New P3P and you guys are scaring me

[flyNfrank]

Here is something you would be better off knowing.........with the P3, the higher you go the better reception you will have with the aircraft. So in other words, flying low and just above the trees is not good for reception.

 

[AlexSP]

The "kinks" will never be completelly worked out. At least I hope not. What fun can be a perfect flying machine that can do everything 100% fine or fly by itself? Besides, drones are fast-evolving devices and that means new challenges will always be present, at any point.

Just fly and learn, work on your skills and I don´t mean flight and filming control but the problem-solving ones too. There´s already a lot of automation and safeguards going on with the P3, but thankfuly there´s also a lot of stuff we can tweak and improve and work on too. That´s where the most fun is believe me!

 

[RodPad]

Get a Tracker, Loosing it is the worst.
Worse case, If you were take off with a full charged battery (20 mins) and the unit for some reason go its own direction at 30 mph add 10 mph tail wind. That is a big search area.

If it goes in the drink that's another problem, but if it would float you could still find it. I have seen some interesting ideas but haven't tried any.

Not trying to scare you, Halloween is still 8052 hrs away. You can't fly that far.

 

[shockwave199]

Do yourself a favor, stop reading the forum for a while. Don't even install strong arms. You don't need the extra weight and hardware and you have no idea if you'll ever have the problem in the first place. You put them on in response to reading a forum. That is never a good idea. After reading my post, lol, don't read anything here for no less than two weeks. Fly your phantom. Build trust. Enjoy it. Don't live in fear reading others problems that you aren't experiencing and likely never will. It's not healthy and it will actually ruin your fun. You don't need that.

 

[RodPad]

Do yourself a favor, stop reading the forum for a while. Don't even install strong arms. You don't need the extra weight and hardware and you have no idea if you'll ever have the problem in the first place. You put them on in response to reading a forum. That is never a good idea. After reading my post, lol, don't read anything here for no less than two weeks. Fly your phantom. Build trust. Enjoy it. Don't live in fear reading others problems that you aren't experiencing and likely never will. It's not healthy and it will actually ruin your fun. You don't need that.

I agree...
Fly-it,
Focus on looking for answers to your questions.


Added,
I don't even know what strong arms are, I guess you don't need them.

 

[Bigskyflyer]

I want to say hi to everyone. Been following threads for about a month as a lurker. The Black Friday deal at Best Buy was too good to pass up. I have been wanting a Phantom for over a year now and this made the deal sweet. With the deal I basically got the pro for the same price as a advanced with extra battery, win.

The part that really makes me scarred is all these post for firmware issues, vibrations, cracks, and such.

Bring you guys up to speed.

Ordered on thanksgiving (did not think to pickup in person and was too late to cancel on Friday) just received my P3P yesterday afternoon. Extra battery should be here today. I downloaded DJI app iOS after ordering and setting up account. Then after reading about issues I ordered uavbits strong arm pieces from Amazon, will be here today. I also ordered a carbon fiber gimbal guard and the gimbal saver metal piece.

So first thing I checked before opening box was picture of P3 to make sure it was new motor design, which it was, perfect. Got the bird all unboxed and was like a kid on xmas morning. I looked it over for any cracks or defects and none I can see.

So I proceed to charge the controller first as it had on bar. Went to dinner and returned, almost done charging. Then charged up the main battery and installed into the P3. I turned both on and connected with the go app to see all the settings. After playing in the menus battery was around 93%.

This is the kicker, before the battery finished I'm surfing the forums and having second thoughts with all these issues. So I told the wife I might return it and not take a chance. Well I ended up taking it outside to do a small test flight at almost 11pm. That was very nervous but was the greatest feelings flying just messing around under 50 ft and very close by. Take off and landing done manually as I have many years of RC and a few years with cheap quads, so to me it was very easy to fly. After 14 minutes and 40% left I decided to land and call it a night.

So should I return it and wait or use and enjoy? Should I just fly with the firmware it came with and wait?

Firmware

App 2.4.2
Aircraft 1.4.10
RC 1.3.20

Thank you.

Fly it and have fun, the more you fly it the more confident you will be with it. By all means go ahead and install the strong arm kit, I have had mine on for months and no cracks yet, so obviously they aren't hurting anything. As far as the weight of them, that is hogwash, I haven't noticed any loss on flight time, I still get 16-18 minutes depending on my type of flying or wind conditions. Also, always land at no less than 30% battery, weird stuff can happen if you push that envelope too much. Welcome to the forum.

 

[Mario_SB]

Do yourself a favor, stop reading the forum for a while. Don't even install strong arms. You don't need the extra weight and hardware and you have no idea if you'll ever have the problem in the first place. You put them on in response to reading a forum. That is never a good idea. After reading my post, lol, don't read anything here for no less than two weeks. Fly your phantom. Build trust. Enjoy it. Don't live in fear reading others problems that you aren't experiencing and likely never will. It's not healthy and it will actually ruin your fun. You don't need that.

