When does the nervousness wear off

[Vin829]

I really only have 4 flights on my new Mavic, But every time I put it in the air I am too worried to send it off more than a few hundred feet from me. From the post on here about losing GPS to the wind warnings on the app. When does that feeling go away and the sense of fun come in and just let it fly?

 

[Nomand Eloc]

I still get nervous every flight. Granted this is my first drone, but I have 70 flights and total flight time of 7 hr 40 min. I would have more but just got my 2nd battery last week. I think the best advice I could give is to just pick a normal day not to windy in a good location and just go for it, you will be amazed how well things work at distance.

 

[laura schlenker]

I felt better after about my 20th flight to be honest. I finally sent it out about a mile and brought it back on my own. But now with the latest firmware issues I'm like starting all over with my nerves, just little steps until late I feel comfortable again.

 

[Robert Mitchell]

I've been flying drones for about three years now. Two quads and an octocopter later, I still get nervous. Unless wealthy, a lot of our money is on the line each time we launch. Plus, I think it is the nature of flying something, because when things go wrong they go wrong FAST. Not trying to be a downer, but in aviation, a little fear is normal, and not always a bad thing. It means you understand the consequences. And you will get more confident with each flight.

 

[stealle]

Nervousness for me has to do with experience, cost, and availability. Of those 3 availability has made me the most nervous. After about 3 flights and an hours worth of flying I have been pretty relaxed. Granted, I fly mostly in the country. I'd probably still be nervous if I was flying in a big city. As far as cost, I can afford to replace it pretty easily. Then there's availability... it does make me nervous at times thinking if my Mavic was lost/destroyed I'd have trouble replacing it right away due to availability.

 

[Robert Mitchell]

I felt better after about my 20th flight to be honest. I finally sent it out about a mile and brought it back on my own. But now with the latest firmware issues I'm like starting all over with my nerves, just little steps until late I feel comfortable again.

Did you bring it back by RTH, or fly it back with FPV, because I am assuming you couldn't orient visually that far?

 

[Nomand Eloc]

I think of these things like bikes or motorcycles.

I've been flying drones for about three years now. Two quads and an octocopter later, I still get nervous. Unless wealthy, a lot of our money is on the line each time we launch. Plus, I think it is the nature of flying something, because when things go wrong they go wrong FAST. Not trying to be a downer, but in aviation, a little fear is normal, and not always a bad thing. It means you understand the consequences. And you will get more confident with each flight.

Fear helps keeps people alive.

 

[laura schlenker]

Did you bring it back by RTH, or fly it back with FPV, because I am assuming you couldn't orient visually that far?

I brought it back by FPv, I fly out in the country and my folks farm so it's not as hard for me to find my way back because I know the area.

 

[vashon100]

The reality is that it's always going to be something you'll never know for sure you'll come back with when you leave the house.

 

[laura schlenker]

What really helps is having state Farm insurance on my Mavic, of something happens I'm covered.

 

[Gary Paul]

I have been flying for about 3 years. Started with Phantom 1 then the P2V P2V+ and P3Pro. I still get nervous when I fly. I bought a Mavic Pro in November and had about 10 flights on it. I was trying all the modes and really feeling confident. I live on the ocean and flew it over the water each flight. Last week I noticed a shaking in the video so I did a gimbal calibration and then decided to give it a try to see if it fixed my problem. I had a normal flight and upon descending at about 35 feet the drone fell out of the air and spun to the ground which was my paved driveway. The battery popped out, the gimbal was ripped off and 2 props were broken. It also was making a horrendous noise like the fan was dislodged inside. I was sick. I filled out a return request for Apple where I bought it and then followed up with a phone call to tell them I was sending back a defective broken drone. They credited me in full and I feel lucky. It is going to take me awhile to build my confidence again. I could have done some troubleshooting with DJI but decided not to due to time constraints on hold. It would have been nice to know what happened though. I tried to download the logs from the controller and radio without any luck. I was also told that DJI could have emailed me a special program to extract those log files.

 

[AAPhoto]

Hopefully, it never goes away. That's what keeps people flying safe and responsibly.

You'll find you'll gain trust in it and you'll take it further and further, and eventually over water. Just remember to always fly responsibly and use common sense. If you're looking for fun, take it to a large empty field and practice, practice, practice. Once you know the equipment and control inside and out, every flight will be fun. When you can make perfect figure 8's all day long, you'll start getting more comfortable. Flip it into sport mode for some extra fun. The first time I did, i was giddy with a huge grin on my face lol.

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

 

[WhoDat]

Beer helps...

 

[waverider969]

Day two with my Mavic. 4 flights in now. Over lunch today I had every intention to go home and try a longer distance test flying over by house over a preserve and maybe a bit further towards the beach. As soon as I saw the mavic as a dot in the sky I already felt that clampy feeling. I kept going trying to be brave and I was not even a qtr mile out. I was at altititude of 120 feet pushing it further and yet it seemed likle it was moving slowly at full throutle. Then all of a sudden I get the message that it switched to ATTI . OMG I just lost GPS! Great!! Not sure if related but I looked dowmn and realize my controller antenas were not folded out. HA! Ok I unfolded them but already felt nervious about the loss of GPS so turned bird back. GPS signal came back but the ride home seemed forever. As soon as I heard the familiar buzzing sound I felt at ease. Guess I will save the long distence test flight for another day. Max distance so far 806ft. lol.

 

[venom93corba]

Lol, great story. I'm in the same boat.

Sent from my SM-G935V using MavicPilots mobile app

 

[plrogers1126]

Mavic is my first drone. I was scared to death. Stayed in beginners mode for at least the first 10 flights plus had about 50 hours of watching videos for each hour of flight. You will begin to get more confident and comfortable after a few days and start to adventure out. Even when I fly out farther and farther I still do so cautiously, I'm in permanent "don't lose or break my drone " mode!!


Sent from my iPhone using MavicPilots

 

[waverider969]

am I the only one having issues getting hang of flying strictly FPV by just using iPhone screen (granted its only a iphone7 which isnt that big)?

 

[notoriouskeef]

i just do my preflight check, nothing crazy, don't fly stupid, keep my eyes on the signal, make sure no obstacles before I fly, and lastly, trust in technology. I know I won't make an error and it's out of my control if the electronics fail.

Everyone comes to the point where they want to push the envelope. Maybe I can try flying further? Did you inspect the area before you flew? if so, don't do it. $1,000 is a lot of money! That in itself keeps me from screwing off

 

[Dronebow]

I was nervous with my P3A for a long time too. Go fly it over a lake or the ocean. You will be so nervous about that but when it comes back ok it will build your confidence and you will get a charge of adrenaline to boot. Biggest fun factor kick I got was flying off the cliffs over the ocean in Sydney Australia. It was really windy and I was scared the whole time but when it came back fine I felt like a kid that just scored the winning goal for the whole season! Really got confidence after that I think...

 

[SoapyGolem]

I'm scared every flight, even when I'm not flying I ask my self should I fly? "Scared it may crash or be defective" so for me that nervousness is always there. However, I only had my mavic about two weeks! So it's still so new I hope this feeling goes away