Silly question, but now what?

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I bought my p4 late Saturday afternoon, and flew it twice yesterday and again today at lunch. I've kept it in beginner mode the entire time. I've taken just a few minutes of video, but nothing of consequence.

So, what should I do next? I know it's a silly question, and you guys can't really tell me what I should do with my own quad. But seriously, I don't know what to do next. I could take it out of beginner mode and actually learn to fly the thing a little bit, but I'm scared to death of crashing the thing. Yeah, it's gonna happen eventually, and my own nervousness probably makes it more likely, but still.

Sorry for the rambling. I guess I could actually explore the dji go 4 app a little. Up till now I've spent the entire time actually flying by looking at the drone, and not the app. To be honest, I have almost no clue what the various bits in the UI do.

I need to find a better spot to fly. The only places I've flown so far are pretty constrained and surrounded by trees, so that contributes to my nervousness.

So. Yeah. Rambling over.
 
Take it to a big area, you tube has good videos, honest we all felt like you at some point but P4 is a very friendly bird just take it easy and dont be over confident yull, be fine enjoy it.
Trees hate drones avoid them
 
This is going to come off as rude but it's not meant to be. What did you buy it for? Do you have a passion for aerial photos or videos? If the answer is yes then practice on flying and adjusting the camera to keep something in view. Better yet...practice flying lol. As you get more comfortable, fly higher and further out.

If your answer is no but just want to fly then you probably got the wrong platform. You might want to look into more of a drone for racing or stunts. Ethier way you need to get used to flying and controlling the drone from all angles.

Practice doing figure eight flights and if you're going to stick with aerial photography, practice flying looking at the video feed.
Have fun and take your time.
 
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The most common response that appears on this forum is to read, read and re-read the manual before becoming adventurous. There are many stories of new pilots crashing their drones because they didn't understand how to operate them. As for a crash being inevitable, I have flown 100000 mtrs without incident and the only close calls I had were my fault. After reading the manual ad nauseum, stay in beginners mode, practice flying in Atti mode at a low height and get a feel for what the drone is doing, ensure your RTH is sufficient to clear any obstacles when switching over to GPS mode, leave your collision avoidance on to help you out (don't rely on it to save you though). When you move out of beginners mode , find somewhere open and clear of obstacles, look at what the app is telling you and slowly build up your confidence.
 
Just think of it as when you learned to drive. You probably started out slow in a large unpopulated parking lot.
Best to take it above any near obstacles such as trees and light poles which will give you more room to maneuver.

Sent from my HTC 10 using PhantomPilots mobile app
 
Yes .... trees are bad mojo ! They act like drone magnets ! All kidding aside, most of us were in your shoes at one time or another. I never used beginner mode but I did fly around with the simulator in the App before I did any serious flying. Like the others have said, just go to an open area away from people and objects and just fly it around slowly practicing fundamental inputs and learning how to orientate your brain to the direction of desired flight to joystick movement. I've been flying a P3 and now a P4 for over a year and I'm still nervous so don't feel bad ;)
 
This is going to come off as rude but it's not meant to be. What did you buy it for? Do you have a passion for aerial photos or videos? If the answer is yes then practice on flying and adjusting the camera to keep something in view. Better yet...practice flying lol. As you get more comfortable, fly higher and further out.

If your answer is no but just want to fly then you probably got the wrong platform. You might want to look into more of a drone for racing or stunts. Ethier way you need to get used to flying and controlling the drone from all angles.

Practice doing figure eight flights and if you're going to stick with aerial photography, practice flying looking at the video feed.
Have fun and take your time.

This is a very good post and it wasn't rude at all. I have no particular interest in video/photography to be honest. Yeah, I could have gone a different direction, but I wanted something with some decent pilot aids. I had originally planned on a P3S, but lost patience with local stock and picked up the p4 on a whim.

My goal is just to fly. I will definitely investigate the video options in greater detail, but that was not the deciding factor in this purchase.

Thanks for the responses everyone.
 
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What I did is set a goal for each flight. Stuff like go 200 feet up, fly a square both ways, fly 300 feet away and back, test RTH, etc. Then I started looking at the screen more for camera stuff and learning to fly via it. Then started going out 1200-1500 feet and stuff. It just takes a while for some of us to get comfortable.

I never used beginner mode but that was unintentional, somehow I turned it off early on and only realized when I went to turn it off deliberately. It really doesn't do much unless you are using the sticks like a monkey.
 
