My First Month

Mavicdave68 · Jul 1, 2018

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!

Mossiback · Jul 2, 2018

It sounds like you are approaching this with a lot of thought. Keep it up and you should not join the hard landing (crash) club.

If I may suggest an addition; get comfortable hand launching and landing. It removes the need of the pad and extension gear while adding a little risk that could be mitigated by wearing a glove.

AstroMelly · Jul 2, 2018

I like this thread as I am joining the 1 month club in the next few days!

I would add to this list:

Bought a sun shield (I use an iphone 6). The great sunny weather we have had this last month has been hard to contend with - I kept finding myself turning my back on the drone to see the screen which did not feel very comfortable. The sun shield I bought was cheap but improves things somewhat.
Also bought a lanyard with the small clamp that you place at the base of the controller - haven't used it yet but I keep finding myself having to put the controller down somewhere (usually the ground as no handy tables out in the field). I'm hoping this will make flying even more comfortable.
Watch those detachable sticks! They have a tendency to jump and more than once I have launched without them attached! First time I quickly punched the land button but the second time I calmly removed them and screwed them on with the drone hovering there in the air laughing at me!

I'm off to Arizona with my Air in a couple of days - can't wait!

Cheers
Iain

Mavicdave68 · Jul 12, 2018

Mossiback said:
It sounds like you are approaching this with a lot of thought. Keep it up and you should not join the hard landing (crash) club.

If I may suggest an addition; get comfortable hand launching and landing. It removes the need of the pad and extension gear while adding a little risk that could be mitigated by wearing a glove.

Yes I'm building up to that but, as a self-employed accountant, I really need all of my calculator fingers !! lol

Seriously though, I have tried a few times with a leather gardening glove and feel more comfortable that I thought I would ....

Cheers

Mavicdave68 · Jul 12, 2018

AstroMelly said:
I like this thread as I am joining the 1 month club in the next few days!

I would add to this list:

Bought a sun shield (I use an iphone 6). The great sunny weather we have had this last month has been hard to contend with - I kept finding myself turning my back on the drone to see the screen which did not feel very comfortable. The sun shield I bought was cheap but improves things somewhat.

Also bought a lanyard with the small clamp that you place at the base of the controller - haven't used it yet but I keep finding myself having to put the controller down somewhere (usually the ground as no handy tables out in the field). I'm hoping this will make flying even more comfortable.

Watch those detachable sticks! They have a tendency to jump and more than once I have launched without them attached! First time I quickly punched the land button but the second time I calmly removed them and screwed them on with the drone hovering there in the air laughing at me!

I'm off to Arizona with my Air in a couple of days - can't wait!

Cheers
Iain

Hi Iain

Yes good points those ........ interestingly I have indeed also bought the lanyard to go with the Mavmount and a sunshade is a great idea

Just returned from Cape Verde .... no issues taking the drone and all the bits away with us BUT .... as I feared ..... too windy on the beach location to fly whilst we were there ... hopefully the nice evenings back home will persist and I can get out !

Enjoy Arizona !