Hello all, I am brand new here, and brand new to piloting my recently acquired
DJI Mini 2! I had initially set my eyes on the DJI Mavic Mini (
mini 1). Then I found a video by youtuber "captain drone" where he listed 5 drones @ or below $299, #1 was the Mini SE. Then I watched his video where all he did was review the SE, and it included the "history" of the "mini line" since the spark! After seeing *that* video I changed my mind to get the
Mini 2!
I am originally from Chitcago (born and raised) but recently purchased vacant land not too far from Phoenix, AZ! Which was actually one of the primary driving factors of my desire to get a drone and start flying! I will be building my own house (literally, with my two hands, and my GFs two hands - not hiring contractors n crap)... So I figured it would be REALLY cool to get some aerial photographs and videos before, during, and after this massive project we're about to undertake! Though I can already see how much I am going to love using this thing to capture awesome shots any and every-where I can safely (and legally) fly!
I must admit, I am already contemplating getting my part 107 license so that I can also fly commercially. I have already had a neighbor (that knows *nothing* about drones) ask me if I could make a print of their house that I captured on my rec-flight with the beautiful mountains in the background... Makes me wonder if or how much of a "market" there could be for "services" like this! Makes me think, maybe I could look into getting my P107L, and open an LLC and start generating money from what started out as a "hobby"!? Very not sure, and I will have to do a LOT more research before I actually decide on something so drastic, may be an even better idea to wait until after this massive project we're about to undertake is complete! So I am certainly open to any potential suggestions when it comes to that too...
But anyway, I am from Chitcago, Illinois; but I have been there my entire life and have come to HATE it... I do plan to "permanently move to AZ" once the house is complete! I honestly think the only thing I am going to miss is going to be the pizza! As if I didn't already have enough expensive "hobbies", I guess I can now add flying quads/drones to that list! I purchased my
DJI Mini 2, [with] fly more bundle, on the 28th of November 2021. I took my first flight on the 30th of November 2021 @ 15:54:44! About that, I was actually planning on doing a manual flight log, until I saw that the DJI fly app records/logs flight info! So I am actually wondering, that time stamp (in DJI fly - flight logs), is that the takeoff time, or the time landed? I am presuming it's take off time... But anyway, it was within that 2 minutes and 3 seconds (the tutorial flight [where it has you go up, left, right, forward, rearward, down]) that I realized how insanely *easy* it was going to be to fly this model! I have made sure to fly every day since then, it's SO fun! I did miss ONE day of flight, the day (3 DEC '21) I drove up to the DJI Arizona store (in Scottsdale) to buy even more spare propellers (just in case), yet *another* battery (hey there's an open 'hole' in the mini just asking for a battery while the other 3 are charging >.>), and an anti collision strobe light!
So, I do look forward to making some new "peeps" (friends) here! Even better if you're in, near, or along the path of Chitcago, IL and Phoenix, AZ!
Wondering, are there any 'groups' or 'events' for flying in the area? I am sure there are *plenty* of good spots in "the valley", my land (which will be my homestead) is even one of them! For a more accurate reference I'm actually closer to Casa Grande than I am Phoenix BTW... But yeah, the reason I bought this lot was because of the 360° mountain views, and the fact that my closest "neighbor" is like 0.5 miles away 
