First Flight in my P4P... Whoo Hoo!!!!

[Kapitan]

Decided today would be the first day I fly my new P4P. So I found a park nearby, called and she told me no problem flying the drone there. Turns out there are 2 or 3 parks relatively close to each other.

Well, after going thru so many machinations of thinking that I would miss something and after having watched dozens of videos on the firmware updates, compass and IMU calibration etc, I finally found park and launched today!!!! As soon as it got airborne, I was like.... "It's ALIVE" as it rose up to about 6 ft and said hello to me. Swear to God it felt like I just had a newborn!!! Lol. I had a smile across my face as wide as the Mississippi! It was a gorgeous day here in Vegas (not too hot yet). I rose it up to about 40 feet and just got used to the controls and flying it around a bit, all the while keeping a visual and getting used to the controller sticks.

I'll tell you this... As I got more comfortable with maneuvering around a little bit, I found that I seldom looked at anything on the iPad other than the video, no alt, no distance, no batt condition or other settings. I was just too thrilled that all was going well. I didn't even have to do a compass calibration (which surprised me). I landed from the first short 10 minute flight and then decided to go again and got a bit more "daring" and there was a moderate sized hill I flew towards about 500 feet away and the P4P went out of visual but I just resorted to the video and flew around there for about another 5 minutes or so and came back.

After coming back, I set it at about the 6 ft altitude right in front of me and did a 360 degree walk around and all the sensors that were supposed to go off... went off! Then I landed again.

Solid machine in every way! Just an awesome day.

I did have a visit from a very nice gentleman from the Park who told me I should probably fly the drone over at the other park next door! Lol. Turns out, I went into the wrong park and sure enough, there was a sign that I didn't see as I drove in saying No RC's etc. He was really nice Indian guy. I used to fly the B777 over in that part of the world so I knew the geography pretty well and we ended up talking about that more than anything. Very nice fella.

All in All... what an AWESOME day!!! Now I have to figure out how to get the video to the tv! Lol

Pat

 

[Meta4]

You should never need to do a compass calibration.

 

[Kapitan]

Thanks Meta.... but in a sticky for the forum is this.... First sentence is what I was using for my basis of thinking I needed to do one as it was the first flight etc.


2. Calibrate your compass before taking off

Before you take off from a new site, you should always calibrate your compass. Each location has slightly different electromagnetic profiles and for best performance and most accurate positioning, you should calibrate for each specific location. Calibrating is easy — simply use the DJI GO app and follow the on-screen instructions. This will include how to calibrate the GPS in horizontal and vertical directions by rotating it around each axis.

 

[Nightwolf]

Thanks Meta.... but in a sticky for the forum is this.... First sentence is what I was using for my basis of thinking I needed to do one as it was the first flight etc.


2. Calibrate your compass before taking off

Before you take off from a new site, you should always calibrate your compass. Each location has slightly different electromagnetic profiles and for best performance and most accurate positioning, you should calibrate for each specific location. Calibrating is easy — simply use the DJI GO app and follow the on-screen instructions. This will include how to calibrate the GPS in horizontal and vertical directions by rotating it around each axis.

that's old advice. Meta is one of the local gurus so take it for what it's worth

 

[Kapitan]

Thanks Nightwolf. Wonder if the mods can update the info in the near future.

Pat

 

[JarrodF]

Yup. The software will let you know if a compass calibration is necessary. Glad you had a smooth first flight. It is an amazing bird!

 

[Manxmann]

Decided today would be the first day I fly my new P4P. So I found a park nearby, called and she told me no problem flying the drone there. Turns out there are 2 or 3 parks relatively close to each other.

Well, after going thru so many machinations of thinking that I would miss something and after having watched dozens of videos on the firmware updates, compass and IMU calibration etc, I finally found park and launched today!!!! As soon as it got airborne, I was like.... "It's ALIVE" as it rose up to about 6 ft and said hello to me. Swear to God it felt like I just had a newborn!!! Lol. I had a smile across my face as wide as the Mississippi! It was a gorgeous day here in Vegas (not too hot yet). I rose it up to about 40 feet and just got used to the controls and flying it around a bit, all the while keeping a visual and getting used to the controller sticks.

I'll tell you this... As I got more comfortable with maneuvering around a little bit, I found that I seldom looked at anything on the iPad other than the video, no alt, no distance, no batt condition or other settings. I was just too thrilled that all was going well. I didn't even have to do a compass calibration (which surprised me). I landed from the first short 10 minute flight and then decided to go again and got a bit more "daring" and there was a moderate sized hill I flew towards about 500 feet away and the P4P went out of visual but I just resorted to the video and flew around there for about another 5 minutes or so and came back.

After coming back, I set it at about the 6 ft altitude right in front of me and did a 360 degree walk around and all the sensors that were supposed to go off... went off! Then I landed again.

Solid machine in every way! Just an awesome day.

I did have a visit from a very nice gentleman from the Park who told me I should probably fly the drone over at the other park next door! Lol. Turns out, I went into the wrong park and sure enough, there was a sign that I didn't see as I drove in saying No RC's etc. He was really nice Indian guy. I used to fly the B777 over in that part of the world so I knew the geography pretty well and we ended up talking about that more than anything. Very nice fella.

All in All... what an AWESOME day!!! Now I have to figure out how to get the video to the tv! Lol

Pat

Glad to hear you had so much fun on your debut !
They are a great piece of equipment eh ? Lots of fun when handled responsibly.

 

[$gambino$]

Yep I have not calibrated my compass in months..... and I will only do it if the software asked me to or if there is some weird anomaly...ie craft is flying sideways but the arrow on the map is flying forward

 

[Harleydude]

Funny....out of habit, I occasionally calibrate my compass, especially when I launch from a location over 50 miles from my home location. I HAVE found it odd that I get Compass Status data every time I start the app, and never once has the P4P REQUIRED compass calibration.

I found this warning in the P4 Forum:

"IMPORTANT: The lack of a compass error does NOT mean your compass is definitely working and calibrated properly."

Interesting....

 

[Andy9]

It's nice reading your post full of such natural excitement. Really refreshing. I think that all of us was kind like that when first get the craft up in the air but very few would be so brave to share feelings with others. Bravo!

 

[Speedmeister]

Funny....out of habit, I occasionally calibrate my compass, especially when I launch from a location over 50 miles from my home location. I HAVE found it odd that I get Compass Status data every time I start the app, and never once has the P4P REQUIRED compass calibration.

I found this warning in the P4 Forum:

"IMPORTANT: The lack of a compass error does NOT mean your compass is definitely working and calibrated properly."

Interesting....

A bad compass will be apparent in the flight behavior of the phantom. It cant get a rock solid position hold. On my non dji drone, i would land and recalibrate compass.