New P3P Owner Advice Needed

reschick · Aug 9, 2015

I bought the P3P several weeks ago and have been very cautious. I spend a great deal of time on this forum and found it to be an outstanding resource for new pilots. I was air controller in the USAF for 28 years and had to work hand in glove with the FAA. Safety is a paramount issue with me. I would like to know 4 things I should buy first to improve the safety of both people and the integrity of the machine. Such as prop guards, etc. There are a lot of gizmos out there and your advice would be welcomed.

P3P iPadAir2

bobmyers · Aug 9, 2015

reschick said:
I bought the P3P several weeks ago and have been very cautious. I spend a great deal of time on this forum and found it to be an outstanding resource for new pilots. I was air controller in the USAF for 28 years and had to work hand in glove with the FAA. Safety is a paramount issue with me. I would like to know 4 things I should buy first to improve the safety of both people and the integrity of the machine. Such as prop guards, etc. There are a lot of gizmos out there and your advice would be welcomed.

you will get lots of advice-- so I am starting-- prop guards are especially handy when learning-- if you use them order the quick connect so you can readily take them off.
A GPS tracker, such as Trackimo is useful if it ever goes down and you are not sure of the last location.
A gimbal guard and camera gimbal is helpful for protecting the delicated gimbal and camera in the event of a crash.
Go to Phantomhelp.com, an authorized vendor on this sight and review everything you will ever need in setting up your Phantom for safe flight.
http://www.phantompilots.com/members/msinger.18206/
read, study and absorb the manual-- that is basic.

There will be some more chiming in here. This forum is the BEST source of information for folks just getting into the hobby and it is all current stuff.

Welcome!

JKDSensei · Aug 9, 2015

Hard to top the post above. Only thing I might add is if you are new to drones, consider buying an inexpensive quad in the $50 range to get accustomed to the nuances of quad flight.

I bought a Syma X5C-1 a month before I got a Phantom and by the time I got the Phantom, was fairly good at controlling the Phantom. This would come in very handy if the electronic wizardry ever fails you....and could just save the Phantom AND yourself or bystanders.

Good luck and welcome !

reschick · Aug 9, 2015

Thanks Bob for the quick reply. Your comments verified what I thought were some of the top items to get. I have read a number of comments from msinger and others and amazed at the scope of their dedication to this platform.

reschick · Aug 9, 2015

JKDSensei said:
Hard to top the post above. Only thing I might add is if you are new to drones, consider buying an inexpensive quad in the $50 range to get accustomed to the nuances of quad flight.

I bought a Syma X5C-1 a month before I got a Phantom and by the time I got the Phantom, was fairly good at controlling the Phantom. This would come in very handy if the electronic wizardry ever fails you....and could just save the Phantom AND yourself or bystanders.

Good luck and welcome !

JKD Just bought one from Amazon. I will work with this drone in order to build the confidence I need for the P3P.

SiliconGeek · Aug 9, 2015

With the Syma X5C-1 you can do a little filming, too. It is a fun little quad. My son took off the prop guards, the landing gear and the camera, and the darn thing became much more agile and aerobatic.

NinerRider · Aug 9, 2015

Good suggestions all around I would throw in the Hubsan X4 107L as a good trainer as well, plus it is too much **** fun. A sun shade is very useful because the need to see clearly what the camera sees is paramount. Also put your name and phone number somewhere on the drone with a reward if found. It may the only way you get it back if you don't have a GPS tracker. Also read everything you can off this and other forums, I have read the manual several times but I have learned much more just sifting through any all posts.

Joao Carlos · Aug 9, 2015

Dang you guys had a good start, I started with a Parrot v1 lol. Then upgrade to Phantom 1, now the P3A. I am a pilot and consider myself a safe player (and checklist prone). Recommendations? I wouldnt be too scared to go all in on a P3, it is a wonderful machine, if you begin slowly and dont get too overconfident. Not sure about the Syma X5, people like it and it seems like a good starting point.

The problem with any UAS is that they are deceptively easy to fly and to do stupid things. But if you have a decent amount of knowledge, follow a proper pre flight routine and have good boundaries you should have plenty of fun. I find that the P3 is a lot safer and easy to fly than a P1, although I could probably crash 3x P1 to cover the price of a P3. The only drawback is initially the amount of settings and functions on the P3 can be overwhelming.

As above: prop guards are a must for 1st timers or any flight closer to obstacles.

I would avoid people/animals by at least 50m altogether.

S... could happen, so a tracker (I use Marco Polo), getterback and extended warranty (Neary Aerial) were my bet.

Have fun!

reschick · Aug 10, 2015

Thanks for all the replies. I am a private pilot and know how important good checklists are for pre-flight. Several things: Does anyone have a PDF checklist for the P3P? Also, I cancelled my order for the Syma X5 but now looking at the Syma X5SW for the following reason--but is this a good reason? Please note the underlined section.

