Will the Butterflies ever leave?

Can't say I still get butterflies. I am wary of it coming crashing down or flying away for no apparent reason. But it never really gave me a kick, and if Im honest, I find flying a phantom pretty boring. Boring is good if your goal is to shoot nice video, which is what the Phantom was designed to do. But I fly other things to get enjoyment from flying, mostly fixed wing planes (also FPV) and mini racing quadcopters. Those get my heart rate up for sure.
 
I've been flying for almost 4 months. I absolutely can't wait until the next time I can get up in the air. I just recently started flying over water more. I don't think I'll ever lose the butterflies doing that but what helped me get started doing that was someone here on the forum saying this "the drone doesn't know it is over the water". So just fly at your own comfort level and you'll eventually gain confidence at your own pace.


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It's only money :)

as long as only your bird gets lost or damaged, but not if a third party object or even a person is involved.

A few butterflies may prevent you of overestimating your skills, finally we're not playing wit a wodden rail, it's a high tech gadget, isn't it?
Just take a minute to go through a short check list before take off... my 2 cents
 
I have only been flying for about a month, probably around 25 flights under my belt, still get butterflies pre-flight. When I experience those I go thru my pre-flight check list.

Yesterday I went out to fly to a local park close to where I live, the wife was busy at home so I figured I have about an hour to put in a flight on the P3P.
On my first flight I picked up an altitude of about 350 ft and started flying away, when the bird was 1,800 ft away i started getting weak RC signal (btw this is one of the places where I fly that I get these messages, maybe due to interference in the area), I started turning around making a right turn as if I am making a U turn in the air, while doing this I kept getting the "weak RC signal" when all of the sudden everything froze in my screen, there was no more RC connection for about 2 seconds (felt like an hour or so). What went thru my mind right at that moment was that I knew I had a good home position before the flight and my RTH Altitude was high enough and in the event RTH kick in and the bird comes back to me automatically it is not going to hit a tree or power lines. My battery level right at that moment was close to 75% on a freshly charged battery. Immediately I started counting in my head ... one second.. two seconds.. just when I was about to count to the third second I regained RC control. By then the bird had finished making the U turn to the right and was heading in my direction.

Wanna talk about butterflies ??

Btw my mental pre flight check list is, but not limited to: - Freshly charged batteries 100%, Propellers tight enough and most important I always make sure the Home Point is recorded.

Happy Flying and it is going to take time to build your confidence. There is a reason we bought these birds. The experience is priceless...
 
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I have taken my P3P up for about 5-6 times now and taking it really slow. I mostly take it to an empty parking lot which is really cool. It has the painted lines for parking spaces which makes for a great visual as far as keeping it straight. I take it about 10 ft high, and go out about 100 ft and just do a square type pattern and bring it back. I will then just take it straight up to about 250 ft and hover, pan it 360 degrees and bring it straight down. I am doing all of this in P mode and have not attempted a "real flight" yet as I plan to do a lot of practicing in ATTI mode before my maiden voyage. I also want to practice the F mode for the Course Lock feature as well but havent had enough time to really play with it. Its really hot now in Texas so I keep the flights short.

But holy bat ***** Batman, I get butterflies every time I take it up. But in a good way. LOL. Do you experienced flyers still get em?
If the butterflies ever go away, you need to find something else to do.
 
LOL. Good discussion. I believe the butterflies will soon turn into adrenaline, maybe not like a "racing flyer" but still good enough. I'm gonna take that leap of faith soon but I want some more experience before I just send er out and hope. Its just so dang hot right now man. My short flights consist of me keeping the truck running with the door open and me leaning on the seat sucking up whatever I can get out of the air conditioner! And even then its screaming hot so I dont want to overheat the bird too much during this learning process.

What do you guys look at most of the time? Map or FPV? Do you toggle between them much?
 
LOL. Good discussion. I believe the butterflies will soon turn into adrenaline, maybe not like a "racing flyer" but still good enough. I'm gonna take that leap of faith soon but I want some more experience before I just send er out and hope. Its just so dang hot right now man. My short flights consist of me keeping the truck running with the door open and me leaning on the seat sucking up whatever I can get out of the air conditioner! And even then its screaming hot so I dont want to overheat the bird too much during this learning process.

