Day 2 Five flights

[Slickvolt]

Interesting Day 2.. My conclusion...I still have much to learn..

Fairly windy day, not too bad, gusty not steady.

Flight1: went to a local park to launch...hit auto takeoff, motors turned on, P4P flipped over right on the launch pad...pathetic. From drone to weed whacked in .2 seconds. Did a fine job of cutting the grass...but that’s not why I bought it. Props look good, grass stains and all. Pack up my toys and leave, that sucker flipped over way too fast for my liking...gonna find a bowl to launch in.

Flight 2: Found an RC Park Bowl. Perfect. Everybody, and I mean everybody stop everything their doing and stare at me. Check my junk, zippers up...hmmm. Notice everyone has gas engine planes. Double hmmm. Not deterred, set my little P4P drone down, initialize ipad2, controller and phantom. Somebody yells..”u gonna fly that thing?” Thinking back to my last attempt, I say “nope, just here to cut the grass” ..then nervously push the auto takeoff...she is up...4ft, hovering...wind is more predictable here, phantom unelected. Couple folks walk over, as I strafe a straight line sideways at 4’ parallel to the runway. I strafe back towards us, as fast as it will go...P4P stops 3 feet in front of us...I’m impressed...and so are the RC guys. Ask me as P4P is hovering...is that hands off. “Yes and so is this”, I hit RTH, P4P lands. Mumbling or grumbling ensue...whatever.

Flight 3: altitude test. I have been getting the warning message limiting my flight range and altitude. Auto take off, rotate 360 clockwise, rotate 360 ccs, elevator going up....hmmm I’m at 200 ft and climbing...so much for warning...ok, I’m at 396 feet and it won’t go any higher, hands off, hover. Rotate clockwise again, Rotate Counter clockwise..so that is where I am...hmmm. Take note of several warnings for high winds and that I’m flying in a warning area for unsaved runway airports...that must be for this RC field. Winds really don’t seem to affect the P4P flight stability, I’m essentially hands off, and that sucker is right over my head and not moving...ok time for rapid descent test. I pull back on the wrong stick as I’m looking down at ipad2 camera view...notice I’m not losing altitude, I look up...hmmm..Not over me anymore...where is it...it’s up I see the video, looks happy and content...I notice radar screen, and move drone so it’s over my home marker...look up...ah...there you are...still at 396 ft. Try again, this time I use the correct stick (left) and descend as fast as I can...yeah....it definately doesn’t want to go fast coming down...took ~20seconds to get down to 4ft hover.
Flight 4: I’m thinking I need to work on my manual flight skills, based on my stick confusion last run. I’m going to run an oval racetrack course around the airfield altering my altitude to high altitude on distant leg and 1 ft altitude on near side leg, all while I fly as fast as I can in windy conditions. This will help my eye hand coordination develop. I do three laps, it’s so controllable, I get extremely bored and decide to fly under a portico roof covering over about twenty picnic tables...hey now...this is fun...good thing nobody is here anymore...just one guy. I hit RTH while flying and sure enough it comes to me and lands. Pretty happy with that.

Flight 5: “How the hell do I use the camera” flight. Ok, so no real tricks here, just want to launch it, take a video or two for later analysis.. I launch it, p,ace the P4P 20 yards out and 40 feet up. I fiddle with various controls and find the camera slew controls..kewl...I flip controller over see funny red dotted button..I push it...ah...it seems to be recording...I see a timer going. I suddenly decide I want to try Active Track...but, I don’t know how..lol. Fiddle around through menu system I can’t find it...sigh...so much to learn...instead I start Nd stop video re ording a couple of times to make sure I have video control...Battery Aarm goes off. Woooohooo, I’m going to fly it to 20%, then put it as close to the ground to see if I can get it to 15%...anticlimactic...it worked...though the alarms are annoying as hell. For good measure, I hit RTH curious what it would do...well it landed right where it was...that’s odd.

Yup I have a lot to learn. But this is only day 2, with one battery.

 

[Darren Roach]

It might be a good idea to set the altitude and distance to much smaller amounts until you get more acquainted with their operation's this way you are less lightly to get into trouble and damage an expensive bird. Get to know your phantom and it's capabilities this way it will be much more enjoyable and lighter on your wallet

 

[Meta4]

I hit RTH, P4P lands. Mumbling or grumbling ensue...whatever.
... I hit RTH curious what it would do...well it landed right where it was...that’s odd

The manual has the answers to a lot of mysteries like that.
If your Phantom is closer than 20 metres when you initiate RTH, it will land where it is.

I’m going to run an oval racetrack course around the airfield altering my altitude to high altitude on distant leg and 1 ft altitude on near side leg, all while I fly as fast as I can in windy conditions.
Yup I have a lot to learn. But this is only day 2, with one battery.

One of the biggest problems with the Phantom is that it's so easy to fly and that can lead to over-confidence.
Most crashes are caused by flying too close to obstacles like trees, buildings and cables.
And the biggest obstacle is the ground.
The closer you are to an obstacle, the less time you have between safety and crashing.

