How long until you were confident to fly further

[naiku]

As a new pilot, thought this might be an interesting discussion. How long did it take you to be confident flying longer distances?

I've had my Air a little over a week, I have flown directly above me to the FAA limit, but am currently only comfortable flying over basically my yard. We have 5 acres, so it's a decent size, but at the same time somewhat limiting. The biggest factor for me in getting comfortable flying further is we are surrounded by trees, hills and tree covered hills.

For the most part I rarely expect to fly out longer distances, but am curious how long it took you to happily fly out 1000' and more.

 

[brett8883]

Well it was pretty quick for me. Like the second day maybe. When I saw how high 400’ was and knowing there wasn’t anything that could touch me that high.

My biggest concern then and now is losing radio communication while I’m over a ridge or something. It’s happened a few several times now and at least two of those occasions I was sure it was gone forever. But sure enough a few seconds later I hear the RTH beeping like a lost dog barking to let his owner he’s on the way back. So I think it’s a matter of building trust with it which comes with time and experience.

 

[JManges]

About an hour...

 

[zocalo]

Landed my M2P after 10 minutes to turn off beginner mode, and had it at 120m altitude and at the limits of VLOS while still on its first battery charge. Went down to Wales the following week and took it out over open water around the River Severn Bridges, and along the coastline of Gower and Pembrokeshire. No problems with going beyond VLOS on a couple of overseas trips since either; my record so far is just over 5km away from the RTH point.

 

[old man mavic]

As a new pilot, thought this might be an interesting discussion. How long did it take you to be confident flying longer distances?

I've had my Air a little over a week, I have flown directly above me to the FAA limit, but am currently only comfortable flying over basically my yard. We have 5 acres, so it's a decent size, but at the same time somewhat limiting. The biggest factor for me in getting comfortable flying further is we are surrounded by trees, hills and tree covered hills.

For the most part I rarely expect to fly out longer distances, but am curious how long it took you to happily fly out 1000' and more.

its a personal thing the more you fly the more confident you get in the abilities of your drone,and your abilities to control it in time you will just fly it without worrying just build up in your own time.

 

[lolo780]

Just send it. Tape or strap the battery in because it can pop out even in a light crash, which can make the AC difficult to find.

 

[BD0G]

The moment after I concluded a telephone call to my State Farm Insurance agent and solidified my personal articles policy for the Mavic.

 

[twodog]

I understand how you are feeling, a major breakthrough for me was the realization that a crash from 50 feet is probably the same as a crash from 400. Once I realized like the poster above that max altitude (within guidelines) is very safe in terms of trees etc. I felt much more comfortable. I often fly from a valley starting point which makes me a little nervous since I am trying to fly above trees on top of the ridges. I am in sort of "theoretical" VLOS where it is in my direct line of sight but I am not always able to pick it out from the landscape or in the sun glare.

 

[FormerMember07122019_2]

As a newbie as well, I also have a similar hesitancy to fly a long distance away. I have flown mostly around my property, (I’m lucky to live on 4 ac) and have probably gone a maximum of around 300 ft away, and the same in altitude. A lot of my flights were learning how the basic controls operate and how the aircraft responds, since this is my first serious drone. With my growing confidence after around 20 flights, I am probably now at the point where I am ready to venture farther. I live in a heavily forested and mountainous area so it is difficult to go too far and stay VLOS so I’m looking forward to my first road trip to some wider open spaces.

 

[Shon]

My first flight with the Air was in my living room.

My first real flight, was yesterday 300 feet over a rushing river.

I was incredibly nervous in both cases, I was well aware of all that could go wrong, but I just decided to push through the fear. I don’t fly with insurance. I think it is a good thing to be a bit nervous.

I do have experience with another drone. That first time the drone unexpectedly looses GPS, starts to drift too close to that tree, looses connection with the controller, or unexpectedly initiates RTH can be incredibly scary, but eventually once you see the drone performing according to its programming, you start to develop a degree of trust.

