First Flight!!!

[Surferchicusa]

Next time, look closely at the altitude showing on screen and you'll find why 30 feet looks freaking high.
The default RTH height is 30 metres (100 ft).
Ever since the beginning of DJI, the RTH height setting is in metres regardless of what units you have set for the app display.
It's a silly thing that everyone gets used to.

First thing I did was make sure ALL my settings were set in feet. Might be a good idea for Oscar Meyer to sit and go through absolutely all the settings... just in case.

 

[RunningWithScissors]

Best advice is to write down a pre flight checklist. Print one off and keep it in the case.
Force yourself to use it all the time until it becomes second nature.
It helps to prevent things like forgetting to set return to home altitude or forgetting to check vision sensors are on or off.

Regardless of how many flights or hours you've logged, a complete pre-flight check isn't something that you blow-off. Too many things can show up during your pre-flight that, if not addressed before lift-off, you'll likely be addressing them during the flight, and probably not for the better. Been there, done that, got the T-shirt.

 

[RunningWithScissors]

Edit: I have a couple Hubsan toy quads and about a dozen 1S LiPo's. They only get 1 minute of flight time. If I could solve that issue I could get more practice.

For what it's worth, I had much the same problem with my Syma X5-SW that I learned to fly with a couple of years ago. Seven minutes of flight time with the stock battery was about it. I replaced the stock battery with 1200ma batteries and could get at least 20 minutes in the air, sometimes a bit more.

 

[Meta4]

First thing I did was make sure ALL my settings were set in feet. Might be a good idea for Oscar Meyer to sit and go through absolutely all the settings... just in case.

There is only one setting in the app where you can select metric or imperial units.
But even if you do select imperial, your RTH height will still be in metres.

 

[Surferchicusa]

There is only one setting in the app where you can select metric or imperial units.
But even if you do select imperial, your RTH height will still be in metres.

Yeah, you’re right, my bad. I was thinking of a different app i recently had to do that to. I went and checked my DJI app a while ago and realized exactly what you stated. DUH. What’s the sense of having a traumatic brain injury if you cant share it, lol.

 

[DroneTurismo]

Buy a cheap toy drone at walmart that doesnt have gps and floats with the wind and can crash 100 times without breaking. Fly it around to get used to unexpected situations.

My first drone was from radio shack, it cost me 80 bucks. Lost it in a tree (luckily i was able to rescue it by going home and getting a ladder and a long pole). I flew it in the woods, circling trees even with the wind, weaving trees, under and over a railroad bridge etc. Probably had a good 30 hours on it before i got a Phantom.

Definitely helped when i had to take over during a RTH and another time in a tunnel i recorded a video in ATTI mode, and one other time i launched in ATTI mode and had an unexpected wind gust. I hear at times the Phantom could have a problem and switch to ATTI mode and youll be a lot more at ease in an emergency manual flight.

 

[WillardsP4]

Your first flight experiecne was similar to mine a year ago... minus the crash. I too was scared to death to launch it, images of fire and death were racing through my mind as I initiated auto take off in beginner mode. After 2 full batteries in beginner mode, the 3rd battery was no-holds-barred. I was hooked from then on.

 

[Bobby T]

I took my P4 up for the second time yesterday. All went very well!!! Didn't even come close to crashing. I was doing my own takeoffs and also doing my own landings. Mind you, I was doing precision landings but that's something I'm going to be working on.

However, I did use the RTH once... I set the height at 100 meters - 328 feet!!! Talk about feeling scared and helpless when you know it's up there but you can't see it. I really had to fight with myself to not touch the sticks like I did on my first flight. To my relief it came down and did a pin point landing. It has to be said that when it was up there at that altitude all it was doing was hovering until RTH brought it down. At this point in my flying career I am nowhere near being close to move it back and forth when it's up that high. I certainly got some GREAT footage while it was up there!!!