What did you learn after your first day flying?

[Grae]

Hi folks.

My lessons learnt were:

- If you get into a tight spot, go high to get out of there, if you can. I didn't and hit a bush. Thankfully no damage at all.

- Keep an eye on the bird; perspectives get skewed when close to trees - even more so when only looking at the screen.

- Watch out for dogs. Turns out quite a few are actually intrigued and not scared. I had one run at me from nowhere as I was landing and jump at me with excitement. Holding back a random dog whilst conducting an emergency landing (critical battery) is a challenge!

- Shooting into the sun causes lens flare and it's not all good.

- If you want to record film, hit the record button! I emptied a battery and then realised I hadn't recorded anything.

- People will probably think you're a big kid, just flying a drone. A few people I spoke to didn't realise it has a professional camera attached to it and I was actually filming stuff! Not that it matters one bit, but I thought it was funny. When they realise there's a camera they get even more excited!

What lessons did you learn after your first day flying?


UK

 

[With The Birds]

Fail safe and RTH (start and stop) and how they perform.

Couldn't and still can't get used to the fact you can let go of the sticks and he just happily sits and waits.

It's not a professional camera. It's a great camera in good light and can produce amazing results for what it is. But you need to work within its limitations.

 

[Waylander]

Hi Grae from a fellow Brit

What did I learn the first time I flew the P3P, with stock settings it was a hell of a lot faster than the Phantom 2 I learnt to fly with, especially the braking / de-acceleration time. I have trimmed the braking effort down to 20%, I don't need it to stop on a sixpence, ( a Dime to our American friends) I don't fly it that way, plus I had a small concern that with so much braking effort generated by the motors, it could exacerbated the potential for cracking around the motor fixings.

So its all good now just waiting for some days without the constant drizzle and wind....
Regards
Waylander

 

[Grae]

Hi Waylander!

Great point! I need to configure the settings to reduce the braking for sure. Thinking about it, I try and go all smooth and then hurtle around like hell to get to certain points, turning and twisting with full air-skidding going on. Not good! I dropped my gimbal speed to 40% but didn't think about braking.

Winds at 4mph in York yesterday which was great. Sunny but cold.

Looks like the weather is improving quite a bit.

[emoji3]



UK

 

[olo]

after loosing the signal around 200 meters (600 feet) I found a DJI video what explains how signal strengths are in relation to the antenna position, then I experimented with a 0 cent booster and now 500 to 700 meters are no problem with a, thanks to CE crippled to 50 mw, drone.

I learned not to panic when the drone does not respond and used RTH several times with success to get me out of these situations.

I learned the importance of wind what is much different where the quadcopter flies than where I am standing.
So after start I go to the flying heights, let the Phantom stay there for good 5 seconds, sometimes with the S1 switch in middle position (without GPS) and check the drift on the display.

Also I let the Phantom hover during a flight for 5 seconds to get more wind readings for the log I check after the flight in HealthyDrones.com - Innovative flight data analysis that matters.

When I fly with the wind and it is over 20 km/h I leave 2/3 of the battery for the return trip.

I am a big fan for the "just grab a leg" landing approach, especially when the ground is not perfect.

I try to understand as much as is possible how the Phantom reacts via the HealthyDrones.com - Innovative flight data analysis that matters logs.

 

[Juno]

That it's easier then it looks. My first flight was about as uneventful as one could hope for!

 

[ELHEAPO]

Hi folks.

My lessons learnt were:

- If you get into a tight spot, go high to get out of there, if you can. I didn't and hit a bush. Thankfully no damage at all.

- Keep an eye on the bird; perspectives get skewed when close to trees - even more so when only looking at the screen.

- Watch out for dogs. Turns out quite a few are actually intrigued and not scared. I had one run at me from nowhere as I was landing and jump at me with excitement. Holding back a random dog whilst conducting an emergency landing (critical battery) is a challenge!

- Shooting into the sun causes lens flare and it's not all good.

- If you want to record film, hit the record button! I emptied a battery and then realised I hadn't recorded anything.

- People will probably think you're a big kid, just flying a drone. A few people I spoke to didn't realise it has a professional camera attached to it and I was actually filming stuff! Not that it matters one bit, but I thought it was funny. When they realise there's a camera they get even more excited!

What lessons did you learn after your first day flying?


