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Learning to Fly

Happy to report that I took the advice from those of you who recommended getting a "toy" drone to learn some basics. The E58 had a rough afternoon yesterday in my backyard (lots of trees around + some wind), so today I went to a large (and empty) park and had a great time. I didn't expect to enjoy it as much. Have 3 more batteries coming today and can't wait to do it again.

I’m doing the same thing. My new E58 is getting quite the workout itself, but it’s a good confidence builder for when I fly my MPP. I’m gonna get some E58s for my “drone-prone” nephews.

Lots of great advice on this board!
 
If you have a teen getting ready to to drive, I recommend you buy them a battery powered Barbie car first so they can learn how to drive the real thing . . . or if you want a pilot's license, you should hit up the Dumbo ride at Disney world first.
Well before I started driving I had driven RC cars and ATVs for a while and they gave me a much better understanding of what to do, how to respond while driving on the highway. I think the same principle applies to drones.
 
Happy to report that I took the advice from those of you who recommended getting a "toy" drone to learn some basics. The E58 had a rough afternoon yesterday in my backyard (lots of trees around + some wind), so today I went to a large (and empty) park and had a great time. I didn't expect to enjoy it as much. Have 3 more batteries coming today and can't wait to do it again.
I think that anything that flies and can be controlled is bound to be super fun:)! Enjoy your E58 and all those batteries;)!-CF
 
Happy to report that I took the advice from those of you who recommended getting a "toy" drone to learn some basics. The E58 had a rough afternoon yesterday in my backyard (lots of trees around + some wind), so today I went to a large (and empty) park and had a great time. I didn't expect to enjoy it as much. Have 3 more batteries coming today and can't wait to do it again.

Aren't you glad it wasn't your Mavic kissing those trees?

Congratulations!

Jake
 
Hi,

I got my certificate the other day and I was about to order a Mavic Air just hours ago, but then I realized I'd never read a word about learning to fly a drone. I also remember a few people who crashed theirs. So, before I spend a $1K on a drone and crash it on day one, can you give me some tips and share your experiences? Does it make any sense to buy a $50 "toy" so if I crash it won't be a big deal. My thing with this idea is that a toy is a toy and even the best pilot can't do what the drone isn't capable of.

Thanks a lot!
Go to a totally safe and open spot such as football field or parking lot on a Sunday morning when no one is around. Practice, practice, practice EVERYTHING. Get so that you can completely control the drone without looking at the controller--simply with your fingers. ALWAYS keep your drone within your line of sight. Practice Return to Home. Remember when you learned to drive? You didn't go out on the street until you had practiced in parking lots. Do the same thing here. I spent at least 4-5 hours of practicing at safe areas before I ever took my drone higher than 100 meters and further than 200 meters. And read these postings every weekend to see why others lose or crash their drones. Listen to the comments from the experienced users. Last week I was flying my drone over the ocean and was about 300 meters out and about 50 meters high. I lost my connection between my iPhone and my MP. Remembering what I had read from others, my first action was to get the drone to a lower altitude and over land and because it was within my LOS I could easily do that. During the flight back it reconnected with my phone. Practice and keeping a clear head are invaluable when using a drone. Good luck and welcome to the fun times of owning and using a drone.
 
Hey lightbg and wytnyt, thanks a lot for your replies. Since both of you agree that buying a cheap drone isn't a bad idea, do you have any recommendations? Either an exact model or what features I should look for in one.

Thanks again!
The mav Pro is a great little quad. I’d just start out in beginner mode and just stay in that mode for as long as it takes you to really feel comfortable with the quad. That’s what I did and I felt great that the mp is the type of quad a newbie CAN grow into and then expand their skills as well! Just....be sensible. Use the beginner mode to get used to all the controls then again,move on slowly to flying a bit further and higher, etc. also like others have mentioned,read the manual,watch the videos, then read and watch again. You’ll still have a ton of fun while u learn.
 
I went a step at a time, and it has so far served me well. It took a while to become somewhat confident, but I have 93 flights so far and only one crash --- the first one, when a prop came off at 3 ft. altitude.

1. Read the manual, and while you're at it, make up your own checklist for first flights. (Mine begins: check props for security.) Pay attention to what is supposed to happen when the battery gets low and when the RC signal is lost. List your questions and work on getting answers. (For example: this forum.)

2. Find a friendly and open area for practice. Get everything powered up and connected. Take your time going through the app and displays to understand what's there and what choices are available. Set the parameters you've chosen for the flight. Check the condition of the IMU's and compasses.

