Another Newbie Looking For Advice

[jerry lawson]

Any advice on getting started will be greatly appreciated. I am expecting a Phantom 3A Tuesday. I have watched the tutorial videos and they make things look pretty straight forward. I will be using a LG tablet with LTE connection and have downloaded the DJI GO App. If any of you more experienced pilots would share info on common newbie mistakes i would like to read them. I do not want to get GO FEVER and screw things up before actually flying. Thanks!!

 

[msinger]

Welcome to Phantom Pilots! And, congrats on your new P3A

You can find a lot of useful tips at PhantomHelp.com.

 

[Meta4]

Here's some reading for you: https://dl.djicdn.com/downloads/phantom_3/en/Phantom_3_Advanced_User_Manual__V1.6.pdf

The Phantom 3 is much easier to fly than you imagine.
The trick is to not let this fool you into getting too adventurous too early.
Do your early flights in a large open area, well away from trees, buildings and obstacles.
Be afraid, very afraid of trees, buildings etc. They are involved in most incidents.
Read up on return to home procedures, practise using RTH and cancelling it so you understand how it works and how you can resume control in an RTH situation.

 

[Air Ontario]

Read the manual and understand it enough to operate if things go wrong. Set up the app and all failsafes and RTH. Fully charge everything. Hover in a wide open space and get the feel of moving it in 3 D space for starters.

 

[Sinisalo]

Any advice on getting started will be greatly appreciated. I am expecting a Phantom 3A Tuesday. I have watched the tutorial videos and they make things look pretty straight forward. I will be using a LG tablet with LTE connection and have downloaded the DJI GO App. If any of you more experienced pilots would share info on common newbie mistakes i would like to read them. I do not want to get GO FEVER and screw things up before actually flying. Thanks!!

Read the manual, read the manual, read the manual (you can download it from here)watch all of the DJI Tutorials, don't rush anything, always top off you battery before you fly, never fly on a partially discharged battery, altitude is calculated based off of where you took off, if you fly up a slight incline remember to increase altitude to match the incline or you run the risk of crashing. Altitude is your friend, don't make the mistake of flying low for fear of crashing or you are more likely to crash, fly high enough that there isn't anything to crash in to. Follow the laws and be safe.

 

[jerry lawson]

I think i will

Here's some reading for you: https://dl.djicdn.com/downloads/phantom_3/en/Phantom_3_Advanced_User_Manual__V1.6.pdf

The Phantom 3 is much easier to fly than you imagine.
The trick is to not let this fool you into getting too adventurous too early.
Do your early flights in a large open area, well away from trees, buildings and obstacles.
Be afraid, very afraid of trees, buildings etc. They are involved in most incidents.
Read up on return to home procedures, practise using RTH and cancelling it so you understand how it works and how you can resume control in an RTH situation.

con

Here's some reading for you: https://dl.djicdn.com/downloads/phantom_3/en/Phantom_3_Advanced_User_Manual__V1.6.pdf

The Phantom 3 is much easier to fly than you imagine.
The trick is to not let this fool you into getting too adventurous too early.
Do your early flights in a large open area, well away from trees, buildings and obstacles.
Be afraid, very afraid of trees, buildings etc. They are involved in most incidents.
Read up on return to home procedures, practise using RTH and cancelling it so you understand how it works and how you can resume control in an RTH situation.

i should

Read the manual, read the manual, read the manual (you can download it from here)watch all of the DJI Tutorials, don't rush anything, always top off you battery before you fly, never fly on a partially discharged battery, altitude is calculated based off of where you took off, if you fly up a slight incline remember to increase altitude to match the incline or you run the risk of crashing. Altitude is your friend, don't make the mistake of flying low for fear of crashing or you are more likely to crash, fly high enough that there isn't anything to crash in to. Follow the laws and be safe.

Thanks to all so far!!

 

[jerry lawson]

I am pretty thorough and will read manual and watch very good tutorials before even attempting video or photos. The RTH option seems like a really idiot proof mode. I HOPE!!

Read the manual, read the manual, read the manual (you can download it from here)watch all of the DJI Tutorials, don't rush anything, always top off you battery before you fly, never fly on a partially discharged battery, altitude is calculated based off of where you took off, if you fly up a slight incline remember to increase altitude to match the incline or you run the risk of crashing. Altitude is your friend, don't make the mistake of flying low for fear of crashing or you are more likely to crash, fly high enough that there isn't anything to crash in to. Follow the laws and be safe.[/QUOTE

 

[Sinisalo]

I am pretty thorough and will read manual and watch very good tutorials before even attempting video or photos. The RTH option seems like a really idiot proof mode. I HOPE!!

The DJI Go app will show you a mini map in the corner with an arrow representing the direction of your drone and there will be a line showing your flight path as well as a line showing the straight line back to your home point. If you ever lose video (it usually happens before you lose control signal) you will still have the information on that mini map (you can make the map bigger by touching it) Practice flying home based on the map or line of sight instead of using return to home which rely's on gps and should be used as a last resort. Practice flying in atti mode (high enough you won't hit anything) you will see that when flying in atti mode when you stop moving the stick the quad keeps drifting because it does not brake the same way that it does in gps mode. That is the same thing that will happen if you lose gps while flying in PGPS mode. Also don't fly a full 23 minute flight as DJI has stated is possible. My flights have been at the longest 18 minutes. I always come back towards my home point early enough that I can start landing at 40% and I can be landed by 30%. Also it is my practice to check my dji go failsafe settings before every flight as they are reset when you update the go app which my apple phone is set to do automatically. Lastly, do a cold imu calibration and that will

 

[jerry lawson]

The DJI Go app will show you a mini map in the corner with an arrow representing the direction of your drone and there will be a line showing your flight path as well as a line showing the straight line back to your home point. If you ever lose video (it usually happens before you lose control signal) you will still have the information on that mini map (you can make the map bigger by touching it) Practice flying home based on the map or line of sight instead of using return to home which rely's on gps and should be used as a last resort. Practice flying in atti mode (high enough you won't hit anything) you will see that when flying in atti mode when you stop moving the stick the quad keeps drifting because it does not brake the same way that it does in gps mode. That is the same thing that will happen if you lose gps while flying in PGPS mode. Also don't fly a full 23 minute flight as DJI has stated is possible. My flights have been at the longest 18 minutes. I always come back towards my home point early enough that I can start landing at 40% and I can be landed by 30%. Also it is my practice to check my dji go failsafe settings before every flight as they are reset when you update the go app which my apple phone is set to do automatically. Lastly, do a cold imu calibration and that will

 

[jerry lawson]

My friend, what is a cold imu calibration

 

[jerry lawson]

you seem to have this down cold. i hope you dont mind if i pick your brain!

 

[msinger]

My friend, what is a cold imu calibration