First Real Flight .... opps

[KoorbeladDigital]

(CAA controlled airspace)

Hi Guys,

Well .. I did it.

Just had my first full flight lasting just over 18 mins. I had been building up to this moment for 8 weeks.

Relaxed lock down means we can travel locally to indulge in our pastimes, so I packed my bag into the boot of the car with my
MM and off I went to a nice secluded, wide open area I know very well. Lovely evening sunshine, and low gusts of 14-18mph.

Then the rookie mistakes started

Even though I had my drone landing pad I thought ... i'll go up without it.

I was just in a rush to get off the ground.

I set the MM on the ground and attempted an auto take off with some long pieces of grass in the way, which I didn't see, causing an unsuccessful lift off ☹

Next was the amount of sunlight on my Samsung phone, preventing me from seeing the screen fully.
I should have brought the screen protector ?

This sunlight meant I missed the warning that I was inside a grey altitude restricted zone .... thankfully I
only went as high as 51 m ?

I know what you are thinking ... what else could have happened.

Well ... I forgot to hit record for the first 5 mins of flight ?

After that it was plain sailing .. or rather flying .. and a lovely time I had. I turned left when I wanted right, and right when
I wanted left. Flew away when I thought I was coming back to me, and basically flew around like a madman after a few too many drinks.

So ... I pressed return to home, and back it came.

At least I had set the return to home height right, and had updated the home point correctly.

Then the MM hovered over the home point at about 2m ... advising me on the phone about something .. but could I see it ?

no ...

In turning around to follow the MM coming home, I had dropped my glasses in the grass ? and when the controller issued another advisement .. I cudn't see what it said.

The Mini continued to hover.

Well .. I remembered a video I had watched on YouTube, where another pilot had snatched his drone out of the air and quickly turned it 90 deg's to stop the rotors in mid flight.

I know ... its not the best thing to be doing, but without my glasses, its all I had left.

So ended my first full flight ... and I was so thankful ?

I didn't even realise about the grey zone until I looked at the flight logs when I got home.

oh well ... at least I have the footage shot in lovely evening sunshine ... well no ... I dont.

I only have what is on my phone in the cache.

Because for some reason my memory card wont play it on my laptop, no matter what programme I try to use ?

So ... I ask you all ... was your first flight just as successful as mine ????

K.

 

[Ars3nal3432]

Despite everything that happened, congratulations it didn't crash!

 

[Mossiback]

Congratulations! The important thing is you learned from your experience without crashing. My first flight wasn't near as eventful.

Not sure about the MM settings, but for the MP you can select the format to record video (MP4 or MOV and NTSC or PAL). The default was MOV and my PC would only play MP4. Remember that your car floor mat makes a decent landing pad

 

[Andy Mac 230]

And so starts the long climb up the hill of knowledge...welcome we probably have all done similar in the beginning..just remember slowly slowly catchy monkey...if it takes longer to pick up the remains of your drone than it did to get airborne you are doing it wrong...enjoy though

 

[Andy Mac 230]

Mossi. ..brill idea but with my skill I will use the boot mat...lol

 

[Deleted member 103366]

Try launching and landing on your outstretched and FLAT hand, use the sticks not auto functions. "Flat" meaning both horizontal and planar. If you are in the house, seated and launch from your hand, auto launch takes it a bit too close to the ceiling for my tastes.
With the controller sat on a table, a CSC start followed by a gentle throttle up does it for me but do this in a clears space as I occasionally get a bit of horizontal wander before the vision system anchors it. That I remember I haven't had it come back at me, its wander tends to be away from me or to the sides, maybe I tilt my hand slightly. I can even get it to self launch/hover off my hand by, with the motors running, moving my hand up and down gently but fast enough that I feel the motors change speed to hold it stable and then lowering my hand slowly, if it sits on your hand lift your hand and then lower a bit more quickly but NOT fast.
To land put your hand about 18" below it and throttle down. Try to judge it so it lands on your fingers as that keeps your finger tips away from the gimbal.
That snatch and twist shut-down has proved useful occasionally.
The message at landing might have been "unsuitable landing place" or some such thing, I think I have seen that a couple of times with my MM.
A rubber band to hold your glasses to your head perhaps?
That forgetting to press record is a wee bit annoying ........isn't it?

Mossi, car mat, brilliant!

 

[BigJack73]

My first flight with my P3S (still trying to find a Mavic pro 1 I can afford) ended up in a big tree about 30 ft up. It took my wife several hours of looking to spot it. I climbed the tree and had to use a rope and small weight to lasso it. Good times!!!

 

[JohnBeacham]

(CAA controlled airspace)

Hi Guys,

Well .. I did it.

Just had my first full flight lasting just over 18 mins. I had been building up to this moment for 8 weeks.

Relaxed lock down means we can travel locally to indulge in our pastimes, so I packed my bag into the boot of the car with my
MM and off I went to a nice secluded, wide open area I know very well. Lovely evening sunshine, and low gusts of 14-18mph.

Then the rookie mistakes started

Even though I had my drone landing pad I thought ... i'll go up without it.

I was just in a rush to get off the ground.

