bought one Spark which would have seen them through, and let's face it for all it's diminuative stature the Spark is a real DJI drone. If you can master it you're ready for almost anything else with a DJI logo on it and you've had the benefit of a safety net while you gained valuable skill and confidence.

Just my opinion of course, many will disagree

Long one again ... sorry.

Regards
Ari

 

[2edgesword]

I can see all sides of this discussion, I'll chip in with my view

Background first, I've been flying R/C for 30 years or so. I went solo and then got instructors rating in a ridiculously short period of time, so short it wouldn't happen in today's regulated environment. In fact someone at the club was so put out over it they made a formal complaint to the MAAA who ruled if I could pass the assessments it didn't matter if I had been flying 5 minutes or 5 years I got the certification, these days there are minimum hours in place.

I was a nationally ranked first person shooter player at the time and afterwards which gave me a large advantage, I'm ambi, I do not have a dominant eye or hand and within a year I could always fly all 4 modes, inverted, whatever just as I can play guitar left or right handed. I never have to think about it much. It most certainly does not make me think that I'm better than anyone else and I *do* realise not everyone is as fortunate as I am and some people have to work far harder than I did at it but I've taught a lot of R/C pilots from 6 to 86 so on balance I'm across the situation pretty well.

So let me start out the inescapable facts

1. You ARE going to crash. Probably multiple times over the course of your time flying. Accept it now and let the worry go.

I have piled it into the dirt twice in my time flying. Both times being totally 100% pilot error.

2. Fear has no place in your mind while you are in the air

It's totally normal to have a few nerves before take off, especially if the conditions aren't the best or you have a challenging flight ahead but from the minute the bird leaves the ground you should be focused to the point you don't have time to worry.

3. Yes, you should do your initial flights up to the point where the control throws start to happen without thought in an open area. A foot ball field size is plenty. Practice vertical and horizontal boxes, diamonds and circles both nose in and nose out. Spend the last 10 minutes of every training flight flying figure eights tighter and faster as you imporve. Don't even use a tablet if you are flying with a machine that will do it. Don't worry about using the camera. That will come when you can fly well enough to spare attention for it. AT the start make it just the controller the aircraft and you. 5 to 10 hours of that and the average person is ready to take off the trainer wheels and go live.

4. After you are flying mostly instincivly really where you are flying should be immaterial. Obstacles are are part of life. If you are flying in an obstacle rich environment and you haven't "walked the course" before hand making notes of distances and objects you're not being careful enough.

5. Fly within you limits. 20 minutes of flight time is enough to leave you mentally fatigued, if as a learner you are not then you're probably not trying hard enough. At the same time don't be frightened to call a halt if you are feeling out of your depth, it's not a competition.

Don't be shy of stopping where you are and taking the bird up to a safe height and let it hover there while you get your bearings, adjust your camera setting, wipe away the sweat ..then go back to the flight. If you find that you don't have enough time to comfortably accomplish your goals in the battery life and you are rushing then you are planning poorly. Set yourself more modest goals per flight and make more flights. Scale it back to the point where you can achieve your aims and be relaxed enough to have fun.

6. Never leave anything to chance, make pre and post flight checklists, take notes, stick cheat sheets to your controller. Double and triple check everything before and after you fly and then when you are in the air trust in your preparation and put worry out of your mind. Remember, Safety and safety followed closely by safety.

Addressing the other two common points in the thread. By all means find a local aero modelling or "drone" club and go down on a flight day. I'd be surprised if you couldn't find someone who would give you a go on the sticks. I know when I was instructing no one who showed enough interest to turn up at the field ever went away without a turn on the controller. I'd do the take off and landing of course but they'd get a go in the air. Even now when I am working on a job I very often will give a flight to someone who comes over to me with genuine interest, if I have the time and they will hang around until I have finished working I break out one of the company's Sparks (I always carry one even if I don't need it for that job) and let the person burn through a battery or two. I've brought a fiew people into the hobby and changed more than a few preconceived views. If the O.P. lived in Australia and near me he'd have already received a PM and an invite to go flying.

