Newbie's

[Ed Hahn]

I have read a lot in here newbie's flying p4 for there first time.Why would you spend that kind of
money on your first drone? I flew a $50. & a $75. drone for the first six month to learn how to fly
before I invested in a good drone.Just something to think about before you make the leap.

 

[royster]

I too, flew a Syma Xc5 for a month before I took the plunge & bought my P3A. I didn't want to put down Phantom money until I flew something, just to see if I liked the whole concept of UAV;s.
I thought my Syma videos were so cool, & I don't know about you, but I put that poor thing into trees, buildings & the ground more times than I can recall & she still flew. Syma was good to figure out how to control a bird in the air, but, that's where the similarity ends, My first Phantom flight/video was simply breathtaking, the control, the rock solid hovering.
I still get that feeling when my bird takes off. I guess with beginner mode, safeguards built into the Phantoms, especially the P4/Mavics, if one is careful from the get go.
I still think it was the right move to start out with a "toy" UAV.

 

[Ed Hahn]

I crashed my toy drones many times,burnt motors,broke props.It was a good
experience for me.Something all newbie should do.

 

[AlecW]

I see people spending all kinds of money on stuff that I think is a waste of money. It's none of my business at the end of the day.

Edit: I have a 08 Jeep that I've got about 60 grand into at this point. Waste of money? To some folks yep, to others nope. Do I care what others think? Nope

 

[Samuraiz]

It's all a matter of perspective. For many people the cost of a Phantom is equal to a weekend vacation, a new watch. An I-phone 7 and an I -watch.. So cost is relative. The Phantom 4 is so easy to fly that, Myself as a first time drone owner, felt comfortable after several hours of increasing complexity. I admit I am still learning. I continue to frequent the large open fields to hone my manual flying and filming skills. I take every flight extremely seriously. I also use litchi, for the ability to program smooth camera motions. I can say that starting out on a cheap toy would have been a waste of time.

 

[AlecW]

I can say that starting out on a cheap toy would have been a waste of time.

And money. My neighbor has a cheapo starter drone and it's not easy to fly at all. It maybe lasts 5 mins before it's dead or we have to spend 15 minutes with a long pole to get it out of my trees (our yards are open). I wanted something better, did a decent amount of research and phantom came out on top in all my searches. I was going to get a P3, then saw a P3P for 799 and almost pulled that trigger. Then I saw a Cyber Monday deal on a P4, extra battery and charging hub for 999 and pulled that trigger.

I'm not all that worried about crashing from a $ perspective but I am worried about hurting someone with it. I'm smart enough and responsible enough to figure this thing out, it's not rocket science. My neighbor's kamikaze drone is way more lightly to poke someone eye out IMHO

 

[ugp]

What does it matter who spends what on what. It's their money. It's their own responsibility to make sure they do the research on the product they are buying. I am brand new to drones and I just flat out refuse to fly close to trees or any other structures until I have become a better pilot and better at judging distance. Flying toy drones is nothing like flying a Phantom. You have to be pretty careless to crash one of these things.

 

[Trucker Den]

I bought one for my son for Christmas. He is 14 and a very responsible young man. I have got the cheap toy chapters and drones for him before and they only seem to last for a few weeks. I jumped into a p4 because I figured it would be cheaper in the long run. Figure I buy a p3 standard for 399 plus more on extras. Then in time want to upgrade just to start over. I also got him a p4 because it is a big jump. He will understand that is not a toy. He will have to get his FAA registration and always do a good preflight check. And as I figured. If he doesn't like it I get a nice p4 out of the deal.

 

[tevek]

I bought one for my son for Christmas. He is 14 and a very responsible young man. I have got the cheap toy chapters and drones for him before and they only seem to last for a few weeks. I jumped into a p4 because I figured it would be cheaper in the long run. Figure I buy a p3 standard for 399 plus more on extras. Then in time want to upgrade just to start over. I also got him a p4 because it is a big jump. He will understand that is not a toy. He will have to get his FAA registration and always do a good preflight check. And as I figured. If he doesn't like it I get a nice p4 out of the deal.

