I just spent $1148 and am now nervous!

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I just purchased a DJI Phantom 3 Advanced and an extra battery. It has been shipped and should arrive this week. I am very excited about this. It is my first Quadcopter. I am a very cautious person and will exercise all cautions and start slowly getting familiar with this aircraft.

I have been reading various threads here and just read about 11 pages about a Phantom that "flew away" and the pilot's stating he also was very cautious.

So my question is: How frequently does a Phantom just fly away even after all due cautions have been exercised. Batteries charged, Compass calibrated, Go To Home point set, etc.

I just do not want to see my $1148 fly away and have my significant other nagging me, she already is questioning why I would spend money ON THAT THING!
 
Fly-aways (especially for the Phantom 3) are almost always caused by pilot error. For example, some people take off near large metal objects or try to fly with a bad compass calibration. Read and understand all of the warnings in the Phantom manual and you should be good as long as you avoid the noted situations.
 
The Trackimo GPS tracker works well for me. You can find all of the other commonly used trackers here:

DJI Phantom Accessories & Tips - Phantom Help

This will allow you to find your Phantom if it flies beyond the range of your remote controller. At that point, it'll be well beyond your sight and you'll have no idea where it's located. That is of course a worst case scenario -- but, it can happen.
 
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Welcome to the forum .
I would say 90% of fly aways because people get in a rush skip preflight check over give the bird time to find its location and warm up after powering up . After you do that lift off about 5-10' hover check how she takes commands all looks good go have fun .
Take some time and see the recommendations/rules the FAA would like you to follow .
Have fun be safe :D
 
My P3A is rock solid, always has been. Compass calibration is essential when you first fly, do it way away from any metal, remember, there is steel embedded in some concrete !
Stay LOS at first. Set your RTH height quite high. If you panic, hands off the sticks, and use the RTH button, she will come back.

Oh, and relax....have fun....it is a great piece of tech, and used responsibly, will give you many hours of joy.
 
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And Toad if that's your boat in your avatar
have my significant other nagging me, she already is questioning why I would spend money ON THAT THING!
Just tell her to...
1361469896_jack_nicholson_deal_with_it.gif
;)
JK :)
 
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I just purchased a DJI Phantom 3 Advanced and an extra battery. It has been shipped and should arrive this week. I am very excited about this. It is my first Quadcopter. I am a very cautious person and will exercise all cautions and start slowly getting familiar with this aircraft.

I have been reading various threads here and just read about 11 pages about a Phantom that "flew away" and the pilot's stating he also was very cautious.

So my question is: How frequently does a Phantom just fly away even after all due cautions have been exercised. Batteries charged, Compass calibrated, Go To Home point set, etc.

I just do not want to see my $1148 fly away and have my significant other nagging me, she already is questioning why I would spend money ON THAT THING!
Just keep in mind what the Phantom 3 is, it's a camera platform, not an experimental bird to go faster, higher, further. Read the manual, read it again and just for fun and giggles read it one more time. Then watch every video on DJI's website and youtube. When you feel comfortable take it out and start slow. Just a few feet of the ground and practice basic maneuvers. Here's a good basic flight program. Don't try to fly beyond your skills, forget you even have a camera for the first few flights, concentrate on your flying skills. Use a checklist before every flight. A better checklist written specifically for the P3P. I don't leave home w/o it. It's very easy to forget a critical step, like compass calibration, when one is nervous. Have fun.
 
Just keep in mind what the Phantom 3 is, it's a camera platform, not an experimental bird to go faster, higher, further. Read the manual, read it again and just for fun and giggles read it one more time. Then watch every video on DJI's website and youtube. When you feel comfortable take it out and start slow. Just a few feet of the ground and practice basic maneuvers. Here's a good basic flight program. Don't try to fly beyond your skills, forget you even have a camera for the first few flights, concentrate on your flying skills. Use a checklist before every flight. A better checklist written specifically for the P3P. I don't leave home w/o it. It's very easy to forget a critical step, like compass calibration, when one is nervous. Have fun.
Thanks Louis.,

I have watched every video some more than once. Downloaded and read the manual twice and have even thought my first order of business is operating the aircraft. Whatever happens withe camera so be it. Once I figure out the flying I will work on the camera which is why I bought the thing anyway

Cheers!
 
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You know what I would really suggest to anyone new to drones?

Sure, buy that $1300 drone....BUT (and it's a very big but)..ALSO get a $50.00 Syma X5C-1 and learn to fly that one FIRST. Reason being is that it's nearly indestructible and more importantly, you will learn to actually FLY a drone, not just "guide" it around on the safety net of the technology.

That experience at really learning to FLY a drone will save you when the Phantom loses GPS signal or for whatever reason you need to rely on skill and not just luck to get it back safely :)

That's MY opinion and dog gonit...I'm sticking by it !
 
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Best tip you can have: Ignore all the idiots here who suggest a compass calibration before every flight.
 
You know what I would really suggest to anyone new to drones?

Sure, buy that $1300 drone....BUT (and it's a very big but)..ALSO get a $50.00 Syma X5C-1 and learn to fly that one FIRST. Reason being is that it's nearly indestructible and more importantly, you will learn to actually FLY a drone, not just "guide" it around on the safety net of the technology.

That experience at really learning to FLY a drone will save you when the Phantom loses GPS signal or for whatever reason you need to rely on skill and not just luck to get it back safely :)

That's MY opinion and dog gonit...I'm sticking by it !
If you have the spare cash, I highly recommend the Syma X5C. I got started with one and probably kept me from over-correcting the P3P and getting over my nervousness, better to crash $50 than $1300...
 
Thanks Louis.,

I have watched every video some more than once. Downloaded and read the manual twice and have even thought my first order of business is operating the aircraft. Whatever happens withe camera so be it. Once I figure out the flying I will work on the camera which is why I bought the thing anyway

Cheers!
And run away screaming from anyone who tells you not to do what DJI recommends.
 

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