Scared to fly too far....

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I’ve had my drone for two years now and I haven’t pushed it to the limit to where it automatically come back to me. I’m terrified that thing is just gonna fly away on me I’ve heard stories. It sucks because I like to see what he can do. But just too scared of losing it....
 
I’ve had my drone for two years now and I haven’t pushed it to the limit to where it automatically come back to me. I’m terrified that thing is just gonna fly away on me I’ve heard stories. It sucks because I like to see what he can do. But just too scared of losing it....
That's good ,I never have pushed anything to extreme limit because I want them to come back aswell,if so cautious of loseing it you could invest in a Marco Polo tracker or similar then you can push the limits and if it should get lost you got good chance of finding it,,it's not the greatest thing to do , I'm modified and never fly off into sunset ,to many risks involved,,find yourself a flat beach or similar location and let it go ,biggest thing is never panic and have faith in your gear,be careful and take care
 
You're not alone. I rarely go much beyond visual line of sight. It's not that I beleive it's going to fly away, I just don't need that kind of distance. And it IS a bit scary when you cannot see or hear your machine!

Most of the losses from long distance missions I read about are due to high winds at high altitudes. The AC simply gets stuck in the high winds and can't make it home.
 
I’ve had my Phantom 3 Standard for almost 2 years and my Spark for almost a year. I have never flown either beyond visual line of sight and the few times I have briefly lost track of its location in the sky has made me uneasy and I either brought it closer or relocated it. Usually I fly around 30m high and occassionally at 50m. There have been a couple of times when a helicopter seemed to come out of nowhere and because I had the drone in sight and not too high, I have never been anywhere near the helicopters. So I think its good to have a fear of flying too far. I can’t imagine how I would be able to react safely if needed and I was out of visual range and just looking at my iPhone screen - that would be scary!!!
 
I’m terrified that thing is just gonna fly away on me I’ve heard stories. ... But just too scared of losing it....
You're listening to the wrong stories.
Phantoms don't "just fly away" and although there can be rare hardware faults, almost all lost Phantom incidents I've investigated were due to things the flyer did (or didn't do).
Phantoms are much more reliable than you imagine.
I’ve had my drone for two years now and I haven’t pushed it to the limit to where it automatically come back to me.
Properly understanding RTH is one of the best things you can do to build confidence.
Have you experimented with the RTH function so that you are comfortable with it and know what it will do and how it will do it?
After you are familiar with the basics of how RTH works, try flying out 100 feet or so in a large, open area and switch off your controller to simulate losing signal.
 
I’ve had my drone for two years now and I haven’t pushed it to the limit to where it automatically come back to me. I’m terrified that thing is just gonna fly away on me I’ve heard stories. It sucks because I like to see what he can do. But just too scared of losing it....

The best tip we can give you it to use RTH every chance you get , so you can gain some confidence with it and than every day just go a bit further.
 
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That’s a major part of having these awesome machines to fly “ (go where no man has gone before” Star Trek quote I think that being said I get anxious every time I send mine out of site
I cannot go out and replace it tomorrow
But still exciting for this old man
Just my 2 cents worth
Jim
 
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Fly your Phantom out a ways and initiate RTH. ( I loose visual on my P3S around 800-1000 feet) . Does it come right back to you +/- a few feet? If you fly out of control range, the aircraft will initiate the same exact RTH sequence. There's no difference in how RTH works whether your Phantom initiated it from loss of signal, or you do (provided you have enough GPS satellites and a proper RTH altitude). I have never had RTH fail on my P3S after about 200 flights and that's often how I bring it home. As others have said, the Phantoms work great if operated properly; most so-called failures, fly-aways, dunking it in water, etc. are pilot error, plain and simple, who prefer to blame it on DJI or a hardware failure, rather than their own. Most fly-aways, lost drones, falling out of the sky, etc. I've read here seem due to flying without fully charged batteries, in high winds, flying where obstacles block your line of sight (and hence control signals), in high interference conditions (even though the Phantom warns you of that) or just being stupid. Fly your drone, enjoy it, experiment with it, and you will get comfortable and build your confidence flying it under various conditions. Lastly, how far out you fly is up to you and whatever you are comfortable with. I seldom fly mine much past line of sight. Now go have some fun!
 
The best tip we can give you it to use RTH every chance you get , so you can gain some confidence with it and than every day just go a bit further.
RTH is an emergency procedure, not a flight mode. You should train in bringing back your phantom in atti instead, and keep it in your line of sight, no further than 500m.
 
RTH is an emergency procedure, not a flight mode. You should train in bringing back your phantom in atti instead.
I've seen quite a few Phantoms lost simply because the flyer didn't know how to properly initiate RTH or didn't understand how it worked.
It's one of the most important flight concepts to understand.
It's also a great tool.
 
I had to deal with that fear until the first time my drone reached it's max distance it just turned around and came home all on it's own. I had the return height set to 130 ft. Higher than any tree in the area. I have more faith in it now. .
 
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The Phantoms are quite reliable. I watched a video of guy testing his RC antenna mod and he flew straight away a total distance of 6800 meters. Thats over 4 miles. He never did lose signal, the AC initiated RTH on its own due to battery level and it just made it home and did a critical battery landing in his yard. Amazing video.
 
I was the same way until I got insurance on my drone, now I fly as far as itll go and over water sometimes[emoji1303]
 
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I agree with the previous three posts and I'll add this:

Distance is nothing to be afraid of, and altitude is insurance - it's being close to the ground where the trees suck your quad in, the invisible power lines trip it up, or an unexpected gust of wind blows it into something that you were too close to in the first place - that's what you should worry about :)

Happy flying... keep the shiny side up
 
Flew almost dark yesterday batteries had only about 3 green lights stayed in los
One battery discharged after about 5 minutes max
First time I had a battery do that anyone else have that happen to them?
 
Flew almost dark yesterday batteries had only about 3 green lights stayed in los
One battery discharged after about 5 minutes max
First time I had a battery do that anyone else have that happen to them?
Plenty of people who seemibngly haven’t got the message that this is what you shoiuld expect when flying on partially discharged packs.
 
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I was the same way until I got insurance on my drone, now I fly as far as itll go and over water sometimes[emoji1303]

Read your policy carefully. Does it pay replacement cost? Even if it does, and you file a claim, you will pay it all back (and then some) in increased insurance rates. Not just from this company but any. They all use the same database and rates are always higher for people who have filed past claims no matter how small. Sucks how that they get away with it. Just ask my agent, Mrs. LarBear!
 
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I got a seperate policy, its under personal items, 36$ a year and covers everything is what I was told, State Farm
 
You're not alone. I rarely go much beyond visual line of sight. It's not that I beleive it's going to fly away, I just don't need that kind of distance. And it IS a bit scary when you cannot see or hear your machine!

Most of the losses from long distance missions I read about are due to high winds at high altitudes. The AC simply gets stuck in the high winds and can't make it home.
The only thing I get scare flying far away is from big birds attack on my aircraft. Where I usually fly there are Hawks and they don't hesitate into an attack if they have a nest nearby.
 

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