So after a month with the Mavic and much help from this forum and it’s members along with YouTube video’s I was thinking last night of what I’ve learned so far and any useful bits of kit I’ve bought;
1) as a scuba diver I was always used to the phrase “plan the dive & dive the plan” .. I’ve been applying this to my drone flying so far and it gives me great comfort (it also makes the limited time I have to spend flying more productive) having a plan
2) RTH - my advice to all other newbies is practice, practice and practice this ! There will be times when you are sat stationary and can use a fixed RTH point, there will be times when you’re moving and flying .. make sure you use the correct RTH setting before you take off !
3) Visual line of sight - apart from becoming law at the end of this month , I don’t really understand why I’d ever want the Adrenalin rush of flying my drone when I can’t actually see it ... so I’ll maintain VLOS and feel calmer
4) beware of where you take off from , I did this in a field recently and whilst I thought the grass patch I’d picked was short enough I had to make a quick shut down as it prepared to wrap around my propellers ! I immediately bought a takeoff/landing pad and also some leg extenders and use these nearly all the time now
5) Mavmount - I bought a reconditioned iPad mini 4 (cellular version) and then a Mavmount v3 along with a short braided lightning to USB connector ! I absolutely love flying with this set up as the screen is larger than my phone and it doesn’t receive texts or call when I’m flying of course ! Great bit of kit
6) Protective cases - ahead of a holiday I’ve bought a protective hard case for the drone and the remote and some battery bags for the batteries to go on the plane ... I’ll take these in a rucksack with my DSLR rather than the Mavic shoulder bag that came in the kit
7) Taking off from car bonnets/tailgates etc... I’ve witnessed from another drone user first hand how magnetic interference affects the compass settings !It may not happen every time but be assured it does happen and will happen to you one day so why risk it ! Get a takeoff/ landing pad and put it on the ground to take off from not your tailgate
So, just a few initial thoughts after my first month ... thanks to all who have helped so far and good luck to all the other Newbies!
1) as a scuba diver I was always used to the phrase “plan the dive & dive the plan” .. I’ve been applying this to my drone flying so far and it gives me great comfort (it also makes the limited time I have to spend flying more productive) having a plan
2) RTH - my advice to all other newbies is practice, practice and practice this ! There will be times when you are sat stationary and can use a fixed RTH point, there will be times when you’re moving and flying .. make sure you use the correct RTH setting before you take off !
3) Visual line of sight - apart from becoming law at the end of this month , I don’t really understand why I’d ever want the Adrenalin rush of flying my drone when I can’t actually see it ... so I’ll maintain VLOS and feel calmer
4) beware of where you take off from , I did this in a field recently and whilst I thought the grass patch I’d picked was short enough I had to make a quick shut down as it prepared to wrap around my propellers ! I immediately bought a takeoff/landing pad and also some leg extenders and use these nearly all the time now
5) Mavmount - I bought a reconditioned iPad mini 4 (cellular version) and then a Mavmount v3 along with a short braided lightning to USB connector ! I absolutely love flying with this set up as the screen is larger than my phone and it doesn’t receive texts or call when I’m flying of course ! Great bit of kit
6) Protective cases - ahead of a holiday I’ve bought a protective hard case for the drone and the remote and some battery bags for the batteries to go on the plane ... I’ll take these in a rucksack with my DSLR rather than the Mavic shoulder bag that came in the kit
7) Taking off from car bonnets/tailgates etc... I’ve witnessed from another drone user first hand how magnetic interference affects the compass settings !It may not happen every time but be assured it does happen and will happen to you one day so why risk it ! Get a takeoff/ landing pad and put it on the ground to take off from not your tailgate
So, just a few initial thoughts after my first month ... thanks to all who have helped so far and good luck to all the other Newbies!
