There arent enough posts from people that didn't crash their quads. I received mine at the beginning of this month and was deathly afraid to fly it after reading this forum and crashing my cx 20 a bunch of times. This thing is ridiculously easy and fun to fly, make sure you do your research first, but do not be scared to fly, it has to be the easiest setup to fly on the market. Props to dji
New pilots, just go for it
- Thread starter nicktaf
- Start date
It took me two weeks from the date of purchase till the day of my first flight.
This forum and my buddy Clay in Ca. got me to the point where I was comfortable.
I asked tons of questions, my poor buddy Clay had to put up with me for two weeks and all these great guys on this forum continued to answer my "new guy stupid questions"
Well, fast forward 3 months and 55 flawless flights, love my Phantom,
All Hail DJI !!
This forum and my buddy Clay in Ca. got me to the point where I was comfortable.
I asked tons of questions, my poor buddy Clay had to put up with me for two weeks and all these great guys on this forum continued to answer my "new guy stupid questions"
Well, fast forward 3 months and 55 flawless flights, love my Phantom,
All Hail DJI !!
- Joined
- Jan 13, 2016
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Kudos to you "nicktaf" - couldn't agree more and it is sure refreshing and a confidence builder reading posts of successful flying. I was exactly like you, done a lot of research, watched a lot of vids and never took my maiden flight for quite some time after I purchased the P3A. Now a few flights under my belt and loving it - still researching and listening to the experienced guys along the way. Thanks for posting that and thanks to those who replied with some good news as to flying. Happy & safe flying.
I agree!
After many months, I still use the auto-takeoff for most flights because it's so stable, and it settles at 4 ft. above the ground to let you see if everything seems OK. After that, it's up-up-and-away, maybe stopping a couple more times to watch stability.
When landing, I alternate between auto-land, RTH, and fully manual, just to mix it up -- and to make sure all systems are good.
I learned to land by watching how the auto-land did it. However, if you do that, make sure your VPS is on (no real reason to turn it off; I never have). And if an automatic landing (including RTH) seems to be happening too fast, you can override it easilty with the sticks during the last few feet above ground. Or, with RTH, you can turn if off at any point (even while descending) by holding the button again until it stops (easy to see).
Great fun! Not one complaint!
After many months, I still use the auto-takeoff for most flights because it's so stable, and it settles at 4 ft. above the ground to let you see if everything seems OK. After that, it's up-up-and-away, maybe stopping a couple more times to watch stability.
When landing, I alternate between auto-land, RTH, and fully manual, just to mix it up -- and to make sure all systems are good.
I learned to land by watching how the auto-land did it. However, if you do that, make sure your VPS is on (no real reason to turn it off; I never have). And if an automatic landing (including RTH) seems to be happening too fast, you can override it easilty with the sticks during the last few feet above ground. Or, with RTH, you can turn if off at any point (even while descending) by holding the button again until it stops (easy to see).
Great fun! Not one complaint!
I've had my pro 3 a week. The weather here in south-west England has been dreadful but today, well, another story. No wind, no rain, nothing to stop me flying for the very first time. And what a joy! This thing handles like a dream. I flew manually on p mode under GPS and just practiced landing and take-off, out and return flights etc, basically just getting used to the controller, dji go app and aircraft.
I'd also downloaded the litchi app yesterday so towards the end off my flying time I thought I'd switch to that and try way points. However, I think I need to read the manual a bit more for this as having set up a nice little route around me nothing happened when I started it up. Operator error rather than anything more sinister.
Like most people here I was terrified of doing some something wrong. However, it appears to be a seriously good bit of kit which, if treated with respect, handles superbly.
Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk
I'd also downloaded the litchi app yesterday so towards the end off my flying time I thought I'd switch to that and try way points. However, I think I need to read the manual a bit more for this as having set up a nice little route around me nothing happened when I started it up. Operator error rather than anything more sinister.
