Newbies #1 P3 Mistake

[flyNfrank]

".... or full throttle to instant full reverse, another good chance of fly-off." How ?

The motor sequence(motor combo changes to reverse the pitch of a/c) sudden change.

 

[SMD]

A little trick of the trade for flying VLOS. To help with avoiding objects at distance, always keep some sky between the object and your aircraft and you will never hit it. You may have to increase altitude as you near the object to keep the sky in between, but if you do you won't hit it. I also look for its shadow if available to check its clearance from objects as well.

SD

Good info. Thanks

 

[dnthomas]

When I ordered my P3P it took a couple of weeks to get it. For two weeks I read this board, watched many many YouTube videos and anything I could find. It was invaluable when I got my P3P, learned lots I would not have from the manuals

 

[Travis726]

So how tight should the props be tightened?

I plan on tightening them pretty tight (by hand), Id rather loose a prop, than the whole craft by under tightening then having the air brake throw them off.

 

[Rodger]

If you are the type of guy that opens the box, charges the battery and away you go. And then figures you can catch up with any kind of reading later....then you will likely cost yourself some money in the coming days with the P3.

Now the P3 itself is really a easy aircraft to fly unless your making your 1st flight in strong winds. But the mistake will come from taking what's in the box for granted.

It's actually sad, but there is those that forget all about the money spent and insert a battery and head out the door. With the P3 you really should go through all the settings throughout each part of the system itself. This includes all calibrations and app setup. There really is some important things that need to be known. Some of these include, Home Lock, RTH Height, Proper Battery Insertion, Prop Install, Gimbal Lock, and more.

You will have a much better experience if you don't the investment for granted.

Good Luck to all and fly Safe!

When I was a flight instructor at the U.S, Naval training Command at Pensacola, Florida, we would impress on the flight students that every hour of flight instruction required at least 3 hours of ground study and preparation. I see no difference with drones.

 

[Meta4]

I plan on tightening them pretty tight (by hand), Id rather loose a prop, than the whole craft by under tightening then having the air brake throw them off.

The manual advises to only finger tighten them. The material in the threads is "sticky" to deal with braking.

 

[Travis726]

The manual advises to only finger tighten them. The material in the threads is "sticky" to deal with braking.

"finger tighten" is so vague. I bet I could strip the threads with only two fingers. Why didnt they just put a screw through the prop like my little cheap x5? Convenience Im guessing?

 

[PJ Orlando]

I wouldn't want to use screws with my props...but I get the point. Im usually able to hand tighten and untighten for that matter. I plan to start using carbon fiber ones soon but so far never had issues with the stock props.

 

[xave]

Preflight checks are important. During a recent check I noticed the following prop chipped at the end. It may be a tedious / boring but it will save you in the long run. **** carbon fiber reinforced props.

And no I didn't crash or make contact with anything. I suspect it may have been my kids playing with the storage case and they closed the case on the prop.

 

[scopey]

I am lucky enough to have a private pilot's license. I treat flying the drone just like the Cessna, there is a preflight inspection, a weather check, and a preflight checklist. None of these things take a lot of time, but it has so far kept me out of trouble. The ONLY issue I had, was the one and only time I skipped the preflight ritual. Thankfully it only cost me a prop and not an entire drone. There is a pilot saying that works for the drone too... "I would rather be on the ground wishing I was in the air, than in the air wishing I was on the ground".

I concur with what someone said about the simulator earlier. Although not perfect, it does a decent job. I practice emergency procedures (hey it is my money flying away, that's an emergency), stuff like that. Just to practice what to do, and what not do to, in certain scenarios.

I also took it in baby steps. Use the beginner mode until you get comfortable. Fly slow and low and get the feel of the aircraft. Launching to max altitude and distance out of the box will only result in some spectacular youtube footage!

Happy Flying

 

[jephoto]

One thing I learned after putting my P3 into a tree behind me as I was shooting fountain & cityscape and backing up to get a wider view - I now always start my flight with. Camera level and doing a 360 turn around To see exactly how high I need to be to avoid objects/buildings in my flight area.
Having the grid & crosshairs on to see my center point is really helpful here.
Same for hovering over areas where there might be people or things like cars that I don't want to risk dropping on.
Saved my butt multiple times since then.....

