BEWARE! I don't think the Hobsan is effective practice for the P3P. Not for my crashes, and I'll come clean and forgo any pride.
The Hobsan is a REAL Quad, at least in some modes. The right stick is roll and pitch. The left stick is throttle and rudder. You pitch forward to go faster, you must increase throttle to hold altitude. Not enough throttle you'll crash. This is forgetting agility and the aerobatic modes.
IMHO what gets people in the P3 is how easy it APPEARS to be. The right stick is forward, and back in "pitch mode": it's not really pitch. The throttle is really "up and "down" -- it's not REALLY THE THROTTLE.
MY ACCIDENTS:
1) Minor tips overs using CSC VS RETARDING THE THROTTLE TO STOP THE PROPS. Mostly on the ground in wind, but I accomplished this indoors too. In the air, it's a BIZARRE set of control inputs but people have done it with SPECTACULAR RESULTS. Use the retarded throttle to stop the props upon landing.
I'VE EVEN SWITCHED OVER TO A "CATCH LANDING" EVEN IN PERFECT WEATHER. IT'S JUST TOO EASY. Get down to a chest level hover, grab the landing gear to the right of the battery. Make sure everything's stable, slide your fingers up carefully, near the center of mass, and shut down the engine. Gentlest landing you'll ever do. There really is no chance of prop contact, and you can't screw up the landing. BUT YOU SHOULD STILL PRACTICE REAL LANDINGS. Catching Landing are literally too easy. And AMAZINGLY not hazardous.
2) POTENTIALLY MAJOR DEALS -- FLYING OUT OF SIGHT USING FPV -- AND YES IT'S REALLY REALLY FUN, BUT RISKY. OH, THE LOWER THE RISKIER.
Tonight I flew down a road at about 20', made a beautiful coordinated right hand turn, then firewalled the throttle, doing about 35mph, 35' high, and hit one of the only power lines within miles. It was between two light poles across the street from each other. Thick ones. Great buzz flying down this road, (NO CARS IN SIGHT BTW) A glimpse of cable, black screen, a motor overspeed condition warning, AND IT CAME BACK! At a dead stop near the infamous cable. I climbed, the horizon was crooked, and I flew it home. I saw the black marks where the thick cables left deposits on the two leading edge of the gear legs. LORD KNOWS WHAT ATTITUDE IT SAW. I inspected for damage, reinitialized, no problem. Dec 24th, and surviving this? Miricle!! No doubt! LOL
I couldn't see the cable in the light I was in. FLY OUT OF VISUAL SIGHT, AND YOU ARE TAKING A RISK.
I flew a couple miles directly out over the pitch black stormy, windy, Ocean a couple of months ago. 10,000'. Windy, rough, pitch black. So dark I was using GPS and the Sattelite map overlay. At about 400', I turned around and the view of shore was a thrill. Coming in it was dark, I was playing with coordinated arc like turns, and I was flying GPS, Sattelite Map overlay while approaching my Condo. I WAS JUST ABOUT TO SWITCH TO FPV. But I was to the Ocean side of a big condo beside my building. AND SUFFERED A HUGE STROKE LIKE BRAIN FART. I should have been at least 50' higher than I was. In aircraft, the FAA haS very formalized "Approach Plates" for letdown procedures. It puts you in a disciplined mindset. I was lackadaisical and clipped the top of this peaky roof (It was so windy I think I rode an updraft, else it would have been way worse.). The impact knocked my camera off, but I FLEW IT HOME AGAIN. IT WORKS FINE WITH A NEW CAMERA. A miracle, and not near Christmas! DON'T COUNT ON THEM!
"EXPLORING FPV OUT OF VISUAL SITE IS THRILLING". And risky. Make sure you're only putting your Drone at risk, and know that **** happens -- it's risky. My building collision SEEMS most risky but it was the most easily avoidable. The power line was not visible. So even the degree of risk can be hard to determine! ITS FUN! BUT RISKY!
3) Know the RTH, Failsafe Modes, Altitudes, and their implications like the back of your hand. I got a little disoriented with a low battery, and RTH saved my butt. I did quit out of it when I saw the bird and did an expedited hand catch JUST IN TIME. JUST. Left in RTH, I would have run out of juice. THAT MEANS KNOWING IT COLD.
4) If just flying, starting upwind, returning downwind gives more battery safety margin than you'd imagine. IT'S SO OBVIOUS TOO. :-( If the battery gets low take it REALLY SERIOUSLY QUICKLY. #3 above started out like this. I went 10,000', downwind. Very smart.
In summary P3 crashes don't happen because of the lack of skills you'd develop with a "real" not-so-assisted quad, it's just the opposite. The P3 appears so foolproof and easy there are some nasty traps. CSC will just nick props under the best of circumstances. Don't use it to kill the motors. MAKE TRIPLE SURE NOT TOO WHILE IT'S FLYING!!
LEARN FROM A DONKEY'S MISTAKES, WHO MIGHT BE A LITTLE OVER AGGRESSIVE THAN YOU FOR MY FPV DEBACLES. DON'T COUNT ON MIRICLES, EVEN NEAR CHRISTMAS.
SERIOUSLY, IF ONE OF MY PITIFUL TALES SAVED ONE PERSON'S QUAD, I'D FEEL SO MUCH BETTER ABOUT BEING SUCH AN IDIOT! I AM SO SO SERIOUS. ADMITTING THIS STUFF IS REALLY EMBARRASSING!!