Afraid of flying the drone?...

[Droniac]

I was flying my drone once and the DJI Go 4 app got disconnected on my Galaxy S10....I could not see my drone anywhere and it was out of eye site.... I thought I lost my drone forever....
I had to completely rely on the remote controller itself it guide my Mavic Pro back to me.....

?

 

[Droniac]

I used to watch all those crazy 'let's see how far away I can fly this thing' videos; those made me nervous

Ok ok. Fessing up. With a bit of fear a moderate amount of unfortunate agoraphobia (flying obviously forces me outside)... I had a tello (a Christmas gift to my one of my sons, in which I permanently borrowed.) I flew that bug throughout my house until I frightened everything and everyone living there lol. Frustrating. But I did get very good with stick control. Learned to feather those things well. Then the ex misses said... OUT! So that’s how I built a bit of confidence when I first started. ?

 

[Droniac]

Happened to me with my Mavic 2 Pro... left my buddy and took off to find it on my pontoon boat...I looped around the island (it took off an me from 200 feet away on the way back) and couldn't find it. I tried to reacquire the drone by turning on and off the Trans and the App. No luck. I made it back to the dock and...low and behold...there she was sitting exactly where I launched her from.
Always set the RTH to a height above the tallest obstacle...it does in fact work.

Now that’s a great story. I love that happy ending. !! Godspeed

 

[DavidBlezard]

How many of you have anxiety about flying your expensive drone in fear of losing it?
I get anxiety and hearing all the warnings and beeps when flying...
How do you get over this anxiety?
I have had my Mavic pro for a while now and mostly go up and down so I know where my drone is..LOL

fearbis a funny thing because it stops you from doing what you like which is basically what could happen if you crash or lose your drone.

I say just fly more. Make mistakes and just simply enjoy it while it lasts. You will probably find nothing bad will happen. Money is a tool to have fun.

 

[Droniac]

I also get quite anxious when when flying away from anything more than up and down or a tight circle around my home. (Lost my fist ever "cheap" drone to a flyaway years ago!). But believe it or not, my actual biggest fear is of some redneck neighbor shooting at my drone. Everytime I am up hovering 200 or 300 ft High, I just know that one of them is it going to take a shot at it. Years ago where I live everybody was quite peaceful and got along very well. Over the years we've gotten a lot of neighbors who are paranoid are would just think it's fun to shoot it down. I'm talking about people who have moved into a residential neighborhood that have no problem exploding tannerite at all times of the day and evening and firing multiple semi-automatic weapons when you're out just enjoying the sunshine. I wish that wasn't something I had to worry about but I've seen several videos and I've heard stories of people taking shots at drones. Other than that, my MA2 has actually helped me to enhance my flying skills and has given me more confidence in what a quality drone can do. Happy flying!

I’m lucky I suppose. With what’s been going on lately I’m more worried about my neighbors shooting people than my drones. Lol. Strange times. Phantomrain... maybe will make Kevlar suits as well as foul weather protection? Lol. Godspeed. Keep your drone up and your head down. Godspeed

 

[pdipasquale]

that anxiety is quite normal when you first start flying ,and in itself is not a bad thing ,its when you become complacent and start cutting corners and thinking you are invincible ,that problems arise ,as you flight time increases ,and your stick control improves you will find that you can start relaxing ,and enjoy flying ,most of the warnings that pop up on the screen are just informative ,and although you should take notice of them ,just dont panic .

Always take off with GPS location. When in doubt push return home and be careful under 100 ft and landings.

 

[dewens]

Set your drone to return home if the signal is lost. And just keep it in the line of sight when flying.

