How many hours before you can say you're experienced?

[andy_k]

I would say that experience is measured in years not hours

After 4 hours use (just like a car) most people can operate a drone. Competence comes next, followed by capability - all of those contribute to experience

 

[blackcrusader]

I agree about 50 hours, that what I'm shooting for before summer and I start taking it to some harder to fly areas in the mountains. Thing is, I know myself and I will take some risks for a good shot, but I'm fully prepared to pay for those risks on my bird.

I fly in the mountains as that's where I live. High wind speeds, gusts, thermals, eagles, crows, and me. So far so good. I did lose a prop on my second day but I was only about 20 feet up and my drone flipped and landed safely in a tea farm. Tea hedges are wonderful they slow your drone down like a nice cushion so your drone never hits the ground.

Just glad I wasn't this high up.

 

[Loz]

Sometimes we don't know what we don't know.

Always [emoji6]


- Phantom P3A & P3P -
Sent from my iPad Pro using PhantomPilots App

 

[Mimoid]

I would say, when you can perform a complete flight, (take off, make some turns, fly away a few hundred feet, come back without relying on the video feed and land) in Atti mode in slight breeze, you are experienced enough.

 

[AlecW]

I fly in the mountains as that's where I live. High wind speeds, gusts, thermals, eagles, crows, and me. So far so good. I did lose a prop on my second day but I was only about 20 feet up and my drone flipped and landed safely in a tea farm. Tea hedges are wonderful they slow your drone down like a nice cushion so your drone never hits the ground.

Colorado mountains have pine trees and rocks to land on and it's a 40 minute drive . I'll learn on the flat lands for now

 

[Death Wish 1]

"Malcolm Gladwell's 10,000 Hour Rule. The principle holds that 10,000 hours of "deliberate practice" are needed to become world-class in any field.Jul 3, 2014"

 

[ironwolfjt]

I lend my drone to no one. Regardless of experience.

Nope...don't loan it to anyone.

 

[kevinm]

I'm glad this question has spurred a spirited debate with legitimate justifications on all sides.

I believe that if we allow 16 year-old's to drive a car on their own with a few dozen hours of class time + 50 hours of driving time, this allotted time is more than enough to give you the necessary experience with a drone.

That said, obviously the time dedicated to different aspects of the craft are important. Parking, driving on freeways, etc. are all important aspects of everyday driving. 50 hours of driving around in a parking lot isn't going to do you much. In that same light, 50 hours of flying on windless clear days on GPS mode may not teach someone all the necessary skills.

Does anyone have a regimented approach to how some can practice their flying? Right now, it seems we can all agree that the type of flying you do is just as important as how long you do it for. What would a 3-hour class of hands-on drone flying consist of?

 

[Erised]

If you are experienced I will lend you my car but not my bird. After 50 hours we have experience but it will take years to become almost experts. The more I learn the more I realized there a lot more situations that may occur and I just hope I know and remember enough to save the day.

 

[kevinm]

If you are experienced I will lend you my car but not my bird. After 50 hours we have experience but it will take years to become almost experts. The more I learn the more I realized there a lot more situations that may occur and I just hope I know and remember enough to save the day.

That's an interesting point. Are you saying you need to have more hours flying a UAV than driving a car in order to be trusted?

 

[kndll]

every new update is a new experience so .......

 

[Erised]

That's an interesting point. Are you saying you need to have more hours flying a UAV than driving a car in order to be trusted?

It's that I have had lot's of cars and trucks and my P4 is my first phantom. People who drive passed a driving test and hopefully can get from A to B, there's no test (yet) to be a P4 pilot. I will let my kids fly and I will be close by and of course my wife but I say no to people that ask can I try I flew before.
I have had close calls and I have over 50 hours and 200 flights with over 3 million feet with my P4 and many hours on cheap birds and I know how fast ship goes down. It's not only the flying, it's knowing the other things that this bird can do and how GO can either makes things happen or not and to know when to cancel or change a setting real quick. There are some pilots in this forum I would gladly let fly my bird, many could show me better ways to get that shot.

