What were you like when you first flew?

[Chameleon99]

Can you remember back to your first few flights....were you so cautious you didn't go anywhere and hardly moved a thing, were you all fingers and thumbs (and sweating with nerves), or were your joysticks a blur as you intended to master some ninja moves of the skies....just thought it would be fund and interesting to hear

 

[alokbhargava]

I was not nervous but yes I was checking all the settings again and again. I had used prop guards too which I didn't use subsequently.

 

[BigAl07]

My "First Flights" we back in 1974 so I kind of remember them. I was so nervous I think my knees were bruised from knocking together. I watched the airplane "porpoise" Nose Up, Nose Down, Nose Up, Nose Down, Nose UP until it lost airspeed and reconnected with Terra Firma very abruptly.

I've trained many new sUAS Operators and the most common "new flight" mode is FULL STICK Travel in every direction. Over control is the norm. I always tell my students, "Treat the sticks like they are fragile little bird legs. Move them ever so gently and not too far or those little bird legs will break".

Sometimes it helps and sometimes not so much LOL.

 

[ROD PAINTER]

Probably my 1st 20 flights were in beginner mode but still nervous. Now flying is like I been doing it for several years. But I learned to still be very cautious and fly safely.

 

[Nightwolf]

Tentative. Up 30' move to the edge of the yard. Turn, come back and land. Second flight inspected my Dad's Ham antenna. Up 100', around it and back down. Nerve wracking.
A week later doing figure 8's and swooping on my location at top speeds.

 

[AndrewCCM]

I am more concerned with being able to actually find a place to get my P4P up without having to notify everyone and their dog. Dallas/Fort Worth is so packed full of airports and helipads... I hate having to drive an hour just to go practice flying around in a circle at 20ft. SMH!

 

[cyzerman]

I was nervous on my first flights. I started out only flying about 20' high and 20'-30' away. I'm still a new pilot and make sure to keep it in line of site.

 

[JoBe]

i was only afraid to go far but more than anything i was in awe of the ridiculous awesomeness of the tech and wanted to show everyone. now i try to hide so nobody thinks i'm a stalker.

 

[cyzerman]

@JoBe I totally get that!

 

[captainmilehigh]

i was only afraid to go far but more than anything i was in awe of the ridiculous awesomeness of the tech and wanted to show everyone. now i try to hide so nobody thinks i'm a stalker.

Gotta agree there. When I first started years ago I was only flying close by, and not very high. Taking baby steps in beginner mode. Now I’m a little braver, flying around trees in ATTI-mode, and way more distance and altitude.

But still I find myself still amazed at the technology involved in these things. Even watching it hover, by itself, at 50 feet or 400 feet high.....just hanging there........

Gotta love it. [emoji12]

 

[MotorCycle-Man]

Gotta agree there. When I first started years ago I was only flying close by, and not very high. Taking baby steps in beginner mode. Now I’m a little braver, flying around trees in ATTI-mode, and way more distance and altitude.

But still I find myself still amazed at the technology involved in these things. Even watching it hover, by itself, at 50 feet or 400 feet high.....just hanging there........

Gotta love it. [emoji12]

I'm with You 100%......same here.... and after near 200 flights I still am just excited when i lay the drone down and activate the drones battery and back off 15 feet to fire UP the engines...after i hear "home point is recorded".....Its Time to throttle UP and take to the skys above..to wander like a nomadic "airborne" Gypsy.
I Love to Fly and i love to find new areas to fly in that don't require a call to the "Air traffic control operator" or some "airport"... less then 5 miles from Me right now i have 2 airports that require that !......Have a safe flight ever one !

