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My first light crash

flyinblackpro

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No one wants to crash...but my advice to novice flyers is don’t fear a crash if you flying slow and trying to do some precision flying. I’ve only had my drone a few months but fly it regularly. After flying at 200 feet everywhere for a couple of months, I decided to start trying to fly lower. It’s easiest to think of drones as a “remotely operated video recorder” and you will want to try this and that as you get more involved. Flying is great...but you don’t get great video without a little risk. Keep some spare props and feel confident about your flying.

 
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Not being a paid operator/photographer, my risk/reward ratio is probably different from yours.;) Props are no problem, but it is so easy to damage the gimbal/camera/or front legs on a $1600 drone, even when flying low and slow.

As a hobbyist and a retired civil servant, the economic impact of a crash is something I fear. I enjoy flying and photoing too much to risk losing the opportunity to do so. So yes, at times I fly low and slow to capture some good shots, but full of fear when I do so.
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Hmm, well, I guess, that really depends on the shot your are aiming for.
Just going low for the sake of it - not my cup of tea, especially, when I can achieve these photos/videos from a traditional point of view with a tripod+camera setup.

Doing some practice in dense but controllable environment to get a Kolder like shot later may work. ;)
Just for the thrill I wouldn't suggest, there are far too many and too expensive little things that can get broken with being just being a bit unlucky (Gimbal for instance).
 
Do you reverse your controls using the DJIGO4 app when doing reverse flying? So forward is backward and backward is forward? Doing this allows one to use the right and left joystick movements and not have to flip the controls in thier brain.
 
Do you reverse your controls using the DJIGO4 app when doing reverse flying? So forward is backward and backward is forward? Doing this allows one to use the right and left joystick movements and not have to flip the controls in thier brain.
Now that is interesting. But how do you do that? Change modes?
 
I have done some questionable risk flying with my Mavic but I don't fly it like my racing drone. I usually do a slow flight over the path I want to take, then return at a higher speed to capture specific video or effects but it's in more open terrain not through limbs and branches. If I'm shooting video of say an almond orchard in bloom, I may fly a few feet off the ground below the canopy of limbs or just above the treeline but it's at a slower speed. IMHO if you want video flying through trees, or close quarter structure, buy a racing drone.
 
You go into the Remote Controller Settings within DJIGO4 and then in the area where it indicates one can change modes you tap on custom. Then press and hold to drag the left and right controls . You pull those buttons down and position the right button over the left button displayed on the controller illustration. This changes right to left and left to right. Done. Then just change back to mode 2 afterwards.

Using this technique one can fly much safer through obstacles as they are already familiar with right stick being right and left stick being left even when flying backwards.

One can remap the controller sticks rather than have to remap thier brain. I thought everyone knew about this.
 
I have done some questionable risk flying with my Mavic but I don't fly it like my racing drone. I usually do a slow flight over the path I want to take, then return at a higher speed to capture specific video or effects but it's in more open terrain not through limbs and branches. If I'm shooting video of say an almond orchard in bloom, I may fly a few feet off the ground below the canopy of limbs or just above the treeline but it's at a slower speed. IMHO if you want video flying through trees, or close quarter structure, buy a racing drone.
Same with the cherry and walnut orchards I often shoot in.
 
You go into the Remote Controller Settings within DJIGO4 and then in the area where it indicates one can change modes you tap on custom. Then press and hold to drag the left and right controls . You pull those buttons down and position the right button over the left button displayed on the controller illustration. This changes right to left and left to right. Done. Then just change back to mode 2 afterwards.

Using this technique one can fly much safer through obstacles as they are already familiar with right stick being right and left stick being left even when flying backwards.

One can remap the controller sticks rather than have to remap thier brain. I thought everyone knew about this.
Thanks for this. I have had a few issues with my brain refusing to switch. Will give it a try.
 
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I’m not saying try to crash your drone...I just started with little nerve, always flew high and until recently felt comfortable enough to attemp to manuever in tighter quarters...I guess my remarks should be tempered with go at your pace...and to answer a few questions, no I have not reversed the control to fly backwards. Normally, as I am quite new at this, I fly forward into wherever I’m going super slow and reverse out with video on at a faster pace (not full on fast either).
 
Not being a paid operator/photographer, my risk/reward ratio is probably different from yours.;) Props are no problem, but it is so easy to damage the gimbal/camera/or front legs on a $1600 drone, even when flying low and slow.

As a hobbyist and a retired civil servant, the economic impact of a crash is something I fear. I enjoy flying and photoing too much to risk losing the opportunity to do so. So yes, at times I fly low and slow to capture some good shots, but full of fear when I do so.
View attachment 81941
It also helps to have the $65 insurance with State Farm that covers damage, fly-offs, stolen, lost and any other item you can think of. No deductible either.
 
I’m not saying try to crash your drone...I just started with little nerve, always flew high and until recently felt comfortable enough to attemp to manuever in tighter quarters...
Which ended up in a crash? Myself I always think risk assessment. That varies from person to person.

I flew inside a lattice bridge when I first purchased my MP. In hind sight it was probably a bad move for obvious reasons. Don't get me wrong, I really don't care how people fly their drones in the US provided they stay w/i FAA regulations and fly in a safe manner. I'd venture to guess most DJI drone crashes are a series of bad choices or mistakes by the operator....some of which are not obvious to the operator prior to the crash.
As far as insurance, once you've used it on a claim will they renew your contract? Moot point for me anyway as I live in California.

If I crash my MP it will hit my wallet heavy so I'd never fly in such a way that I'd say "Oh well, I'll just get another one". I will say that (IMO) close quarter flying is exhilarating and why I own a racing drone.
 
Trust me I do not fly reckless. If my drone is acting weird (not hovering in place or just unstable), I always bring it in and recalibrate. I don’t have so much money that I’d rush out and buy another one, but I think people buying $1,000 drones aren’t usually worried about their next meal. It would suck if I completely destroyed it for sure, and you should consider risk vs reward. The final video today is my backyard (where I crashed)....this is the finished video link below (by the way, YouTube screwed with the resolution, if you have suggestions on getting better YouTube res, let me know)

 
It also helps to have the $65 insurance with State Farm that covers damage, fly-offs, stolen, lost and any other item you can think of. No deductible either.
Unfortunately, another Californian who cannot purchase State Farm drone insurance.
 
You go into the Remote Controller Settings within DJIGO4 and then in the area where it indicates one can change modes you tap on custom. Then press and hold to drag the left and right controls . You pull those buttons down and position the right button over the left button displayed on the controller illustration. This changes right to left and left to right. Done. Then just change back to mode 2 afterwards.

Using this technique one can fly much safer through obstacles as they are already familiar with right stick being right and left stick being left even when flying backwards.

One can remap the controller sticks rather than have to remap thier brain. I thought everyone knew about this.
Is that something you can program on on of the function buttons for a one click operation? I was imagining he was turning the controller to face him/herself. A one click function would be ideal. Although I believe I’m getting the hang of the mental flip.
 
One cannot program it to use a button press. At least I have not found a way.
While that would be handy I think it presents a way for one to forget which mode they are in and potentially fly into something as a result. If I am forced to go into the app to change the mode then I know for certain which mode I am in.
 
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