First Drone. First flights with Minor Issues.

[Xavier6162]

Took my first ever flight yesterday with a couple of minor issues with the FAA via Air Control (LAANC).

The area was listed at 400ft. The app automatically set my request at Zero with up to 200ft in the green. So I requested 400ft as allowed by the area map and was immediately denied with a message that prior approval 60 days in advance was needed to fly above 200 ft. That was odd.

Made a second request for 200ft and was immediately approved via app and text.

Changed the setting on the controller RTH at 193ft/max attitude 193ft.

Tried auto take off first…hovered for a minute than few up to 50ft. So where was that angry bee buzz I’ve been hearing about. The drone was surprising very quiet. There were people around and no one even looked in my direction.

The drone was very crisp easy to control. One could be as aggressive or smooth as your input on the sticks. Only issue was the yaw is very slow. I’ll have to find adjustments for that somewhere within the controller. If available.

The Drone is smaller than I initially thought. I only few it a few hundred feet away at less than 100 ft. Lost sight of it every time I looked at the controller. Of course I panicked (couldn’t see or hear the darn thing), but made no efforts to make emergency maneuvers with the sticks. The camera and map views kept me in check.

The last time I lost sight I hit the RTH…waited about a minute, looked up and there it was…landing exactly where it took off.

The second flight I took off in manual mode, flew at 40-100ft around obstacles (Trees/Poles/Tall building) trying out the avoidance system. Worked exactly as advertised but the warnings are very annoying to fly around the trees. Couldn’t see the drone amongst the trees…but the drone did warn of the presence of limbs and leaves. I was warned about what I couldn’t see via the camera. At one point I couldn’t proceed forward or up but had to back out. That’s a good thing.

Tried a few panorama photos and videos. Played with the manual camera settings and the 3X zoom. I was up there for a very long time. Never went above 100ft.

On low battery I got a RTH warning followed a few seconds later by a "Retuning To Home" voice notification. The drone was at 40ft at the time and about 200 yrds away. It did not rise to the 193ft RTH attitude. Stayed at 40 feet, maneuvered around a tall light pole, landed exactly where it took off from and shut off the motors. That was odd. I assumed it would rise to 193ft before retuning. Must be something I did in the setting.

What a joy to fly and watch land. Never knew a Drone could be this easy to fly and control. This is a keeper.

 

[old man mavic]

@Xavier6162 what you witnessed was the optimal RTH this can be changed it the settings ,as well as the Yaw speed
download the Manual PDF from the DJI site ,and the different RTH functions will be explained

 

[Xavier6162]

Thanks. I like that RTH Optimal setting. Didn't expect i,t but it was what I would have preferred to happen. I will look into the yaw setting though.

 

[Cafguy]

So where was that angry bee buzz I’ve been hearing about.

Drones get louder the more people complain lol. There are many settings that could effect the way your drone returns home Besides the altitude setting, I would read up the manual and, if your new watch plenty on you-tube on drone settings- You will also be able to Adjust that slow YAW ( depending on zoom) settings aren't complicated until the first time you make them.

 

[Torque]

The Air 3 sounds like an agitated Hummingbird, and not a buzzing bee. I like it.

 

[Cafguy]

I forgot to mention When you first start flying take some of your flights and fly with just the map on no camera watch the drone and fly around. then every- so often glance down and fly a short distance using only the lines on the map. Once you do this a few times, you will be familiar with what the map is telling you and you will find it hard to lose your drone after.

 

[Droning on and on...]

The Air 3 sounds like an agitated Hummingbird, and not a buzzing bee. I like it.

And how is it, exactly, you know this?

Annoy a lot of hummingbirds or something? Huh? Well?

 

[Torque]

And how is it, exactly, you know this?

Annoy a lot of hummingbirds or something? Huh? Well?

As a matter of fact yes. We have Rufus Hummingbirds that winter over here in the Puget Sound region, and I feed them year round. Feeder runs dry: Agitated Hummingbirds at the window. Launch a drone in the spring: Agitated male Hummingbirds dive bombing my drone.
Still waiting to see if the Air 3 will be accepted by the tribe or remain an outcast...

 

[Droning on and on...]

Just to make sure there's no misunderstanding, I was 100% just having fun, @Torque... the image of a swarm of tiny angry hummingbirds getting all worked up had me laughing

 

[GFields]

The Air 3 sounds like an agitated Hummingbird, and not a buzzing bee. I like it.

