Scared myself.....which is a first for me.

Raftcomm · May 16, 2016

Hey folks!

I recently joined this forum and posted an introductory thread here.

I will skip straight to the point. I've been spending most of the month of April / May researching up on the P3P and what's involved in getting into this hobby. eg: P3P user manual, repair support services, local laws around flying drones in the area as well as countless YouTube videos on good and bad aerial photography. I felt i was ready to finally make the purchase until i started seeing more and more threads around fly aways and crashes.

Frankly im simply amazed at the quality of the videos and pictures but im extremely terrified about the potential harm it can do if a crash occurs. I know it sounds silly and if i take the proper pre-cautions, i should be able to stay safe. I'm just reading quite a few threads from experience pilots and how crashes occur either due to structural design faults (prop engines) or just radio interference from densely populated areas. Losing the expensive drone is almost the least of my worries although i would prefer not to.

With that, i ask if you have any tips on what else i should be reading up on to fully prepare myself for this hobby? Do you establish a particular flight discipline when filming people? eg: Never fly directly above them?

Any tips / advise from the more experienced pilots would be truly appreciated.

Mark The Droner · May 16, 2016

Use common sense. Other than that, what are you waiting for? You've done your research. It's time to buy and fly!

Wolfiesden · May 16, 2016

What is it you are actually afraid of?

Remember, the internet is essentially negativity driven. For every "I Crashed" or "Mine Flew away" rant, there are probably hundreds of thousands of successful flights that nobody posted about. Why? Because most people don't post when things go right, only when things go wrong.

Are you going to crash? Possibly. If thats stopping you, why are you driving your car, you could crash it.

Is it going to fly away? Possibly. Extremely unlikely but possible. Do you use cruise control on your car? Does it drive away?

Yes, I know there is a difference in cars and drones. Most of the time if anything goes wrong on a car, you pull to the side and stop. With a drone (or any aircraft), when things fail there is no pull over and park. Gravity is a law, not a suggestion.

None of us wants to loose our investment. Thats normal. You are normal. But if you are too afraid of loosing it, then maybe this hobby isn't your cup of tea.

thunderbird · May 16, 2016

For beginning fly within LOS in a open space, Get yourself use with the bird, Practice RTH and avoid going near trees, Sometimes Flying in FPV the tree's look further but actually it can be much closer, Practice makes perfect

kcmusa · May 16, 2016

I was like you , at first. Very careful, never to high or to far.
then as I got the hang of it, I went a bit farther and higher.
In time I trusted the bird to do what its programmed to do.
I have had it lose signal and return, scary the first few times.
So get one, practice, go slow. it wont crash unless you do something wrong. At first sign of trouble, let go of transmitter. It will stop and hover.
relax, think and take control.

thunderbird · May 16, 2016

Importantly understand the difference between P mode and Atti mode
Once I had it on Atti mode and thinking it was on P mode and looking into camera settings, After 2 minutes freaking bird is out of my LOS and When I found it's drifting to the tree

Lesson learned lucky I didn't crash

dwcola · May 16, 2016

Make sure you've reduced all known risk factors to a minimim including the most simple scenarios. Hardware, software is up to date. All betters are in good condition and checked in Healthydrones.com. Check all parameters before each flight. Often, a software update to the GO app will eliminate previously set parameters. Make sure props are on snug and have no issues, Battery is double checked and locked in place. Be aware of your surroundings and line of sight obstscles. Check your wind patterns, cell phone towers, electrical lines... Back off your brake and attitude to prevent prop fly off. Don't fly to agressively. Calibrate your compass and perform a good cold IMU calibration. Know your limitations and don't go beyond if you feel uncomfortable. If something doesn't feel right or doesn't feel right, don't do it, i.e. high winds, storm moving in etc.

FrequentFlyer · May 16, 2016

Yes. All of that. Go get one and start flying. You will have the time of your life.

Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots mobile app

Raftcomm · May 17, 2016

Folks, thanks very much for that wake up response. My fear is having the engine cut out during mid flight and hurting a person in the process. I have decided however to proceed with the purchase of a P3P as i just cant let my phobia get the better of me.

I have started to research into after market addons to see if i can re-enforce known weak points however.

Would love to hear any recommendations if you have any.

Wolfiesden · May 17, 2016

Welcome to your new addiction.

Just focus on flying and getting to know your new P3 before you go trying to make it better. Then you will know what you need or don't need.

About the only addons you should buy right away are extra batteries. I find 3 a good base. It gives you about 45min to an hour of flight before you need to recharge them. P3 comes with 8 props but a couple more couldn't hurt depending on your flying skills. I have been flying since January and I am still on my original set on my P3P. I haven't hit anything that broke a prop yet but I am sure the time will come.

Have you chosen your device you plan to use (android/ios)? If not, that is where you should focus your time.