 

[GadgetGuy]

It's like poker. You can learn the rules of the game in about 10 minutes, but the game takes a lifetime to master!

 

[Duchunter]

I would say, when you can perform a complete flight, (take off, make some turns, fly away a few hundred feet, come back without relying on the video feed and land) in Atti mode in slight breeze, you are experienced enough.

I got my p4 used off letgo. It was crashed with a broke gimbal. I'm waiting on parts so in the meantime I'm stuck flying with no camera which doesn't really effect me flying it. I've been out well past a mile and I'm just using the google map to navigate. I think everybody should be able to fly with no video but I don't consider myself even remotely experienced with the p4. I get nervous every time it goes up. I don't worry to much about crashing. I can fix it if it crashes but I do worry about loosing it. I've lost at least 8 toy quads. It's nice having that map. It gives me confidence u just can't get with a toy quad. Yesterday for example, I was flying in a new place with a friend of mine and we both lost it in the sky. My friend is convinced that it went down but I could see it on the map so I knew it was still in the air. I knew without a doubt exactly where it was. It took a few seconds but then we saw it and it was right where it said it was. I imagine I will use that large map view to travel by and switch to camera view when I'm ready to film. If you fly by that map you will know exactly when and where to look for it and in what direction it is traveling. If u get disoriented just point the arrow towards home and push up on the stick. You can't get lost with that map.

 

[GadgetGuy]

I got my p4 used off letgo. It was crashed with a broke gimbal. I'm waiting on parts so in the meantime I'm stuck flying with no camera which doesn't really effect me flying it. I've been out well past a mile and I'm just using the google map to navigate. I think everybody should be able to fly with no video but I don't consider myself even remotely experienced with the p4. I get nervous every time it goes up. I don't worry to much about crashing. I can fix it if it crashes but I do worry about loosing it. I've lost at least 8 toy quads. It's nice having that map. It gives me confidence u just can't get with a toy quad. Yesterday for example, I was flying in a new place with a friend of mine and we both lost it in the sky. My friend is convinced that it went down but I could see it on the map so I knew it was still in the air. I knew without a doubt exactly where it was. It took a few seconds but then we saw it and it was right where it said it was. I imagine I will use that large map view to travel by and switch to camera view when I'm ready to film. If you fly by that map you will know exactly when and where to look for it and in what direction it is traveling. If u get disoriented just point the arrow towards home and push up on the stick. You can't get lost with that map.

What's the point of flying BVLOS without a camera?

 

[gringorio]

I agree with some of the general sentiments that it's not just time, but situations in which you fly and how often. One hundred hours flying over corn fields taking photos of sunset is one thing, but 25 hours flying from a moving ship day and night with varying sea states and wind velocities and pressure to quickly capture moving illegal activity a couple miles away is another. I became a much better drone operator in 3 months under these conditions, when it took years to gain experience when flying RC and multi-rotors for fun. I'm not knocking recreation flying (which I do most of the time), just contrasting what "experienced" can mean. Like we said on the ship: "Calm seas don't make good sailors." Likewise, "Calm skies don't make experienced drone operators." Haha! So yeah, challenge yourself by flying in challenging circumstances .

 

[GadgetGuy]

I agree with some of the general sentiments that it's not just time, but situations in which you fly and how often. One hundred hours flying over corn fields taking photos of sunset is one thing, but 25 hours flying from a moving ship day and night with varying sea states and wind velocities and pressure to quickly capture moving illegal activity a couple miles away is another. I became a much better drone operator in 3 months under these conditions, when it took years to gain experience when flying RC and multi-rotors for fun. I'm not knocking recreation flying (which I do most of the time), just contrasting what "experienced" can mean. Like we said on the ship: "Calm seas don't make good sailors." Likewise, "Calm skies don't make experienced drone operators." Haha! So yeah, challenge yourself by flying in challenging circumstances .

Here I thought I was being creative by documenting naked miscreants committing public nudity at the public beach for documentary and evidentiary purposes, while dodging middle fingers!