Greetings to all, novice from Greece (p3a)

[BillyN]

Hello to all, new(-ish) P3A owner from Greece, introducing myself as the forum title says.

I have been flying RCs for some years now, but my experience with quadcopters is on mostly cheap toy-level models. Still I have had some honest fun with them, and have not abandoned them.

I got a P3A last Xmas. So far it has flown a total of ... 1 times in beginner mode. Being a software person myself, I promptly did the sensible thing and installed all the updates etc the day I bought it and before I took it out. No problems to report, in fact I was VERY impressed.

Then I started reading this forum. So many issues, so many technical details, so many complaints. After reading all this, I am now almost afraid to do test flight #2 (ok, I admit I had other issues that kept postponing it, including work and rainy weather on some weekends).

But are flyaways that common? Compass errors? VPS going crazy? Software versions that work and others that don't? Are things that bad? The complexity of it all, I don't know if I need this on a hobby. Maybe I should stick to my Syma X8 clone . Or use ATTI only, which -I read- gives me the control I am used to.

I still believe this P3 is an little piece of marvelous engineering. Hope it proves me right.

Greetings to all.
VNN

 

[Numone]

Hello to all, new(-ish) P3A owner from Greece, introducing myself as the forum title says.

I have been flying RCs for some years now, but my experience with quadcopters is on mostly cheap toy-level models. Still I have had some honest fun with them, and have not abandoned them.

I got a P3A last Xmas. So far it has flown a total of ... 1 times in beginner mode. Being a software person myself, I promptly did the sensible thing and installed all the updates etc the day I bought it and before I took it out. No problems to report, in fact I was VERY impressed.

Then I started reading this forum. So many issues, so many technical details, so many complaints. After reading all this, I am now almost afraid to do test flight #2 (ok, I admit I had other issues that kept postponing it, including work and rainy weather on some weekends).

But are flyaways that common? Compass errors? VPS going crazy? Software versions that work and others that don't? Are things that bad? The complexity of it all, I don't know if I need this on a hobby. Maybe I should stick to my Syma X8 clone . Or use ATTI only, which -I read- gives me the control I am used to.

I still believe this P3 is an little piece of marvelous engineering. Hope it proves me right.

Greetings to all.
VNN

Greetings to you too. IMVHO, the vast majority of so-called "flyaways" will be due to pilot error, but most pilots will not accept this, and try to find another "technical" or "system" or "software" flaw as a reason for the event. As you're a competent fixed wing (?) RC pilot, you should find the flight controller very easy to operate so please, do not get put off by some of the complaints you see here. I suggest you go back to basics, watch the dji tutorial videos and read the manual. I'd also recommend you look online for some of the excellent, more "in depth" manuals that experienced pilots have written too. Take things slowly and methodically and enjoy the experience. In > 200 flights in the last year I have had 1 problematic flight, which was caused by a a compass error and since that incident, I've changed the way I start each flight. I'm pretty sure that I cannot be alone in having many wonderful, trouble-free experiences with my AC.

 

[tevek]

As Numone has stated, most problems are caused by operator error and there are some who simply want to vent their frustration. I think I have posted one original thread during my time here as I have found all the answers to my concerns by sniffing around the forums here and not jumping in screaming about something or other. Learn gradually and methodically and you will have a fat time.

 

[dirkclod]

Welcome to the forum .
I hope you will find our site helpful and look forward to any input , photo's/video's you might post .
Don't be shy and ask anything if you can't find it by searching .
This bunch here are the smartest you will find anywhere

 

[msinger]

Welcome to Phantom Pilots!

It's true that Phantoms are very technical quadcopters. They are also more fragile and more expensive to repair when crashed. If you're willing to put in the time and learn how it works, you will certainly reduce your chances of running into the issues you mentioned above. However, if you just want to get it out of the box and start flying, you might have to learn the hard way a time or two.

Flying a Phantom in ATTI mode will likely not give you the control you're used too -- unless you're flying quadcopters that have GPS. Many of the inexpensive quadcopters fly in full manual mode. That's far less stable than any Phantom flying in ATTI mode.

 

[BillyN]

Thank you for your comments and advice (which I plan to follow). I only wanted to report how overwhelming it is for a newcomer to read all these discussions about possible problems.Of course it is a good source of information, but still overwhelming. Maybe, given the large number of Phantoms that exist around the world, there should be a thread in the forum called "Flew it today, nothing to report, all went well", just to counterbalance that and comfort us newbies. Just joking.