 

[Deleted member 62848]

Yip first flights was cool and scary,those little symas buzzing round the lounge and then big steps outside above the roof ,used to land and be shaking,then inherit a large OS nitro helicopter which nearly kill me,new nothing,7 channel Jr remote (mosquitoes is the heli) servo reversed on start with throttle open full,had to stand on rear to break iner belt drive so I could lie on ground and hold fuel line shut till rotors stop turning,wow what a rush,44inch hardwood blades,felt very alive and took about a week to stop shaking,did fly it once but kept blowing head gasket,oh do I have respect for spinning props and the fascination got me hooked

,,ps it's safer on the wall

 

[MotorCycle-Man]

Yip first flights was cool and scary,those little symas buzzing round the lounge and then big steps outside above the roof ,used to land and be shaking,then inherit a large OS nitro helicopter which nearly kill me,new nothing,7 channel Jr remote (mosquitoes is the heli) servo reversed on start with throttle open full,had to stand on rear to break iner belt drive so I could lie on ground and hold fuel line shut till rotors stop turning,wow what a rush,44inch hardwood blades,felt very alive and took about a week to stop shaking,did fly it once but kept blowing head gasket,oh do I have respect for spinning props and the fascination got me hooked View attachment 95385,,ps it's safer on the wall

What a Great Story......In fact i could near see it all taking place and them big 44 inch blades at High RPM spinning W I L D L Y ! .glad that your still with us and not cut to tiny pieces !

 

[Deleted member 62848]

What a Great Story......In fact i could near see it all taking place and them big 44 inch blades at High RPM spinning W I L D L Y ! .glad that your still with us and not cut to tiny pieces !

Yeh thanks sure it still give me nightmares ,always imagine what would have happened if I didn't break the back of it,had full tank ,just would have gone straight up ,I remember clear looking at remote with throttle stick hard down but it was on way to being out of control and blades were in hair cut mode ,no idea how mange to hold fuel line without getting hit in the head,very very lucky and note to self after that not to touch what not know about

 

[Dronefriend]

First time was 2 years ago with a P3S and a miniscule Sony Z5 Compact as viewer. It was night time and freezing cold. I went out to the parking lot by myself. Checked all settings again and again. Fired up the drone (can hear the motors revving as I type this).

It hovered right in front of me and I proceeded with a climb about 30 meters straight up in front of a large, warm and lit up building. I absolutely could not believe my eyes, peering at the small screen.
I was amazed from the very first time.

 

[strange82]

Well, if we’re taking rc flight in general, my first was an E-flite Apprentice. Man was I nervous! I was all self taught, I’m not really near any clubs and I don’t know of anyone that flies near me so it was kind of a sink or swim thing. That was three years ago now I think. My first Phantom flight was two years ago with my P2 with full fpv setup. Again, very nervous, but t didn’t take me long to get the hang of it.

 

[With The Birds]

My first flights I spent more time climbing trees, over the back fence, picking up broken pieces and rebuilding stuff than I did flying. The short periods I was in the air I was sweating and the whole time over correcting the last error I made until I crashed. That was with RC heli’s and before LiPo’s so they were powered by nitro engines. An expensive learning curve. I remember my first flights with a phantom- I couldn’t stop laughing to myself about how easy it was, even in ATTI mode- they are, compared to RC heli’s, ridiculously easy to fly. The trick is in understanding the software features, especially RTH and what to expect and resisting the temptation to fly with third party apps until you are very comfortable flying with the GO app.

 

[Neon Euc]

My first time I was to excited to be nervous. I knew of the RTH feature and me being...well.. Me, I decided to go out all guns blazing. Within a min of launching I lost signal. Can't tell you how many times I pressed the RTH button only to get it confused with the power switch button turning the controller off Lol. But when I heard it come back (but couldn't see it) I felt so excited. So I decided to record the next footage and go as high as possible till I lost signal then got home and watched the footage....ahhh great days [emoji2]

 

[blmeanie]

Agree with many people here, one thing I haven't seen mentioned is for first few flights I remember exclusively watching the bird and not looking at the phone display of FPV. If I wanted to look at that I took fingers off sticks so it would be idle, take a glance down at FPV, then back to bird to fly...

 

[RaeThrills]

My first flight was a disaster. There were no drones for us. It was a fixed wing all manual. I remember the short lived excitement in the air for a whole 10 seconds before nose dive into the ground. I seen many birds end this way under my control. I eventually became better and only crashed upon landings. I move over to helicopter s which where better for me. Then drones. I knew I found my calling. I was a very good flyer by the time the at parrot drone came out. That was my first drone. Then a blade 350 qx2. After awile I went to building racers. Hell now drones fly themselves. I'm still glad I learned when I did. I took those crashes hard. I can't imagine if I had those crashes now how hard I take it. Foam glue won't do the trick like before.