Phantom 3 Professional crashes - questions

[Glaesercon]

I crashed my new P3Prof on Friday evening. It was 100% my stupidity and anxiousness to get airborne. I did't go through all the pre-flight steps. Anyway, my drone seems ok, but the camera was destroyed. I already ordered a new one and I will also replace all the props which got scratched. I was and still is extremely disappointed/angry with myself. I have a few questions please:
1. Does these things happen?
2. What tests can I do when flying with the new camera after doing all calibrations and preflight steps?
3. My drone got a small scratch on the main body which I hate because I wanted my drone to remain in "perfect" condition. Are scratches and "visual cosmetic ware and tare" part of a working drone's life?

 

[4wd]

Accidents in the first few flights and especially the first flight are rather frequent - most users will then go on to have many flights without incident.
Scratches won't affect it and some might almost enjoy explaining the 'war wounds'.
You could make something up more exciting than hit a bush
If you use it regularly it won't stay pristine anyway.
They are made to be used.

 

[Glaesercon]

Thank you very much! I sincerely appreciate your input.

 

[Glaesercon]

Are there any way I can test the drone to check that everything's ok and functioning well?

 

[RoyVa]

Just wait till you get red blood from bugs or small birds. Don't freak out just clean her up... Gonna happen. Just like learning to ride a bicycle, scrapes, bumps and bruises but you get back on and ride. Even us veteran pilots make human errors but we try to keep them to a minimum. Even the other day I clipped the top of a tree fly to close and to fast, flew over that tree hundreds of times no issues just once did pay real close attention to my altitude indicator. As with most, pilot error. Down she came. I was lucky, 125 ft tree but she slowly rolled down from breach to branch except for the last 30 ft. drop. Couple of props and some glue and the recal the IMU.
Like I said... Gonna happen!

Best advice is to get yourself a pe flight and post flight routine. Really helps. After every flight I check motors just after shut down for heat and resistance. Check props, gimbal and plugs. Look,bird over for any inflight damage. Clean her up and then I'm ready for tomorrow.

 

[Glaesercon]

Thank you sir! I will take your advice and continue to be more detailed with my pre and post flight checks and learn to flying better. Are there any way I can check if everything's operating normal after the accident?

 

[chrissyiliffe]

My first flight I flew indoors, straight into the sofa...... Quite hard.

It's gonna happen, I'm just like you, she has to look perfect but it's not gonna be like that unfortunately, I'm on the 18th ish flight and I'm getting bug spray and even dirt and dust.

If you have any scratches, it's the perfect opportunity to place a plaster/bandaid on it.... A good fish or car one would look good.

Happy flying

 

[Dirty Bird]

My bird still looks almost pristine sans hairline fractures that have developed in the lower shell at the motor mounts. I was going to re-shell but decided instead to install a set of the Strong Arm reinforcement plates from Shapeways to stretch out the life of the original since it is otherwise fine. I will apply a thin latey of epoxy before installing so it bonds & fills the hairline fractures in the original shell. Every now & then I clean my aircraft & remote with Formula 409 to get rid of the grime & maintain her bright white appearance.

 

[RoyVa]

Thank you sir! I will take your advice and continue to be more detailed with my pre and post flight checks and learn to flying better. Are there any way I can check if everything's operating normal after the accident?

Only way is to test each of the functions on close short flights till you get a wam fuzzy fealing and every thing works with no issues. Happy Flying!

 

[mr.goodkat]

crashes happen all the time but let me tell you something. more confident you get, more vulnerable you become of having a crash. any moment you underestimate procedures and conditions, you will most likely crash or fail. therefore you should be alarmed and open all your senses while flying. I probably had 200 flights with my p2 and crashed 2 times into water, 3 times into trees, roofs etc and once to power line, every crash made me learn something.

 

[Glaesercon]

Thank you very much! I feel much better and I will never underestimate any procedures or preflight checks again!

 

[WetDog]

Thank you very much! I feel much better and I will never underestimate any procedures or preflight checks again!

The Phantom does lots of checks when you power it up. No complaints or error messages are what you want. As was mentioned, look at the thing carefully, try a couple of low altitude test fights and then go. The other way to avoid expensive crashes is to get a 'disposable' drone - Hubsan X4 or equivalent. Get used to flying totally manual. That muscle memory can really save your bacon (and your drone) when you are trying to do things in a hurry.