 

[old man mavic]

when we fly our drones ,we are putting an object in the air that has the potential to become lost,damaged or totally destroyed ,through something we have done ,(Most Common Reason),or because of a failure on our part ,to go through the pre-flight checks and airframe checks ,before we fly
there are situations ,where because of something out of our control the end result will be the same ,and unfortunately that goes for any air born device ,the biggest problem with something that is flying ,is the potential for that object to cause damage or worse injury ,or even death to who or what it hits when gravity takes over ,so as long as we have that mindset in place as we fly ,and do our best to mitigate as many of the issues i mentioned as possible ,then it is possible to have a great days flying ,and return home with everything intact

 

[dewens]

Fly it in beginners mode, until you get use to flying your drone.

when we fly our drones ,we are putting an object in the air that has the potential to become lost,damaged or totally destroyed ,through something we have done ,(Most Common Reason),or because of a failure on our part ,to go through the pre-flight checks and airframe checks ,before we fly
there are situations ,where because of something out of our control the end result will be the same ,and unfortunately that goes for any air born device ,the biggest problem with something that is flying ,is the potential for that object to cause damage or worse injury ,or even death to who or what it hits when gravity takes over ,so as long as we have that mindset in place as we fly ,and do our best to mitigate as many of the issues i mentioned as possible ,then it is possible to have a great days flying ,and return home with everything intact

 

[Dbez1]

... But believe it or not, my actual biggest fear is of some redneck neighbor shooting at my drone. Everytime I am up hovering 200 or 300 ft High, I just know that one of them is it going to take a shot at it. Years ago where I live everybody was quite peaceful and got along very well. Over the years we've gotten a lot of neighbors who are paranoid are would just think it's fun to shoot it down....

Fly at 200’ minimum when gunfire is a possibility. This is out of the range of a normal shotgun and if you keep moving, it’s highly unlikely a guy with a rifle could hit it. Don’t hover over redneck infested areas. ??

 

[22kane]

I've had my mini for over a year now, but I haven't been able to get much stick time. I live in a controlled zone area, mid way between WPAFB and Dayton Airport. I fly when the opportunity presents itself, which is not as often as I like. I'd have to travel north 10 miles until I find an area where I can fly with permission from the owner of a soy bean farm. When I do venture north, I use the RTH feature a lot because I am still nervous about it. Sometimes it reacts as it should, but when it doesn't, I'm trying to figure out why in the middle of a soy bean field. I've tried flying on school grounds on the weekends, but the school doesn't allow it because of liability issues.
I'm a 75yo retired Army vet, where I spent most of career in army aviation, choppers, from hanger rat to production control NCOIC. My best times was being a crew chief, because I got a lot of stick time during test flights on hueys and cobras. And this is where I get my joy of flying a drone. My #3 son bought it as a xmas gift in 2019. Right now I trusted my choppers more then I do my mini. But as many of you have said, it takes time and patience to build my trust and comfort level.

 

[Noamcee99]

I was overly anxious when I 1st got my MA2 and found myself not enjoying owning it much because of the fear of crashing it!
I became a better pilot and started enjoying flying after buying insurance for $60/year that would replace it with no deductible even if it's stolen out of my house...best investment I've made so far ?

Hmmm ... interesting, Im up for spending $60/yr for that kind of peace of mind. Can u pls provide a reference/link/pointer, to this type of insurance?

 

[Droniac]

Fly at 200’ minimum when gunfire is a possibility. This is out of the range of a normal shotgun and if you keep moving, it’s highly unlikely a guy with a rifle could hit it. Don’t hover over redneck infested areas. [emoji79][emoji41]

[emoji850]?

 

[macfawlty]

I have a degree of anxiety any time I fly, more so in new locales. The risk and anxiety however is considerably less than my hang gliding days with a short ramp on the edge of a mountain, unpredictable wind, biting winter temps, constant stomach churning turbulence and short, squirrelly landing fields. What provides the most comfort is the $60/year I pay to State Farm to insure all of my drones. I don’t know why anyone would pay hundreds of $$ for DJI Refresh... such a ripoff. My chances of losing a drone in a crash is very high in many of the places I fly. Might drop in a wooded area on a mountainside, in the water, etc. Access and recovery is no guarantee and you may not have the time, daylight, cell service, satellite imagery opportunity to attempt recovery. DJI Refresh requires you recover the drone and they still charge you to fix it. It’s a money grab.

