Bought a phantom 3, destroyed in 2 hours later - next steps?

[Noodle]

I bought and learned to fly a P3P. Then I bought a Syma X5c-1. The Syma isn't anything like flying the P3.

Of course they fly differently, Phantom has GPS assisted flying while X5C-1 is all manual. The reason I suggest to start with a X5C-1 is so you can really learn to control a quad all by yourself, once you have a good grasp on a X5C-1 you will find flying a Phantom a lot easier and stable, so the chance of you crashing your expensive Phantom is less (unless of course you get too over-confident and fly like an idiot, then you will still crash your Phantom).

 

[stujol]

Hopefully the assessor will refuse to pay out for the idiots claim (his words), IMO I think that it is an outrage that just because someone has a particular type of credit card that they will get reimbursed for their **** up. Was the P3 registered with the FAA, if not then the operator/owner/purchaser is breaking the rules and in the eyes of the law a criminal.

I'm sure he pays for that privilege in fees or interest, so why shouldn't he use it? And I think flying a drone before it is registered would fall more in the civil infraction area, not criminal. That is like saying every one with a speeding ticket is a criminal.

 

[John N Kronyak]

A friend of my brother bought a P3P for Christmas. He decided to check out some high voltage(750K) transmission lines on his first flight and it fell to the earth like a rock. What else can I say.

 

[kphantom]

Of course they fly differently, Phantom has GPS assisted flying while X5C-1 is all manual. The reason I suggest to start with a X5C-1 is so you can really learn to control a quad all by yourself, once you have a good grasp on a X5C-1 you will find flying a Phantom a lot easier and stable, so the chance of you crashing your expensive Phantom is less (unless of course you get too over-confident and fly like an idiot, then you will still crash your Phantom).

Yes, the Syma, as compared to the P3 is hard as hell to fly, lol. It's probably a good ATTI equivalent that is actually harder to fly than ATTI mode on the P3, not a bad idea to learn "cheap."

 

[kphantom]

A friend of my brother bought a P3P for Christmas. He decided to check out some high voltage(750K) transmission lines on his first flight and it fell to the earth like a rock. What else can I say.

Bad move. High voltage = danger. Beware.

 

[JetFalcon]

Firstly, do you have any prior experience flying a quad? If no, then go buy a cheap quad first such as a Syma X5C-1 and learn flying (and crashing) it first before you fly a Phantom.

I bought a DJI Phantom 3 Standard and I've already done 2 flights without any crashes. I just haven't tried the fancy features or try flying this thing a mile away from myself. I just do simple stuff and the most I've done was take it 200-300 feet in the air and get some aerial footage. I'm a noob, but I am coming into this hobby with caution and not assuming the drone will do everything for me. Flying it in the park is pretty simple, and I can do cool stuff like getting skyline views of the area or moving it around the field.

But OP did you get the crash on video? Should post it, drone crashes probably get more hits than some boring aerial shot of mom's house.

 

[kirk2579]

Are you serious?

Incredibly dumb idea and even worse, you followed up with dumb execution.

That's like getting on your first motorcycle ever, and saying "hmm, I wonder if I can pop a wheelie at 100 mph?". Then you crash your bike and crack a few ribs, and call up the dealership and say "But it broke! Give me a new one!".

Fly within your abilities. It is not a toy, it's a super light aircraft. Treat it as such. The fact that you think your judgement of the trees is at fault, and not your overall strategy belies your inexperience and lack of knowledge.

And if you must do dumb things, please do so in environments where you won't get caught and give everyone else here a bad name.

At least you're in Canada I assume...

+1

it appears to be partly a function of more money than brains (or common sense).
sometimes a very dangerous combo!

 

[RVD98072]

i learned how to fly on a syma x8w. it's about the same size as the phantom 3 but it is like 10x harder to fly. i crashed the syma a few times (one time pretty bad) but learned enough to fly that thing in close quarters inside the house, going up/down stairs, etc. flying the phantom 3 is a breeze since it just works and it auto-hovers, etc.

it's not the same but if you can get to the point of being a half decent pilot on a cheap drone, you'll be well prepared to fly squares, 8s, forward, backwards, etc. on the phantom 3.