The Syma X5SW has the Headless/IOC function. Usually, the forward direction of a flying multi-rotor is the same as the nose direction. By using Headless/IOC, the forward direction has nothing to do with nose direction. This lessens the steepness of the learning curve and allows the pilot to enjoy flight while slowly learning each specific orientation of the quadcopter.

Equipped with the latest 6-axis flight control systems, 3D lock, More scheduled flight, operating more to the force!

X5SW equipped with HD camera to take photos and videos while flying! Bring a new perspective to your photos and videos from the air.

Wifi FPV X5SW allows you to view photos & video while flying It supports any IOS and Android phones. The cell phone holder keeps your phone secure all the time

One key 360°roll, continuous roll for perfect action and wonderful performance

I look forward to your comments

Sprague · Aug 10, 2015

Great questions and great answers, thanks! Much info gained… And nobody threw a temper tantrum, amazing!

Joao Carlos · Aug 10, 2015

I will post my checklist soon. There is also a thread with a few PDF ones.

Joao Carlos · Aug 10, 2015

Here it is... v1.0 of my checklist on pdf. Made on Foreflight Checklist. Let me know if someone has the Foreflight app, I can e-mail the original file for interaction.

Packing
Pre Flight
Before Takeoff Check
Shutdown Check

It is an early stage checklist, some things will likely be added/removed later.

Let me know if you have suggestions/corrections.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/1twetsvkqerj4ek/Checklist JC V1.0.pdf?dl=0

Knight Flier · Aug 10, 2015

NinerRider said:
Good suggestions all around I would throw in the Hubsan X4 107L as a good trainer as well, plus it is too much **** fun. A sun shade is very useful because the need to see clearly what the camera sees is paramount. Also put your name and phone number somewhere on the drone with a reward if found. It may the only way you get it back if you don't have a GPS tracker. Also read everything you can off this and other forums, I have read the manual several times but I have learned much more just sifting through any all posts.

I can verify that having your name and number on the bird is a good idea.

Mine ended up stuck in a tree at about 65 ft on Saturday. Tried getting in touch with tree trimmers or anyone else that we could think of that might have a cherry picker, but there was no answer. Figured we'd have to wait until today to get someone that could get it out of the tree for us.

Yesterday afternoon a gentleman called me, asked me my name, and said he found a drone. He was sitting in the parking lot when it came tumbling down out of the tree. I've got a new shell on order as it landed on one of the arms and the props were all damaged; but the gimbal and camera are fine.

I'm very grateful that I decided to put my name and number on it Friday, and that an honest person was the one that found it.

reschick · Aug 10, 2015

Looks good. I got them now in dropbox and onedrive for ipadair2 and iphone 6+.

Joao Carlos · Aug 10, 2015

That is a horrific tale Knight Flier... 65ft high? Glad it worked out with minimal damage. By any chance, did you had prop guards on that flight? I keep womdering if they would help preventing it getting stuck.

I am waiting on an order of stickers from uav stickers. They claim one of their stickers helped recover a Phantom that was underwater (ocean) for 9 months!

http://www.uavstickers.com/products-dji-phantom.php

and their story here: http://www.uavstickers.com/ocean-recovery-story.php

Knight Flier · Aug 10, 2015

Joao Carlos said:
That is a horrific tale Knight Flier... 65ft high? Glad it worked out with minimal damage. By any chance, did you had prop guards on that flight? I keep womdering if they would help preventing it getting stuck.

I am waiting on an order of stickers from uav stickers. They claim one of their stickers helped recover a Phantom that was underwater (ocean) for 9 months!

http://www.uavstickers.com/products-dji-phantom.php

and their story here: http://www.uavstickers.com/ocean-recovery-story.php

Hi, Joao. No, I don't have the prop guards. I do have a gimbal protector, but I hadn't installed it before that flight.

That Phantom 2 does look pretty good for 9 months in the ocean. I might have to get some of their stickers. I don't think mine would stay on that long.

suprsprm · Aug 10, 2015

Zip tie the arms

Joao Carlos · Aug 10, 2015

suprsprm said:
Zip tie the arms

What do you mean?

suprsprm · Aug 10, 2015

ImageUploadedByPhantomPilots1439257038.192702.jpg

A lot of people are having issues with the arms cracking at the 2 bolts closer to the zip ties in the attached picture. I'm on my second phantom and did this right out of the box.

So far (knock on wood) no signs of any cracking with about 50 flights.

I know it looks crappy but it works.

Toadmanor · Aug 10, 2015

suprsprm said:
View attachment 27159

A lot of people are having issues with the arms cracking at the 2 bolts closer to the zip ties in the attached picture. I'm on my second phantom and did this right out of the box.

So far (knock on wood) no signs of any cracking with about 50 flights.

I know it looks crappy but it works.

Are these cracking from crashes or just from flight stress?