You are indeed a generous dad! Your path to drone glory will be a little more challenged than your son's adventure all things being equal. Methinks you will be looking over your shoulder and have spittle running down your chin as you watch the P4 smoke you and thinking 'I need to upgrade'. Seriously though, you are obviously committed to ensuring that the learning curve is supported with guidance, nice work and leading by example. My son thinks it's useful as a leaf blower......

 

[snowghost]

The Syma toy was a good experience for me. It got me comfortable with the sticks in panic situations with different orientations and facings. YMMV.

 

[jwt873]

I flew a dumb $100 quad for a year before I moved up. Because of this, I'm completely at home flying a device with no, computer, no GPS or RTH. And, without the ability to remain in one position on its own, and without the ability to hover at a fixed height without applying throttle inputs to keep it from rising and falling.

Since last March, I've managed 233 flights and have never used 'auto takeoff' or 'auto land', and I've never activated the RTH button.

But if someone wants to skip this step, I don't see a problem with it.

 

[MarkNH]

I agree it's personal preference. I bought a cheap drone first. Got the P2 V+ then the P4. For me the cheap drone was just a waste of money.

 

[tevek]

Having owned a variety of planes, gliders, quads and helicopters (including a psychotic Blade SR) I moved to a PS3 and finally a P4 that I will stick with despite the latest and greatest moving to the market. Found that I can fly it in dumb mode and concentrate on filming or in manual to remind me of when ships were made of wood and men were made of steel. Used the same approach with motorbikes when I learnt to ride the small bikes before having the skills to ride and race the bikes I use these days.

 

[aermale]

I started with a toy and I'm glad I did, too.

Sent from my XT1254 using PhantomPilots mobile app

 

[ftttu]

I started flying cheapo gyrocopters, which I crashed all around my house. I've never flown a drone before, but I believed they would close to the flight characteristics of those gyrocopters. I'm glad I didn't get some cheapo drone, but went straight to a P4 for my first drone experience.

Also, wouldn't recommend an expensive drone to someone I know who is reckless, careless and irresponsible. However, I will point a regular Joe to a late model Phantom if they appear to have their head screwed on straight. Since they are SO easy to fly, the learning curve is steep for most people. I remember when I first started that I was scared to go to Sport and Atti modes. After I finally did, I felt like a master in no time. I still have had no crashes in my close to 170 flights and well over 2,000,000' flown on my P4.

 

[Darren Roach]

I personally have flown helicopters 25 years ago, had a long rest while I did the whole family thing "kids". Got back into it 3 years ago with small palm sized drones I could fly around the house. I still love flying my little hubsan drone around the house on really bad days and this led to a liking of multi rota machines. This has led me to get a new larger drone with film capable options. The p4 looked really good.

 

[Jason Doland]

My buddy got a P4 and wanted some help with it, I pulled it out of the box, charged it, skimmed through the instructions and took off flying. Ran it in all modes and tested all the cool features the 1st time I ever flew it. Definately not rocket science and probably easier to fly them some cheap toy drone. I now am patiently waiting to open my P4 for Christmas! But after flying that thing in sport mode Im not sure I would fly it any other way. So fun!!

 

[Ed Hahn]

I still fly my small drones there a lot of fun.I have 10 small ones that are great indoors or out. So when I am in my back yard I can have some fun. And when
I go out I have my Yuneec and my p-4 for some long distance flying.

 

[Meta4]

I have read a lot in here newbie's flying p4 for there first time.Why would you spend that kind of
money on your first drone? I flew a $50. & a $75. drone for the first six month to learn how to fly
before I invested in a good drone.

Another point of view is that a Phantom 3 or 4 will be much easier to fly than any cheap trainer drone.
You might be better off spending the time learning how the Phantom works than trying to fly a lesser machine.

 

[Matchlock]

Why would I spend "that kind of money?" Because I can. I don't need to buy toys to practice with. I'm 70 years old and have more money than I could spend in a lifetime so why would I buy toys to learn on when I can buy the best to learn on?

It's all relative my boy. You buy what you can afford.

I have read a lot in here newbie's flying p4 for there first time.Why would you spend that kind of
money on your first drone? I flew a $50. & a $75. drone for the first six month to learn how to fly
before I invested in a good drone.Just something to think about before you make the leap.