My first (beginner) flights!

cheddarman · Nov 4, 2018

Amazing! Just found/uploaded the flight log for my training flight with my son..............................what an amazing piece of kit these Phantom 3 Advanced (and software) are!!!

MotorCycle-Man · Nov 4, 2018

Cheddar......Your flight path sure shows that you were having a blast.....the best of luck to you in all future flights.....I know how amazed you were and i hope that you have that excitement with ever flight...I still do after owning and flying my drone after near 14 months !

cheddarman · Nov 4, 2018

Hey MCM, yes it's a whole new ball game for an 80yo!! Been building and flying gliders and now electric flights, but this is a very different concept! I am amazed at the technology built into this thing, especially the "Come Home" button!!

MotorCycle-Man · Nov 4, 2018

Cheddar......I Thank you for the reply and i hope that you have many many hours and days of flying fun.........i cant wait to take my Drone UP again and the "pure Thrill" of the Very First take OFF is still their after many many many flights in the last 13 months !

*Drone Onnnnnnnnnnnnn Cheddarman !

cheddarman · Nov 5, 2018

My only drone experience is a little Hubsan X4 which is very skittish but flies well. The Phantom is a totally different beast but is actually easier to fly due to all its build in features, especially the "Come Home"

which has to be a life saver on many flights! Lose sight, hit the button!

3rdof5 · Nov 5, 2018

cheddarman said:
My only drone experience is a little Hubsan X4 which is very skittish but flies well. The Phantom is a totally different beast but is actually easier to fly due to all its build in features, especially the "Come Home" which has to be a life saver on many flights! Lose sight, hit the button!

Welcome!!!! Yes I know exactly the feeling you had when first flying a phantom, especially after coming from smaller "toy" AC with no GPS or all the other features. They truly are a joy to fly! Enjoy!!!

BillyN · Nov 10, 2018

My only DJI is a P3A like yours and after 2 years it feels I have not explored more than 30% of its many features. These things are a taste of the (sometimes scary) future. I am embarrassed to admit I still enjoy toy drones for what they are (s.a. fun for short anxious wind-fighting flights in the garden) and FPV custom builds for the involvement and education. Have fun with it, it is a very capable drone.

MotorCycle-Man · Nov 10, 2018

Billy........i'm same as you...my old tuff toy drone was bought for less then $100.00 USD its still a lots of fun to fly...it sure makes you enjoy the Higher Class features on a Phantom drone for sure ......i have 8 batterys for my "toy" drone and they are good for 5 to 7 minutes...i take it and fly it around the field as i set on my front porch and have a blast with it....have a great weekend.

BillyN · Nov 10, 2018

MotorCycle-Man said:
Billy........i'm same as you...my old tuff toy drone was bought for less then $100.00 USD its still a lots of fun to fly...it sure makes you enjoy the Higher Class features on a Phantom drone for sure ......i have 8 batterys for my "toy" drone and they are good for 5 to 7 minutes...i take it and fly it around the field as i set on my front porch and have a blast with it....have a great weekend.

I am laughing but it sounds exactly like my situation

I actually think that controlling anything in the air is fun (and good practice as well). I like the thrill of controlling a "not so smart" drone. And then there is my Phantom, sometimes over-protective, sometimes so smart it is annoying, always stable, surely capable, and with tons of documentation and web information. A different beast but I respect that. Take care!

cheddarman · Nov 10, 2018

I wonder how long it will take to pluck up the courage to program in a flight plan (and hope it comes back)!! So far I'm still on beginner made! How well do they handle wind? It's been terrible here for the past week so haven't dared fly it.

cheddarman · Nov 11, 2018

Just come back from my second flight, much more confident and great pictures!! There are two files on the SD card "DJI_0010.SRT" and "DJI_003.SRT".
What are these and how does one access them? Flight logs or something??

3rdof5 · Nov 11, 2018

cheddarman said:
I wonder how long it will take to pluck up the courage to program in a flight plan (and hope it comes back)!! So far I'm still on beginner made! How well do they handle wind? It's been terrible here for the past week so haven't dared fly it.

To answer your question on how well they handle the wind check out this video. My 2nd flight ever and my first test of POI mode. Watch the tree tops.

3rdof5 · Nov 11, 2018

Just before and going thru the 6 minute mark you will notice 2 things. Firstly you see just how well the gimbal keeps the camera on point (looking at the sun) regardless of the pitch of the AC. At that point the AC facing directly into the wind and the AC is pitched forward enough that the props come into view. It was fairly windy but the AC had no issues fighting it successfully completely on its own.

cheddarman · Nov 11, 2018

As a newbie, where should I have the various controls on the control unit. At the moment it's just set as my son had it, other than I've been flying in "Beginner" mode, and so far I haven't had any issues. I'm now thinking to switch off the "beginner".
The Flight Mode switch is on F which I read has IOS activated? Don't quite understand what the various options are here?
Also, maybe I should start on "P" mode?

Also, can the camera bet set to fully automatic exposure? All the pictures I've taken so far are over exposed.................

3rdof5 · Nov 11, 2018

cheddarman said:
As a newbie, where should I have the various controls on the control unit. At the moment it's just set as my son had it, other than I've been flying in "Beginner" mode, and so far I haven't had any issues. I'm now thinking to switch off the "beginner".
The Flight Mode switch is on F which I read has IOS activated? Don't quite understand what the various options are here?
Also, maybe I should start on "P" mode?

Also, can the camera bet set to fully automatic exposure? All the pictures I've taken so far are over exposed.................View attachment 105227

Yes the camera can be set to auto, look in the menu on camera. And P mode is the safest as it uses GPS to maintain position andto hover. If you are just now exiting beginner mode you'll notice F mode will not be available on the toggle on the RC. You have to enable F mode on the same screen in the Go app that you disable beginner mode to have access to it in flight.

cheddarman · Nov 11, 2018

Thanks for that, P it is!

cheddarman · Nov 12, 2018

3rdof5 said:
Yes the camera can be set to auto, look in the menu on camera. And P mode is the safest as it uses GPS to maintain position andto hover. If you are just now exiting beginner mode you'll notice F mode will not be available on the toggle on the RC. You have to enable F mode on the same screen in the Go app that you disable beginner mode to have access to it in flight.

Can't find anything about the camera in the menu. I get:
Main Controller Settings
Remote Controller Settings
Image Transmissions settings
Aircraft Battery and
Gimbal settings.

???