Is it normal to be afraid?

[mikemoose55]

you have to understand that you are in control well most of the time.
Start with beginner mode, fly well within your line of sight and operate the controls so you can see the action and reaction thus eliminating some unknowns of how your drone will react.

Just like is school practice fire drills well practice at least mentally what you will do in a trouble situation, example, in a trouble moment.... hover till regain composure, return to home , land, etc. You have to have a mental bail out plan because you will never make this up on the spot.
Here is my example of poor practice planning and lack of emergency plan.

While flying down wind out over a canal i hit by battery warning of 25%. Tried to fly the drone back to me but could not make enough time and headway against the wind and still ovet the water not making headway RTH was out of the question.
. Simply the drone could not best the wind. Ended up tacking like a sail boat and made land but well away from my intended laocation but barely high and dry.
I didn't have a plan for the wind!!!!! In retrospect it would have been a piece of cake to simply switch to SPORT MODE and boogie up wind in a straiht line back but it never entered my head in the moment. That will never happen again.
have a plan and never stop planning as you learn to fly higher and farther away.
mikemoose55

 

[NestleQuik]

Yea its normal, flying for me has always been stressful and relaxing combined into one, i've been flying my Mavic pro, since Dec 2016.It's an amazing machine. But having that feeling has kept me in the game as opposed to those being over confident and having to send theirs in for repair. There is no rush to fly as far as you can or as high as you can. Just try to enjoy it, be as safe as you feel comfortable with it Follow the rules, take a deep breath and try to enjoy the moment.

 

[NestleQuik]

Oh and one other thing, i suggest if you dont know how to fly without GPS, get youself a toy model and learn how to actually control a non gps drone. You will not regret knowing how to control a drone if the Mavic switches into ATTI mode

 

[SRJ_Mavic_PRO]

Yep, normal in my experience. Just push yourself a *little* bit out of your comfort zone every couple of flights or so. Don't do things that make you so nervous you're not paying attention and are relaxed enough to deal with situations, just push beyond what you're comfortable with by a little bit. Get used to that, rinse and repeat.

Maybe someday you'll be posting your video that outflies that 8,200 foot-high Mavic flight. Yes, there's a YouTube video.

Hopefully you wont be like that Moron!!

 

[AClineman]

I was the exact same way. After a few flights it will get boring flying so close to take off point. At least for me that's how it was.

Am I the only one to find the photo I post #9 mesmerizing?

 

[PT_Mavic]

Hopefully you wont be like that Moron!!

Oh, I dunno. It was a beautiful flight:

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And from his notes.....

No plane was in a 100 km radius at the time of the flight.
No fire on the island so no fire fighting planes.
There is no military base.

He also did a winds-aloft survey and shows how to do that. This was not a clueless moron; he took precautions and did something very rare with no harm done.

 

[tiparoch]

Oh, I dunno. It was a beautiful flight:

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And from his notes.....

No plane was in a 100 km radius at the time of the flight.
No fire on the island so no fire fighting planes.
There is no military base.

He also did a winds-aloft survey and shows how to do that. This was not a clueless moron; he took precautions and did something very rare with no harm done.

Thanks for that! Wow. What kind of hack to get around the alt. Limit? Great flight!

 

[PT_Mavic]

Thanks for that! Wow. What kind of hack to get around the alt. Limit? Great flight!

NLD from nolimitdronez can do it, along with modding many other parameters. Exercise caution and common sense; don't be an idiot once unshackled from DJI.

 

[tiparoch]

NLD from nolimitdronez can do it, along with modding many other parameters. Exercise caution and common sense; don't be an idiot once unshackled from DJI.

Oh for sure. Not sure l would but. . . Once was flying around a very isolated mountain in asia and 500 metres from take off was like the bunny hill, would have given about anything for another vert 500 metres Thanks!

 

[nodnyl1904]

I am brand new to this remote control stuff so I do have very little confidence in my abilities.
Is it normal for brand new Droners to be afraid of sending the drone high or far from the take off point.
For some reason I am afraid that something will go wrong and then good bye drone, plus it would kill me if I accidentally hurt someone with an out of control drone.
I do hope I will get over this fear.
Highest flight was 100 ft
Longest distance is about 150 yards...

Better to be a bit nervous than to be over-confident and lose your drone after the first few days

 

[aokusman]

Every time I loose signal between the remote and the AC I get really afraid.

 

[Chips]

I worry about drone malfunctions when up in the air (which have happened twice) and I worry about the drone falling down onto a highway or onto someone. Losing the drone is one thing but if it hurts someone or causes and accident, that is bad. I still hesitate about sending my drone far, even after a year of flying.

 

[Wlevere1]

My first flight off the side of a mountain terrified me. I was actually shaking and it didn't help that it went into atti mode shortly after going over the edge. Now after many flights I have a lot more confidence in the Mavic and have no issues flying off a mountain or over water.

 

[Big Jon]

I have had my MP since November, have 38 flights in now, 1 crash (totally my fault, was panning and sideswiped a tree branch)My most recent stretch was flying over water, launched from my boat (anchored). I was definitely nervous!! I traveled slightly out beyond VLOS but was unobstructed. As everyone has said above, start small and work your way up, your confidence and faith will build as your seat time goes up.

 

[marklyn]

I say if you're new to drone flying and you're not afraid or nervous then either you have deep pockets or you should consider another hobby. I was extremely careful for at least 20-30 of my first flights and eventually after gaining confidence and reading lots of manuals, forums, became confident enough to do long Litchi missions with much advance planning and forethought. Plus DJI care and State Farm insurance helps

 

[MagicMike]

Interesting perspectives. No one has mentioned the superb videos available on U Tube. I have read the instructions several times but they are not well produced would and actually bring shame on any respectable technical publisher. Thankfully there is a host of great tutorial / instructional videos on U Tube. I would Love to ID them because there are quite a bit of B.O.F videos as well. It is the good ones that continue to guide my skill and understanding..

 

[Moby-ssx]

Took me a good week to setup everything when i first got my MP. Just finding a good spot to try it out was a frikkin nightmare. I was scared i would mess something up with my first flight. I also thought i would be stuck in beginner mode for 14 days. (Have crashed my share of nitro airplanes). But I swapped from beginner in the first flight when i found out just how hard it is to mess this bird up. Most critical tip would be to always make sure you got props that are in good condition and securely attached before each time you go out. You do not want to lose a 1500$ drone because you skimped on props worth 20$ Anyways.... conclusion is i totally lost whatever i was scared of initially so happy flying!!

 

[jkirk]

Great advice from seasoned operators....I was right there 2 yrs ago, still green and learning by listening. Couple a bits that help are keep in close sight, go slow and stay away from any obstacles. One thing I learned early beware of trying to concentrate on controlling Mavic when curious people walk up and start talking or asking questions. Always check home point before taking off.

 

[Dabrain]

Larry, YES. It does get better. A little fear is a good thing.

 

[JoelP]

Lots of good advice here. Learning to fly it manually then in sport mode will build confidence all over a wide open field.

My biggest worry has come from losing visual contact, but after adding a Firehouse strobe to one landing strut facing to the side I have grown confident that,hands off, it will hover wherever it is until I can spot it. I take it to an altitude where I know where to look then yaw it continually until I spot the strobe and then resume my flight. This has given me confidence to fly to ever increasing distances.