Takeoff before Christmas?

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Hello everybody! I live in a harsh part of our planet, my home is located at 70,04,24N 029,44,57E. Not a place where you can perform outdoor activities any time, especially not in this time of the year.

My next adventure is only a couple of days away. According to my interest in flying, I was advised to go for a Phantom 3 standard, which is now right around the corner. In the waiting time, I have read quite much about flying quadcopters in general and Phantoms particularly both in this forum and other forums. I have read the user manual and quick start manual, and have even made my own «unboxing checklist» to have at hand at the very moment when the box is at my desk.

However; I have very heavy complaints about most of the «informative» videos available. I have myself run courses about my favorite subject. And one of the most important reminders were that the students knew less about the subject compared to my knowledge. Therefore I had to teach my students as if I were in the same level. In very many of the available videos, I often give up to follow the instructions as the lecturer instructs as those he instructs are on the same knowledge level as himself.

So he (or she) races over the example screens like an express train, and doesn't wait for the audience to realize which options the instructor chooses, clicks one option, and then the next screen appears ant then the next. In addition the instructor uses expressions and abbreviations that is natural for him and all the others who are familiar to flying quadcopters, but not for us who are newbees and first-timers.

No doubts, most of these videos are very instructive – for those who are familiar with flying quadcopters and know the terms.

So, I am afraid that I, despite hours of reading and watching videos, must learn to fly my quadcopter the old hard way, trying and failing – at least some of it.

However, I am glad that I finally decided to join this forum. I realize that no question is considered as «stupid». Therefore, you will probably have many questions from me in the time to come. Looking forward to a friendly fellowship.
 
Welcome aboard Yksi! There is a lot of good info and informants in these pages. You will have a blast. My suggestions are: go though the Owners manual again with the bird sitting on the desk in front of you and leave the beginers mode on your first few flights and take it slow and easy. By following these steps IF you have an incident it should be minor. Have fun.
 
In this day and age where you can learn to do literally anything on YouTube, there are indeed alot of poor examples of teaching. However, you can usually fill in the gaps by watching other videos to get a complete knowledge of the subject. You can also start and stop as often as you like. Yes, none of these guys are college professors, but I'm certainly thankful they give the effort because, without them, there would be no such resource available.
 
In this day and age where you can learn to do literally anything on YouTube, there are indeed alot of poor examples of teaching. However, you can usually fill in the gaps by watching other videos to get a complete knowledge of the subject. You can also start and stop as often as you like. Yes, none of these guys are college professors, but I'm certainly thankful they give the effort because, without them, there would be no such resource available.
Yes, you are right. And especially that guy from DJI, who instructs us thoroughly from A to Z through several lections, is a very good example how to teach newbees like me.
 
The best advice I can offer is READ THE MANUAL SEVERAL TIMES so that you are THOROUGHLY familiar with the aircraft/App controls & features available to you as the pilot. In particular be sure to learn the App indicators/controls, & how to activate/cancel a Return to Home command. Create a pre-flight checklist before your first flight, learn it, & follow it for each subsequent flight. When you take to the air, do NOT start buzzing around at top speed seeing how fast you can go. Fly SLOWLY learning how the aircraft responds. You are flying a camera NOT a rocket! The Phantom flies very precisely & you can put her just about anywhere.

Watch the aircraft & the FPV minding your proximity to obstacles. When viewing the aircraft directly, it is easy to misjudge & clip a tree or building by mistake. Make sure to set your Return to Home altitude HIGHER than any object you might encounter along the way. i.e. If you decide to fly around the back of 300' building, make sure your RTH altitude is 350' so if you lose control signal, the Phantom will climb above the building before returning home. I can't tell you how many videos I have watched of someone flying around the back side of a building, knowing they were about to lose control signal & crash into the building because they failed to set an adequate RTH height. If you are going to fly behind the 700' skyscraper, set your RTH altitude to 800'!

That being said, & as a pilot of fixed-wing aircraft since I was a teenager (I own about 50 fixed-wing RC aircraft), the Phantom is the one of the easiest to fly RC available. No need to join a club to find a suitable runway or open field to enjoy flying. You can launch from virtually anywhere. Unlike a fixed-wing aircraft, you have built-in pause. Just release the sticks & she will hover in place, flip a switch and she will return home, lose signal & she dutifully returns.

The P3S is quite an amazing quad. It's this year's model of the Vision+, with an improved camera, battery, & propulsion system, greater range, & all at half the price!
 
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The P3S is very easy to fly, probably even for a first timer. When i decided to buy my first phantom, i held off flying on it for a few days and I learned how to fly on a nano quad (like 30 bucks at toysrus) until i felt comfortable enough to fly on the phantom. made a huge huge difference.
 
I am a newbie to. I bought mine with out watching any videos or anything. After I received it I spent a month watching everything I could on it. 6 weeks later was my first flight . 61 years old and never flew a rc before I just took it slow . Good thing about these things is when u think u are in trouble just let go of sticks and it will hover. Auto take off , auto land and return to home are great. My grandson does rc planes so it has been fun
 
First of all, thanks to you who welcomed me into the forum, and supplied lots of advices and information. Having studied these thoroughly, gave me good understanding of what I was about to enter in this exciting hobby.

So, my toy arrived yesterday. Checked that the box was not damaged in any way, and opened it carefully to see the inside. Picked out the RC and checked it for damages or signs of damages. Then checked the P3S for signs of damage, checked that everything was according to the illustrations. Made a sticker with telephone number and reward, and taped it to the top. Fastened the propellers, and starting charging batteries.

When the batteries were fully charged, began the fun. Turned on the RC and drone according to checklists. Opened the DJI Go and connected to my wi-fi. It refused at first. I followed the advice t typing PHANTOM3_XXX. Received error messages telling me that the name was not recognized. After some tries, the telephone responded with PHANTOM3_052ff4. This was also the name it gave to the wi-fi. Passweord as instructed «12341234»

Then a message appeared across the top saying «Phantom 3 standard firmware downloaded»

Synchronised the drone according to the book.

Then the main screen appeared, and a new message:

«GPS is ready and the home point has been recorded.» I chose beginner's mode.

Message appeared top center of the telephone screen: «GPS. Safe to fly»

Then came a message across the telephone screen: «Please return to the home menu and upgrade your firmware», and nothing more happened.

After a while gave RC 1 beep every half second.

So I turned off the drone and the RC. There was no maiden flight before Christmas.

Going abroad for Christmas vacation. The drone and RC can wait for me at home. When I return, I will make some new attempts.

A blessed Christmas and a peaceful new year to you all!
 

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