As for the final point "cheap starter aircraft or more expensive and autonomous aircraft?" For my money the latter 11 times out of 10.

I spent 95% of mt R/C flying life before the advent or IMUs, compasses, gyro's, "Return to home" or any redundancies what so ever and I've flow it all. Fixed wing, Gryo, Heli and now muti rotors ... for most of my life it has been just "mark one eyeball, hand and eye and me". There wasn't even dual controllers when I started and I generally didn't use them to instruct. I well remember the terror I felt before take off when I started and the same fear in the eyes of virtually every student I have taught ... honestly, why would you do that to yourself now that we don't have to anymore?

Yes, it is obviously important that every pilot have the skills to fly and recover under any conditions, loss of satellite, disorientation , equipment or aircraft malfunction whatever. You need to be able to manage that when and if it happens, but that's not the way you learn in manned aviation. You are allowed to reach a level of comfort first before the rug gets pulled out.

My advice for anyone wanting to learn to fly R.P.A. and for the O.P. is this. Buy a good second hand Spark. It's going to cost you about twice what a new Tello would cost. It's one of the most robust and bullet proof machines around as long as you take a little care, cheap on batteries and accessories and if you buy it second hand it's already depreciated as much as it's likely to. When you outgrow it or if you lose interest then you'll most likely sell it for what you paid for it and in the meantime ..

You get a learner machine that has a good enough camera to capture footage you'll be happy with. It has some obstacle avoidance. It has GPS and barometric pressure sensors ... if you get disoriented just take you hands of the sticks! It'll stop and hover. As long as you set the app up correctly if you fly out of range or the app crashes .. it'll fly itself home. It'll monitor battery level for you (just set real world warning thresholds in the app) If you lose sight of it, have a panic attack or just get too fatigued then just stab the RTH button and she'll come home wagging it's tail behind it. Is it bullet proof? No of course not but it's way more than we had "back in the day" and I believe in embracing progress. Just because we had to jump off the deep end doesn't mean you should now.

There's that old English saying "Penny wise and Pound foolish" I've seen a lot of people go through 2, 3 or more cheaper aircraft when for that money they could have bought one Spark which would have seen them through, and let's face it for all it's diminuative stature the Spark is a real DJI drone. If you can master it you're ready for almost anything else with a DJI logo on it and you've had the benefit of a safety net while you gained valuable skill and confidence.

Just my opinion of course, many will disagree

Long one again ... sorry.

Regards
Ari

Appreciate you sharing all of your experience and I don't discount it BUT (you knew that was coming) the overwhelming vast majority of people looking to fly drones for pleasure are NOT going to go through the process of entry you described. They are going to buy a drone, read the instructions (maybe) and find some open area near them to fly. My advice to those folks is buy something in the $100 range that when you do crash it (you will) you're not destroying the most expensive aspect of a more expensive drone (the camera). Maybe a used Spark fits that category, a Phantom (unless you find a used one at a very deep discount) does not. I agree with you that in the beginning the focus should be flying not photograph so there is really no need to learn the flying part on a drone where 50% of the cost of the drone is for the camera.

 

[Meta4]

While you can say "New flyers need to have a healthy fear of flying in an environment where obstacles are a hazard" the proof that many (probably most) do not is the numerous incidences where new flyers crash their first drone. Some of those new flyers crash pretty expensive drones with GPS and other collision avoidance features while learning to gain that healthy fear.

You don't see why I said what I said? You are pointing out why it's a good idea now.
There's an extremely good reason why new flyers should go fo a drive to a park, playing field, lake or river bank etc to do their learning flights.
It's really not too much to suggest.

based on all I've read here, other forums and seen on YouTube it happens all too frequently.

Forums and Youtube are dominated by accounts of problems and aren't representative of general experience .

The difficulty with that is that a large percentage of the population doesn't have the luxury of wide open spaces where they can legally fly drones without having to travel significant distances. It shouldn't be a requirement to get started in the hobby that you have to spend $500 on a drone and then travel an hour or two to get to an open area where you can fly it. Not everyone (I would say not most) have the luxury of time and disposable income to do that. Most people start close to home, maybe in their back yard. Again, I think what you might consider a typical scenario is in fact not very typical.

