Afraid of flying the drone?...

[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.

 

[ATW]

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

Crashed it into a lake two weeks after buying my first drone. It was upsetting true, but nobody was hurt, just a drone sank is all. So things could have been much worse!
Bought another new drone, and haven't crashed since.

To help put things into perspective, crashed my ATV a month after buying it, cost me over $5,000 to repair, 3 operations, 26 days in hospital, and this pain will likely linger the rest of my life.

So losing a drone really isn't all that bad.

 

[colorado kid]

I have been flying drones since last summer and I still get a bit anxious about flying. If there was no anxiety or excitement it would be boring.

The first way I lessened the anxiety was to fly in big wide open areas where I could make mistakes and not end up flying into a tree or the side of my house. Each time I'd go out to fly I'd have a goal in mind. For instance, it took me about a month to get the courage up to take my drone up to maximum legal height. I kept a record of what my max height was and once I got comfortable with that I would add 10 meters.

I also incrementally pushed the distance out for fear of losing video feed. What helped me a lot there was learning how to bring a drone back via line of sight even if the drone was just a dot in the sky. Being able to confidently do that eased my anxiety quite a bit. There's a simple technique to it and I can find the youtube link if you are interested.

I think "stick time" helps. As you fly more and get into a variety of situations you get more comfortable. Flying a cheap toy drone around the yard is a great way of learning basic control. Fly figure 8s around trees for instance.

Each drone has it's quirks and limitations so I'd make sure I'd get some flight time with each to get comfortable and feel out the limitations.

I will say the Mavic Air 2 is such a great drone to fly that it has lowered my anxiety. The solid connection with the controller and the precision of how it flies lets me focus more on flying than worrying. Just yesterday I was flying line of sight and got a notification that I had hit the 400m distance limit I had configured. Without even realizing I had gone way past my previous record of 320m. Just to prove to myself I could do it, I flew it back via line of sight. Another time while 300m out I lost sight of it after glancing away briefly. I pulled up the map and saw how I could easily point the drone back toward me and easily bring it back.

Like @old man mavic said, don't panic. In many situations, you can just let go of the sticks and it will hover while you decide on a course of action.

you bring up a good point! i don't know what it is called, but at bottom of screen in fly app, there was a half circle with arrow that pointed direction of where drone was flying. it is no longer on my screen. is this something i can get back, or did they do away with it in some firmware update? it was a big help when i couldn't use line of sight and didn't trust RTH function. maybe, i disabled this, without knowing? do you know anything about this, and if possible to add to again to screen view on fly app? thanks!

 

[colorado kid]

Crashed it into a lake two weeks after buying my first drone. It was upsetting true, but nobody was hurt, just a drone sank is all. So things could have been much worse!
Bought another new drone, and haven't crashed since.

To help put things into perspective, crashed my ATV a month after buying it, cost me over $5,000 to repair, 3 operations, 26 days in hospital, and this pain will likely linger the rest of my life.

So losing a drone really isn't all that bad.

so sorry to hear!!

 

[AusGeoff]

When I bought it I told myself it is like going to the races. I put the equivalent of 3 new tyres into having fun. It's a lot of money, but worst case I lose it, and at least I had a go.

Another suggestion: Shop around for your next drone, make a choice. Worst case, you need it sooner than you had planned.

 

[skycam509]

There's some great advice in these replies. Another thing that can ease the tension is insurance. I have my M2P, MA2, lots of accessories, and iPad Mini 4 all insured with State Farm. The premium is $75/yr with zero deductible. Unlike DJI refresh, you don't need to have the remains of your drone too make a claim. If your stuff gets stolen or you crash your drone in the ocean, you're covered.

 

[svegress]

I fly in Australia's capital, Canberra, where the restrictions on drones are many and strictly enforced. A solution has been to use the best available "drone safety" apps (ok2fly, OpenSky or Airmap) and doing screen dumps of the advice in case I find myself in dispute.
Second, I no longer bother with the thrills of free flight and prefer to get my kicks from planning and executing complex automated missions with Dronelink. Automation makes complex mapping and observing changes over time infinitely easier. With precise flight paths and photography locations set, much more attention can be concentrated on allowing for weather conditions and the inevitable interrupts like surprise helicopter appearances(I look forward to seeing ADS-B on small drones), bird attacks, other drones and people wandering into zones thought to be clear. Dronelink allows for aborted missions to be continued.

 

[julius13]

I have d j i refresh what worries me is if you cant retreive the drone as its not covered , do you or anyone know of a company that covers loss for a reasonable price im based in the uk

I had mine malfunction with some sort of propulsion error. Lost 115 ft in a tree. DJI determined from flight records that it wasn’t pilot error. I couldn’t retrieve the drone and they replaced it. So I suppose they have to determine it was not pilot error and they will do the right thing, say if your drone fell into a large body of water, lost in dense forest, etc.

 

[DBT_Drone]

I had mine malfunction with some sort of propulsion error. Lost 115 ft in a tree. DJI determined from flight records that it wasn’t pilot error. I couldn’t retrieve the drone and they replaced it. So I suppose they have to determine it was not pilot error and they will do the right thing, say if your drone fell into a large body of water, lost in dense forest, etc.

That's good to know that DJI can do that in some circumstances. What drone did you lose?

 

[swhipple1950]

I am so glad I found this link about nervousness or anxiety when flying the drone. I use airmap everytime I go up because I am so afraid if I go somewhere out of my plan then I'll loose the drone. Second, where I live I see in airmap there are Red Borders you are not supposed to cross ( a few meters off shore). I always worry is I cross this line that my drone will self land and land in the water. So there are many places I cannot fly to get a great shot out beyond the shore. I am just too afraid to try. I simply do not know what will happen if I cross the red line and I have not found an answer to my question. Thanks

 

[Joeyambor69xxx]

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

Same here man, ugh lol

 

[DBT_Drone]

Same here man, ugh lol

Its gets better with time. Take your time learning about the drone and short flights......believe me it will get better.

 

[Joeyambor69xxx]

Its gets better with time. Take your time learning about the drone and short flights......believe me it will get better.yea I know, I'm just so paranoid, is the mini 1 good safe to fly in residential areas interference wise that is...? I don't wanna have this thing get away or plumet to the ground...

 

[Joeyambor69xxx]

Crashed it into a lake two weeks after buying my first drone. It was upsetting true, but nobody was hurt, just a drone sank is all. So things could have been much worse!
Bought another new drone, and haven't crashed since.

To help put things into perspective, crashed my ATV a month after buying it, cost me over $5,000 to repair, 3 operations, 26 days in hospital, and this pain will likely linger the rest of my life.

So losing a drone really isn't all that bad.

Wow , (Mod Removed Language) you really went through some (Mod Removed Language)for sure buddy...

 

[DBT_Drone]

I have the Mavic 2 Pro, so I can't answer for the Mini 1. But I imagine its as safe as the other Mavic drones.

 

[Joeyambor69xxx]

I have the Mavic 2 Pro, so I can't answer for the Mini 1. But I imagine its as safe as the other Mavic drones.

Yea that little thing is quite impressive seriously...

 

[Joeyambor69xxx]

Yea that little thing is quite impressive seriously...

I have 7 phantoms too.lol

 

[Wild Drone Pilot]

Same here man, ugh lol

A video with the Air 2s and smart controller confirms the smart controller has issues with that drone as well
May change brands to one that cares about fixing major flaws in their stuff

 

[Pawpaw Woody]

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

I just ordered a 4 pack of Apple Air Tags as an insurance policy to recover incase of disasters!

 

[ndanaluk]

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

Never bothered me. I just fly my friend's drone.