Like most people here I was terrified of doing some something wrong. However, it appears to be a seriously good bit of kit which, if treated with respect, handles superbly.
Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk
BTW, I would recommend practicing with the simulation mode before your first flight. It builds confidence and familiarity which results in being a lot more comfortable when flying.
Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk
Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk
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I have my forth P3A. The previous three had manufacturing problems. I had the first one several weeks. To improve my flying skills I tried flying at a more challenging location. I almost crashed the drone doing so.
Since then I only fly at safe locations. I have a few cheap drones for (in door) practicing.
See Spare MR? | DJI Phantom Forum
My last P3A finally worked 100%. I am very careful with it but have flown great missions.
I really enjoy flying with this great piece of machinery. It is very stable and to me the best AC money can buy.
So I agree with you nicktaf. Happy flying
Since then I only fly at safe locations. I have a few cheap drones for (in door) practicing.
See Spare MR? | DJI Phantom Forum
My last P3A finally worked 100%. I am very careful with it but have flown great missions.
I really enjoy flying with this great piece of machinery. It is very stable and to me the best AC money can buy.
So I agree with you nicktaf. Happy flying
Bought the P3S for my 13 year old daughter for Christmas. We read the manual, read the FAA guidance on UAVs, read the AMA safety guidance documents, and watched all the P3S YouTube how-to videos we could find. So far, we are 5 flights in without a hitch. The craft is very easy to fly, but take it slow and learn a little each time.
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Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
I got mine 2 weeks ago but here in Cali keeps on raining and it's way too cold to fly it, but I can't wait.. I have the phantom 1,2 now the P3 and I never had any issue with the past 2. Hopefully I'll have the same great experience with my phantom 3
Just remember fella's, the bird flies great and the system works well most of the time. It's the one time that it doesn't that you need to be prepared for. Hundreds of hours of flying 3 Phantoms and a Solo with a few minor incidents but have had to use emergency measures and good piloting and thinking skills in real-time on a dozen or better occasions. That's what you need to learn about. The thing **** near flies itself, until it doesn't...and then it's all on you, what you know and have learned and practiced. Just my two cents. Good luck, be safe and have a great time!
Jerry
Jerry
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Taking everything above into account, caution is still advised. There are a lot of ways to go wrong.
Sent from my iPod touch using PhantomPilots mobile app
Sent from my iPod touch using PhantomPilots mobile app
I just want to second this. What I've seen for the last few months that I've been on here is that for most, this is their first serious UAV. The P3 is phenomenally easy to fly in full P-GPS, so most newbies get a little spoiled and fly in this mode pretty exclusively. Putting together that point and the point that most have never flown anything else other than maybe a toy UAV makes for a lot of crashes when the P3 flips out of P-GPS when experiencing an error in the automated flight mode.
Also seems like the first thing many do is to press RTH when this happens, which is the worst thing you can do when the UAV is confused. Even though I have owned and flown many other UAV's, I make a conscious effort to fly in ATTI mode for at least a few minutes each day I fly. I am confident that if I ever experience the errors that some have had and the P-GPS mode is unavailable, I can bring it in if necessary. I would advise all those new to UAV's to do the same.
got my P3A a week ago but flew it for first time this saturday.4 flights with a battery boost in the middle.watched lots of videos during the week before flight and spent a lot of time on here reading.flew perfect.what a machine.got 2 vids on you tube already.guys at work cant believe how good it is.been asked to video a track day event in england already lol
happy days.
i sooooo need a 2nd battery though lol
happy days.
i sooooo need a 2nd battery though lol
i just got my first phantom advance and its technology is amazing but i come from old school rc planes where you fly till you can no longer see the plane so once its a mere dot on horizon you carefully bank left or right and work out if its coming back towards you lol.
a lot of new drone pilots dont appear to have this usefull skill so hopefully i can use it if needed....hopefully not though
actually the drone is soo easy because it holds altitude automatically unlike a plane even in manual mode.try steering a fast dot left and right AND up and down...its hard