 

[droneshop]

Here is a quick write up of some settings to be aware of in the app before the first flight.
Setting Up The DJI GO APP

 

[RoadRogue]

If you are the type of guy that opens the box, charges the battery and away you go. And then figures you can catch up with any kind of reading later....then you will likely cost yourself some money in the coming days with the P3.

Now the P3 itself is really a easy aircraft to fly unless your making your 1st flight in strong winds. But the mistake will come from taking what's in the box for granted.

It's actually sad, but there is those that forget all about the money spent and insert a battery and head out the door. With the P3 you really should go through all the settings throughout each part of the system itself. This includes all calibrations and app setup. There really is some important things that need to be known. Some of these include, Home Lock, RTH Height, Proper Battery Insertion, Prop Install, Gimbal Lock, and more.

You will have a much better experience if you don't the investment for granted.

Good Luck to all and fly Safe!

Amen!

 

[Satellite Aerial View]

Hi flyNfrank,
I would like to make a comment (and I agree with you) which is that I am totally against manufacturers making the statement that it is ready to fly out of the box which I think borders on the irresponsible.
Part of my business is training people and my first comment to them is forget manufacturers comments "READY TO FLY OUT OF THE BOX" it is NOT. I have seen a lot of people fly out of the box and into a tree.
Cheers, JV

 

[jthayne]

I haven't even bought my P3P yet and am doing every bit of research I can to be as responsible as possible come purchase time. These forums are excellent for do's and dont's and I am going to feel very comfortable when I get this baby in my hands.

I agree with everyone here...study up on anything and everything you can get your hands on.

PS....such a nice change of pace reading posts from people who are all friendly and genuinely interested in each other's experiences....so tired of hateful crap in most other forums and/or social media


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots mobile app

 

[DiverDan]

So how tight should the props be tightened?

Well, take this as a guide for less-than-extreme low-stress flights from an old fart at 75 with arthritic thumbs; about as much as you can stand without extreme pain has worked for me.

For youngs, until it feels solid tight and no more lest you damage the threads.

It would be nice if DJI could publish torque standards to be used with mini-torgue wrenches for those who want to use them.

You may need "mechanic's feel". In the DEA Lab, we had some people who were forbidden to install new glass columns into Gas Chromatographs because they lacked it and would over-tighten and break them. Hope this helps.

 

[owen35]

+1
Good post Frank and so very true !

I have often said these phantoms are READY TO FLY as advertised
it the OPERATOR that is not so ready to fly!

even after 4 p2's ,
I still took a long day of setup and playing with the p3p when I got it.

Can I ask why you went through 4 p2's? This is my 2nd quad, first was an AR Drone that was returned after 3 day's and traded up to a p3s. Is there something specific that put you through so many?

 

[kirk2579]

Can I ask why you went through 4 p2's? This is my 2nd quad, first was an AR Drone that was returned after 3 day's and traded up to a p3s. Is there something specific that put you through so many?

sure

BTW all bought used at B&H this past 13 months:

bought a vision plus first at Xmas 14, crashed it with immediately but with little harm but I realized cost of real crash.
also needed to keep plus till July wedding at beach for daughter.

so I bought a basic P2 v2 to just learn to fly, had a ball ,
bought a used p1.1.1 for fun as well ,
added a cheap 5mhz camera to base p2v2 for short range fpv

sold p1.1.1 as did not use much- sold for what I paid for it

used the 2 p2's all summer and got wedding site etc (in wedding could not fly) and stuff I wanted at Sanibell Is.

sold the base p2v2 with cam at thanksgiving for about what I paid
bought p3a
bought p3 pro for better Lightbridge

sold p2vision plus day after xmas 2015 for 590 with case 3 battery and in great shape

returned p3a

dam near bought a p3 standard open box today just for the battery

each one sold in great flying condition === proof they all don't fly away lol

good luck and have fun flying

 

[Cale262]

...Thinking aloud here but wouldn't this make a great "Sticky" thread, not that anyone reads those until it's already too late

 

[alokbhargava]

My intuition hints that most of the accidents/ crashes that newbies had with their P3's were due to hitting tree branches. So the #1 mistake is flying at low heights.

Newbies tend to fly low say at 30-50' due to a fear of aircraft falling from the sky. But they don't realize that flying low is causing most of the accidents. Falling from 50' or 100' will not make much difference to the extent of damage, so why not fly at a reasonable safe height say 150' or above the highest nearby obstruction. The safest height would be 200'.

If you plan to fly long distance, fly at 350-400' height to keep safe line of sight.