Raftcomm · May 18, 2016

I currently have an old IPad 3 and using an iPhone 6 so am planning to use those. From some of the research I've done, it looks like ios operates better as certain Android devices like the Nexus tablets has proven problematic. Which one do you use?

Mark The Droner · May 18, 2016

On the contrary, from what I've read, people love the Nexus 7 2013.

I have a Neutab, don't get that!

Wolfiesden · May 18, 2016

I don't care for Apple products so I don't have nor have any experience with iOs stuff so I can't say how well or not those two will work. I am sure someone else can chime in on that aspect.

I have a Samsung Galaxy S5 phone. I started with that on the P3A and still use it when I fly both birds at the same time. Small but it works.

I purchased an nVidia Shield K1 tablet for use with my P3P (and use it with the P3A also). The nVidia Shield is probably one, if not the, most popular tablet (android at least) folks are using with Phantoms. Its fast. Its powerful. It has built in screen recording and streaming. It can even echo the screen out the HDMI port if you plug in a larger monitor. It comes with virtually no bloatware and everything it does come with can be removed or disabled rendering it a very streamlined machine. And if you want to, you can game the hell out of it because thats what it was built for! You can get a wireless controller very similar to xbox and PS controllers and have a blast. I have consoles for gaming so I didn't go down that road. But the road is still there nonetheless.

Both perform equally well with Litchi, which is the software I choose to fly with. IDK why but GO freezes and crashes on the S5. It has not done so on the Shield. Both are running Android 5 (Lollipop). There is Android 6 (Marshmallow) for the Shield. I chose not to upgrade because it currently works and there isn't any overwhelming reason to change whats on there.

Mimoid · May 18, 2016

I usually try never to fly directly above people, homes, roads, cars and stuff. If the drone should fall from the sky (eg after a bird collision), it is better to crash in a grass field or forest than on top of somebody's shiny parked Tesla.

Also try not to aggrevate people, there is already an awful lot of negativeness regarding drones, the least thing this hobby needs is more restrictions. Fly where there aren't a lot of people. If asked to leave, just do so.

//Tom

TWP723 · May 18, 2016

There are inherent risks in everything we do on a daily basis. I wouldn't be intimidated by what you've read or heard. If we all listened to others experiences, we'd never leave the house. It's like saying you won't drive your car because you may crash. Just because you're a drone pilot doesn't mean you'll crash it. I know people that have never crashed their quads and have been flying for years (I am NOT one of those

). That being said, it doesn't mean you won't. If you do..you do. It is what it is. It's part of the experience. But don't get cold feet due to fear of screwing up. We're humans. We make mistakes.

Just try not to!

Phantomfreak · May 18, 2016

Don't worry at all, you have done the research and are well prepared. As said, for every problem story you read there are thousands of stories with out problems.. People usually post those when they have issues, and are looking for help.. The Phantom is so easy to fly that you will be comfortable within a few minutes

Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots mobile app

djphantom2015 · May 18, 2016

Raftcomm said:
Hey folks!

I recently joined this forum and posted an introductory thread here.

I will skip straight to the point. I've been spending most of the month of April / May researching up on the P3P and what's involved in getting into this hobby. eg: P3P user manual, repair support services, local laws around flying drones in the area as well as countless YouTube videos on good and bad aerial photography. I felt i was ready to finally make the purchase until i started seeing more and more threads around fly aways and crashes.

Frankly im simply amazed at the quality of the videos and pictures but im extremely terrified about the potential harm it can do if a crash occurs. I know it sounds silly and if i take the proper pre-cautions, i should be able to stay safe. I'm just reading quite a few threads from experience pilots and how crashes occur either due to structural design faults (prop engines) or just radio interference from densely populated areas. Losing the expensive drone is almost the least of my worries although i would prefer not to.

With that, i ask if you have any tips on what else i should be reading up on to fully prepare myself for this hobby? Do you establish a particular flight discipline when filming people? eg: Never fly directly above them?

Any tips / advise from the more experienced pilots would be truly appreciated.

I was in the same situation. Never flew anything before. I was only interested in getting nice aerial footage. It's now 18 months that I'm flying a Phantom 2 2nd version I had only small accident. There is no reason to be scared. Basically you just need to be always fully concentrated and learn how to cope with worst case scenario, avoid public and choose a field where you can practice. Once you have more confidence and experience you should be able to recognize a problem before it could gets worse. Also the calibration dance is most of the time useless, and avoid taking off from a cement floor. Best take of from the case. Maybe I was just lucky but I'm sure the vast majority of phantoms flying out there are a technological masterpiece.

Raftcomm · May 19, 2016

djphantom2015 said:
Also the calibration dance is most of the time useless, and avoid taking off from a cement floor. Best take of from the case.

Sorry i didnt quite understand why its better taking off from the case? I do notice pilots do that alot in the YouTube videos but didnt realize there was an advantage of doing this?