Love this forum so wanted to share this. Its not a rant but I feel strongly about it. I recently paid $500 to DartDrones for a 1 day class on flying basics and info for my P4. They claim "As seen on Shark Tank" and I indeed did see it there. But when I sent them a poor review and copied in Mark Cuban, the investor, he actually responded that they did not make a deal. Yet the company continues to use this as a marketing ploy. The class was taught by a EMT guy from Central Florida and lifetime RC hobbyist. Great. But they provided NO materials, no copies of their charts (overheads), no written materials, and essentially nothing but my own notes. Which were hard to take because this guy spoke so fast and didn't leave the overheads on the screen for very long. I sent a long letter to the company and have heard nothing back. When I asked the onstructor if there were handouts he said there were not "because every instructor uses their own materials." Huh? The overheads were all stock materials. I would NOT recommend anyone spending money on this. Its a complete waste.
I wasted my money
- Thread starter Hstarin
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500 Bucks for ONE DAY!!! Dude what were you thinking! The darn things fly themselves. What a RIPOFF! Hope you can get your money back and they should be embarrassed for what they are doing.
N017RW
Premium Pilot
Nowadays you can learn soooo much from YouTube.
I would never consider paying someone to teach me how to fly a Phantom.
They actually fly themselves you just tell it where to go.
I would never consider paying someone to teach me how to fly a Phantom.
They actually fly themselves you just tell it where to go.
alokbhargava
Premium Pilot
I agree it was a waste of money. Lessons for others don't fall in such traps. User manuals, self practice and YouTube and dji videos are good source of training material. This forum helps you sort out other questions if any.
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Absolutely you got ripped off. And i will say that when I first got my P3P i was a little intimidated but I swear to you they are easier than you think. Just think beginner mode! Can't go wrong with beginner mode. You literally can be 30 feet up and put the controller on the ground and the unit will hover until eaither the battery goes dead or you take control again. AND even on top of that if the battery did go dead the freakin thing comes back home! Did you get that crazy stuff it comes back to you and lands. WOW Go DJI!!!!!!
Man I would put up his picture and your story on every forum there is - regretfully you had good intentions and they took advantage of you.
Its another case of Fake news!
Regards
Its another case of Fake news!
Regards
I've "liked" your thread as it's a good warning to others. Clearly they're a bunch of fraudulent sharks. All proper sUAV training businesses in the U.K. have to be passed and registered with the CAA, so you can be assured they have the credentials to train you to pass the CAA course, so if you attend one of their one day starter courses, you know you're in great hands.
In the U.K. we have Trading Standards to whom we can report a rip-off company like this, so well done again for the info to help others.
Also, if they have a Facebook page, make your feelings known there too!
In the U.K. we have Trading Standards to whom we can report a rip-off company like this, so well done again for the info to help others.
Also, if they have a Facebook page, make your feelings known there too!
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As long as there is people willing to so easily part with their money there will always be people who will take it from them. Sorry but it's your own fault and you should've known better. Cmon dude.. You paid $500.00 for a one day course on how to fly a drone??!! And you're complaining about THE GUY doing wrong. No pity here sir.
Agreed, what was the training for, flight? Please use your closest airport if it be for Title 107, it's an age old process which includes the WINGS program, etc.
I think I'll offer a 1 day course for $500. I'll teach it by selecting U tube videos. Offer a free p3s. He he (refurbished p3s $399.) Plus hands on instructions.
Always wanted a fun job. I'll do my honey do list while they are watching U tube videos.
Always wanted a fun job. I'll do my honey do list while they are watching U tube videos.
I folllowed a course in my country (Belgium) from a certified DGLV drone school. The price was 920 euro
i had 2 days of training
1 day theoritical (12h in total): all about weather, notams, privacy law, drone law, drone assurance, hardware and software, low altitude map readung, etc ..
Day 2 was all about flying withoput GPS
After those 2 days i received some sort of document that i followed the 2 day cours
with that document i could do my practical exam for my drone pilot license class 2
i had 2 days of training
1 day theoritical (12h in total): all about weather, notams, privacy law, drone law, drone assurance, hardware and software, low altitude map readung, etc ..
Day 2 was all about flying withoput GPS
After those 2 days i received some sort of document that i followed the 2 day cours
with that document i could do my practical exam for my drone pilot license class 2
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In Spain, you can have an habilitation to fly drones as a pilot for 780 Euro. Habilitation is compulsory to commercially fly drones in Spain.