 

[DBT_Drone]

I have a degree of anxiety any time I fly, more so in new locales. The risk and anxiety however is considerably less than my hang gliding days with a short ramp on the edge of a mountain, unpredictable wind, biting winter temps, constant stomach churning turbulence and short, squirrelly landing fields. What provides the most comfort is the $60/year I pay to State Farm to insure all of my drones. I don’t know why anyone would pay hundreds of $$ for DJI Refresh... such a ripoff. My chances of losing a drone in a crash is very high in many of the places I fly. Might drop in a wooded area on a mountainside, in the water, etc. Access and recovery is no guarantee and you may not have the time, daylight, cell service, satellite imagery opportunity to attempt recovery. DJI Refresh requires you recover the drone and they still charge you to fix it. It’s a money grab.

True, but I hear that State Farm will cancel the policy after you use it once. I could see that if you had multiple crashes, but just one time........hmmmm.........

 

[macfawlty]

I was flying my drone once and the DJI Go 4 app got disconnected on my Galaxy S10....I could not see my drone anywhere and it was out of eye site.... I thought I lost my drone forever....
I had to completely rely on the remote controller itself it guide my Mavic Pro back to me.....

Yes, happened to me as well when I first got my M2P. In the moment, I wasn’t sure what to do. Low Battery, over a large river and the RTH button on controller didn’t seem to help (I didn’t know to long press). I had to check distance displayed on controller and adjust direction accordingly until I spotted it. Barely made it back before forced descent.

 

[macfawlty]

True, but I hear that State Farm will cancel the policy after you use it once. I could see that if you had multiple crashes, but just one time........hmmmm.........

Yeh, I should read the policy, which they never bothered to send me. I figured it wasn’t good for multiple losses. Recovery is key for me. Some of the new models have a ‘Find My Drone’ function, but not the M2P (maybe in a firmware upgrade). I got a PhantomRain wetsuit for visibility, Firehouse Arc XL strobe/signal and recently the Marco Polo GPS.
I try to anticipate recovery challenges while flying. Area accessibility, water, density of understory, grade/terrain, time of day and ability to return to the locale on another day if necessary. I had 1 crash in remote woods and another crash into a river this year, both of which I recovered.

 

[DBT_Drone]

Yeh, I should read the policy, which they never bothered to send me. I figured it wasn’t good for multiple losses. Recovery is key for me. Some of the new models have a ‘Find My Drone’ function, but not the M2P (maybe in a firmware upgrade). I got a PhantomRain wetsuit for visibility, Firehouse Arc XL strobe/signal and recently the Marco Polo GPS.
I try to anticipate recovery challenges while flying. Area accessibility, water, density of understory, grade/terrain, time of day and ability to return to the locale on another day if necessary. I had 1 crash in remote woods and another crash into a river this year, both of which I recovered.

Yeah, I'm thinking about getting the Marco Polo when I start doing more adventurous flying.....I'm still in the learning mode of drone flying. The Firehouse strobe seems like a good idea.

 

[macfawlty]

I too am afraid to fly my drone where I can't see it - eg no more than say 200 feet away. I watch lots of videos posted here and feel envious of those who have created them especially those taken over water especially the ocean. I have yet to fly my drone simply looking at the monitor mainly as it is hard to see in bright sunlight even with a special hood. Maybe I will try early in the morning or late afternoon.

All I can say is just ignore the anxiety, cause risk is relative and typically the worst thing is that it crashes, you find it and get it repaired. It’s still one of the cheapest and safest hobbies considering the supreme enjoyment you get out of it, all of which can be recorded in 4K.
For me, once my drone is launched, I’m looking at the monitor, the only way to know where I am, where I’m going and the moves I’m making. There are pretty good anti-glare screen protectors, coupled with the hood and a black shirt, you’ll be fine. What I can’t and won’t do is to use a smartphone. iPad 9.7” currently and my next will be even bigger.

 

[macfawlty]

Yeah, I'm thinking about getting the Marco Polo when I start doing more adventurous flying.....I'm still in the learning mode of drone flying. The Firehouse strobe seems like a good idea.

The Arc XL will strobe and audible longer than the Mavics with Find My Drone. I haven’t had occasion to use the Marco Polo yet, but it’s got a 200-300 yd range I believe, which should be enough once you’re in the general area. If I lose it, I want to be able to find it as fast as possible. Don’t always have the luxury of time or daylight. $200 isn’t cheap, but worth it, IMO. Decided not to wait for the next crash and recovery.