Basic Flying Question - Rules

[DukeBlueZion]

Hi everyone!

New M2 Zoom owner here. I’m still reading the manual and watching videos on how to use… First time drone owner. All very new to me… I have registered my drone with the FAA as hobby enthusiast. I will probably be very safe and cautious in the beginning as I learn how to operate and maneuver this incredible device!

I’m starting to learn more about restricted airspace, Kitty Hawk, no-fly zones, LAANC etc.…

We live on a golf course down in Florida… We sit behind our house at night and watch the sunset etc.… Am I allowed to just fly my drone right out back low and close with line of sight in the evenings when the golf course is empty? It would not be very far honestly just in the near vicinity as I learn to control it better… We do have houses on both sides of us and on the other side of the golf course but I would not go near any of those just something really close by but I wanted to make sure it was allowed.

Just curious!!

TIA

 

[Flycaster]

As long as you not in a NFZ, or any other restrictions, stay below 400 feet, keep in sight (should install a couple of the cree strobes for visibility and legality), you should be good to go.
However, get familiar with your kit, little steps, and read, read, read the manual.
Oh, just realized, you may be in a HOA, you may have to deal with those suckers....
Aside from gravity, they will be your worst foe.....

 

[THE CYBORG]

Just take things slow & easy at first until you get the hang of it

 

[Multi-Rotor Pilot812]

Just another little bit of advice, all multi-rotor aircraft use the same control stick inputs when flying. You’d be wise to go out and buy a small cheap multi-rotor and practice with it in your house or backyard. You’ll learn a lot about how these aircraft fly and not have the intimidation factor of learning with a machine that is quite expensive. It would be well worth the $50-$100 investment to hone your skills as well as give you much needed confidence in your abilities. Good luck and fly safe and often.

 

[Mavic Air Head]

I tried the cheap substitute route and my experience was more frustration than skill development. Your DJI bird is awesome, the software is as complicated as you want to make it ,so just spend time flying low and slow in your yard. As your confidence and skills develop then utilize the open space of the golf course to progress. Never forget, TREES ARE NOT YOUR FRIENDS. My cheap, learn the ropes drone still resides in the top of a 95' Lombardi Poplar after a flyaway. Buy an extra battery instead. As mentioned above, fly conservatively and often. More than anything enjoy!

 

[Multi-Rotor Pilot812]

I tried the cheap substitute route and my experience was more frustration than skill development. Your DJI bird is awesome, the software is as complicated as you want to make it ,so just spend time flying low and slow in your yard. As your confidence and skills develop then utilize the open space of the golf course to progress. Never forget, TREES ARE NOT YOUR FRIENDS. My cheap, learn the ropes drone still resides in the top of a 95' Lombardi Poplar after a flyaway. Buy an extra battery instead. As mentioned above, fly conservatively and often. More than anything enjoy!

The problem is people that are starting out as r/c pilots particularly multi-rotor pilots get behind the sticks of an advanced aircraft like the Mavic series and rely on the the aircraft’s gps lock and say oh hey this is easy meanwhile they have absolutely no real piloting skills. A trainer aircraft shouldn’t be flying away because it should be one without any kind of gps assistance so you can learn to actually develop some useful piloting skill. What happens when your expensive aircraft with all its bells and whistles loses gps lock and you have no idea how to even really fly a multi-rotor aircraft? The answer isn’t a nice one I can assure you. It’s always better to learn the basics and learn to walk before you have a go at sprinting.

 

[Mavic Air Head]

The problem is people that are starting out as r/c pilots particularly multi-rotor pilots get behind the sticks of an advanced aircraft like the Mavic series and rely on the the aircraft’s gps lock and say oh hey this is easy meanwhile they have absolutely no real piloting skills. A trainer aircraft shouldn’t be flying away because it should be one without any kind of gps assistance so you can learn to actually develop some useful piloting skill. What happens when your expensive aircraft with all its bells and whistles loses gps lock and you have no idea how to even really fly a multi-rotor aircraft? The answer isn’t a nice one I can assure you. It’s always better to learn the basics and learn to walk before you have a go at sprinting.