UK

You make some very good points mine was dont let any family members "have a quick go" when i first owned my phantom fc40 my brother crashed it into next doors garden and my brother in law got it stuck in tree!! Amazingly enough it survived both instances with no damage! But my very first outing combinated with me leaving my backpack open while i was concentrating on flying my phantom i didnt realise a dog was pissing into my open bag, i could of kicked it!! The owner was very sympathetic though stating i shouldnt of left my bag open...I could of kicked him too,lol!!

 

[Rock Shelter]

I learned that when panic strikes and you're flying a P3A/P, let go and take a breath. The bird is so well behaved, it will sit there and wait for a rational decision. If only life were that easy.

I learned very quickly to monitor and trust my machine. Though I've let her down a time or two (no pun intended), she's pretty steady and predictable.

 

[auen1]

Hi folks.

My lessons learnt were:

- If you get into a tight spot, go high to get out of there, if you can.


UK

yep, lesson learned the hard way too, luckily I survived with only some broken props.

 

[Indy_Mike]

Being new I read and watch videos. I took it out in a open area no tall trees or buildings. I had it in beginner mode. I did not take it very high and watch how it moved. I landed it myself that was easy. Then I went back up and let it fly out and hit the RTH and watch it go up higher that I had took it. That's when I learn it had a setting for altitude on RTH and put that thought in to my head. That I need to make sure I had a setting set to clear every thing.

 

[Mr DroneNut]

DO NOT USE PROP GUARDS OUTSIDE..Donna calls them tree hangers". The quad will fall thru branches a lot faster without them.

 

[jearith]

I agree on first flight I was only 10 metre high and trees looked very close . I took it to 20. Metre and took both hands off looked around got my breath back and fly home. Since then I always do a test RTH at start of my day. It gives me the moral boost I can always get her back if I don't interfere. I'm also not afraid to use RTH if things don't look okay bring it home.

 

[alokbhargava]

My first lesson was fly higher than the nearby trees. Also use radar to guide you flying direction.

 

[rene van der meer]

Grae, a great idea. Can you bundle the best responses?
These are mine lessons/advices:
Take small steps.
Don't be afraid to make mistakes (lean others), but try avoid make stupid mistakes (learn from others).
Get to learn the AC before you undertake more challenging exercises.
Buy a 25$ drone or use the simulator to train basic flying. Use A (Atti) mode from time to time so you learn to control it yourself.
Put the mobile/tablet in airplane mode to prevent text messages flying over the screen during a flight.
And last but not least: enjoy flying this fantastic piece of flying equipment!

 

[jonebk12]

You make some very good points mine was dont let any family members "have a quick go" when i first owned my phantom fc40 my brother crashed it into next doors garden and my brother in law got it stuck in tree!! Amazingly enough it survived both instances with no damage!

Haha I've already decided that no one else will be touching the sticks of my new Phantom. Friends and family can play with my Syma if they like, but that's all.

 

[Grae]

All really good points, guys! And some really funny stories! Excellent! [emoji3]


UK

 

[Oso]

My first lesson was that I could not fly with the default stick settings. I had to invert my left stick for it to make any sense at all to me.

Second lesson was that my dedicated Mini 2 became an instant mirror when used outdoors. Much more so than I was expecting.

Third lesson was to not do a CSC to stop motors once I landed since it resulted in a tip over.

Fourth lesson was that I couldn't recharge my battery immediately after a flight. That was back in the days when batteries were very scarce and many of us had only one.

 

[Grae]

Orientation confused the heck out of me in the simulator! I had been warned against using the CSC! How long should one wait until charging a battery after it's been used?


UK

 

[CaptainDrone798]

Hi folks.

My lessons learnt were:


- People will probably think you're a big kid, just flying a drone. A few people I spoke to didn't realise it has a professional camera attached to it and I was actually filming stuff! Not that it matters one bit, but I thought it was funny. When they realise there's a camera they get even more excited!




UK

Unfortunately this issue seems to be universal. Some people react to drones in the same way they react to paying taxes while being surrounded by a swarm of bees.

 

[Lasty12]

First flight lesson, remember when flying low altitude that RTH takes it up to a minimum height, not what you want in medium winds!
Also, on the dog front.. Had just landed the bird and one came over all friendly... Then promptly pi#sed all over my bag and the legs of the quad!!
Lesson = keep away from dogs when not airborne!!!