Just received my P2! Maiden flight done!

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To be honest I am very nervous to fly it for the first time. It came fully assembled with the mini iosd, FPV TX and H3 3D gimbal already attached. I have been flying planes for 15 years and have flown a small Eflight coaxial heli. I have also been practising on a simulator for my ipad for the last few weeks. I am charging up all the batteries as we speak. Should I go through the work of removing the gimbal and just flying it? Or should I go full out and hook up the go pro and FPV? What did you guys do? I am sure I will fly it just fine. Just a bit nervous. And of course I will do all the pre flight checks and calibrate the compass.
 
Re: Just received my P2!

I would pull the gimbal and Tx off until you get a feel for it. There's no reason to expect a flyaway if you go through all the proper pre-flight procedures, and there's no reason to expect a crash since they are really very easy to fly, but why risk it? :cool:

Just take it easy for the first few flights and build up gradually. Find yourself a nice open space if you can and just take off and hover for a bit - in GPS mode it will keep itself where it is without your help. Then just land and power down the motors to feel what that's like. Again, no big deal - just do it slowly. Then just take off again and try the sticks gently. Go up and down to see how that feels, then forward and back, left and right etc. Build up to some turns using the left stick. Keep it close to you (or you close to it - no reason why you can't walk around with it.

You'll soon laugh at how nervous you were - they really are very easy to fly and super fun too. Just don't get carried away and remember: keep it in GPS mode in a wide open space and if in doubt: LET GO OF THE STICKS!! It will hover in place until you have your wits about you and can take control again.

Enjoy! And let us know how your first flight went.
 
Re: Just received my P2!

Catch land taking out the possibility of tip over. Its simple. And catch the leg with no equipment attached to it.
 
Re: Just received my P2!

Damon said:
Catch land taking out the possibility of tip over. Its simple. And catch the leg with no equipment attached to it.

agree with this. done properly, catching is safer than landing. There is a perfect catch imo at the beginning of this video
 
Re: Just received my P2!

Thanks all. I have been reading the manuals. Last night I connected everything to make sure it worked. Today I will make the maiden flight. I am nervous for some reason but I am sure it will go smooth.
 
Re: Just received my P2!

WPSPETE said:
Thanks all. I have been reading the manuals. Last night I connected everything to make sure it worked. Today I will make the maiden flight. I am nervous for some reason but I am sure it will go smooth.

just don't take off slowly. if you slowly power up it'll likely tip over and break a prop. When you're ready, do a full throttle take off until it's a few feet off the ground then release throttle. it should hover, and you can start going through minor lateral tests/movements.
 
Re: Just received my P2!

QYV said:
WPSPETE said:
Thanks all. I have been reading the manuals. Last night I connected everything to make sure it worked. Today I will make the maiden flight. I am nervous for some reason but I am sure it will go smooth.

just don't take off slowly. if you slowly power up it'll likely tip over and break a prop. When you're ready, do a full throttle take off until it's a few feet off the ground then release throttle. it should hover, and you can start going through minor lateral tests/movements.

Ya gotta commit to the launch! I used to be a paraglider too. Inflate the paraglider and run like hell to get off the mountain. Same idea, you have to commit 100%.
 
Just flew it for the first time!! I was so nervous I was shaking. Which is kinda funny. I used to skydive and paraglide. Take off was easy. I flew around for around 14min. I noticed I was at 28% so I came in for a landing. My wife said I bet you can land back on the case. Dumb idea. It was a bit gusty out and it slid off and the rear prop hit the case and broke the prop. The front ones hit the grass but I was able to pick it up quick. I panicked and had trouble shutting it down like I had practised. I did end up flying with the gimbal, camera and FPV screen attached. Was ok. Awesome machine, can't wait to fly some more. I will edit my vid and post it up in the video section.
 
breaking props is fairly common, I think I went through about 8 in my first month
 
QYV said:
breaking props is fairly common, I think I went through about 8 in my first month

Wow! I will be ordering some more today. I worried about the other props that hit the grass. I don't think in flight break ups are common thou right? I inspected them pretty good.
 
SJBrit said:
LOL! That's great - glad you enjoyed it. One tip I forgot to mention: don't have an audience the first time you fly!! ;)

I knew that from flying planes, they attract kids and adults like crazy! I have been scoping out this big wide open field at a school for a few weeks. Its on the edge of town and rarely has anyone in it. Just my wife and son.
 
WPSPETE said:
Wow! I will be ordering some more today. I worried about the other props that hit the grass. I don't think in flight break ups are common thou right? I inspected them pretty good.

oh noooo they don't just shred randomly in flight... mostly taking off incorrectly like we discussed earlier, or tipover on landing but I ran into my share of trees and other obstacles. The Phantom itself is quite rugged imo... I've seen one (mine, friend was flying) crash full throttle into a brick wall... broke props and gimbal but the Phantom itself was fine. If you nick a tree branch or some obstacle in flight the prop will almost certainly break.
that's all I meant by going through them. I broke at least 4 trying to land before I just started catching it instead. if you have much lateral movement at all when you touch down or if the wind blows at just he wrong moment... snap. so to heck with that just catch the thing
 
QYV said:
WPSPETE said:
Wow! I will be ordering some more today. I worried about the other props that hit the grass. I don't think in flight break ups are common thou right? I inspected them pretty good.

oh noooo they don't just shred randomly in flight... mostly taking off incorrectly like we discussed earlier, or tipover on landing but I ran into my share of trees and other obstacles. The Phantom itself is quite rugged imo... I've seen one (mine, friend was flying) crash full throttle into a brick wall... broke props and gimbal but the Phantom itself was fine. If you nick a tree branch or some obstacle in flight the prop will almost certainly break.
that's all I meant by going through them. I broke at least 4 trying to land before I just started catching it instead. if you have much lateral movement at all when you touch down or if the wind blows at just he wrong moment... snap. so to heck with that just catch the thing

Solid advice! I was worried about the props but I did a good inspection. I think I will start catching it instead of landing.
 
just be careful. watch that video I linked and watch your hands... someone posted a video here some months back of a guy who was trying to catch the phantom from the top and sliced his arm all up. idiot.

I always have it just slightly above head height, oriented facing away so that the lateral (right) stick controls are "normal" (if the Phantom was facing you they would be backwards) and have it come slowly back towards you. nudge it backwards, then reach out for the Phantom with your right hand while using your left hand to descend if necessary. As soon as you have a grip on the Phantom hold the throttle down for a few seconds (this is why you use your right hand to grab the phantom) which will turn off the motors... try not to move the phantom too much before the props stop because the Phantom will still think it's flying and try to hover... so you may hear the blades spin up a tad when you catch it.

also, a lanyard or neck strap for the RC makes this all a lot easier so that you aren't trying to hold the RC (and potentially a FPV screen) with your left hand only.
 
Common sense isn't always common lol. I just flew again and the catch it method works great. I did a few practice hovers with a full battery.

The kit came with a lanyard which I use for the phantom. Never have used one before but I like it.

Man I love flying this thing!! So much fun!
 

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