Hello from northern Virginia

[boxxer13]

Hi everyone, I'm from northern Virigina, particularly Fairfax County, I'm still on my first drone, a Mini 3 Pro which I got about a month ago. Despite living in a no-fly zone, there is accessible airspace that's only a 15 minute drive west. I'm looking for more places to fly but I have so much fun flying the M3P that I still have to precision flying, but I'll get there. I got my Part 107 (still waiting on the official card) just to be on the safe or $afe side, but I'm still a newbie so I'll probably ask some stupid questions.

 

[MA2 317]

Hello from the Crossroads of America boxxer13.

I'm still on my first drone, a Mini 3 Pro

Good choice. Mine was the Spark in 2017.

Have fun and welcome to the Forum.

 

[Trippp]

Hey boxxer13, I'm in Fairfax, too. Middleburg is a nice place to fly, out 50W. Let me know if you want to meet up sometime to talk about our drones, I have a Mavic Air 2. Thank, Bo

 

[Lykus]

Welcome to the forum. It's fun communicating with other pilots here. Mini 3 pro is a great drone to play with. If you happen to look for a handy case to carry and protect it, check out our MM330 hard case. Enjoy!

 

[old man mavic]

welcome to the forum

 

[dirkclod]

Welcome to the forum.
Please and do be sure you have read our guidelines.
I hope you will find our site helpful and look forward to any input , photo's/video's you might post .
Don't be shy and ask anything if you can't find it by searching .

 

[GFields]

Greetings from Birmingham Alabama USA, welcome to the forum!

 

[wjkrysak]

Welcome to the forum. We look forward to your participation and your view of the world.

 

[msinger]

Welcome to the forum!

 

[Drone Master]

Welcome to Mavic Pilots! Enjoy the forum!

 

[AnzacJack]

Welcome, from the great Southern Land

 

[LoudThunder]

Hi everyone, I'm from northern Virigina, particularly Fairfax County, I'm still on my first drone, a Mini 3 Pro which I got about a month ago. Despite living in a no-fly zone,

Welcome from the Hampton Roads area of Virginia, USA. We have a Member's Map in the Upper Right of the Title Bar. Click on "Members" and then Click on "Member's Map…" Check it out and you might find some new flying friends.

Member Map

mavicpilots.com

I am so sorry to read about your NOTAM restriction, SFC to 18,000', indefinite… But I would suggest that now that you are part 107, you consider requesting authorization and waivers through FAADroneZone, I cannot imagine that there are no commercial drones flying the that monstrous area. The worst case, the request is disapproved and no harm is done. Fairfax is mostly Class G Air Space, if you exclude the NOTAM No-Fly, I recommend you try something simple, under Part 107, request a waiver to perform a "roof Inspection" on your own home, not over 100' with a 1/10 NM radius. If approved, you get to fly around your yard for the duration of the waiver. If that works, ask for another, for longer, and wider a radius, and maybe higher…

I am still recreational , but I live in a Class D air space 4-miles from an Air Force Base, 4-miles from a commercial Airport, and 6-miles from an Army Post and I have waiver/authorizations all over the Hampton Roads peninsula, I request mine for all day-light hours, and for a year in duration. And I have had DJI grant me Geo Zone authorization for Zones and Height restrictions. As I wrote, it done sot hurt to ask.

Now we are taught that it takes up to 90-days for a reply and in your case it might very well be true. But in my case as I'm not trying to bust a NOTAM, I have had mine approved sometimes even the same day I submit them and the longest was only 3-days.

Now, one of lour members recently has a visit from the Secret Service for hi flying and it went all well, it's a recent event, you can read about it in the General descussions.

As for me, I am required to call ATC before my flights and sometimes I do not bother and I've had visits from the locals at the AFB. They have the equipment to read the telemetry from my Mini 2 and the signals from my controller, so they know where I am, and it happens so often, they know who I am…

So, the moral is they probably can read you telemetry and if you do try to have a "quicky" they might find you. So see if you can get some waivers… Remember, YOU ARE PART 107 LICENSED Now…

Ok now on to some lighter, like your droning…

Do not let the excitement of the moment get the best of you. When you are going out to fly, do it slowly and deliberately. Get used to a set procedure and even practice it.

There are so many things I could write but these are the highlights that I feel need mentioning.