It’s kind of like a domesticated wild animal. After a while you trust that it will behave, but the fact that it could go unexpectedly wild on you at any moment, doesn’t go away from the back of your mind.

The scariest thing for me is flying the drone VLOS, but having it lost in the tree line and not being able to actually see it, even just a few hundred feet away.

 

[Bigbird48]

took me a while and I still try to be careful. seldom go more the 1500 feet. I really don't see the need for me to go further then that other then to test the drone or my nerves LOL

 

[Mossiback]

Because of your tree covered hills you might want to look into a tracker like Marco Polo to improve your odds of finding it should something go wrong.

 

[DanMc]

Most of my flying is also over wooded hills. Make sure you have a good GPS fix and home point has been set.

I've been pushing the boundaries a little bit more with each flight, learning new things and gaining confidence. I'm now comfy going out to 2500 feet with the Mavic Air after about 40 flights over 3 months. And today I went through my first disconnect, requiring it to do an auto return to home. Need to understand better what happened and why it didn't reconnect until I rebooted the controller.

 

[Thomas B]

After studying the online manual, for a few rainy days, until I felt I had a handle on all modes and settings, I stayed in beginner mode for about 6 weeks practicing basics of maneuvering, learning the effects of wind, and also the various ways to stop the drone, land it, and bring it home. Also experimented with different flight modes. Then I took the bird out to a level area about 5 square miles, with no trees or power lines and took it out of beginner mode.

 

[burma419]

Just send it. Tape or strap the battery in because it can pop out even in a light crash, which can make the AC difficult to find.

Just wondering what kind of STRAP you use and where got it. I have been thinking about using a strap as my battery in my M2P looks a little loose.

 

[lolo780]

Just wondering what kind of STRAP you use and where got it. I have been thinking about using a strap as my battery in my M2P looks a little loose.

I use 3M filament tape. Sits flush for zero drag and weighs almost nothing.

 

[Dronage]

As a new pilot, thought this might be an interesting discussion. How long did it take you to be confident flying longer distances?

I've had my Air a little over a week, I have flown directly above me to the FAA limit, but am currently only comfortable flying over basically my yard. We have 5 acres, so it's a decent size, but at the same time somewhat limiting. The biggest factor for me in getting comfortable flying further is we are surrounded by trees, hills and tree covered hills.

For the most part I rarely expect to fly out longer distances, but am curious how long it took you to happily fly out 1000' and more.

Excellent..! My situation, with an enterprise dual, entirely.! Thanks for asking.!

 

[CJH92474]

took me a while and I still try to be careful. seldom go more the 1500 feet. I really don't see the need for me to go further then that other then to test the drone or my nerves LOL

took me a while and I still try to be careful. seldom go more the 1500 feet. I really don't see the need for me to go further then that other then to test the drone or my nerves LOL

Thank you for your service, sir!

 

[swings16]

I am a scaredy cat and am always in fear of flying too high or wide...IF i did not live in a wall to wall people area i would be more daring but i have never flown out of EYEBALL sight of my MP...i live in a 20 story Hi Rise building ...240 apartments...i walk to my local city park and get my rocks off and for now i am ok with it...when i have occasion to be in a rural area i am still conservative in flight...i have never lost eye sight of it and i am ok with it...i am in movie taking mode on every flight...i enjoy seeing NYC from a bird's eye perspective...overwhelmingly populated...wall to wall EVERYTHING...but this is and has been my home these 67 years...sadly i saw the WTC Towers burn and fall from my dining room window...i have a full skyline view of THE CITY (Manhattan) from here and it is MY town...i enjoy traveling UPSTATE NY and love the natural beauty there and FLYING there but NYC is my home /Warts and scars and WONDERS all

 

[Captain Lou]

First flight was just up to 100 ft , flew around for about 10 minutes, came back and landed.... than (same day) went up again , flew around a bit more than tested the RTH.... worked perfectly, which gave me even more confidence in flying ....
my next time out I tested the new smart controller and the waypoints mode which got me out over 1000 ft away and that worked perfectly.... now I have a lot of confidence in my M2P and feel I can handle it without worrying!