New member looking for advice please

Helihover · Jul 14, 2016

If this is your first rc aircraft, you really should buy a small, cheep quad to fly on and get some practice. Like the old saying goes, practice makes perfect. I still practice certain maneuvers and I've been flying for over ten years. If your a beginner you will crash, its inevitable. Better to crash a 50 dollar drone than a 1500 dollar drone.

Simulators are worth more than gold. They are great for building muscle memory. Your P4 will come with a built in sim to get you started. The sim is great and will let you experiment with different flight modes.

You should also read as much as you possibly can. There is a bunch of great info on this site and others. Reading facts makes you smarter, and that's a fact

.

Good luck!

Richard Gozinya · Jul 14, 2016

Helihover said:
If this is your first rc aircraft, you really should buy a small, cheep quad to fly on and get some practice. Like the old saying goes, practice makes perfect. I still practice certain maneuvers and I've been flying for over ten years. If your a beginner you will crash, its inevitable. Better to crash a 50 dollar drone than a 1500 dollar drone.

Simulators are worth more than gold. They are great for building muscle memory. Your P4 will come with a built in sim to get you started. The sim is great and will let you experiment with different flight modes.

You should also read as much as you possibly can. There is a bunch of great info on this site and others. Reading facts makes you smarter, and that's a fact.

Good luck!

It's my advice not to listen to anything in this post except for the last 3 sentences. Please send us some footage you "practice certain maneuvers and I've been flying for over ten years".

Helihover · Jul 14, 2016

Richard Gozinya said:
It's my advice not to listen to anything in this post except for the last 3 sentences. Please send us some footage you "practice certain maneuvers and I've been flying for over ten years".

I'm confused by your response. Do you not believe that I have been flying for ten years? Here's what I was doing 8 years ago, besides building custom camera mounts.....

I don't film my practices, but just last night I was practicing a sweeping curve with yaw input. These are hard maneuvers.

Professional athletes "practice" everyday. I own a professional aerial photography company. I used to teach ground school for RC pilots. Have over two years managing a Hobby Town. Been driving and building rc cars since I was a kid...... I speak the truth bud. Been there done that and always willing to help!

Richard Gozinya · Jul 14, 2016

Helihover said:
I'm confused by your response. Do you not believe that I have been flying for ten years? Here's what I was doing 8 years ago, besides building custom camera mounts.....

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I don't film my practices, but just last night I was practicing a sweeping curve with yaw input. These are hard maneuvers.

Professional athletes "practice" everyday. I own a professional aerial photography company. I used to teach ground school for RC pilots. Have over two years managing a Hobby Town. Been driving and building rc cars since I was a kid...... I speak the truth bud. Been there done that and always willing to help!

Quit trying to make it sound so complicated and trying to promote yourself. Give me a break !!!

Helihover · Jul 14, 2016

Richard Gozinya said:
Quit trying to make it sound so complicated and trying to promote yourself. Give me a break !!!

What's complicating about practice and using a sim?

Richard Gozinya · Jul 14, 2016

You missed the whole point. I don't have time or the patience to explain it to you, The fact you're showing us your trex footage and trying to relate it somehow is absurd and says a lot. Did it ever occur to you some people here aren't looking to make a career/obsession out of their drone ? Looks like someone has WAY too much free time on their hands.

Helihover · Jul 14, 2016

Richard Gozinya said:
You missed the whole point. I don't have time or the patience to explain it to you, The fact you're showing us your trex footage and trying to relate it somehow is absurd and says a lot. Did it ever occur to you some people here aren't looking to make a career/obsession out of their drone ? Looks like someone has WAY too much free time on their hands.

Hey man sorry to offend you. Your right, people take things more seriously than others. I was trying to help. You called me out..... I answered. That was the only reason for me posting the trex vid. It showed what I was doing with aerial photography 8 years back..... To prove to you, my experience.

I only stepped in when someone mentioned not buying a practice drone and not to bother on the simulator. Those statements seemed a lil misguided to me.

Technodynamic · Jul 14, 2016

Geeno said:
Before dumping your money into a phantom, i suggest buying a toy/cheaper version to learn some of the basics of flying. Wouldnt want you to risk your hard earned $$ and crash a p4. But hey its your $$, you can do whatever you like

The P4 was my first drone. My skills are solid. I think if you are mature about it and tread with care the P4 is actually quite easy to fly. I say go for it, its the best drone out there and perhaps easiest because of the safety features it has versus other drones.

Reed L · Jul 14, 2016

Cheap practice drones are a sure way to learn how to fly manually and this will help tremendously when your Phantom goes into atti mode and you lose all P-GPS help. Signal loss, flying in canyons, flying under tree canopies all take the knowledge of being able to completely fly on your own in manual. After I flew my practice quad until I was confident, I gave it to the grand kids

As for the rest -

mdh2861 · Jul 14, 2016

Geeno said:
Before dumping your money into a phantom, i suggest buying a toy/cheaper version to learn some of the basics of flying. Wouldnt want you to risk your hard earned $$ and crash a p4. But hey its your $$, you can do whatever you like

THIS!!!!! In fact, I have one I'd sell you for pretty cheap! MSG me if interested!

Technodynamic · Jul 14, 2016

Dirty Bird said:
I can only recommend Android devices as I'm not a fruit fan:

Used: Nexus 7 (2013). May be able to find one new.
New: Asus ZenPad 7 ($93)
Asus ZenPad 8 ($129)
Asus ZenPad S8 ($159)(same screen rez as an Apple Retina display)
Asus ZenPad 10 ($179)(Just squeezes in the stock P3/P4 tablet clamp)
nVidia Shield K1 ($199)(Fast, HDMI out, built-in screen recorder)

* All except the Nexus 7 have Micro-SD slots.