 

[JetFalcon]

Well since you broke your drone, you should go buy one at Target. They're throwing in aa free DJI backpack until Jan 2.

I just bought mine a few days ago, I'm already on my 3rd flight. And I went 300 feet in the air taking aerial shots and was able to bring it back down. I was already getting a bunch of hate just asking how to fly it, but I got as much advise within 24 hours before taking it out.

Should try the simulator too so you can become familiar with the controls.

 

[GadgetGuy]

I bought and learned to fly a P3P. Then I bought a Syma X5c-1. The Syma isn't anything like flying the P3.

True, but if you can fly the Syma X5c-1, you'll have no trouble flying the P3P in ATTI mode, should that become necessary. Flying the P3P alone gives a false sense of confidence to a neophyte flyer, that leads them into thinking they know what they are doing, when they really don't. Inevitably, stuff happens, panic ensues, and a crash results, all because of inexperience. Just because the box says ready to fly does not mean YOU are ready to fly! First, learn on a cheap $55 indestructible drone like the Syma X5c-1, and then upgrade to the $1200 P3P!

 

[GadgetGuy]

A friend of my brother bought a P3P for Christmas. He decided to check out some high voltage(750K) transmission lines on his first flight and it fell to the earth like a rock. What else can I say.

Thank goodness! Darwinism is our friend! 95% of these new drones will be destroyed within a week. Most will never replace them!

 

[redtazdog]

Thank goodness! Darwinism is our friend! 95% of these new drones will be destroyed within a week. Most will never replace them!

But sell them as scrap and spare parts

 

[JetFalcon]

Thank goodness! Darwinism is our friend! 95% of these new drones will be destroyed within a week. Most will never replace them!

I'm new, I never flown anything, and I'm already on my 3rd flight. I taken the drone up 400 feet and let it explore a giant local park in my area. I let it go so high to the point I can't hear it or it's like a speck in the sky. And still had good control over and was able to get it back to me just as long as I had the video.

I don't get how these noobs are crashing their drones. I think the simulation helped a lot to at least be familiar with the controls rather than panicking and having no idea what to do if say drone tries going home on low battery and goes to the wrong home point.

I'm still flying in big open parks. I haven't tried flying it around my neighborhood around houses like where I would truly be flying it away from me. But hoping to get good enough because I wanna fly it in Hollywood Hills, friend has a pad there and it'd be a cool area to explore via drone.

 

[Othan1]

I'm jealous of your insurance.

/what? Everything else has been said.

 

[The Suburban Hippie]

Why would you wish ill upon someone when it does not affect you at all? If your next door neighbor wants to give you $1000 should I rant about how terrible that is because you don't deserve it? No, I should wish you the best of luck and stop being so negative. Brighten up someone's day when it does not cost you anything.

May I ask what year you were born tcope? Was it after say 1980?

The reason that poster said that, is he likely was born in a time when everyone had to make their own way, and there were fewer entitlements. If he broke something, he had to pay for it. If he made a mistake, he had to own up to it. The world works best that way.

If you think that people getting drones they don't care to learn how to fly first, crash them, and then the credit card company pays for it doesn't effect you, then you likely haven't thought about it.

It works like this, and I will give an example after this statement. He or she is mad because what actually happens is many people do this.

A. The credit card company is a business. They aren't into good will. Meaning what they do is raise the rates on EVERYONE to cover multiple loses on things like this. Imagine an insurance company. A pattern develops where they are paying multiple claims for lets say crashed motorcycles. They raise the premiums on just that model for everyone, but ALSO, if they deem they aren't profitable enough, everyone in every vehicle gets their rates raised.

B. If people continue to wreck things on their own and make claims, then eventually the credit card company makes a rule that they will not re-emburse any claims on drones. Even when someone has a legitimate one like they buy it, don't wreck it and it stops working.

