Extreme newb scared to fly mavic

[jeremybirn]

Thanks for the link to the tutorial. Checked it out for free, but couldn't open. All the locks are locked under "contents". Looks like it will be a great 2 hour course. Thanks, Ray

Interesting. I just followed the link again and can still click on any section under Contents and view the videos, without being logged into the site.

The instructor's original post here saying it will be free for 3 weeks is dated June 30, BTW: Free two-hour Mavic Pro video course

 

[maigesheng]

I cant even get comfortable with - push stick left - mavic goes right - push stick right - mavic goes left.
Thats really screwing with me.
Do i have the controller set up wrong ?

First of all... dont trust me. I am as new as you are!
But. WHen you talk about right and left, you need to consider that you are flying something in circles. Dont think in terms of left/right but, rather, clockwise and counterclockwise. THink: You are looking at the bird from behind. You switch the right handed stick to the right and the bird flies right.
Now spin the bird around so that it faces you. Same right is going to make it go left.

It sounds to me that your problems are simply an understandable paranoia. I am the same. Just take it really slow. As some have suggested, take it to an open field so you dont need to worry about obstacles.

Or, in my case, I am surrounded by buildings and trees and stuff. Take it up OVER the obstacles and trust the technology.

I am only now, after almost a week, experimenting with flying JUST out of sight. (I know we should always keep it in sight but, I really want to know the limitations.) I flew it around a building and down the street about a two blocks. Suddenly, it beeped at me that I was losing signal. I freaked for a second and then realized it was NOT CRASHING. I turned it around and flew it back until it said signal was strong again before landing and exhaling a deep breath.

Its an expensive toy. We dont want to break it in the first week. But you bought it to have fun. RELAX AND ENJOY!!!!!

Cheers.

 

[maigesheng]

I'm 52 and until January of this year hadn't flown much beyond a paper airplane. I bought my Mavic direct from DJI, and while it was in transit I took the time to download the manual to read and watched hours of YouTube video tutorials on flying and camera settings. DJI has their own YouTube channel with some very informative videos on The Mavic (DJI Tutorials). When it finally arrived, I fired it up (without flying it) and set all of the settings that I'd learned about through reading and videos. I waited another day or two, because like you I was nervous, then took it out to a soccer field by my house to fly for the first time. No trees, and flat as a pancake. I flew in beginner mode the first two or three outings, then took off the training wheels and went to a nearby park where I took it out of beginner mode for the first time. I fly at least once a week, and am in forums like this and YouTubing daily learning new techniques and camera settings. About six weeks ago, I took it to the ocean and flew out over water for the first time. My knees were literally shaking, but I kept reminding myself "This is what you bought it for". Tripod mode has a top speed of 4 mph and is really cool for flying tight spaces, but I prefer cinematic mode which also slows down the drone but not to that extreme. Tripod mode is not practical for every day flying. DON'T fly indoors unless/until you're very confident. Your drone will most likely not have a GPS signal and be in ATTI mode indoors. I've seen at least a dozen videos of first timers firing up in their living room and flying into a chandelier or wall destroying their new drone and in one case a guy's brand new 4K TV. DO NOT PANIC when flying. If you feel that blood rushing to your head, simply let off the sticks and The Mavic will hover in place while you collect your thoughts. This thing is super intuitive, and 99% of the problems that I read about are due to pilot error though it's much more convenient to blame it on DJI than eat crow. I'm a little overly cautious, but I typically won't fly mine below 17% battery life. That depends, though, on how far out I'm flying. Definitely over water with an ocean breeze I'm reserving at least 20% battery to assure that I have enough power to get back safely. I am also a homebrewer, and as Charlie Papazian a renowned brewing author says, "Relax. Don't worry. Have a homebrew". Here's the link to my ocean flight. Yes I was nervous the entire time, but seeing the reward in the end made it all worth it.

I enjoyed your reply as I relate completely.
But 17%??? I see battery at 30%, freak out and land lol.
Exactly right. We got this to have fun. By letting go and learning (cautiously) how to use it, its a freaking BLAST!!

PS. Great water film!!! I am taking mine up to a river next week and was concerned about flying over water.

Good times, man!

 

[frankiez]

I agree that you are cutting it close at 17% battery level over the water. I have seen video after video of people losing their mavic into the ocean, sea and lake just because they didn't anticipate the headwind that the mavic had to fly against to get back to land. I remember one guy had well over 50% and he still didn't make it back. Not only the headwind, you have to take into consideration the battery drain in SPORT mode and the wind speed at altitude as opposed to 10 feet off the ground. God forbid, we hafta read a post from you about losing your Mavic in the water.

Plus if you have DJI refresh, it won't do u much good if you don't have the mavic in hand to send back to them

 

[Arkarian]

Yeah you better go diving

 

[Wingnut57]

If your stick motion is the opposite of what the drone does (stick right/drone left) you likely have the drone facing you when you take off. Turn it around so that the camera faces away from you. Then, work with right and left, forward and backward while the camera remains pointed in the same direction as you are looking. This will take away some of the first-flight jitters that you have. Once you're comfortable with hovering, moving left, right, forward, and back with the camera facing away from you, do like others have suggested above: go someplace with a lot of space and practice flying away, turning around, and flying back to yourself. You'll get the hang of it pretty quick.

 

[Arkarian]

One of the hardest things for people to learn as a radio control pilot is that when the aircraft is coming towards you, the left and right sticks are reversed.
You have to practice. DJI has a built in simulator in the DJI app. Just remove the props from your mavic. Turn everything on and sit at the kitchen table and ;launch the simulator from the DJI app and practice.
Small movements. Let go of the sticks if it shoots off in a direction you didn't expect because it is reversed. It will auto hover. Flying a drone is very easy and forgiving since you can hover. Imagine an airplane where you bank the wrong way and it just crashes into the ground. Simulators or an instructor is a must in that situation.

