What You Should Have Been Told

[Boont]

Jimmy, thank you for your reply. Yes, I know what the Home Lock function does, but I am not talking about a safety feature. I was just wondering if there could be an option for controlling drones without respect to which way it happens to be facing. I really don't care which way it is facing, I simply want a better control option. Forward is always forward and backward is always backward regardless which way the drone or camera is facing.

 

[trevsdad]

Jimmy, thank you for your reply. Yes, I know what the Home Lock function does, but I am not talking about a safety feature. I was just wondering if there could be an option for controlling drones without respect to which way it happens to be facing. I really don't care which way it is facing, I simply want a better control option. Forward is always forward and backward is always backward regardless which way the drone or camera is facing.

What you're looking for is the 'COURSE lock', not 'home lock' function.

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[skellyrocker]

Manually calibrate the compass, launch, Take it up to 150' then hit the right stick full throttle till it returns on its own. Do this a few times and your balls will turn solid steel.

Alternatively take it up to 400' fly it out over the see to the extent of visual range and then turn the RC off. Bring toilet paper.

 

[Erised]

All of the above two times twice! After having flown over 4,000,000 feet here is one I still do, got to have GPS (not atti) when you get disorientated or lose sight of your craft LET GO OF THE STICKS!..It will brake, recompose yourself and figure out where you are and where you want to go then proceed.

 

[Boont]

OK, thanks all, got it. I will try it out today. I'm up at my ranch after several days of flying in the S.F. Bay Area. Plenty of room to have fun up here.

 

[Boont]

At the ranch I have about 50 acres to fly on. Much easier than the SF Bay Area.

 

[trevornewkirk]

I'll admit it, even after many many flights, I still get butterflies before I take off. Sometimes butterflies as big as 747's in the 'ol gut.

Even after a thorough preflight check, with ALL the boxes checked on my preflight checklist, there is always an uncertainty what may or may not happen. It's just the nature of this hobby I suppose.

My advice? Be ready for anything. Know what you need to do if a situation arises that you didn't plan on. Even go as far as installing a tracker of your choice to your bird. There are many to choose from, and numerous threads on the subject on the forum.

Overall, Fly Safe. Know the manual backwards and forwards as suggested above. When in doubt, search the forums for the answer to your questions before you fly. If still not sure of what you are doing, ask away on the Forum. There are a lot of experienced pilots here that will guide you in the right direction. Be Ready to fly before you take off, and the fun and enjoyment of your flight will soon calm the butterflies.

Fly Safe [emoji106]

Thank you!

 

[HawkeyeImaging]

I've had my first drone ever, a P4P for about a week now. I'm a total scaredy cat with it. As I gain confidence, however, I'm flying it alittle further.

I've read the manuals, Watched the videos.

But what do you wish you had been told when you first started flying your drone? What advice do you wish you had been given, or maybe been told one more time?

Not What I wish someone had told me, but what someone DID tell me! Buy a CHEAP drone first. $50 to $100 and learn to fly those with no GPS! Glad I did! That is the best advice. I actually purchased an 3DR IRIS + first, but before flying that one I bought the cheap one to learn on.

 

[Don Holmes]

As other people have said: learn to actually fly. Do not learn to rely on GPS and RTH. The majority of so-called fly aways are from people who see the drone behave strangely (usually due to compass or GPS issues) and issue an RTH command (which will not work if GPS has problems) or react the wrong way. A modern DJI drone is "too easy to fly", thanks to all the clever assistance technology. Problem is, once you lose the assist, it's still a drone and can behave in surprising ways

Buy a cheap toy drone ($30 or so) and learn to fly that one, even indoor. Learn how to control a drone that doesn't hover in place, but drifts. Learn to fly it in every orientation. Learn how to react quickly and instinctively. Those drones are cheap and almost indestructible. And much harder to fly than a Phantom (which is good).

If one day your Phantom does something strange, you will be able to flip it into ATTI mode and fly back safely, instead of being one more casualty of a "too easy to fly" drone. And you'll have the confidence to know you can take control if there is a problem

I started with the little mini-drones, palm size, for about $20. each. They are hard as hell to fly, but once you have mastered hover, land and altitude control, flying "anything" else is a piece of cake. Especially a Phantom. Learn to fly, keep your drone in sight, and you should never have a fly away from a Phantom Drone.