Afraid to fly

[Frustrated]

With all the fly always posted on this site, I must say am some what afraid to fly $1,000 gone with my investment. Flying at my property with 110' trees, I lose sight of my Air 100' feet away. , Any insight or thoughts regarding my fears or should I just trust my RTH option. Just bought a strobe and will look for some more open land to get more confidence with my air. Like my kid said, why did you by it you don't fly it.

 

[eckydrone200]

I wouldn't worry too much about it. When I got my first Air brand new I was a bit tentative about it too but eventually I started flying over the sea and have never encountered any problems. If the drone started to lose connection it would always initiate return to home automatically. Enjoy your drone and have faith in DJI, their products are excellent and very reliable. At the end of the day even companies like Boeing have problems so where there is technology there will be gremlins and anomalies.

 

[appleguy010]

First things first, set your RTH height in your app to at least 200 ft or so. Then you’ll have peace if mind that you won’t hit your trees if you use RTH. Second of all, I recommend new users read the user manual. It’s a great confidence boost when you understand how it functions and how the drone will behave.
You’ve got this! Just take it slow and you’ll be fine. One great thing about DJI drones is how stable they are in the air. If you need to you can always just let go of the sticks and the drone will hold its spot rock solid. The phone or tablet display is also great for getting home with its map and live display.

 

[Rattydude77]

If you read alot of the forum fly always most of it is pilot error 85to90% we have some good analyst on here to read your flight logs to tell you what happened and if your still nervous use beginner mode best thing since slice bread it only let's you go so far and so high I used it and this is my 8th drone 4th DJI drone so dont let fear stop you just take your time and enjoy the new hobby lots of videos read the manual and go slow and enjoy

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

In your situation, I can really see one main problem.
The Air wifi and your trees, keeping LOS for signal.

You can't do much to overcome this, except try and fly high & close, from a high vantage point (you roof ?) and set RTH to at least 150' (if dead sure of your tree tops height, better 200' as suggested.
With tree tops, remember, your RTH will be from take off point, and may be and issue if flying over hilly terrain, so use caution in estimating this, and add that good safety margin.

Recognise the wifi strength meter on your display, and learn how it drops in certain conditions . . . too far, too low with trees starting to block signal etc.

The Air IS very stable in flight, so just check UAV forecast, your tree tops movement, etc, and make sure the wind isn't too high at say 200' to 300', where you'll want to be flying.

From what you post, I feel you need to go and fly some 6 - 10 times (or more) first in a clear open area.
I can't see where you're located, rural or urban, but find a paddock or large sports oval etc, flat with no obstructions, and see what you can do with the Air first with good flight surroundings.
Then expand from there once you feel your confidence grow a little.

I also can't tell from your post if the Air is your first DJI drone or drone of the same level.
If you need to, learn to fly well with turning etc, figure 8's, squares, that sort of thing, you need to practice those and flight first in a good place.
Use beginner mode as you want to be close to learn facing other directions while doing the turns etc.

Also test RTH at the practice location and get confident with that, both using manual RTH button, and a fake disconnect . . . have some foil and with the drone more than say 30m away and 10m up, RTH set say 20m, put foil over controller antenna and block signal, it should disconnect and do its thing.

If you need to, watch some (more) > MAvic Air first flight < tutorials on youtube.

Relax and enjoy your Air, it is a great aircraft.

 

[msinger]

Flying at my property with 110' trees, I lose sight of my Air 100' feet away

Are you afraid of crashing into something or not being able to see it? If the trees are a problem, try flying in a wide open location until you're comfortable controlling it. Then, you'll at least know enough to avoid the trees.

 

[Camino Ken]

I have a somewhat similar situation. I live in the mountains and my house is completely surrounded by 150 ft tall trees. I can’t go very far before I lose visual sight of my drone. i built up my confidence in the RF transmission connection by putting the drone up in the air in a safe place over my driveway with my wife keeping on eye on it and took a walk with the controller while paying very close attention to the signal strength and looking for any warning messages. If you go far enough to see a reduction in signal you can start to get a sense of how far the drone can accidentally fly from you without major concerns.

A technique I use to determine my RTH altitude is to fly the drone up to the tree tops and with the camera level I do a slow rotate and adjust the altitude until all of the tree tops for as far as I can see are all below the mid point of the camera display. I note the altitude and then add a sufficient safety margin, in my case 50ft to be conservative.

Lastly, I tested the failsafe RTH functions in an open area at worst case distances to feel good that when needed I could depend on them working as expected.

I agree with all the other advice. Start slow and build up your flying skills and your confidence. The majority of pilot errors are from overconfidence or stupidity..

 

[Brockrock]

I know exactly what you are going through. I remember doing an over water flight several years ago with my then, newly purchased Phantom 4, and for some reason, shortly after takeoff, my hands started to shake so much that it became difficult to work the controls smoothly. I had intended to fly several batteries that day, but I flew just that one, and then the copter sat in its case for several weeks before I flew it again.

I remember looking at the case occasionally during those several weeks of down time, and that caused me stress as well. I had just spent all this money on something that I was afraid to lose, and when that 'something' is a drone that you purposefully fly away from yourself, way beyond where you can control every variable - such as birds, mechanical failures... - that concern felt very justified.