 

[Freebird32]

i think you are overreacting . if that metal is a massive issue,

Sorry I must have misunderstood your posts. I never said massive problem, I was just trying to help a noob with some tips. These forums are here for help and sharing of tips, stories, pictures and everything that make this hobby great. Learning in a open space lets you completely explore the complex settings and features without having to worry about hitting a tree or building etc. Don't have to, just makes it easier. These birds can all handle a certain amount of interference, but there are probably a couple hundred topic posts that mention magnetic interference and even rebar in each of the specific DJI P1, P2, P3, P4, Mavic, Spark and 3DR forums. I've only gotten the 'magnetic interference' warning a couple times in the last 4 years of flying quads so I try to figure out why and move the bird if needed. I've got a Gaui 330x, a Traxxas Alias both of which don't have computer/sensors to fly and has to be done manually. Ive got a heavily modified Blade 350QX with a chinese eBay gimbal, several 3DR solos, a P3P, a Mavic and most recently a Spark. I've flown R/C airplanes since 1968 with good luck, although when we were flying on 27 mHz anyone with an overpowered CB radio could shoot you down. Electronics in these new birds, as you have pointed out are very sophisticated and good at ignoring background noise, not full-proof, but dang good. I hope you continue to enjoy yours and get some good video/pics and excitement out of it. Its all fun, which I'm sure everyone can agree on.

 

[gigamike]

I second the recommendation of using Tripod mode, it's how I taught my young daughter to fly (ok, that's the only mode I let her fly in!)

 

[geigy]

You can do it - take your time and just get your feet wet by degrees. Start somewhere with lots of room and no trees, and take it by steps. Everyone does this.

I do think it's a good idea to fly a cheaper small drone to get your flying chops in order, but keep in mind they are harder to fly than the Mavic. Check with the local clubs and see if one of them will give you a lesson. Or just hanging out watching other people do it is a great way to get confidence.

 

[zoomie]

I have had my mavic for a few days now and finally took it out in the back yard to see if i could just take off, move around a little and then land it.
Beginner mode ? √
GPS locked on 15 √
Scared the crap out of me ? √
Almost crashed it on maiden voyage? √
Had to check underwear after landing and prop shut down √
Scared to do it again ? √√√√√√√√√


I have the flight record if anyone is willing to look at it and tell me what im doing wrong.
Im sure i probably should have not hit RTH but then i did manage to cancel it so i could take control. I have NO IDEA how i managed to keep it out of a BIG tree in the back yard after hitting RTH. I just got lucky.

This is my first drone and i clearly have no clue what im doing.
I also have prop guards on it if that may be causing any issues.
What i really need is a flying teacher as its clear im in trouble.
Problem may = 59 year old man with 20 year olds drone . That all equals trouble. Especially as a newb.

Nothing wrong with being a newb. We all gotta start somewhere. First step is admitting it and asking for help. So many resources available to us now. Back in the day when it was mostly quadcopters (drone w/o the brain) on the market, they were ignored b/c they were harder to fly and probably more b/c there weren't cameras on them back then. I learned to fly on Youtube. Lots of good tutorials out there.

LEARNING TO FLY:
1. Get yourself an indoor flier. I have and recommend the JJRC H36. It's a tiny little $18 thing (2 extra batteries shipped if you get it from Aliexpress). Otherwise, a bit more, but still really cheap. Prop guards are built in so if you hit the ceiling and wall, not only will it be okay, it can still continue to fly. Very durable. I can't recommend this enough.

a. Hover. You'll find that it's harder than you expect when you're using a quadcopter. No GPS, not assistance whatsoever. Once you get the hang of just keeping it in place....

b. Fly forward, back, left right with the quad facing forward.

c. Practice the same thing with the quad facing you. Do it enough times where it's second nature to be able to move it in the direction you want. Everything is reversed of course. Next...

d. The hard part is doing this exact same exercise with the quadcopter facing different directions along the clock. Try it pointing at 3 o'clock, 9 o'clock. Had enough?

e. The really hard part is doing it at the other numbers: 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11 o'clock positions.

f. By then you've mastered your orientation. Next will be flying in figure 8's. Try that for a bit.

g. Then you want to be able to do all those steps at different altitudes.

That should get you a good start. Good luck. Have fun and be safe.

 

[Ron_Dog]

Try hovering with the "Tail In"! It sounds like you are trying to hover/fly nose in? Keep the back green light facing you,then the sticks will move in the right direction!

 

[Pathogen]

Try hovering with the "Tail In"! It sounds like you are trying to hover/fly nose in? Keep the back green light facing you,then the sticks will move in the right direction!

that's cheating!

 

[krnlueck]

Try a larger area without anything nearby that you could crash into. Baby steps at first. up/down, yaw right/left. (wax on, wax off) Get familiar with the intelligent flight modes too, I'm betting you would like tripod mode.

As a newby too, maybe you could explain what wax on and off means.

 

[Doecliff]

LOL, well ok, it was a reference to the movie "Karate Kid". The old guy makes the kid wax his car or something, He shows him how to do a certain movement "wax on, wax off" He has him do it over and over again until it becomes second nature. Turns out it was actually a basic karate move and the kid was able to do it instinctually from then on. So wax on wax off is a metaphor for doing something so often that it becomes second nature and becomes a natural thing. It also dates my age very well because that movie is from the late 70's or early 80's.