Terrified...

RSBartlett · May 24, 2016

New P4 owner here in Upstate NY. I've been reading and researching and trying to be sure I know as much as I can possibly know before I put it in the air.

Here's what I think I've learned:
- I am going to crash no matter how careful I am.
- My drone is going to fly away at any given moment.
- It will have horizon tilt and there's nothing I can do to fix it.
- It will malfunction while in mid air and end up in Nova Scotia.

Sufficiently terrified that my $1,400 investment is going to end badly... off I go for my maiden voyage.

Romonaga · May 24, 2016

Trust me, I l know exactly how you feel. However, you have to keep a few things in perspective.

1) For the most part on forums people wont come and say I flew my plan today and it did not run away. You are only reading and hearing a small subset of people.
2) From what I have seen here most, not all, but most fly away and crashes are pilot error.

I kept the plan in beginners mode for the first few flights, once I did take it off that mode, I kept if very close and low.

I am now starting to get more comfortable and sending it higher and further.

Just take it slow and easy.

Ibmftw · May 27, 2016

@RSBartlett, Nonsense it's neigh impossible to crash a P4 with basic flying, it's only when you do silly things like me that they smash into things and sink to the bottom of a lake, get recovered and then accidently left on the side of the road.

Phantomix · May 27, 2016

- I am going to crash no matter how careful I am. - no, not true. dont go too fast near ground, and dont rely on collision avoidance.
- My drone is going to fly away at any given moment. - no, unless you are too close to cell towers or powerlines
- It will have horizon tilt and there's nothing I can do to fix it. - you will have it, and you can fix it. i did a cold imu calibration, takes 5 minutes and it fixed itself. if that doesnt work it lets you manually adjust it
- It will malfunction while in mid air and end up in Nova Scotia. - answered this in the second thing

Phantomix · May 27, 2016

by the way, get an insurance plan. if you recover it, he will fix it: Neary Aerial - Drone and UAV Extended Warranty
i have a plan, it is worth it

captainmilehigh · May 27, 2016

Phantomix said:
by the way, get an insurance plan. if you recover it, he will fix it: Neary Aerial - Drone and UAV Extended Warranty
i have a plan, it is worth it

Totally agree.

Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots mobile app

JamesH · May 27, 2016

Wow, you must be living inside my head.

I couldn't agree more with the feelings you're describing. I was terrified the first time I saw my poor little $1400 drone up hundreds of feet in the sky, always just on the edge of coming crashing down into a million pieces. The logs later showed my maximum altitude on that first flight was 37 feet. (Of course, past a certain altitude, it doesn't much matter how high you go. The fall from 50 feet will break my P4 about the same as the fall from 250 feet.)

You can only do the best you can to prepare. I flew the simulator for hours on end so that the stick control would be second nature. I kept my P4 in beginner mode for the most of the first 10 to 15 flights. I flew in my company's parking lot on a weekend, just practicing flying in a square, practicing flying in a circle, just practicing really boring stuff until all four batteries were empty. I bought DJI Care. I read these forums and try to learn from the mistakes other's make. I'm not going to fly around people or traffic. I'm not going to fly near airports. I'm going to follow the FAA and AMA rules and guidelines. Past that, what more can I do?

I'm not going to live my life in fear of what might happen. Life is way too short. I'm going to take reasonable precautions and then go out and do it. If I do crash, I'll be here on these forums, mourning the loss of my drone, but more so because I'll remember all the fun I had with it.

Now go fly!

Soad70 · May 28, 2016

Don't let fear stop you, I have owned a P4 for a week now. I was a little hesitant a first but I bought the thing to fly it, I had it in the air within hours of buying it, and they are easy to fly. In my vast experience as a pilot ( 7 days ) I think it would be hard to crash unless there is a malfunction or you do something silly. Find a big clear area and play wit it.

slowjohnny · May 29, 2016

Welcome to the forum! Congrats on your purchase also.

I've flown R/C for over 40 years and have always said that "...if you fly them you will crash them..." or something similar and have shared that advice with folks I have trained to fly. Be prepared mentally, it will happen ( and probably not your fault or "dumb thumbs" doing something you knew you shouldn't have been doing!) Back in the day you had to pass the transmitter between pilots and believe me a plane can lose a lot of altitude during the 3 seconds it takes to take the TX away. The point is though that you will crash at some point and it is not something you need to stress about. Believe me, the hobby is so much more valuable that the $$ you might incur due to a crash.

But... With careful attention to details and some studying, you can avoid some crashes. It sounds like you have been researching, reading, watching, etc. so you should be in pretty good shape to hit the air.

The P4 is a remarkable piece of technology. Take your time with it and before you know it you will be burning holes in the sky like everyone else.

Make sure your home point is correct before you take off.

Enjoy, and congratulations on getting involved in a great hobby!!

TheDroid · May 31, 2016

I feel the same way, last year I flew my phantom 1.1.1 and without a FPV kit I was terrified to get it up too high without been able to see it. I found I only got to about 100 ft to 200 ft. Now with my FPV kit I am much better but still terrfied everytime I fly, thinking its going to crash, do something weird and go somewere I wont be able find her. I have had it up to almost 600 ft now and feel much better with my FPV kit in action now, I can see everything the phantom can see. Now before every flight I make sure the batteires are all charged up and good, and when mounting the 2 batteries they are snug and secure. Makesure HP is marked, and makesure my OSD is working properly My phantom so far has performed perfect no issues to report. I get her sometimes up higher and higher and further away every time I fly. Had her to almost 3300 ft distance before starting to lose reception on the FPV screen.