 

[Slickvolt]

It might be a good idea to set the altitude and distance to much smaller amounts until you get more acquainted with their operation's this way you are less lightly to get into trouble and damage an expensive bird. Get to know your phantom and it's capabilities this way it will be much more enjoyable and lighter on your wallet

I actually really enjoyed myself, wasn’t upset in the least. I stored all my folly as lessons learned. I read quick start guide and other more comprehensive guide that came in my box twice, then found out there was a downloadable user guide, the night before this flight...so most of the stuff...I found out I didn’t know how to do, we’re all things I had read how to do in a mass reading crunch, but only retained maybe a quarter of it. One thing I know about me, is that I learn best by doing, I will never again not know how to do Active Track like on this day...because I left there trying to remember how I read to do it...when I got home I was so obsessed I had forgotten, I immediately looked it up and I now know for sure how to do it

 

[Slickvolt]

The manual has the answers to a lot of mysteries like that.
If your Phantom is closer than 20 metres when you initiate RTH, it will land where it is.

One of the biggest problems with the Phantom is that it's so easy to fly and that can lead to over-confidence.
Most crashes are caused by flying too close to obstacles like trees, buildings and cables.
And the biggest obstacle is the ground.
The closer you are to an obstacle, the less time you have between safety and crashing.

Thanks for the info, I don’t recall having read that 20 meter factoid...though as I write this I think maybe I did and it said something like 15 ft . In other words I read a US version. Anyway thanks for that.
I’m actually a certified aircraft pilot, so believe me when I say I am not intimidated at all by the ground with this drone...as there are zero souls on board...just replaceable electronics. If you ever owned a plane before, a spare radio costs what this p4p costs, so I’m really not worried about breaking it..aircraft expenses are real expenses and they never seem to end. I’m not rich either, I do ok, so it’s not like I want to throw away $1500 usd everyday. But because of my background I think I may have a more relaxed view of the drone than many. I’ve lost many an engine in my planes while in flight and performed several holy s#@t landings, but obviously successful landings, so with that perspective, it's really hard for me to get too worked up about my drone getting hurt...it’s not flesh & blood. That’s why I was able to laff at my $1500 weed whacker take off. It’s just plain fun for me.

 

[Darren Roach]

Be carefull and most of all enjoy yourself. Flying any unmanned vehicle is in my mind so much fun and is a real buzz.

 

[Mike in Louisiana]

You are not to worried about crashing a 2000 dollar drone, but you better worry about the damage it could cause when it crashes into a car/person etc.
Fly safe and have fun.

 

[Lhonskie18]

I remember the first day I recieve my phantom 4 (last week of december 2016). I just watch the youtube videos then day after, I flew mine at the beach above ocean without checking anything. I was nervous at first but it was gone when I check my screen and see the beauty of the beach. Now, I can't believe that I can fly and do something I've never done before.
Warning! Please don't try this at home.

 

[John Tarvin]

Thanks for the info, I don’t recall having read that 20 meter factoid...though as I write this I think maybe I did and it said something like 15 ft . In other words I read a US version. Anyway thanks for that.
I’m actually a certified aircraft pilot, so believe me when I say I am not intimidated at all by the ground with this drone...as there are zero souls on board...just replaceable electronics. If you ever owned a plane before, a spare radio costs what this p4p costs, so I’m really not worried about breaking it..aircraft expenses are real expenses and they never seem to end. I’m not rich either, I do ok, so it’s not like I want to throw away $1500 usd everyday. But because of my background I think I may have a more relaxed view of the drone than many. I’ve lost many an engine in my planes while in flight and performed several holy s#@t landings, but obviously successful landings, so with that perspective, it's really hard for me to get too worked up about my drone getting hurt...it’s not flesh & blood. That’s why I was able to laff at my $1500 weed whacker take off. It’s just plain fun for me.

I truly and sincerely like your attitude! Don't know why you're flying a drone, but if it's to take beautiful video and still images, be sure to take a look at the Litchi app and their autonomous waypoint capability.HAVE FUN!

 

[Slickvolt]

I truly and sincerely like your attitude! Don't know why you're flying a drone, but if it's to take beautiful video and still images, be sure to take a look at the Litchi app and their autonomous waypoint capability.HAVE FUN!

Yes that’s it pretty much, plus I like hiking, and this is a useful tool...and in the absence of an aircraft, I can get good situational awareness of my surroundings. Thanks.

 

[Slickvolt]

You are not to worried about crashing a 2000 dollar drone, but you better worry about the damage it could cause when it crashes into a car/person etc.
Fly safe and have fun.

For me that, as a aircraft pilot, that is always a concern, and part of our training.

 

[Bakersfield Quad]

As and old pilot, SEL, as well as many years in hang gliders, ultralight and of course RC aircraft of various types, I too find the P4P relaxing and exhilarating. With a view similar to hang gliding and the ability to glide along ridges of rock, it is a lot of fun.
Take time to fly close,see how it reacts to things, like trees, fences and wind gradients or shears, so you will know what to expect.
Next, make sure to video it, so you can share!