New to UAV, New Member, Happy Holidays All

[Archangel3356]

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year all. New old guy here who’s been reading the forum for a while now but my first posting. Been a private pilot for 30 years and flew Trex RC helicopters for many years (no stunt stuff, just basic flying around) but have never flown a quad. Did 2 months of research on Phantoms and thoroughly read the manual several times and watched all the videos I could on them. Also being a pilot was able to receive my 107 rating / endorsement rather easy too. Sooo, my Brand New Phantom 4 arrived yesterday, a day early and I was super excited. Its a beautiful little aircraft. Very impressed when I was finally able to hold it. Well 7 hours after I received my Phantom I now have it ready to fly. Registration, updates and calibration, gps testing and getting familiar with the controller and software and several other things. So the weather is looking good for this afternoon to take a couple of test flights around the property, I have 5 acres so I’m blessed with a great area to test and practice in. Plan on going slow and easy and not even worrying about the camera for the first few flights. Any last minute suggestions for my first few flights I might not be thinking about? I’m always open to advice and appreciate it very much. Like I said I have never flown this type of RC aircraft and even my Piper Warrior doesn’t have near the systems this little guy has. Looking forward to the afternoon. Thanks again for any input.

 

[BigAl07]

Hello and welcome to the forum and the ADDICTION!


Fellow manned pilot and life long RC enthusiast here.

You'll find this aircraft is hands down one of the easiest RC aircraft to fly. It really flies for you. All you do is tell the Transmitter what you'd like to happen and the Flight Controller on board does all the work and calculations for you. It's hard to really call it "flying" at all.

Go slow and allow for lots of lateral and vertical space for mistakes in judgement for a while.

 

[WV. Rootman]

Preflight is important. If it is done right, your p4 will return home. Make sure there isn’t any metal underneath the phantom during take off.

 

[MotorCycle-Man]

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year all. New old guy here who’s been reading the forum for a while now but my first posting. Been a private pilot for 30 years and flew Trex RC helicopters for many years (no stunt stuff, just basic flying around) but have never flown a quad. Did 2 months of research on Phantoms and thoroughly read the manual several times and watched all the videos I could on them. Also being a pilot was able to receive my 107 rating / endorsement rather easy too. Sooo, my Brand New Phantom 4 arrived yesterday, a day early and I was super excited. Its a beautiful little aircraft. Very impressed when I was finally able to hold it. Well 7 hours after I received my Phantom I now have it ready to fly. Registration, updates and calibration, gps testing and getting familiar with the controller and software and several other things. So the weather is looking good for this afternoon to take a couple of test flights around the property, I have 5 acres so I’m blessed with a great area to test and practice in. Plan on going slow and easy and not even worrying about the camera for the first few flights. Any last minute suggestions for my first few flights I might not be thinking about? I’m always open to advice and appreciate it very much. Like I said I have never flown this type of RC aircraft and even my Piper Warrior doesn’t have near the systems this little guy has. Looking forward to the afternoon. Thanks again for any input.

Preflight is very important...and have all batteries charged 100%.....these guys here were ALL very helpful to my ever question i asked and ONE Important thing is too....be sure that flight battery Is Fully snapped in ....when mine was new i found that i was not locking the battery in all the way !....Ever time i go FLY____i'm just as excited as the 1st time i started the motors UP....and Took to the sky !....keep it in beginners mode til you have some stick time....i did mine till i gained flight experience .....Drone On )))))))

 

[LuvMyTJ]

Hello,
It is a pleasure to welcome you to the Phantom Pilots forum.
I hope that you will be able to use the forum to further your safety knowledge and for the exchange of innovative ideas and as a resource for current developments in DJI quadcopters.
*GO 4 APP MANUAL: DJI Go 4 Manual

 

[dirkclod]

Welcome to PhantomPilots .
I hope you will find our site helpful and look forward to any input , photo's/video's you might post .
Don't be shy and ask anything if you can't find it by searching .