What do you guys look at most of the time? Map or FPV? Do you toggle between them much?
If in the US you should be flying line of sight. So mostly my eyes are on the bird. Momentary looks at the fpv for Sat, rc and battery checks. I'm reasonably sure to not lose my situational awareness. But the main thing is to have fun.... And do no harm. :)

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I'm apprehensive every time I fly my P3A even though it's been well behaved and always does what it should. I live in the Nevada desert and it's been up to 10,000 feet away where I could not see or hear it.
 
Not really felt that hint of fear since the Phantom one and Vision plus in 2014.
Going back to OP I'd take it much higher than 10 feet to get the feel of 'drivng about'- more like 100 feet - above the height of anything remotely close by you might hit if momentarily dis-orientated.
The results of falling from 100 feet will not be much worse than 10 feet.

Do still get the odd heart stopping moment when not able to confirm it's where I think it is.
In visual range you only need glance away a moment and it's hard to spot again.
Sometimes cloud moving background can create a strong feeling it's moving away when it should be stationary - that can give a brief flutter too
 
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Yeah, I am wanting to get some of those bright LEDS which I feel might help me with orientation of the bird. I am color blind and when I glance at the tablet, its extremely hard for me to spot it again. I'm getting braver every time I take it out. I will try those 100 ft up exercises and see how that goes.
 
Not really felt that hint of fear since the Phantom one and Vision plus in 2014.
Going back to OP I'd take it much higher than 10 feet to get the feel of 'drivng about'- more like 100 feet - above the height of anything remotely close by you might hit if momentarily dis-orientated.
The results of falling from 100 feet will not be much worse than 10 feet.

Do still get the odd heart stopping moment when not able to confirm it's where I think it is.
In visual range you only need glance away a moment and it's hard to spot again.
Sometimes cloud moving background can create a strong feeling it's moving away when it should be stationary - that can give a brief flutter too

I'd have to agree with 4wd's comments in regards to 100 feet above height. I feel safer flying the bird over 100 feet than 50 ft per say.
Always fly on freshly charged battery, and make sure the propellers are snug tight.
 
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I thought you were talking about actual butterflies :) I get dragonflies chasing my quad sometimes... I think I might've killed some :( Saw some bug blood on two props, which is sad cause I love dragonflies... if you point out finger they sometimes land on it!
But yeah I was almost crapping my pants when I started to fly, especially when I launched from my backyard that has lots of trees. It will pass more or less as you get more confident in few weeks...
 
Practicing in Atti mode is good, because if you ever lose satellite connection, you will be in Atti. When you let go of the sticks the drone doesn't stop. And any wind can be a major factor... ;-)

We Get spoiled...
I am getting much enjoyment from www.RealFlight.com/drone as it gives you all the various drone combinations and condition scenarios to practice in.
Respectfully, I love it.

RedHotPoker
I've got one for sale RealFlight Drone Flight Simulator if anyone is interested in it, $100

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Someone should grab that and access the challenges, right off.
I am getting a kick out of my copy. YMMV ;-)

RedHotPoker
 
Do yourself a favour and practice with something in your living room, or on your backyard, like a nano QX or X100. It is cheaper than a simulator and you will have a lot of fun -besides improving dramatically your skills.

Flying a DJI in Atti mode is an essencial skill to master.
 
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You just need to understand your drone is already crashed, meaning that it WILL come down hard one day. Just enjoy it until then.
 
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i only get butterfly's wen i am 3km away ...
I am just the same butterflies seem to be proportional with distance, and like many of you said if you go down one mile away or four miles it's the same crash. I still fly my syma x5 and still get a rush, I try things I would never attempt with my P4, it also makes me to have fun in atti with full confidence of my ability. Getting in trouble with my syma makes me realise how fast kaka happens and this makes me more aware of situations that can happen and I take more care with the P4. We all get close calls and I think most of us understand that our biggest problem is our over confidence in our abilities.
 
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You just need to understand your drone is already crashed, meaning that it WILL come down hard one day. Just enjoy it until then.

We will all come down one f@cking day. Some speed up the process, but who knows? they may be right. ;)

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