Great suggestions. I'm new to Android,but for the money, can't beat some of these suggestions. The Asus ZenPad 8 seems like a solid device thats barely above $100. Are these GPS enabled tablets?

mdh2861 · Jul 14, 2016

JackH said:
Thank you all for the advice. I think I'll order the Nvidia K1 today.

Good choice, I got one for mine yesterday. Dont get me wrong, it is an awesome tablet, but the build is NOT that of a premium cell phone and/or an IPAD. As a dedicated device for your drone though, it rocks. Android 4 life

Dirty Bird · Jul 14, 2016

All the tablets I listed have GPS

Technodynamic said:
Great suggestions. I'm new to Android,but for the money, can't beat some of these suggestions. The Asus ZenPad 8 seems like a solid device thats barely above $100. Are these GPS enabled tablets?

John Locke · Jul 14, 2016

atariman said:
if you buy a cheaper drone, you are just adding to your spend in the long run.

This really depends on the skill set of the newbie. I've know guys to crash their P4 in the first day, lack of understanding reverse navigation. It just depends on the newbie, his motor skills, flight orientation experience, brain logic, eyesight, and attention span. Some people have depth perception issues and don't realize it. That can be problematic.
Do P4 craft practically fly themselves? Yes, for the experienced that's what it seems like.
Can you crash one? Yes, and the odds are higher being a newbie.
Practicing with a cheap trainer is a worthy idea IMHO. Then give it to your kid or a friend when you're done training. Great Christmas gift, a used trainer with dinged props....

JackH · Jul 14, 2016

I read all these posts with great interest and take the advice to heart. I am **** about learning everything I can about a device before putting it into practice. I'm a gearhead first and a user second so education is my first priority especially with my first quad-P4. I will not run out and fly it until I have a good concept of what to expect, which is the reason for my post.
I have read/seen all I can find on using this thing over the past week. Thank you all for the input and soon hope to be sharing my first videos of amazing China.

Dirby · Jul 14, 2016

SCGENE said:
Tried the cheaper/toy Heli-Max 230 SI for 179.00 and couldn't keep it in the air for 30 seconds. Replaced each motor after a few weeks and last flight got two more motors at $20.00 each. Put it back in box to give it away and couldn't find any takers. Got the P3A, then P4 the first week, and have over 200 flights with no problem. Going cheap you get what you pay for.

this is true.

Sim597 · Jul 15, 2016

atariman said:
If you want a p4, get a p4. Regardless of what people say, they are stupidly simple to fly. Thats why dji target a wide consumer base

gps, don't need it on your device. I use an iPad mini4 wifi only, no probs, works a treat, period.

Avoid reading too much on the forum, buy it and play slowly at first in an open field away from people, houses and trees. This way you will learn the physics of the craft and the controls. forget simulators. flying a simulator is in no way similar to the real deal.

if you buy a cheaper drone, you are just adding to your spend in the long run. the dji drones are just to simplified to crash. those who have crashed into trees, buildings or whatever were not paying attention or just plain stupid in their attempts to fly. If you are responsible and level headed you won't have an issue. If you are reckless and prone to being an idiot, you will crash it. Use your brain and eyes and all will be fine.

I agree with him, they are so easy to master, really master if your any kind of RC or PS4/Xbox type of person it'll be natural, to any younger ppl too this holds.
He's correct about reading "too much" but, I have to interject here, it's hard for me to say someone does too much information gathering, as I love to learn all about a device and often read the manual while it's on it's way, where I can, and if it's involved enough like a new drone. YouTube videos will be your best source for actual learning if indeed there is something you want to see for yourself, where as good as this forum is for info, a short video often clears things right up, if done correctly.
Enjoy your new bird, I've got 2.5 million feet tracked since I started this hobby in March, over 2m on one bird, no cracks, she's never even had a rough landing, I'm on original props, but may retire them soon, just as a precautionary maintenance deal. My only issue is TiHo, but the camera/gimbal is still better then the H imho anyway.

MarkNH · Jul 15, 2016

I bought a cheaper drone first before buying a P2V+ then a P4. To me the cheap drone was a waste of money. I think a lot of people who crash right away take it out of the box and start flying without any knowledge of the P4. If you don't rush into it I think it's fine to start with a P4.

Richard Gozinya · Jul 15, 2016

MarkNH said:
I bought a cheaper drone first before buying a P2V+ then a P4. To me the cheap drone was a waste of money. I think a lot of people who crash right away take it out of the box and start flying without any knowledge of the P4. If you don't rush into it I think it's fine to start with a P4.

Exactly the same for me. The money on the first one added up too. Not to mention the time wasted. I also lost some great footage that I'll never have again due to the fact the quality is so shitty. Really strange how some people have attempted to shift the focus of this original post from advice on a tablet to what drone the OP should buy.

ftttu · Jul 15, 2016

If you aren't a bonehead and are confident in your abilities, get a GPS drone. They are so easy to get the hang of due to them hovering in one place when you let go of the controls. I only know of the P4, and the P4 takes off and lands automatically if you want it to. If you are a bonehead and are uncoordinated, I still think a GPS drone is the way to go for someone starting out if they can afford one.

I had only flown my two gyro helos, which probably helped, but even so, learning a GPS drone took no time at all. Also, I held out going to Sport Mode for a while, but when I finally did, it wasn't even an issue.