 

[Archangel3356]

I’d like to thank you all for your time and the very nice welcome and all the advice above. All taken into consideration making flight number 1, a 100 percent safe and super FUN success. See me smiling? Man that was fun. Unfortunately my second battery did not show up with my Phantom 4 so I’m awaiting a charge for flight number 2. Flys like a dream and now I’m looking forward to getting a little video. Waved to the little aircraft in the last minutes of the flight but never pressed the record button. What an idiot. Next time I hope I remember. Its very apparent that I’m going to be very addicted to this so I’ll be here a lot and probably have a bunch of questions as I learn. I hope to be able to help members in the future after I figure this all out someday. After flying fixed wing aircraft for years without incident and being an former Accident Prevention Counselor for FSDO 15 in Orlando for many years, I plan on carrying those good habits over and being a good representative for the hobby. Thanks again all. Dang, wait for the battery.

 

[MotorCycle-Man]

I’d like to thank you all for your time and the very nice welcome and all the advice above. All taken into consideration making flight number 1, a 100 percent safe and super FUN success. See me smiling? Man that was fun. Unfortunately my second battery did not show up with my Phantom 4 so I’m awaiting a charge for flight number 2. Flys like a dream and now I’m looking forward to getting a little video. Waved to the little aircraft in the last minutes of the flight but never pressed the record button. What an idiot. Next time I hope I remember. Its very apparent that I’m going to be very addicted to this so I’ll be here a lot and probably have a bunch of questions as I learn. I hope to be able to help members in the future after I figure this all out someday. After flying fixed wing aircraft for years without incident and being an former Accident Prevention Counselor for FSDO 15 in Orlando for many years, I plan on carrying those good habits over and being a good representative for the hobby. Thanks again all. Dang, wait for the battery.

Always Allow the battery to fully cool down Before you re charge it !.......a very important thing to do too !

 

[chrismatthewssr]

Welcome to the forum

 

[msinger]

Welcome to Phantom Pilots!

Any last minute suggestions for my first few flights I might not be thinking about?

Here are some items you might find useful:

• Phantom Manual & Release Notes (the manual does not come in the box)
• DJI GO Manual
• Firmware Update Instructions
• Tips for Avoiding Common Pilot Mistakes
• Tips for Avoiding a Crash
• Worldwide Drone Regulations
• PhantomHelp.com (lots of Phantom tips & accessories)

 

[MotorCycle-Man]

This is a great idea.....In my early toy drone flights i used it..and even with my P-3SE i have used it......when i get in a area or spot that could cause me to have a accident...i take my fingers off both sticks and allow the drone to set where it is and i figure out what kind of controls i need to feed inn to turn or or descend it or ascend it bring it back safe !....too date after 2 and a 1/2 months and near 12 hours of flight time and 100,000 feet of travel....i have never ever had to tap the "return to home" button...seems like my method has worked Great for me eh ! and my very early accidents was the stick command that was wrong to shut the drone down after it had already landed....Now its a one "Left" stick down...i learned that here on the Phantom Form........Ok *Drone* ))))))) () > on >

 

[Neon Euc]

Welcome to the forum. Best advice I can give... When you put your battery on charge sit down, have a few cold beers and watch drone YouTube videos, just don't have to many beers as you will want to fly your drone after getting a buzz of watching all the others videos lol. Check out a guy called ken heron... Great guy to watch, YouTube drone league racing for more excitement and see how a guy on YouTube called Neon Euc *cough cough* flies he's drone in England [emoji6] but this is a great community and we all look forward to seeing your Vids and pics [emoji4]

 

[Archangel3356]

Thanks again all. I’ve found that the experience flying RC helicopters and learning their orientation in space has sure made the learning curve pretty easy on me with the Phantom. Im 8 flights in and getting familiar with the app and learning to trust the equipment. That’s been the hardest part for me but feeling a bit better with each flight. Would love to have that beer with ya but not while flying. Any other time would be just fine. I have a ticket in my pocket I don’t want to lose. I didn’t mind working at the FSDO, but I don’t want to be standing on the carpet there.