New Drone Owner/Pilot

[TexasPilot2005]

Good Evening and Greetings from San Antonio, Texas.

I am new to this forum, new to drones and new to flying them. At age 70 (in a couple of months), another adventure and skill to be used.

Any and all advice will be appreciated!

I passed my Part 107 yesterday. Advice I have seen indicates that it may be best to wait 48 to 72 hours for the FAA to get the scores before completing the application.

After I got the test score and certificate, I proceeded to the store to purchase my new Phantom 4 Pro V2. I downloaded the full users guide and spent last night and all day today studying i in detail, along with a number of YouTube videos. I registered the drone with the FAA and have the certificate number.

About four hours ago, I finally activated it using DJI GO 4 app. And I have spent the past two hours using the flight simulator.

Again, any recommendation for tutorials, training and study are most welcome.

I am an instrument-rated private pilot and my new P4 has me intimidated - even in the simulator mode!! I'm fairly sure that it will be several days before I get up the nerve to put the props on and practice in Beginner mode.

May I ask my new fellow pilots to point me in the right direct in the forums for questions about (1) the DJI GO 4 app and (2) the simulator. I want to respect getting to the right forum. (For example, one quirk is that the simulator sometimes picks a drone that is not a Phantom. Another is that the iPad is seems to have more issues that my iPhone).

Thanks in advance for helping me navigate the forums as well.

Kindest regards -

ECS

 

[flyboy73]

Welcome to the Phantom Pilots. You will find some experts here who should be able to answer any question you have. It sounds like you have prepared yourself far more than most to fly your Phantom. While it may seem intimidating at first, they are amazingly easy to fly when you actually take off. There are a couple things I would suggest to make your first flight a little safer and less stressful.

Remember, when flying a drone, trees are not your friends. They have a bad habit of reaching out and grabbing your expensive investment. Make your first flights in an open area far from any trees.

Also remember that when bringing your drone back to you to land manually, if the camera is pointing at you the controls will be backward. I always turn the camera, (front of the drone) to face the same direction I am when bringing it back down. That way, a right stick control input will move it right, left stick movement will move it left, etc. If landing in tight quarters you don't want to accidentally push the quadcopter in the wrong direction. All this will become crystal clear to you when you first actually fly.

Seventy years old is certainly not too old to fly these. I am 74 and love the adventure and am constantly amazed at the quality of the photographs and videos my P4P allows me to take. I have to admit that even after a couple years of flying there isn't a single flight that I am not wondering a little bit if I will get it back. But if you can't get past that you'll never really enjoy flying these amazing little machines. All the best.

 

[TexasPilot2005]

Welcome to the Phantom Pilots. You will find some experts here who should be able to answer any question you have. It sounds like you have prepared yourself far more than most to fly your Phantom. While it may seem intimidating at first, they are amazingly easy to fly when you actually take off. There are a couple things I would suggest to make your first flight a little safer and less stressful.

Remember, when flying a drone, trees are not your friends. They have a bad habit of reaching out and grabbing your expensive investment. Make your first flights in an open area far from any trees.

Also remember that when bringing your drone back to you to land manually, if the camera is pointing at you the controls will be backward. I always turn the camera, (front of the drone) to face the same direction I am when bringing it back down. That way, a right stick control input will move it right, left stick movement will move it left, etc. If landing in tight quarters you don't want to accidentally push the quadcopter in the wrong direction. All this will become crystal clear to you when you first actually fly.

Seventy years old is certainly not too old to fly these. I am 74 and love the adventure and am constantly amazed at the quality of the photographs and videos my P4P allows me to take. I have to admit that even after a couple years of flying there isn't a single flight that I am not wondering a little bit if I will get it back. But if you can't get past that you'll never really enjoy flying these amazing little machines. All the best.

 

[TexasPilot2005]

Welcome to the Phantom Pilots. You will find some experts here who should be able to answer any question you have. It sounds like you have prepared yourself far more than most to fly your Phantom. While it may seem intimidating at first, they are amazingly easy to fly when you actually take off. There are a couple things I would suggest to make your first flight a little safer and less stressful.

Remember, when flying a drone, trees are not your friends. They have a bad habit of reaching out and grabbing your expensive investment. Make your first flights in an open area far from any trees.

Also remember that when bringing your drone back to you to land manually, if the camera is pointing at you the controls will be backward. I always turn the camera, (front of the drone) to face the same direction I am when bringing it back down. That way, a right stick control input will move it right, left stick movement will move it left, etc. If landing in tight quarters you don't want to accidentally push the quadcopter in the wrong direction. All this will become crystal clear to you when you first actually fly.

Seventy years old is certainly not too old to fly these. I am 74 and love the adventure and am constantly amazed at the quality of the photographs and videos my P4P allows me to take. I have to admit that even after a couple years of flying there isn't a single flight that I am not wondering a little bit if I will get it back. But if you can't get past that you'll never really enjoy flying these amazing little machines. All the best.

Good Morning. Many thanks for the kind and helpful reply. Will start doing that this morning. Regards - Ed

 

[Doug Rosevear]

Hi if you haven’t have a look at the DJI care it may be well worth getting this (you have 48 hrs from activation). Wide open spaces are your friend on your first flight practice circuits and figure 8’s ect but if you get a bit lost let go of the sticks the drone will hover until you can gain your thoughts (providing it in p mode) then fly on but one of the biggest things is read the manual. Welcome to the forum

 

[msinger]

Welcome to Phantom Pilots!

May I ask my new fellow pilots to point me in the right direct in the forums for questions about (1) the DJI GO 4 app and (2) the simulator. I want to respect getting to the right forum.

The Control forum would be a good place to ask questions about DJI GO.

 

[TexasPilot2005]

Hi if you haven’t have a look at the DJI care it may be well worth getting this (you have 48 hrs from activation). Wide open spaces are your friend on your first flight practice circuits and figure 8’s ect but if you get a bit lost let go of the sticks the drone will hover until you can gain your thoughts (providing it in p mode) then fly on but one of the biggest things is read the manual. Welcome to the forum

Hi Doug. Thanks for the DJI Care suggestion. I read the info and purchased it just now. Really appreciate the insight.

 

[TexasPilot2005]

Instantly received the Temp 107 certificate this morning.

I passed my 107 test on Monday afternoon. Logged into IACRA this morning.

I assume because I already had an IACRA account as an instrument-rated pilot and that the TSA already has my clearances established via Global Entry that it was all linked up. Regardless, the 107 was instantly available and I've printed it out.

Even though I have the Part 61 certificates I chose to take the knowledge test as a "just in case."

 

[LuvMyTJ]

Hello,
It is a pleasure to welcome you to the Phantom Pilots forum.
I hope that you will be able to use the forum to further your safety knowledge and for the exchange of innovative ideas and as a resource for current developments in DJI quadcopters.
*GO 4 APP MANUAL: DJI Go 4 Manual

 

[dirkclod]

Welcome to the forum .
I hope you will find our site helpful and look forward to any input , photo's/video's you might post .
Don't be shy and ask anything if you can't find it by searching .

 

[ryantrax]

Welcome to Phantom Pilots from Dayton Ohio! Congrats on your certification, Fly safe and have fun!