My trainer was exactly as you describe. I had just successfully completed an extensive series of complex commands and moves from specific point to point, avoiding obstacles, altering altitude (all 25' and lower) and when I was ready to return to my home point (no RTH on this baby) it literally flew away from me, gained elevation and secured it's place in history in the top of a 95' tree, not responding to the controls, not ceasing to escape when I released the controls, it truly had a computer chip of it's own and met a fitting fate in suspended animation where I can enjoy it even more with a pair of binoculars since the leaves have fallen. At no point was I more than 50' horizontally away from the bird (add a little geometry here for the 95" elevation for precise distances) I would have been better off buying filters for my MA. Just saying, it would have been more satisfying tying $100 bills to a few rocks and throwing them as far as I could into the nearby Black Canyon, a spectacular part of our National Park System.
I should add that I learned a whole lot more flying my MA in beginner mode low and slow in ten minutes than I did in about 15 hours with the POS.

 

[Multi-Rotor Pilot812]

Methods, opinions & results will vary.

 

[Mavic Air Head]

Methods, opinions & results will vary.

That's the beauty of free and open discourse. After I posted I thought maybe I should have asked what cheap drone you recommend? Maybe I have extra batteries for you. And a remote control. And a charger. And a case.

 

[Multi-Rotor Pilot812]

That's the beauty of free and open discourse. After I posted I thought maybe I should have asked what cheap drone you recommend? Maybe I have extra batteries for you. And a remote control. And a charger. And a case.

Yes, I enjoy reading about other people’s opinions and methods whether I’m in agreement with them or not. I appreciate the offer on the accessories, I’m sure someone on this site would find them useful and appreciated. I’ve been an r/c pilot for over twenty years, mostly fixed wing and collective pitch heli and I really enjoy seeing new pilots enjoying and becoming familiar with this great hobby. Methods may vary but the important thing is that we are in the air and gaining experience as there’s always something new to learn or perfect. I like to learn from as many different sources as possible and sometimes it feels good to give back and lend a hand or word of advice to up and coming new pilots. Fly safe and fly often!

 

[dronerdave]

You’d be wise to go out and buy a small cheap multi-rotor and practice with it in your house or backyard. You’ll learn a lot about how these aircraft fly and not have the intimidation factor of learning with a machine that is quite expensive.

I also started out that way and knowing how to actually fly a cheap quad helped a little but basically the Mavic is so easy to fly it was a new world. Other than my Tello, it was nothing like my little toy drones. The idea is to learn how to fly your DJI quad in ATTI (attitude) mode. In that mode knowing how to fly a cheap drone pays off. If you really don't want to mess with cheap drones, Horizon Hobby's Real Flight computer simulators can help in learning and it's really fun on those days where weather prohibits launching your DJI product. But I just got out in an open area to get the feel of what my MP could do. It wasn't long before I felt comfortable with it. It's those unexpected flight problem that can pop up at any time and you need to know how to respond to those situations.

 

[Flycaster]

It's worth the investment of a non gps/toy quad just for the reason of learning ATTI mode.
Better to have that experience than not. Yes, can be frustrating sometimes, but that's the learning process.
Imagine the frustration when you camera ship goes into ATTI/compass issue , and you have almost no clue......

 

[Mavic Air Head]

Ok, did I miss something in the manual? Everyone acts like my Mavic Air flies itself, so it's essential to start with a dumb drone (as opposed to DJI) in case my MA stops flying itself. For some reason I'm still using the controls and the bird does what I tell it to do. I monitor it's position, I utilize my tablet and the map information, the air speed, altitude, etc. When it goes into ATTI mode, I made the adjustment- my dumb drone did nothing to prepare me for that. To me this discussion is something akin to learning how to sit on a roller skate so you can drive a Corvette. My $300 trainer drone was an absolute waste of time and money. If you benefited from starting with one, congratulations, I just don't think they are universally as useful as is being promoted.