I set the MM on the ground and attempted an auto take off with some long pieces of grass in the way, which I didn't see, causing an unsuccessful lift off ☹

Next was the amount of sunlight on my Samsung phone, preventing me from seeing the screen fully.
I should have brought the screen protector ?

This sunlight meant I missed the warning that I was inside a grey altitude restricted zone .... thankfully I
only went as high as 51 m ?

I know what you are thinking ... what else could have happened.

Well ... I forgot to hit record for the first 5 mins of flight ?

After that it was plain sailing .. or rather flying .. and a lovely time I had. I turned left when I wanted right, and right when
I wanted left. Flew away when I thought I was coming back to me, and basically flew around like a madman after a few too many drinks.

So ... I pressed return to home, and back it came.

At least I had set the return to home height right, and had updated the home point correctly.

Then the MM hovered over the home point at about 2m ... advising me on the phone about something .. but could I see it ?

no ...

In turning around to follow the MM coming home, I had dropped my glasses in the grass ? and when the controller issued another advisement .. I cudn't see what it said.

The Mini continued to hover.

Well .. I remembered a video I had watched on YouTube, where another pilot had snatched his drone out of the air and quickly turned it 90 deg's to stop the rotors in mid flight.

I know ... its not the best thing to be doing, but without my glasses, its all I had left.

So ended my first full flight ... and I was so thankful ?

I didn't even realise about the grey zone until I looked at the flight logs when I got home.

oh well ... at least I have the footage shot in lovely evening sunshine ... well no ... I dont.

I only have what is on my phone in the cache.

Because for some reason my memory card wont play it on my laptop, no matter what programme I try to use ?

So ... I ask you all ... was your first flight just as successful as mine ????

K.

Love it. Congrats & all sounds familiar!

 

[RkyMtnHigh]

(CAA controlled airspace)

Hi Guys,

Well .. I did it.

Just had my first full flight lasting just over 18 mins. I had been building up to this moment for 8 weeks.

Relaxed lock down means we can travel locally to indulge in our pastimes, so I packed my bag into the boot of the car with my
MM and off I went to a nice secluded, wide open area I know very well. Lovely evening sunshine, and low gusts of 14-18mph.

Then the rookie mistakes started

Even though I had my drone landing pad I thought ... i'll go up without it.

I was just in a rush to get off the ground.

I set the MM on the ground and attempted an auto take off with some long pieces of grass in the way, which I didn't see, causing an unsuccessful lift off ☹

Next was the amount of sunlight on my Samsung phone, preventing me from seeing the screen fully.
I should have brought the screen protector ?

This sunlight meant I missed the warning that I was inside a grey altitude restricted zone .... thankfully I
only went as high as 51 m ?

I know what you are thinking ... what else could have happened.

Well ... I forgot to hit record for the first 5 mins of flight ?

After that it was plain sailing .. or rather flying .. and a lovely time I had. I turned left when I wanted right, and right when
I wanted left. Flew away when I thought I was coming back to me, and basically flew around like a madman after a few too many drinks.

So ... I pressed return to home, and back it came.

At least I had set the return to home height right, and had updated the home point correctly.

Then the MM hovered over the home point at about 2m ... advising me on the phone about something .. but could I see it ?

no ...

In turning around to follow the MM coming home, I had dropped my glasses in the grass ? and when the controller issued another advisement .. I cudn't see what it said.

The Mini continued to hover.

Well .. I remembered a video I had watched on YouTube, where another pilot had snatched his drone out of the air and quickly turned it 90 deg's to stop the rotors in mid flight.

I know ... its not the best thing to be doing, but without my glasses, its all I had left.

So ended my first full flight ... and I was so thankful ?

I didn't even realise about the grey zone until I looked at the flight logs when I got home.

oh well ... at least I have the footage shot in lovely evening sunshine ... well no ... I dont.

I only have what is on my phone in the cache.

Because for some reason my memory card wont play it on my laptop, no matter what programme I try to use ?

So ... I ask you all ... was your first flight just as successful as mine ????

K.

The learning curve is a steep one. One that I'm still navigating myself. If anything, your flight was a very successful one in my eyes. Look at how much you learned just from that one flight. Mistakes were made that you will more than likely not repeat just because of this one flight. That's how we learn. As long as your drone lived to fly another day it was a successful flight. Happy and safe flying!

 

[DanMan32]

51m (about 150ft) altitude isn't too bad of a limitation, especially for a first flight.

Grass shouldn't interfere with takeoff itself, but it will interfere with gimbal initialization, being so close to the ground. Even with a landing pad, a corner of the gimbal can hit it on initialization, causing gimbal error and unlevel horizon.
I'm thinking of getting the foldable leg extensions because of it.

 

[Laborous]

I had to go to a ipad mini and a sunshade as I had trouble seeing the screen.
As “they” say, practice makes perfect! I try to fly every day, being retired helps....

 

[hiflyer201]

we all learn from mistakes..yours and mine..right? and oh yeah trees can be your friend...shade!

 

[Florida Drone Supply]

Just learn from your mistakes and take it one flight at a time. At least it didn't crash and you live to fly another day! The best thing to do if something doesn't go exactly as planned is to try and remain calm and gather yourself on what is the best next step to take, panic causes more mistakes as I'm sure you realized. You will learn and get better with each flight!