Take off and hover. Don't fly around at eye level, but get it up to a safe altitude that will clear obstructions and afford a clear sight of the drone. Now fly it around some. Note the skidding in turns. Form the habit of regularly checking the displays for battery states (both), the range bar, GPS status, and RC signal strength. Keep the drone in sight.

3. Go through the intelligent flight modes one by one to see if they work as you expect. (Sometimes they don't.) Try the RTH button and the Pause button.


4. Plan ahead what you will do if:
a. the app gets disconnected.
b. RC signal is lost; it will return home only if you set it to return home. Is the home point displayed where you expect it to be? Do you know how to change the home point? Will it remain clear of obstructions?
c. GPS solution is lost and the drone reverts to ATTI mode.
d. Wind starts to interfere with the expected flight.
The idea is to forestall panic if one of these things happens and you haven't thought of it before.
e. battery gets low.
f. more than one of these happens simultaneously.
 
If you have a teen getting ready to to drive, I recommend you buy them a battery powered Barbie car first so they can learn how to drive the real thing . . . or if you want a pilot's license, you should hit up the Dumbo ride at Disney world first.
Funny read, it then I thought about it. Most teens have driven something basic, maybe not a barbie car, but a billy cart or something similar as kids. They have also been passengers in cars and get the basic concepts.
I was thinking back to when I was an instructor in the RAAF. We had a group from Papua New Guinea, and one of those blokes was from a village in the highlands. He had never seen a car before and had no knowledge of the concepts of driving.
We all went to go cart track for a afternoon of fun, and this guy was absolutely lost. He had no concept of steering or the foot pedals. It was very funny but he did get kicked of the track as he just kept running into the wall.

Anyway, after sharing that, I do believe that it is unnecesary to learn to fly a toy before learning to fly the mavic. The pretty different.
 
Hi,

I got my certificate the other day and I was about to order a Mavic Air just hours ago, but then I realized I'd never read a word about learning to fly a drone. I also remember a few people who crashed theirs. So, before I spend a $1K on a drone and crash it on day one, can you give me some tips and share your experiences? Does it make any sense to buy a $50 "toy" so if I crash it won't be a big deal. My thing with this idea is that a toy is a toy and even the best pilot can't do what the drone isn't capable of.

Thanks a lot!
I do not think that a cheap "toy" drone will gain you any skills to master the Mavic, but you can certainly get one like a HAK912F that has a camera to understand if video is what you will enjoy, if you want to "zip around", a Mavic may not be the right toy.
 
Hi,

I got my certificate the other day and I was about to order a Mavic Air just hours ago, but then I realized I'd never read a word about learning to fly a drone. I also remember a few people who crashed theirs. So, before I spend a $1K on a drone and crash it on day one, can you give me some tips and share your experiences? Does it make any sense to buy a $50 "toy" so if I crash it won't be a big deal. My thing with this idea is that a toy is a toy and even the best pilot can't do what the drone isn't capable of.

Thanks a lot!
In addition to, or in lieu of a toy, use the tutorial in the app. I crashed my DJI P3S on the first day. Once it was repaired, I used the tutorial for about a month. This really helped me learn to fly. A big challenge is that when the aircraft turns away from it's initial orientation, the intuitiveness of the sticks is lost. Forward is still forward, but forward can now be 90 degrees away from the original bearing. Very confusing at first, but you can learn it. Also, when in doubt, hover. Get your orientation on, and then proceed.
 
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So...........I received additional 3 batteries this morning, charged them up and went to the same park from a few days ago. A few minutes into my first battery I decided to go high. And high I go, some 60 feet when the E58 starts drifting toward the highway. No response to any RC command. Pressed the one-key-return button but nothing happened. A row of trees some 60-80 ft high prevented it from going over the highway or even landing on the highway, so in a way, I am really glad it got stuck on top of the tree. I'm not sure if the issue was the lost connection or the wind was just too strong at that height.
Then I went to Home Depot and got five 10-ft 3/4" PVC pipes, in hope to connect them all and rattle the branches. Couldn't reach it, plus connecting even 3 10-ft pipes and maneuvering with them is a challenging proposition. Anyway, lost my first drone. It sucks, but, at least I did not land a drone on a car moving 60 miles an hour. Thanks a lot for everyone's help here, I really appreciate it.
 

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I do not think that a cheap "toy" drone will gain you any skills to master the Mavic, but you can certainly get one like a HAK912F that has a camera to understand if video is what you will enjoy, if you want to "zip around", a Mavic may not be the right toy.

Actually, the only reason I am interested in drones is the camera. This stuff is fun, as I learned these last few days, but I don't have much free time for fun things of this nature. I need this for work, and not real-estate single family homes but for larger and more serious projects.
 