Plug in your phone/tablet into your controller; turn on the Controller and DJI Fly App (if it does not start on its own…). On the Drone, open the front legs, then open the back legs, then remove the Gimbal Cover.

The Gimbal is the most delicate item on the Drone and banging or bumping can damage it. I also fastened a short "Remove Before Flight" ribbon to the cover so it's more noticeable and I do not forget to remove it…

Turn on the drone and watch it come to "life." Watching the Gimbal go through its self-check is almost like watching a kitten or puppy opening its eyes for the first time…

Place the drone down (preferably on a Landing Pad) while it finishes its self-test (collecting satellites, etc…).

Check your battery status (Phone, Drone, and Controller), check the Signal Strength, by now the Controller should have reported it updated the Home Point.

Lift off, 4-5 feet (1-1/2 meters) or so, hover a bit, check the controls (move the drone a bit forward, back, left, right, yaw left and right). By now, your Controller will probably report again, Home point Updated.

If you go out in a rush and race thru your start up and take off before the drone has finished it prep, it may update its Home Point over that pond or that old tree you are flying over and in your excitement, you'll fly the drone long past it Low Battery point and when it engages Return to Home and lands in the pond or in a tree; it will be all on you…

Now go have fun, learn to fly the drone by sight before you try to fly it out a distance depending on the video feed, FPV.

I would also advise you to use YouTube and watch a lot of the Videos on flying and setting up the Drone. When it is too dark, too cold, or too wet, you can "fly it vicariously" through YouTube. Also watch some of the Blooper Drone Videos and learn how not to fly your "New Baby."

Below is the link to all of the downloads offered by DJI for the Mini 3 Pro, including the User Manual.

After you read the Manual, read it again, you will be surprised what you missed the first time and you will be better prepared for that first "scary moment…"

DJI Mini 3 Pro - Download Center - DJI

At DJI Download Center, Learn aboutDJI Mini 3 Pro

www.dji.com

Happy Droning…

 

[Gagey52]

Greetings boxxer13, welcome to the forum from the outback of Australia. Look forward to your input on the forum.
Regards

 

[Kendallfordguy]

Welcome from Wisconsin!

 

[careless]

Welcome from Kentucky USA. I know about NFZ I've lived in one for years and it sucks not being able to fly in you own backyard.

 

[Laborous]

Welcome to the forum from the beautiful woods of Maine!
There’s many knowledgeable members willing to help you with any questions you have. As dirkclod said, search the forum using key words and if you don’t find answer, post your question and I’m sure you’ll get a quick response! Fly safe and stay safe!

 

[jspil]

Hi everyone, I'm from northern Virigina, particularly Fairfax County, I'm still on my first drone, a Mini 3 Pro which I got about a month ago. Despite living in a no-fly zone, there is accessible airspace that's only a 15 minute drive west. I'm looking for more places to fly but I have so much fun flying the M3P that I still have to precision flying, but I'll get there. I got my Part 107 (still waiting on the official card) just to be on the safe or $afe side, but I'm still a newbie so I'll probably ask some stupid questions.

Greetings from Frederick Md.

 

[benhuntn]

Welcome from across the river in the people’s republic of March

 

[boxxer13]

Thanks for the welcomes! Lately I've been practicing precision flying, taking it slow and learning the controls. Not being able to fly in the backyard sucks but I'm discovering new open fields to practice. Just waiting for the cooler weather to arrive. It's still warm enough for gnats to fly into my face.

I did a ton of research about the M3P as well as drone flying. If I'm buying a drone, then I better know what I'm getting into. I studied for the part 107 on my own so I think I got a handle of things and I even crashed once. It got hung up in some branches. I just need to log in more flight hours and get over that fear I get when I send it up (like 200 feet) and see it get smaller and smaller in the sky. Anyone know any quicks ways to get over that fear?

 

[old man mavic]

@boxxer13 ,really the best way to overcome your anxiety as a new drone pilot ,is to just go out and fly as much as you can, i think i speak for most on this forum ,when i say that its something we all went through at some point, when we started to fly our drones,the real secret is to not forget that things can and do go wrong sometimes, so do your pre flight checks ,make sure as much as possible ,that the location ,weather conditions ,and any possible flight restrictions ,that may be in place ,will not prevent you from flying ,and above all enjoy the flight ,from the moment you take off, till you get safely back on the ground, every flight is different ,thats what makes this pastime so great ,