 

[Flycaster]

Was it a Walkera? IF it was, junk.
Speaking of cars, if you learn to drive a "manual transmission", you can drive almost any automobile, manual or automatic.
And when the "automatic transmission" on the AC gives it up for whatever reason, (and there a few of them), you are now flying a "manual tranmission".....

 

[Mavic Air Head]

Was it a Walkera? junk.
Speaking of cars, learn to drive a "manual transmission", you can drive almost any automobile, manual or automatic.
Learn on an automatic? Try a manual transmission....

I've asked before, and no one answers, so I'll try again. What is the best cheap trainer drone for anyone so inclined to buy?

 

[Flycaster]

I've asked before, and no one answers, so I'll try again. What is the best cheap trainer drone for anyone so inclined to buy?

Look at the Dromedia line, 50 ishy bucks, great for training, and I still use here and there for just gacking/bashing around. Granted, can't take alot of wind, but the education is there...

And I still use my little Estes Proto X for flying inside from the couch practicing flight moves. Won't hurt anything in the house, except for getting caught up in long hair....Yeah, the missus hates when that happens....

 

[Multi-Rotor Pilot812]

I've asked before, and no one answers, so I'll try again. What is the best cheap trainer drone for anyone so inclined to buy?

I have to say that you’re probably right about not necessarily needing a “training drone”. In the r/c aviation community drones or as I prefer to call them multi-rotors are the easiest to pilot by far. On a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the hardest and requiring the most skill and time to master “drones” are probably a 2-3 and that’s without gps assistance mind you. I could teach an eight year old to fly one, especially with gps in an afternoon. But for their intended purposes(mostly) people usually are more about the photography than the piloting hence their very calm and easily mastered nature and autopilot features. I come from collective pitch hell’s and 1/4 scale fixed wing r/c aircraft and have been flying them for decades and learn something new every time I fly. If you want me to be impressed by your r/c piloting skill whip out a Trex 700 collective pitch heli and do some inverted auto rotations and tic toks and I might say hmmm he’s learning.

 

[MacCool]

I tried the cheap substitute route and my experience was more frustration than skill development. Your DJI bird is awesome, the software is as complicated as you want to make it ,so just spend time flying low and slow in your yard. As your confidence and skills develop then utilize the open space of the golf course to progress. Never forget, TREES ARE NOT YOUR FRIENDS. My cheap, learn the ropes drone still resides in the top of a 95' Lombardi Poplar after a flyaway. Buy an extra battery instead. As mentioned above, fly conservatively and often. More than anything enjoy!

Agree completely. Quads, especially the cheap toy quads, have almost nothing to do with flying an upscale, stablilized, GPS-equipped drone like a Mavic 2. Not that they don't have some entertainment value in themselves, but they won't help you fly your Mavic any better or safer. With the cheap quads referenced, you will be frustrated. You can control them, but you'll find yourself on the sticks as you fly the thing right into the ground. With the Mavic....just let go. It will immediately stop, hover, and wait for you to decide what to do next and how to do it.

Rather than buying a toy quad, why not start with DJI's trial version of their flight simulator DJI Flight Simulator - Enterprise Pilot Training Software – DJI ? The trial version of their flight sim is pretty good, has a Mavic 2 as one of the options using your own DJI controller. The physics are very accurate. The OP won't have to spend the money on a toy drone that he'll break or eventually throw away in frustration and the training will be better since it IS actually a Mavic 2 that he'd be flying in the sim.

 

[Flycaster]

Yeah, nuthin like true Manual mode. I learned on my Schluter Champion and Magic heli's, full manual, all we had was a tail rotor gyro.......

 

[dronerdave]

I've asked before, and no one answers, so I'll try again. What is the best cheap trainer drone for anyone so inclined to buy?

I'd still say the Tello is closest to how other DJI stuff operates. Take it out in reasonable wind and it kind of represents what a MP does in ATTI mode as you fight trying to bring it back to you or it drifts away. I have some Holy Stone quads and they fly more similar to my racing drones not my Mavic.