Agreed. There's a lot of fear mongering around here and it'll just drive you crazy. The only thing you gotta worry about is your motors stopping in mid-flight and your Phantom suddenly dropping from the sky. Other than that you're all good. :/

 

[aka1ceman]

Or option 2........continue to be scared of it and give it to me for Christmas

 

[alokbhargava]

Or option 2........continue to be scared of it and give it to me for Christmas

I need it too.

 

[LanceF]

I got my first P3P yesterday spent a few hours charging batteries and updating firmware and then did a quick 11 min flight. It was dark and freezing out so I didn't want to push it too long. I had read all of the manuals, watched all of the DJI videos, read the book "Aerial Photography and Videography Using Drones" By Eric Cheng, read up on the local regulations for flying drones, and got access to a nice private flat stretch of land well outside of the city to practice in. I was in LOVE with the drone after that 11 mins of flying!

Then I found the forums this morning.....

Now I am terrified! What if I get stress cracks?!?!? Wait, do I have the new motors or the old ones?!??! What if a guy named Jim Bob shoots my drone out of the sky!!! What if the FAA decides tomorrow that all drones are illegal?

I think I am going to take shockwave199's advice not read the forums for a few weeks, you guys are scary!

 

[Orion55]

You basically got the best deal possible. It performs perfect out of the box. You got what you wanted. Why return it unless you cant afford it. As you experienced, they are very fun to fly and are an amazing piece of technology.

 

[Bigskyflyer]

I got my first P3P yesterday spent a few hours charging batteries and updating firmware and then did a quick 11 min flight. It was dark and freezing out so I didn't want to push it too long. I had read all of the manuals, watched all of the DJI videos, read the book "Aerial Photography and Videography Using Drones" By Eric Cheng, read up on the local regulations for flying drones, and got access to a nice private flat stretch of land well outside of the city to practice in. I was in LOVE with the drone after that 11 mins of flying!

Then I found the forums this morning.....

Now I am terrified! What if I get stress cracks?!?!? Wait, do I have the new motors or the old ones?!??! What if a guy named Jim Bob shoots my drone out of the sky!!! What if the FAA decides tomorrow that all drones are illegal?

I think I am going to take shockwave199's advice not read the forums for a few weeks, you guys are scary!

Went thru the same thing in May until I realized how much of a minority people having issues are. Count all of the issues you read about on the forums and consider the tens of thousands that have been sold and you will see what I mean. Also, you typically only hear from people that are having problems on forums, everyone else is out flying and having fun. When or if you have an issue this is usually a great place to get help. There are a lot of great people here that are willing to devote their time to help you resolve your problems, don't let a few blowhards dicourage you from visiting this forum. If you ask for opinions on different topics realize that you are going to get a lot of different opinions. Just remember they are mostly based on personal experience not necessarily rule of thumb.

 

[B- Scene Films]

I fly mine all the time. Old motors and case. NEVER had an issue. I use a checklist every flight. I never fly a battery with < 100% charge. There are times when I will go to a location, do my flight and be out of there in less than 10 minutes. Battery around 75%. As tempting as it is, I NEVER fly that battery after that first 5 minute flight or what have you since it is < 100%. Fly it. Enjoy it. be responsible with it

 

[mikeCtv]

Keep it you are way ahead of me when I started. You have the latest unit and Best Buy behind the product.

 

[Justgregg]

Fly it...enjoy it and dont worry. i own octos, hexes, and many quads. For the last year I have been flying my inspire and p3p. No cracks, fimwares flawless, no crashes, just total orgasmic flights producing long glitchness distance, stunning stills and videos! Selling off most of my other ships due to the greatness of my DJI fleet.

 

[TrynFlyn]

I agree with everyone here.....fly it.

Remember Best Buy has extended returns right now. If you bought anything after Nov. 1st, you have until Jan 15th, 2016 to return.

 

[JKDSensei]

I wouldn't worry about your flying skills, the Phantom practically DOES fly itself.

What you should worry about is those dog gone sneaky TREES that'll run right into the path of your Phantom for no good reason when you're watching the monitor!

You've been warned.

 

[bluer101]

I flew twice when I got home from work.

I had daylight and even filming with 1080p/60 is unbelievable. My second battery arrived and charged that while eating and did a night flight for about 15 minutes with the new battery.

It's a keeper for sure. What a joy it s to fly so far. I ordered the Nanuk 945 case in black plus some other goodies from Amazon. They will be here Friday.

 

[Mario_SB]

****!! Nice choice on the case. Wish I would have gotten that. Instead I got the stupid DJI backpack! Congrats on keeping the Phantom. It is indeed a lot of fun and it really does bring out the kid inside. Night flights are a lot of fun too. Those lights make it look like a freakin' real airplane huh?!

 

[sithphelan]

Congrats on keeping and flying it. As stated RTFM follow rules by authorities and use common sense. It is fun and amazing and all that it says to be.