Hi friend
I did buy a quad toy for practicing orientation, learn how to fly quad with it, after confidance, i bought p4 two week a go and i have confidance flying with it, and practicing with toy is fun, you will not feel bad if the toy hits the tree. Well that works for me, and p4 is more easy to control compare to quad toy.

Sent from my Redmi Note 2 using PhantomPilots mobile app
 
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This is going to come off as rude but it's not meant to be. What did you buy it for? Do you have a passion for aerial photos or videos? If the answer is yes then practice on flying and adjusting the camera to keep something in view. Better yet...practice flying lol. As you get more comfortable, fly higher and further out.

If your answer is no but just want to fly then you probably got the wrong platform. You might want to look into more of a drone for racing or stunts. Ethier way you need to get used to flying and controlling the drone from all angles.

Practice doing figure eight flights and if you're going to stick with aerial photography, practice flying looking at the video feed.
Have fun and take your time.

I bought mine to fly and see things from a new perspective. I dont care much about making video of forests and traffic. Should i return it iand get a complicated racing drone?..no i shouldnt. Besides having a great camera, this platform is an affordabke way to explore the regions around you from tbe sky

Pair it with some.goggles and it becomes an immersive way to see.the world
 
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I bought mine to fly and see things from a new perspective. I dont care much about making video of forests and traffic. Should i return it iand get a complicated racing drone?..no i shouldnt. Besides having a great camera, this platform is an affordabke way to explore the regions around you from tbe sky

Pair it with some.goggles and it becomes an immersive way to see.the world

It was an example to get the OP thinking of what he wanted to do or why he wanted a drone. Not an example for other posters to make a smart *** reply. Too many people want to pick arguments when the OP was happy with the post. Do whatever you want with your drone.
 
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The possibilities are endless. As others said, practice and learn the controls. Then venture out from there. Besides learning the basic controls, study the airspace and legal requirements to stay out of trouble. Then just fly and have fun!

I bought mine for multiple reasons. My main purpose is to hopefully build a photography business. The drone will be an additional camera to supplement my regular cameras.

I also bought it as a fun way to view the areas. I am a private pilot and have owned airplanes. The pictures from the drone are better than the pictures I have taken from the planes. The drone camera isn't looking through an airplane window, and the drone camera can be still instead of going 100+ miles and hour.
 
Fear not.

Find a big open field where there's no chance of running into anything within sight of the drone.

Take it up about 20-40 feet, switch to Sport Mode, and start zooming around. Just keep an eye on altitude -- don't get too low. Otherwise, push it to the max (it's quite thrilling at 45mph), and learn how to fly it competently Line Of Sight (not FPV) with full power available.

If you get scared or overloaded at any time for any reason, just let go of the sticks, and it'll stop and hover while you collect your wits.

Doing this same exercise in ATTI mode is quite a ways down the learning road. Right now, just get yourself good in Sport Mode, and you'll be able to handle anything in P mode. And, pushing the bird to its limits in a completely open field is nothing to be fearful of -- it's not going to crash unless you dive it into the ground. That won't happen if you just let go of the sticks when it starts doing something you don't want it to.
 
Find a field.....end of story......

It's comments like this that waste people's time and clutter forums with crap. Your post was really helpful, I'm sure the OP will get a lot out of it. But I bet you feel better because you got it off your chest. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 
Take Vally's advice. Pick yourself up a $25 toy quadcopter and have fun learning to fly. They are very light and generally don't get damaged in a crash. It's really important to know how to fly your P4 in atti. You'll fly with a lot more confidence and much less fear.
Good luck.


Sent from my SM-T550 using PhantomPilots mobile app
 
I never had a toy, I just got a p3 then a p4. Beginner mode is good till you get your confidence, which comes very quickly. Yes I crashed into a tree and will NEVER go near one again, don't be tempted. P4 obstacle avoidance can't see a tree that has no leaves. Have a spotter with you if possible and don't let it out of your sight. It's fun to watch litchi missions on YouTube, but I will never try it. Call me a coward, I want good films but I don't want to break it. Have fun!


Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots
 
I bought my p4 late Saturday afternoon, and flew it twice yesterday and again today at lunch. I've kept it in beginner mode the entire time. I've taken just a few minutes of video, but nothing of consequence. So, what should I do next?

Welcome to the hobby. This can be a passionate crowd of enthusiasts, and you may soon become one as well.

Of course, you want to know the manual very well prior to flying. It would be like throwing good money to the wind otherwise. These are complicated systems after all.

That said, you now have in your possession, something that can allow you to look at your place on Earth a little bit differently. I say get creative and go have a look. You may just find out what makes us so passionate...
 

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