An hour or two to travel to find a park or playing field??
Are you serious or trolling?

I think what you might consider a typical scenario is in fact not very typical.

I've never flown a Phantom

But somehow you are the expert ? Amazing

Don't take any notice of anything I've written ... It's not for you.
It was for beginner flyers that are interested in advice from someone that actually knows and has taught new flyers.

 

[mdowney58]

First time drone owner (in 2016) and started with a P3s. It was extremely easy to learn. Accidents that I have had (2), would have happened whether or not I would have started with a different drone.

 

[2edgesword]

You don't see why I said what I said? You are pointing out why it's a good idea now.
There's an extremely good reason why new flyers should go fo a drive to a park, playing field, lake or river bank etc to do their learning flights.
It's really not too much to suggest.

Parks, lakes, playing fields and river beds usually have trees, light poles and fencing near by. These are not wide open spaces with no obstacles.

Forums and Youtube are dominated by accounts of problems and aren't representative of general experience .

You just had someone on here with decades of experience telling you the vast majority of new flyers crash. It's practically a part of the learning process. What you see on YT, this and other forums is typical. Just do a search of the words "new" , "Phantom" and "crash" and that will become clear to you.

An hour or two to travel to find a park or playing field??
Are you serious or trolling?

A park with no obstacles is what you said.

But somehow you are the expert ? Amazing

Expert? No, but I've been around the block a few times and understand human nature.

Don't take any notice of anything I've written ... It's not for you.
It was for beginner flyers that are interested in advice from someone that actually knows and has taught new flyers.

I've noticed what you've written and it's disconnected from reality and how the vast majority of people operate.

 

[Remote Pilots Australia]

You just had someone on here with decades of experience telling you the vast majority of new flyers crash.

Not trying to pick nits here here, what I was trying to say at least was if you fly you are going to crash, leaner or not. I didn't put one in until after I was certified as an instructor. I got through the learning stage unscathed lol

Once you accept that crashes are inevitable then you can put the anxiety behind you.

Regards
Ari

 

[2edgesword]

Not trying to pick nits here here, what I was trying to say at least was if you fly you are going to crash, leaner or not. I didn't put one in until after I was certified as an instructor. I got through the learning stage unscathed lol

Once you accept that crashes are inevitable then you can put the anxiety behind you.

Regards
Ari

Hi Ari, I didn't mean to put words in your mouth. That said the truth of the statement gets reinforced practically every time I come to this or other similar forums. New flyers crashing is the norm. The reasons vary and I'm sure if people sought help and actually read instructions it would help reduce that but that is not the route the average person takes. Typically it's after the first crash they coming looking for help.

 

[Meta4]

That said the truth of the statement gets reinforced practically every time I come to this or other similar forums. New flyers crashing is the norm.

I've already pointed out some very good advice that just about eliminates the risk of crashing for any new flyer.
It's unfortunate that the concept is too complex for you to understand but most other flyers should have no trouble at all with it.

The reason you see a lot of discussion of crashes and problems here is that this place is the drone equivalent of a doctor's waiting room.
Many of the folks here come because they are looking for help or advice.

 

[Maddy]

My first and only drone is a P4P vs2 which I fly without fear of crashing. I have a mature forest on my property that I fly up through and have never had a problem going, of course I tend to fly slow until I'm clear of obstacles, started doing so on the third day of flying. The first couple of weeks I was flying at local ball fields and still do to get practice in.
I had intentions of getting a cheaper drone to start out on but after advice for people here I just went for the phantom and never looked back! These birds are so easy to learn to fly with that I think starting with an inferior drone is a waste of time and money, if you intend to end with the Phantom or Mavic.
I think Meta4 is correct in what he says and would certainly trust him over someone that hasn't even flown a Phantom!

 

[Deleted member 62848]

Yip drones for fist time,,,,,i was hooked,,,,and still hooked,,,$$$$$ hold me back from getting more hooked,,,cant win,but its sure is great

 

[2edgesword]

I've already pointed out some very good advice that just about eliminates the risk of crashing for any new flyer.
It's unfortunate that the concept is too complex for you to understand but most other flyers should have no trouble at all with it.

