Not confident in flying my dji

[Garrett Poorbaugh]

Hello, this is probably a dumb post but I want some advice maybe. So I bought a phantom 2 with the gimbal and im kinda afraid to fly it. It's not because of a lack of experience at all, I have many other quads and can fly them all very well. Its just the fact that the dji is just so autonomous with its gps and compass. I fell like I have little controll. Im mostly afraid of the fact that it could fly away, and this really prevents me from doing much of what I bought it for. I always calibrate the compass before every flight and turned off return to home on low battery. Anyone have anything to ease my mind? I know this is stupid, but it's really preventing me from enjoying my quad. Thanks

 

[ashtonhess]

be confident. calibrate it like it says away from metal and it will be fine. I had the same feelings with my p3a, but after a few flights in beginner mode I am very confident. go have fun! the % of flyaways is very low, and probably lower than any of us think.

 

[kirk2579]

Hello, this is probably a dumb post but I want some advice maybe. So I bought a phantom 2 with the gimbal and im kinda afraid to fly it. It's not because of a lack of experience at all, I have many other quads and can fly them all very well. Its just the fact that the dji is just so autonomous with its gps and compass. I fell like I have little controll. Im mostly afraid of the fact that it could fly away, and this really prevents me from doing much of what I bought it for. I always calibrate the compass before every flight and turned off return to home on low battery. Anyone have anything to ease my mind? I know this is stupid, but it's really preventing me from enjoying my quad. Thanks

go fly!

that's the only way to move on. and like said above , fly aways are NOT very common.
maybe a million phntoms sold over last 3 or 4 years , you read about maybe a few hundred in forums.
Many of those are operator error/panic, trying things beyond pilot abilities , etc.

The compass and GPS ARE what make it safe. It will go know where until you tell it to do so.
BTW just sold my year old phantom plus and it is still working perfectly after hundreds of flights in ALL weather from 0F to 90F

also I am unsure why you took the return to home off for low battery. It will now stay wherever and wait . You may want to rethink that. It would be better to come home and hover or land.

good luck and have fun flying

 

[marg2]

Garret : I was in love wit mine till I decided to check every post in this forum them I got scare of flying it till the day I said wtf is mine and fly like a champ, took it up and let ii go on solo mision and got the respect back.
My problem was reading so many negative post about flyaways etc, you must remember there is a lot of people that come here for answers to their problems and to be honest lot of them they don't read the manual or believe they know everything.
My advice is do IMU cal before first flight compass and go to a open space and enjoy your bird,
U will be fine
Happy flying
Mariano

 

[John N Kronyak]

Hello, this is probably a dumb post but I want some advice maybe. So I bought a phantom 2 with the gimbal and im kinda afraid to fly it. It's not because of a lack of experience at all, I have many other quads and can fly them all very well. Its just the fact that the dji is just so autonomous with its gps and compass. I fell like I have little controll. Im mostly afraid of the fact that it could fly away, and this really prevents me from doing much of what I bought it for. I always calibrate the compass before every flight and turned off return to home on low battery. Anyone have anything to ease my mind? I know this is stupid, but it's really preventing me from enjoying my quad. Thanks

I was also afraid to fly my P3A ,as it was the first RC Device I ever used. Took it very slow in the beginning. Now It's 6 months later and never had a single problem. I just calibrate, and take er' off with little concern. Then.there's the overconfident newbie. A friend of my brother bought a P3P for Christmas. First flight, he ran into HV Transmission lines and there went $1000+ down the tubes. I'm sure there's a way to fly non-gps if you prefer.

 

[marg2]

U must learn to fly Atti just in case you loose GPS specially on P2 that will make u learn the skills to fight wind and so, since it will drift as is not locked on one position, I love atti mode

 

[oakmeadows]

I felt the same way when i bought my p3 pro i had a dji f450 which is prehistoric in comparison to the p3 but i learned a lot with it , i suppose with me it was the cost which held me back but that didnt last too long . I just flew with the " well if it crashes , it crashes" attitude which i didnt mean for a second but it was mind over matter , just go for it but dont feel you have to go faster or further every time just take your time and enjoy it


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots mobile app

 

[Garrett Poorbaugh]

Wow, thanks everyone for the responses. This definitely boosted my spirits, will report how my first "real" flight goes tomorrow. Thanks everyone.

 

[jimerb]

Start off very slow in a big open field in beginner mode.. Try and get confidence in looking at the screen more than the phantom, You need to learn to trust what your seeing on screen.

 

[Dirby]

send it to me and i will fly it for you.
just go fly it and have some fun.

 

[Garrett Poorbaugh]

I do have one question. Should I calibrate my compass before every flight or not? I cannot find a clear answer.

 

[discv]

I do have one question. Should I calibrate my compass before every flight or not? I cannot find a clear answer.

Like you, I am a nervous flyer. It does not really go away- but it makes us the most careful and maybe the safest operators out there.

Re calibration- there are good arguments for both corners. Chose which ever makes you the most comfortable. I calibrate at every new session, so the pre flights do not vary.

 

[jimerb]

I do have one question. Should I calibrate my compass before every flight or not? I cannot find a clear answer.

I do it every session. You don't want compass problems. Things get spooky quick.

 

[Ti22]

To help minimize fly-away anxiety some of us buy/use “Marco polo” RC (Pet) trackers - RC Model Tracking and Recovery - Pet Tracking Made Easy | Marco Polo The Pet Tracking System.

Don’t require GPS or cellular services. RF based, very accurate tracking I’ve personally tested to 1/2 mile and feel confident I would find a fly away if I started tracking in the direction last heading.

Pet version is much bulkier and heavier (+50g IIRC) than the RC version but you can send in a Pet tag and for $25 they’ll convert it to about 12g RC tag. I’d purchased a used Pet version on eBay and used their conversion service to make it an RC tag. Very pleased and provides great piece of mind.

Of course, at the rate prices on Phantoms keeps dropping you gotta decide if investing $200 or more (which could also become lost) is worth it?

 

[fly-catchers]

Like you, I am a nervous flyer. It does not really go away- but it makes us the most careful and maybe the safest operators out there.

Re calibration- there are good arguments for both corners. Chose which ever makes you the most comfortable. I calibrate at every new session, so the pre flights do not vary.

I agree that for me also I have never lost my nervousness despite quite a few flights since late 2013. Nothing bad has happened and I have only had neutral or positive comments from any passers-by. But the increasing bad press and negative reports does start to make you feel as if you are the person in the wrong whenever you fly. And when the weather prevents you from flying for weeks or months you do feel as if you are starting from scratch when eventually you have a good flying day. Still not totally sure this hobby is for me or not!!