But, I have since adopted a new attitude about it all. The thing is, until you get to the point where you willingly accept the fact that you may never see your copter again when you send it off, you will not fully enjoy this hobby. In no way does this mean that you operate in a reckless fashion throwing all caution to the wind. That is certainly not what I am saying. In fact, when you truly accept and understand all that can go wrong, it causes you to do everything in your power to mitigate those possibilities. If something does happen out of your control however, you have to be willing to accept it and move on. Thus far, my P4 is still in excellent working order, and it now has a younger and very precocious brother - in the form of a Mavic 2 Pro - to contend with.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

until you get to the point where you willingly accept the fact that you may never see your copter again when you send it off, you will not fully enjoy this hobby. In no way does this mean that you operate in a reckless fashion throwing all caution to the wind. That is certainly not what I am saying. In fact, when you truly accept and understand all that can go wrong, it causes you to do everything in your power to mitigate those possibilities. If something does happen out of your control however, you have to be willing to accept it and move on.

True

 

[PS01]

My big tips about losing RC signal: remember the direction you fly to. Remember the last spot before you lose your signal. So you can always retreat or go back to that spot or direction.
This is because hitting the RTH button sometimes goes to the direction that doesn't immediately bring back your signal. So I had to wait for several minutes before getting the signal back. It's frustrating as we want to get our signal as quickly as possible.

 

[PS01]

With all the fly always posted on this site, I must say am some what afraid to fly $1,000 gone with my investment. Flying at my property with 110' trees, I lose sight of my Air 100' feet away. , Any insight or thoughts regarding my fears or should I just trust my RTH option. Just bought a strobe and will look for some more open land to get more confidence with my air. Like my kid said, why did you by it you don't fly it.

I trust in remote control connection not in my sight. With most of my flights I can't even see my drone. It was so high up there I don't know where it was. But I've always landed it safely. So learn your tech thoroughly, trust its technology, and fly. That's the best you can do. And be the best you can be!

 

[jnatt]

I think most people have covered it.. set RTH above tree height, check that is lost comms RTH, and go somewhere to have a practice, I have my air and was very cautious when I started but very quickly became confident and learned limits of the craft..

Dont be scared of all the "lost drone" posts but do look at what happened.. most people will fly and not post because we fly our drones all the time..
And if you are still worried get some sort of tracker to help you find your drone if you do loose it..

 

[John235]

I live on a heavily wooded mountain in PA. My situation is much like yours. Using Google Earth, I located the highest spot over my property to take into account in setting my rth height, which I set to 200 ft. When out over the woods, I keep the drone at a minimum of 50 ft above the trees at that point. I never wait for a low battery warning to come home, but watch my level and remaining flight time. I have gotten pretty good at guaging it. Often, the low battery warning occurs as it is descending over the HP in landing. Practice is the key.
Try testing the various features in a clear area. One of the first things I did was to fly my MP 100 ft away over my lawn an turn off my remote to test rth. Another test was to fly with a nearly depleted battery to 100 ft and hover until it reached the failsafe point. I practiced unplugging my tablet to fly blind with remote only. In essence, try everything out while it is close and easily recoverable. Strictly and instantly obey any range, wind and signal warnings.

 

[Ranger]

With most of my flight I can't even see my drone. It was so high up there I don't know where it was. But I've always landed it safely.

How can you be sure there isn't manned aircraft in the area?

 

[BadRad]

I just want to congratulate you for raising this common concern that many share but might avoid raising to peers ... AND the many who responded to you with helpful support. People do have anxiety, fears and phobias. I'm into that. But the tips here will help ... Practice, face it, and be safe.

 

[stiller_paul]

I sent my controller to a company called drone nerds and got it fitted with better antennas. Then I executed a hack wich you can find by searching for it online. It gives you a special version of djigo app that increases your transmission strength. With all of that, my mavic now won't lose signal. I bought it used. Prior to those modifications, it wouldn't go more than 100 feet without losing the signal.I think it had something wrong with it. But, it was cheap.

 

[PS01]

How can you be sure there isn't manned aircraft in the area?

Manned aircraft like helicopter and plane? No, I don't fly that high. I do cityscape which is about 200m+

 

[Peter VS]

How can you be sure there isn't manned aircraft in the area?

You can’t unless you see or hear other aircraft. The max height you can fly is 400 ft(120 m). Keep below this height by setting your max height parameter. Also remember your altitude starts from how high your home point is. For example, if you start from a
1,000 ft hill and your altitude reading says 400’, then you are actually at 1,400’ from sea level. So, if you fly over a valley you can interfere with aircraft. Be careful of what your controller says and what height you actually are.

 

[Ranger]

You can’t unless you see or hear other aircraft.

With most of my flights I can't even see my drone. It was so high up there I don't know where it was.

What am I missing?

 

[hiflyer201]

Your idea of practicing in a open area is a good one and a lot more fun that just sending the drone up and hoping for the best. I have great faith in the return to home and you should too but I have never used it to return all the way home. When you are navigating your drone home among trees remember that the sun in your enemy. Plan ahead and position your self with your back to the sun.