The reason you see a lot of discussion of crashes and problems here is that this place is the drone equivalent of a doctor's waiting room.
Many of the folks here come because they are looking for help or advice.

Advise is only good if it's practical. Your advise started with telling everyone that as a beginner they should find a wide open space with no obstacles. I may be jaded since I live in the congested northeast U.S. but wide open spaces with no obstacles where you can legally fly are few and far between. The OP is from Toronto. I don't know a lot about Toronto other than it's a major city so my assumption is that the situation in Toronto is similar to my situation in downstate NY which is not a lot of wide open spaces with no obstacles where you can legally fly. Beyond that the Earth is a major obstacle we all have to deal with.

Learning to operating a moving object in three dimensions is a challenge. Learning to coordinate left and right hand controls to control pitch, roll and yaw is a challenge. There may be the few special individuals like you that don't find it challenging but that is not the norm and my advice is learn and make your mistakes (you will make them) on an inexpensive drone.

 

[Remote Pilots Australia]

Hi Ari, I didn't mean to put words in your mouth.

That's fine. I do tend to present longish posts, a product of typing at 100wpm I guess lol. It makes it hard to remember the exact wording of what I said. Even I lose track at times.

New flyers crashing is the norm.

There's no denying it does happen although it would probably be hard to determine with certainty how prevalent it is with accuracy. I think Meta4 is not far from the truth with the point that we tend not to hear from the happy majority and it's the minority of pilots who experience an issue who make the majority of the posts so it probably tends to skew our perceptions when reading across the forums to some degree.

I'm sure if people sought help and actually read instructions it would help reduce that

No argument here!

that is not the route the average person takes.

Up to now that is probably true to a large degree but when you look at the fact that by the end of the year the U.K., U.S., Canada and Australia are going to have in place a mandatory examination of some level or other even for recreational pilots I think a new level of awareness is going to be thrust upon the hobby. Even a year ago it was almost unbelievable that we would be at this point now but with the constant media hype, mostly unjust but Joe Public doesn't know that, and the explosion of the sheer numbers of R.P.A. in private hands it soon became inevitable that the government was going to stick an oar in. I also feel there is the undoubted push behind the scenes by big business to try and secure as much of the sub 400Ft airspace for themselves so much so that I can only see the bar being raised higher and higher.

Being a pretty staunch civil libertarian I find it sad to a large degree but I have to reluctantly accept in this modern litigatious world this may be the only way we are going to be able to continue the hobby. I would not be the slightest bit surprised if come the end of 2022 to fly even recreationally you will not only have to pass a theory exam but will also have to join a local aero modellers club and demonstrate a practical competency as well.

I could be wrong, it wouldn't be the first time but if I am anything close to correct the "not wanting to be bothered" outlook is no longer going to be an option is a year or two. It has it's pluses and minuses of course.

I suppose only time is going to tell.

Regards
Ari

 

[Remote Pilots Australia]

My first and only drone is a P4P vs2 which I fly without fear of crashing.

Also for myself Maddy. My family banded together and bought me a P4P as my first R.P.A. They didn't understand that it was not a traditional R/C model. To them it flew, it had a controller and "look! it's even got a camera!!". So that was the first thing I flew as far as R.P.A. goes. I remember taking it out to a local park where R.P.A. are allowed for my first multirotor flight and wondering if I was going to bring it back as a plastic bag of bits. I laugh at it now.

Ok, I've got heaps of flight hours before R.P.A., but all four of kids have learned to fly on it (it was before I got into it as a business and got other smaller R.P.A.) and that P4P is still in it's case beside me unscathed and unmarked. it speaks volumes of just what a stable, forgiving and predictable flight platform it is really. To be honest I haven't found a DJI aircraft that wasn't. I now have Spark(s), Mavic 2, Mavic Air, Phantom 4 and I hope to be bringing my first Inspires into inventory next week and a Matrice later in the year. They are all quite benign to fly as long as you do a little pre planning.

