The difference between auto modes on a phantom and "home built" quads is the ability to turn off stability. I know it's not a necessity, but learning to fly without the aid of the quad returning to level when you panic-release the sticks provides benefits far beyond what you get learning stabilized. The only reason I stress this here is because if you do what I did - learn first in stabilized, then try to move to something full manual, the hurdles you now have to jump over - the amount of unlearning and retraining that your brain has to go through is massive. If you learn that way from day one - bring it up for a few seconds - try to keep it level, bring it back down - all the way to ripping around your house at full speed - your skills on anything else with motors become ridiculous... You can literally do anything within the limits of the aircraft. Something like a tiny whoop that you can put in full manual and crash 600 times without breaking is a very cheap way to gain a massive amount of skill. You then fire up a phantom and it's child's play... It does everything for you, which is nice, but limiting.
How many flight hour make an experienced drone pilot?
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its not just flight time, its what you are doing when you are flying. Flying around aimlessly, or flying in long stretches of straight scenic high altitude flight does not make you an expert. I liken it to driving, city bus drivers have 1000's of hours behind the wheel, compared to Indy Race Car drivers, who do you think the expert driver is. Guys that race drones and only fly for minutes at a time have some of the best flying skills I had ever seen from a Drone Pilot. So once again, its quality and not quantity. However. The guy that gets out once a week to fly his drone for a couple of hours is by far going to be a better pilot then the guy who lets the drone sit in his closet and just bring it out once a month. That would be called experience though and not being called an expert.
Agreed. And agreed - I fly mini quads and did for several years before buying a phantom. Going from a 5" alien to a p4 is quite a shock, lol, but the fact that I learned on mini quads had me working at the limits of the phantom as soon as I fired it up. Just stay away from stabilized modes on mini quads! I know it's tempting, because you just want to fly, but don't even program in horizon mode... Just learn organically. Then you'll have some skill to brag about
Before you fly, my recommendation is to go onto Youtube and experience all the ways others have crashed. There is a lot of pilot error that could have been avoided. The issue is you will be unconsciously unaware of how many ways you can make an error until you review this on the internet.
Then I would do about 2-3 hours of drills on an open field at low altitude to get flying/dexterity practice.
Then, if you want to begin to take photographs, it would be a good time to start. I would gain some initial flight time experience by flying to a height above all obstacles first. Then with time, you can address more complicated environments.
Finally, the FAA says to maintain a line of sight. I suggest you interpret this a close enough to actually be able to see the YAW angle of your drone.
Good luck.
Then I would do about 2-3 hours of drills on an open field at low altitude to get flying/dexterity practice.
Then, if you want to begin to take photographs, it would be a good time to start. I would gain some initial flight time experience by flying to a height above all obstacles first. Then with time, you can address more complicated environments.
Finally, the FAA says to maintain a line of sight. I suggest you interpret this a close enough to actually be able to see the YAW angle of your drone.
Good luck.
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I'm not convinced that total hours flown is a good indicator. Learning control, and capturing an image is just important. After all, this is a camera platform, not a hobbyist R/C. Getting close to your subject, moving slowly makes for the best photography. Having your quad in the air is not the same as controlling it around a fixed or moving object. Capturing the right angles to produce the best possible image is much more important than flying circles in the open. You'll never discover your limit without going beyond it a few times.
Loving my Phantom 4 Pro, except for the gimbal issues. Lost 3 Phantom 3 Pros so far, one in the arctic at Baffin Fjords due to a DJI Go App update, fixed the next day with another "bug fixes" update. The other 1 due to fog I believe, the last one due to flying from a cruise ship and the wind picking up from 13 knots to 37 knots, too fast to catch up!
Can't believe all in all flown 800km
Can't believe all in all flown 800km
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Here in Seattle at FlightSafety-Boeing, and also in all military flight training facilities, the flight time required before a pilot is considered "experienced" is 500 hours. At 500 hours of experience and above, accident rates drop to nearly zero. Many attempts have been made to lower that number through simulators and other training techniques. But nothing can replace the process of developing judgement, which only comes with flight time.
Experience in this particular case is a relative term. I would maintain that experience MUST include, "experiencing" many events to improve your ability to handle any situation put in front of you. For an example, take two 20 hour pilots. The one pilot who has handled a disconnect or a sudden drop in battery level and lived to tell about is more, "experienced" than the pilot who has not.
At my job, we call it seasoning instead of experience.
At my job, we call it seasoning instead of experience.
If you ever decide that you are an expert start to worry. I have been flying real airplanes since 1968. I have been a corporate pilot a flight instructor and airline transport rated and commercial pilot. The minute you think you are a king a god of the sky bad things can happen. Always learning. always training. Always thinking. Never actually reaching the goal of god of the sky. Statistics show that there are several places in a pilots career where they become more dangerous than other times. 500 hours 1500 hours then again at 2500 hours. I suspect drone flying is somewhat similar to that in that if you get complacent then something crashes or someone gets hurt. Keep learning!
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I have about 75-80 hours in-air time and am not an expert. But I do have opinions that I am happy to share.
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I just hit 500 hours in my log yesterday. I take violation photos of the South East Connection and the Sabal Trail gas pipeline. Mostly still shots like silt fences down and other violations then send the reports to the appropriate agencies. I am getting real good at avoiding things that are thrown at my drone. Gravel, sticks and dirt clogs. But a bird almost took me out today I was following the gas pipeline easment when he or she hit my landing gear at about two foot off the ground. Still learning!
My dream job,,,good on ya
,,,,congratulations on 500,,,I know that a long time
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They're destroying our wetlands here in Florida
So totally agree. Manned fixed wing and rotorcraft commercial pilot here. One of my favorite lines I have shared with people over the years - the day ya go to the airport and don't learn anything should be your last day at the airport.
Many good things have been said here on this particular thread. I have enjoyed -and learned some things from - your thoughts and ideas. Because, with my Phantom and X4, "go to the field, yard, park, etc" now replaces the line "go to the airport...". When it comes to aviation - manned or unmanned - there will always be something new to learn. That is one of the things I really like about aviation. Thanks for sharing, everybody.
Nice lion pic,,
I thought I post this pic but couldn't see it anywhere so I repost 
,,you got my permission to fly more and less paperwork
GadgetGuy
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Gezz looks like you went round the world,,Awsome travels,,
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