Habilitation includes: 60 hours online theoretical classes (the 11 subjects which Spanish authorities oblige to learn). This includes normally hundreds of printed pages, annexes and explanations; plus tentative previous exams on each subject. Once you feel prepared for it you have to personally assist to the official exam at the training organisation office. There, you will receive several hours of theoretical presential classes on flight procedures and on the specificities of the drone model you will get the certificate. Then you have to pass another, shorter, exam on this specific model knowledge (phantom 4, or Inspire, or ...). Price also includes flight lessons at an RC model airfield (fly normally ten complete batteries of some Phantom models, for example) always accompannied by one flight instructor besides to you during the totality of flights. And finally you get the flight exam on basic flight maneouvers (also regulated and defined by authorities). The 700 to 800 euro total price of all the above does not include the compulsory official medical certificate (around 150 euro). If we compare all this with your 500 US$, the latter seems too much expensive and short of justification.
Habilitation includes: 60 hours online theoretical classes (the 11 subjects which Spanish authorities oblige to learn). This includes normally hundreds of printed pages, annexes and explanations; plus tentative previous exams on each subject. Once you feel prepared for it you have to personally assist to the official exam at the training organisation office. There, you will receive several hours of theoretical presential classes on flight procedures and on the specificities of the drone model you will get the certificate. Then you have to pass another, shorter, exam on this specific model knowledge (phantom 4, or Inspire, or ...). Price also includes flight lessons at an RC model airfield (fly normally ten complete batteries of some Phantom models, for example) always accompannied by one flight instructor besides to you during the totality of flights. And finally you get the flight exam on basic flight maneouvers (also regulated and defined by authorities). The 700 to 800 euro total price of all the above does not include the compulsory official medical certificate (around 150 euro). If we compare all this with your 500 US$, the latter seems too much expensive and short of justification.
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Man... Can't believe you paid $500 for that. I think you will find that 99.9% of people here paid $0.00 and look at how they fly... I paid nothing to learn. Watched a few YouTube vids while waiting for my drone to arrive but that's it.
Thank god he didn't charge you to become a CAA pilot. You would be broke
Thank god he didn't charge you to become a CAA pilot. You would be broke
$500! That's too much cos you can learn from Youtube or these forums...
But money wasted is wasted already, so... don't ever pay for these "lesson" again man!
But money wasted is wasted already, so... don't ever pay for these "lesson" again man!
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I applaud you for seeking the training that you hoped for. That is very responsible of you upon entering this hobby. It's unfortunate though, that it sounds like it was somewhat of a scam really, and you never received the training that you had expected. Don't let it sour you. Train yourself through reading the manual and watching YouTube vids, and then post some rockin' vids here to show how you mastered it!
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Unfortunately, If you ever watch Drone U, they speak of Dart Drones.. And actually have a video of Dart Drones doing a training class in controlled airspace (Paul spoke about this specifically on Drone U).. I guess Paul reported them... Have heard nothing but bad things, and actually have avoided all of Dart Drones training classes due to bad reviews. I look for training classes with my "work" and try to attend them to keep my training up and current..
PS: Check on Youtube.. look for Drone U, they have what's called a "Fly In" all the time. Which includes obstacle courses, smooth and fluid drills, search and rescue utilizing Thermal cameras, and find and locate articles with numbers on them and report numbers back to judges.. Its a 3 day course and done professionally.
(Just for training info, if someone wanted it)
PS: Check on Youtube.. look for Drone U, they have what's called a "Fly In" all the time. Which includes obstacle courses, smooth and fluid drills, search and rescue utilizing Thermal cameras, and find and locate articles with numbers on them and report numbers back to judges.. Its a 3 day course and done professionally.
(Just for training info, if someone wanted it)
Sorry to hear that they took your money and didn't give you the value you expected.
Hopefully they will make some changes or go away!
Thanks for the heads up!
Hopefully they will make some changes or go away!
Thanks for the heads up!
Sorry to hear that! I took Dartdrones Part 107 Test Prep course and the flight training course a few weeks ago and I thought it was amazing. They gave me a 50-page study guide, a ton of practice questions and 6 months access to their website! This was on the Part 107 test prep day. Having no former experience, I thought the hands on flight training was extremely helpful. I paid so much money for my UAV that I didn't want to risk trying to teach myself and I'm glad I didn't. I definitely plan on taking one of their advanced courses in the future, but I'm sorry you had a bad experience but I would 100% recommend training with them to anyone who is serious about commercial drone use.
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