Regards
Ari

 

[Remote Pilots Australia]

Yip drones for fist time,,,,,i was hooked,,,,and still hooked,,,$$$$$ hold me back from getting more hooked,,,cant win,but its sure is great

Oh yes, I hear you ianzone

$Au16000 spent on aircraft alone since August 2018 ... and there's always "just that one more" that I have my eyes on. If DJI don't stop releasing new models my next expense may be the divorce

Regards
Ari

 

[2edgesword]

That's fine. I do tend to present longish posts, a product of typing at 100wpm I guess lol. It makes it hard to remember the exact wording of what I said. Even I lose track at times.

You're over 50, it only gets worse .

There's no denying it does happen although it would probably be hard to determine with certainty how prevalent it is with accuracy. I think Meta4 is not far from the truth with the point that we tend not to hear from the happy majority and it's the minority of pilots who experience an issue who make the majority of the posts so it probably tends to skew our perceptions when reading across the forums to some degree.

I'm an electronics engineer and part of my job is the failure analysis of field failures. My department only hears about the failures and I have to remind co-workers that while the number of failures at times appears enormous it's only because we don't get calls on the billions of components we manufacture and sell that don't fail.

A lot of people come to the forums to find solutions. That said for everyone that admits a failure (crash during flight) I have to imagine there are quite a few that won't make that admission.

Up to now that is probably true to a large degree but when you look at the fact that by the end of the year the U.K., U.S., Canada and Australia are going to have in place a mandatory examination of some level or other even for recreational pilots I think a new level of awareness is going to be thrust upon the hobby. Even a year ago it was almost unbelievable that we would be at this point now but with the constant media hype, mostly unjust but Joe Public doesn't know that, and the explosion of the sheer numbers of R.P.A. in private hands it soon became inevitable that the government was going to stick an oar in. I also feel there is the undoubted push behind the scenes by big business to try and secure as much of the sub 400Ft airspace for themselves so much so that I can only see the bar being raised higher and higher.

Being a pretty staunch civil libertarian I find it sad to a large degree but I have to reluctantly accept in this modern litigatious world this may be the only way we are going to be able to continue the hobby. I would not be the slightest bit surprised if come the end of 2022 to fly even recreationally you will not only have to pass a theory exam but will also have to join a local aero modellers club and demonstrate a practical competency as well.

I could be wrong, it wouldn't be the first time but if I am anything close to correct the "not wanting to be bothered" outlook is no longer going to be an option is a year or two. It has it's pluses and minuses of course.

I agree and I'm also torn on this issue. I started flying drones (formerly a private pilot, instrument rating) after my son, knowing my love for all things aviation related, purchased a couple of small drones for a birthday or father's day present. I enjoyed playing with them but of course boys are always looking for bigger toys. That said I began looking into drones with better performance and soon realized flying these things can get pretty serious as you begin to approach the point of potentially sharing airspace with manned aircraft.

Meanwhile I'm reading the stories about irresponsible individuals doing dumb thinks and while I had no intentions of flying drones for commercial purposes I being to realize that public demand was moving in the direction of more restrictions on flying drones and an increased requirement that those flying them have some level of formal training, hence going ahead with getting the 107 license.

I'm a libertarian at heart (tough life to live in NYS) and hate to see more and more regulations piled on to something many people enjoy doing but are increasing going to shunt as the requirements for participation increase. Where is the middle ground in attempting to minimize risk and still maintain a level of freedom for people to enjoy this as a recreational pastime not filled with a bunch of requirements to eliminate all the "what if's" that might occur, many of which never occur.

O.k., back to the original point. The trend is toward formal training but I think we have a ways to go before we get to the point of it being mandatory. I could be wrong but I don't think most people begin their foray into flying drones by seeking out formal training. It looks pretty easy, right. I also don't think most people (until they formally become a drone junky) are looking to put serious dollars down on a $500+ drone as an entry point into the hobby, especially not know if it's going to become their passion. I'm also not convinced that the wide open spaces without obstacles and legal to fly in are as plentiful as some make them out to be. Again, this is my perception living in a highly populated areas. All of these things reinforce in my mind that the less expensive, $100 drone is the place to start for most people.

And yes, old folks tend to ramble.