P3P your first done? Buy a practice beater

[storrowdrive]

Hello! I am sure this has been said but I think its so important. I am a complete noob to quadcopters and bought a P3P as my first drone. I have taken it for a number of flights in fields with NOTHING around me, but as soon as I used it with obstacles around I had a minor crash due to me panicking when I got close to a wall and hit the stick TOWARDS the wall. The P3P is fine, but I am going to ground it for a few. I completely underestimated flying these things.

So I bought one of these for under 40 bucks:
http://www.amazon.com/Syma-Channel-...e=UTF8&qid=1433895033&sr=8-1&keywords=syma+x5

I also bought 4 extra batteries which were literally less than $10. I beat the crap out of the thing and it has really made me a better pilot. It takes a beating too. It has the same controls as the Phantom too. I highly recommend it.

 

[caffeinated]

I heartily endorse. I had my blade quad for a month prior to the P3 for this reason.
Just don't fly the P3 with the same aggression you do the toys but the control you learn is invaluable. I'd hate to think of a pilot with no experience hitting atti mode for the first time.

Note interestingly I thought my time on the P3 would lose some of my skills for the manual baby quad but took it out for fun and had actually improved. Go figure.

 

[storrowdrive]

I heartily endorse. I had my blade quad for a month prior to the P3 for this reason.
Just don't fly the P3 with the same aggression you do the toys but the control you learn is invaluable. I'd hate to think of a pilot with no experience hitting atti mode for the first time.

Note interestingly I thought my time on the P3 would lose some of my skills for the manual baby quad but took it out for fun and had actually improved. Go figure.

The atti mode thing is actually a big reason I decided I needed to do this I forgot to mention that. When I started reading these forums I quickly learned that this can happen without warning. I am lucky and my P3 never went into atti but I probably would have had some trouble if it did. I feel a little better about it now.

 

[N017RW]

+1

If you've never flown any r/c aircraft before and have the means, it will save a lot of grief.

 

[Avionics]

I bought a beater and used it to learn to fly. I now have passed it on to a future pilot.

 

[Memtenn60]

A simulator works for practice learning too

 

[jbadallas]

Buy some removable prop guards too. They're a lifesaver around walls, trees, and a not so perfect landing.

 

[Altanore]

Still flying a Syma myself and it sure does take a beating. Including being bitten and jumped on by a dog.

 

[Cacc]

The Syma x5c is a great starter AND great when you just want to get out there and do flips and other aerobatic kind of things. They both have their purposes and I keep both my Phantom 3 and my Syma x5c charged and ready to fly at a moment's notice because you never know what kind of mood you will be in. I have flown my x5c into basically everything -- tvs, cats, walls, chain link fences, beer bottles -- and everything (including the quad) had been completely unscathed. I even handed the remote to my 6 year old nephew without any concern. None of those things will ever been flown within quite a few meters of and no one that doesn't have experience will ever have their hands on the remote for my Phantom. Very different machines, each serves their purpose.