Agree. I spent a lot of time learning and making mistakes with a Tello before investing big money on the Mavic. Spent a lot of time on YouTube discovering what can go wrong, best controller settings, etc.
And yes, create your own Check Lists to make sure you don't miss anything before, during or after becoming airborne and keep adding to them as you discover more things you should be doing - i.e. I have recently added doing Memory & Storage Device Maintenance on my Samsung phone to the Preflight Checklist as my DJI GO 4 app kept crashing when I pressed the video record button and I suspect low storage on the phone was causing that. Checklists mean you don't miss anything and can head off potential problems. You can also have phone numbers and required data such as safe flying wind speed limits readily available.
I have checklists for the following in a binder:
- Flight Planning
- Before Departing For Launch Site
- Launch Site Survey & Launch Preparation
- Pre-Flight Checks
- Take-Off
- Flight
- Emergency Situations or Landings During The Mission
- In The Event Of An Accident
- Landing
- Post Flight
Other beginner tips:
Buy yourself a landing pad, these are cheap and will help protect your expensive investment from ingesting sand and dirt during take offs & landings. It will also help protect the props from damage by long grass.
Don't get tempted into showing off your drone to friends and people who walk up, as this can quickly lead to serious situations when you are not concentrating 100% on what you should be doing. This is no different to driving a car or flying a real aircraft - keep focused on the task at hand.
Document any changes you make in your drone'
s controller app as these often get reset with newer revisions and you can reapply those changes after the update. This will help ensure your drone will perform the same/as expected, as it did before the update was applied.
Study and understand the drone laws for your country (or any you plan to visit).
Seriously consider getting certified (701, CASA RePL, or as appropriate in your country) as you will both learn a lot and be less constricted by the rules that govern the un-certified flyers.
Happy and safe flying