Yeah, I like it too. Somewhat quieter than the Air 2s and a lot quieter than the P42

 

[Xi Zhou]

Significantly louder than the Mini 3 I have, but thats to be expected.

Thing BOOKS in Sport Mode, 47mph, up to 54mph with a wind at its back.

Obstacle avoidance/Collision detection works remarkably well if decently lit for anything bigger than a hand.

 

[hedbonker]

We get a ton of hummingbirds in my backyard and while I do not have a feeder they are happy with the numerous Hibiscus bushes in the yard. Hummingbirds are super aggressive, and they are constantly fighting so I know what Torque means about how they sound.

 

[Torque]

We get a ton of hummingbirds in my backyard and while I do not have a feeder they are happy with the numerous Hibiscus bushes in the yard. Hummingbirds are super aggressive, and they are constantly fighting so I know what Torque means about how they sound.

A Hummingbird feeder hung in front of my bay window is often akin to watching winged MMA fighters - especially during mating season. I have to admire these little meanies.

 

[MS Coast]

Just a few suggestions here. If you have fewer flights under your belt than you have fingers and toes, it may not be a good idea to be flying so close to trees and obstacles that you're getting proximity warnings. It's definitely not a good idea to be flying among trees if you can't see the drone. Don't put too much faith in the OA system; it doesn't do well with wires and thin branches.

Be aware that flying on the far side of a building may cause a loss of signal between the controller and the drone.

Study the manual and get very familiar with how RTH works. And how the drone behaves with signal loss.

Maintain continuous awareness of the battery state of charge. Don't rely on the drone to decide when it's time to return. Land with 20% or more battery capacity remaining. You're batteries will last longer if you don't run them below that level.

Check out the Pilot Institute's Deep Drive course on your drone model. It's free and it will save you some potential heartache down the road.

Build agility and muscle memory with the control sticks by flying simple maneuvers in an open area - out and back, squares, circles, figure eights, zig-zags.

Hang on to that enthusiasm. Continue sharing your experiences here. Ask questions; there are a lot of well qualified and knowledgeable people here.

Fly safe. Have fun!

 

[umanbean]

A Hummingbird feeder hung in front of my bay window is often akin to watching winged MMA fighters - especially during mating season. I have to admire these little meanies.

I know exactly what an agitated Hummingbird sounds like. Sitting on my back porch right now watching over a dozen of them argue angrily over the three feeders we have spaced over the width of the porch eve. We like feeding and watching them too.

 

[Dronecation]

Just to make sure there's no misunderstanding, I was 100% just having fun, @Torque... the image of a swarm of tiny angry hummingbirds getting all worked up had me laughing

Good to hear...

 

[WildcatDave]

Just a few suggestions here. If you have fewer flights under your belt than you have fingers and toes, it may not be a good idea to be flying so close to trees and obstacles that you're getting proximity warnings. It's definitely not a good idea to be flying among trees if you can't see the drone. Don't put too much faith in the OA system; it doesn't do well with wires and thin branches.

Be aware that flying on the far side of a building may cause a loss of signal between the controller and the drone.

Study the manual and get very familiar with how RTH works. And how the drone behaves with signal loss.

Maintain continuous awareness of the battery state of charge. Don't rely on the drone to decide when it's time to return. Land with 20% or more battery capacity remaining. You're batteries will last longer if you don't run them below that level.

Check out the Pilot Institute's Deep Drive course on your drone model. It's free and it will save you some potential heartache down the road.

Build agility and muscle memory with the control sticks by flying simple maneuvers in an open area - out and back, squares, circles, figure eights, zig-zags.

Hang on to that enthusiasm. Continue sharing your experiences here. Ask questions; there are a lot of well qualified and knowledgeable people here.

Fly safe. Have fun!l

This post needs to be a sticky in lots of places. Somebody please make that happen. Even as a commercial certified pilot with years of flying. It's a good reminder for me to read through these things. We can get lackadaisical if we have many flights without incident. That's often when exactly we do have a crash.

 

[Dronecation]

This post needs to be a sticky in lots of places. Somebody please make that happen. Even as a commercial certified pilot with years of flying. It's a good reminder for me to read through these things. We can get lackadaisical if we have many flights without incident. That's often when exactly we do have a crash.

That's what 'check lists' are for....especially in the airline world. Many are written in blood.

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