C. I am not going to go into the whole thing about people doing stupid things with drones prompting the FAA to make all these laws.

I'm personally not going to choose to rant when someone does something like this. Sure it bothers me, but I can't change the country, so I just move on...

Hope this helps shed some light

 

[WetDog]

I'm jealous of your insurance.

/what? Everything else has been said.

$900 / year for a VISA card is pretty steep. For that much money, it should not only buy him a new drone, it should pick up the pieces from the old one and make his bed.

 

[Shammyh]

$900 / year for a VISA card is pretty steep. For that much money, it should not only buy him a new drone, it should pick up the pieces from the old one and make his bed.

$900 Canadian. Still, it is a bit steep IMHO. Luckily, the guy is entitled to pay for whatever he wants.

 

[tcope]

May I ask what year you were born tcope? Was it after say 1980?

If I said I was 49 years old, would you then concede that you are incorrect about your presumption of my view on the issue? I'm only using your own argument after all.

The reason that poster said that, is he likely was born in a time when everyone had to make their own way, and there were fewer entitlements. If he broke something, he had to pay for it. If he made a mistake, he had to own up to it. The world works best that way.

The OP is not asking for anything he is not entitled to... that is the difference. The credit card company told the OP if he used their card (for which they make about 2% interest on purchases.... which is millions of dollars) and the OP paid them a yearly fee (around $800) that they would offer him accidental insurance on his purchases. In those words... it's insurance. If you wrecked your car into a wall should we chastise you when you file a $10,000 insurance claim because you felt "entitled"? The nerve of you feeling that someone owed you money because of your or stupidity! Never mind that this was the deal your insurance company made with you. The OP was not scamming anyone or doing anything he was not entitled to do. He did not crash the Phantom and then try to return it as being defective.

But that is not even the point of my comment. The point is... there is no need to criticize someone else for something that they are entitled to. The OP clearly admitted he screwed up. He was very much to the point in asking the best way to go about the repairs. There is simply no good reason for someone to criticize someone else for their good fortune. I could understand someone making a post about being more careful, reading the manual, watching Youtube videos, etc. I replied pointing out that Follow Me mode was an advanced flying mode and following a vehicle is about the most risky way to use it for even advanced users.

I'm personally not going to choose to rant when someone does something like this. Sure it bothers me, but I can't change the country, so I just move on...

I try to do the same thing. I'm not perfect and fail at it sometimes but I try.

 

[The Suburban Hippie]

If I said I was 49 years old, would you then concede that you are incorrect about your presumption of my view on the issue? I'm only using your own argument after all.



The OP is not asking for anything he is not entitled to... that is the difference. The credit card company told the OP if he used their card (for which they make about 2% interest on purchases.... which is millions of dollars) and the OP paid them a yearly fee (around $800) that they would offer him accidental insurance on his purchases. In those words... it's insurance. If you wrecked your car into a wall should we chastise you when you file a $10,000 insurance claim because you felt "entitled"? The nerve of you feeling that someone owed you money because of your or stupidity! Never mind that this was the deal your insurance company made with you. The OP was not scamming anyone or doing anything he was not entitled to do. He did not crash the Phantom and then try to return it as being defective.

But that is not even the point of my comment. The point is... there is no need to criticize someone else for something that they are entitled to. The OP clearly admitted he screwed up. He was very much to the point in asking the best way to go about the repairs. There is simply no good reason for someone to criticize someone else for their good fortune. I could understand someone making a post about being more careful, reading the manual, watching Youtube videos, etc. I replied pointing out that Follow Me mode was an advanced flying mode and following a vehicle is about the most risky way to use it for even advanced users.



I try to do the same thing. I'm not perfect and fail at it sometimes but I try.

Good points. Was he honest with the credit card company, or did he just say he was flying it and it had an error and wrecked?

I notice you didn't answer the question about if you were born after 1980, so just for fun may I ask?

Thanks for your reply!

 

[tcope]

I notice you didn't answer the question about if you were born after 1980, so just for fun may I ask?

I'm 49. I think that's the new 30 though.