You are right to be scared. The Phantom 3 Standard has few protections against crashing into things. I flew out of range a couple weeks ago, and the automatic return function kicked in, but it had memorized the wrong home point and came down into a tree and damaged the gimbal and cable. I'm about ready to sell it for parts and find a drone with some more built-in protections.
Scared to fly too far....
- Thread starter jordan225171
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You are right to be scared. The Phantom 3 Standard has few protections against crashing into things. I flew out of range a couple weeks ago, and the automatic return function kicked in, but it had memorized the wrong home point and came down into a tree and damaged the gimbal and cable. I'm about ready to sell it for parts and find a drone with some more built-in protections.
Mine was an expriment basically discharging batteries and changing days for time to self discharge 10 days to 2 days after bringing percentages down
I was charging fully after each flight and discharging after 10 days
After reading lots of info
I am trying to prolong life of batteries
Please link me to battery info on preserving life of batteries
Thanks in advance
Jim
Best way to get the longest life from your batteries is as follows:
Set auto discharge to a max of 2 days.
Never charge them immediately after flying, allow them to cool to room temperature.
If the battery level is less than 40% and you will be storing it, charge it until the 3rd led starts to blink and then disconnect it.
Only fully charge your battery when you plan to fly, otherwise leave it at 2 or 3 lights.
If storing for long periods, check charge level at least once a month and charge back to the 3rd light flashing as needed.
Sorry to hear about your crash. Though I question the theory that the drone locked in to the wrong home point. Just how far away did it land from the original point of take off?
I have insurance on my car. I guess I can breath easier now and drive more reckless than if I had none. Just a thought.
I think it’s wise to be conservative when flying. There are a lot of reckless free spirited flyers posting their “accomplishments” but that doesn’t mean they are the ones to follow. It’s the ones that push it to the limits that end up either losing their drone or making a catastrophic mistake. It’s usually these types of “errors in judgment” that are the reason for the many laws against our hobby now. If you ever study for your commercial part 107 cert. you will read many times about the term VLOS which translates into saying never let it out of your sight!
Well, it's probably more honest to say that I set the wrong home point. I must have done this when I was in the house calibrating the compass and getting everything set up. Despite being very careful, the home point step must have happened indoors. When I went out into the field, the drone flew toward the house instead of to me.
But in general, P3 Standard is dangerous for a beginner who takes it off beginner mode because there are just too many little things that can trip him up. I look forward to trying out a drone with more safety features.
So refreshing to see more people responding that VLOS is best and not pushing their bird to the limits!
As far as RTH, you should use it occasionally to be familiar how to use it when you need it. Don't use it all the time. If you do, you are not improving your flying skills. I agree that it is not a flight mode. Just my $0.02.
As far as RTH, you should use it occasionally to be familiar how to use it when you need it. Don't use it all the time. If you do, you are not improving your flying skills. I agree that it is not a flight mode. Just my $0.02.
They have full 360 degree sensors that allow them to "see" obstacles in every direction and fly around them on their own. The P3 does not have that.