So...........I received additional 3 batteries this morning, charged them up and went to the same park from a few days ago. A few minutes into my first battery I decided to go high. And high I go, some 60 feet when the E58 starts drifting toward the highway. No response to any RC command. Pressed the one-key-return button but nothing happened. A row of trees some 60-80 ft high prevented it from going over the highway or even landing on the highway, so in a way, I am really glad it got stuck on top of the tree. I'm not sure if the issue was the lost connection or the wind was just too strong at that height.
Then I went to Home Depot and got five 10-ft 3/4" PVC pipes, in hope to connect them all and rattle the branches. Couldn't reach it, plus connecting even 3 10-ft pipes and maneuvering with them is a challenging proposition. Anyway, lost my first drone. It sucks, but, at least I did not land a drone on a car moving 60 miles an hour. Thanks a lot for everyone's help here, I really appreciate it.
The E58 is not good in the wind at all and I certainly wouldn’t recommend it going to that height in a breeze. Wind and maybe a disconnect as well.
Stay with it. Luckily it didn’t cost you too much
 
most problems of failure are caused by pilot error ie. flying when too windy and by not being in line of sight.

And not having read the manual AND watched MANY YouTube video's.

Read User Guide, make notes on what you don't understand, research notes, repeat until you know and understand everything.

How to Fly a Drone A Beginner's Guide to Multi-rotor Systems & Flight Proficiency
Members YouTube channel's
YouTube DJI Mavic training
 
What certificate??? I bought my MP, read the manual, watched lots of video, started out slowly, kept it vlos for a long time after 7/8 months fairly reasonable pilot (let's not start the pilot discussion) now I bought a E58 which I call "the wild thing" it drifts on the wind, you have to change power to fight left, right, ahead into wind, when the battery reaches it's limit about 6 minutes it just falls out of the sky. In other words you have to stay on your toes all the time "wild thing" is flying. Totally think I can handle anything MP will throw at me, but you have to keep reading so you know what might be coming your way. What certificate???
 
Learning To Fly, good Pink Floyd tune.....Thumbswayup

I saw learning to fly performed by PF at LA Coliseum on April 15 1988. They had a flying wing which took off from stage, a flying bed that crashed into stage, and an inflated pig that flew around the stage. It’s one of the main things I remember about 1988 for some reason.
 
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I'm not sure if the issue was the lost connection or the wind was just too strong at that height.
both, I lost my very first (cheap) quad 5 years ago exactly the same way, in the second flight. It's now somewhere on the bottom of the lake. It is totally different from flying anything else like fixed wings planes or even collective pitch heli's. Once you get into the wind you get surprised by the drift and before you know it it is out of RC range.

The best way to learn is to get a not so cheap quad with at least GPS and switchable Atti/Manual mode. That way you can learn to fly in the wind and switch on GPS mode as soon as you feel things are going south.

A second hand Phantom2 or Phantom1 is excellent to start with. I still use them to keep my Atti skills current, which is a lot of fun to do. If they would crash I could easily repair them, or even transfer everything into a alternative frame.
 
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I saw learning to fly performed by PF at LA Coliseum on April 15 1988. They had a flying wing which took off from stage, a flying bed that crashed into stage, and an inflated pig that flew around the stage. It’s one of the main things I remember about 1988 for some reason.

Sweet !!
 
Hi,

I got my certificate the other day and I was about to order a Mavic Air just hours ago, but then I realized I'd never read a word about learning to fly a drone. I also remember a few people who crashed theirs. So, before I spend a $1K on a drone and crash it on day one, can you give me some tips and share your experiences? Does it make any sense to buy a $50 "toy" so if I crash it won't be a big deal. My thing with this idea is that a toy is a toy and even the best pilot can't do what the drone isn't capable of.

Thanks a lot!
Hi,

I got my certificate the other day and I was about to order a Mavic Air just hours ago, but then I realized I'd never read a word about learning to fly a drone. I also remember a few people who crashed theirs. So, before I spend a $1K on a drone and crash it on day one, can you give me some tips and share your experiences? Does it make any sense to buy a $50 "toy" so if I crash it won't be a big deal. My thing with this idea is that a toy is a toy and even the best pilot can't do what the drone isn't capable of.

Thanks a lot!
I agree with others on this site about buying a practice Drone. Everyone of us has a different learning ability's
The MP is currently not a toy, and it takes up a large amount of time to learn how to fly and not crash. If you
check out u-tube, very much info on anything you want to know about. See if its something for you, make your
own decision based on your skills, not on what others say. I have a lot of money invested in my MP, have not crashed yet. Now looking at investing in a Phantom 3. Started with a Cheap $100.00 drone, gave it away to
someone who also has a interest in flying. Any way happy flying, and be safe.
 
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