Hi [U]jordan225171[/U],
I have a Phantom 3 advanced a Phantom 4 and a Mavic Pro Platinum, of which I have sent all three of them on Litchi way point missions over 2.4 mile round trips, not once has any of them not returned to me, Now that being said, you must always make sure your IMU is calibrated correctly, and your compass is always calibrated correctly before any flight ! a way point mission or just for free flight with in line of sight. Yes sometimes I still get a little nervous during a long way point mission, but as you start flying the missions you must get yourself very knowledgeable of the program you are using for this and double and triple check all necessary settings first. I always do a very short way point mission first just to make sure the aircraft is acting as it should and returns and hovers at the end point before I send it off into the great wide open. Now depending on how far your long mission will be and of course any obstruction that may interfere with the signals for location data and so forth, at times you may lose these signals during the way point mission but as soon as it gets to the point where the signal gets reconnected it is a little scary! it was for me, but as I said in the beginning after a few successful missions you will begin to gain confidence and less nervous over the flights. I hope this will inspire you to give it a try, there is nothing more exhilarating then when your drone returns from a mission you designed and completed! LOL
Have some Fun ! Here is a Link to one of my 2.4 mile way point missions with the Phantom 3 Advanced drone
https://www.youtube.com/edit?o=U&ar=1&video_id=eJJAjceNgFc
Happy Flying
SteveP55
I have a Phantom 3 advanced a Phantom 4 and a Mavic Pro Platinum, of which I have sent all three of them on Litchi way point missions over 2.4 mile round trips, not once has any of them not returned to me, Now that being said, you must always make sure your IMU is calibrated correctly, and your compass is always calibrated correctly before any flight ! a way point mission or just for free flight with in line of sight. Yes sometimes I still get a little nervous during a long way point mission, but as you start flying the missions you must get yourself very knowledgeable of the program you are using for this and double and triple check all necessary settings first. I always do a very short way point mission first just to make sure the aircraft is acting as it should and returns and hovers at the end point before I send it off into the great wide open. Now depending on how far your long mission will be and of course any obstruction that may interfere with the signals for location data and so forth, at times you may lose these signals during the way point mission but as soon as it gets to the point where the signal gets reconnected it is a little scary! it was for me, but as I said in the beginning after a few successful missions you will begin to gain confidence and less nervous over the flights. I hope this will inspire you to give it a try, there is nothing more exhilarating then when your drone returns from a mission you designed and completed! LOL
Have some Fun ! Here is a Link to one of my 2.4 mile way point missions with the Phantom 3 Advanced drone
https://www.youtube.com/edit?o=U&ar=1&video_id=eJJAjceNgFc
Happy Flying
SteveP55
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Hi, Jordan
I do know the “itch” to want to really spread er wings and fly to the limits! But I got over that, never did it and am really glad. I firmly believe that flying out of unaided visual sight is totally irresponsible, and poses a significant potiental threat to others- in fact in some ways is the definition of terrorism. Please get over it and fly by the book, FCC and the book of common sense. Thanks Guy.
You can always see where and orientation of your craft using the DJI app. Some basic things to do before you fly should help easy your fears.
1. Always try to start your flight with a fully charged battery
2. Check wind direction and speed. Try to fly away in to the wind so you have a tail wind on return.
3. Make sure the wind speed is less than your top speed.
4. Make sure your home point has recorded exactly where you are.
5. Make sure you’re app setting are as you intend them to be , RTH height is set high enough for your surrounding Incase of loss of signal
6. Learn to use the app fully.
Hope someone finds this helpful.
I live in rural Ireland and regularly fly my P3P over 2km away and have never used RTH I always switch to map view and fly the craft back manually.
My P3P is 16m/s or 50 kmph I need the wind speed to be less for the craft to return.
I would respectfully disagree. I can't think of a better starter drone than the P3S. Your crash was very easily preventable had you followed the most basic instructions that come with the drone.
No amount of safety features will save a drone from pilot error.
I would respectfully agree with everything that LarBear said. Hard to find a better entry level drone for the money which includes the number of features that the P3S does. Although I didn't learn to fly using a P3S, it was my first serious entry into the world of drones. My P3S had some "memorable" flights. It never failed me, it provided me with some remarkable distance for being stock, and always RTH in spite of some errors on my part. I still have my P3S but then upgraded to a P4. My P4 is a great machine, but my P3S will always be special for me.
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Don't feel bad. I think the farthest I've flown (in 4 years with two 'copters) is maybe 1500 feet. I like to keep it in sight and control. Even though I can see on the screen, that's about 1.5 seconds delayed, so... I've tested the RTH button, but not the automatic function, for the same reason. I couldn't bear to watch a thousand bucks fly off over the horizon. Plus, I've never felt the need to go any farther anyway
I'd agree with a previous contributor, some people don't set up the automatic RTH function before setting off. I've seen contributions on this forum where someone's drone goes into hover mode when contact is lost and then they have to jump in their car and drive like a lunatic to try to find it. That defeats the purpose and is ignoring the safety mechanisms built into the app. I can get out to 3km and for me that's the most interesting thing about flying, you actually feel like your genuinely exploring and going beyond your comfort zone and that's a rush. I'm not talking about flying dangerously just taking the stabilisers off the bike and winging it a little. The first drone I bought was a hubsan 501 which had a mind and will of its own and I was forever losing it and I spent all of that summer climbing trees like a 10 year old to retrieve it but I always found it. Eventually. I say learn how to use the retrieval functions and have a plan to put into motion if an emergency arises and enjoy the ride
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