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New Pilot Looking for Tips

antnee13

New Member
Joined
Jan 4, 2020
Messages
3
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Age
56
Location
Boston, MA
I’ve never flown a drone and my Mavic Mini should be here in a week. I'm looking for a few tips or do’s and don’ts. What are your top three tips for a virgin pilot using the Mini?
 
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Watch the mountain of MM YouTube videos out there. Should help to aquaint yourself with the various aspects so they'll be familiar when the done arrives.
 
I was in your situation about a year ago. My advice.

1. Keep it close and low initially until you get comfortable and your pilot skills and confidence improve.

2. Familiarize yourself with all of the settings, controls, potential warning messages, and airspace regulations.

3. Enjoy the heck out of it!
 
You should note that the mini is only specified for operation down to 32 deg. I have been to Boston, really cold there this time of year.
 
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I’ve never flown a drone and my Mavic Mini should be here in a week. I'm looking for a few tips or do’s and don’ts. What are your top three tips for a virgin pilot using the Mini?
Don't give into the temptation of the range test on your virgin flight

Assuming you're safer flying indoors than outdoors isn't true (atti mode's tricky)

Keep the camera pointed away from you initially, so that stick input direction and drone movement direction isn't inverted
 
find a quiet spot away from other people and trees start off in beginner mode which restricts speed range and height
after you have got everything set up to fly at this point forget about the camera and just concentrate on learning what happens to the drone when you move a stick in a particular direction
take off and go up to eye level and stand directly behind the drone some 10 ft back,from the drones position
at first keep the drone pointed away from you and start off by flying boxes, start by moving the right stick gently to the right and you will see that the drone moves right as well
keep going for about 10 ft stop and then push the right stick forwards gently and the drone will move away from you,keep going for about 10,ft then stop
now move the right stick gently to the left and fly till the drone is back in front of you
now the last move pull the right stick gently towards you and the drone will come back to the start point
you will have noticed that during the whole exercise you have only used the right stick that is all you need to do to achieve the box
i know you may be thinking this is a bit mundane i just want to go up and away but believe me learning the basic controls is the best way to make your drone last
do this exercise for at least one battery and you will find that by the end you will be doing it without giving it to much thought of course there is much more to learn and if you want i can give you some further exercises to practice, if you message me using the envelope icon at the top right of the screen,i would be more than happy to help you get the most from your drone
 
Besides reading the manual and not flying indoors, I would recommend you to play a few hour in DJI Flight Simulator once you get the controller. Partly to correct your muscle memory but also to learn about yourself when things go wrong. What are your basic instinct when you're about to fly into a pole or a tree? In my case, video games have taught me to steer the left stick in the opposite direction. The issue with DJI is that the drone will just go up or down when doing that but continue its path. So I'm still struggling to relearn this response.
 
I’ve never flown a drone and my Mavic Mini should be here in a week. I'm looking for a few tips or do’s and don’ts. What are your top three tips for a virgin pilot using the Mini?
You'll find that it's much easier to fly than you imagine.
It takes about 5 minutes to learn - but a lot of practice and experience to become proficient.
Don't let the simplicity make you get too adventurous too early.
There are many things that can go wrong and you need to understand what they are and how to make sure they don't happen to you.

Do your early flights in a large open area, well away from trees, buildings and obstacles.
Be afraid, very afraid of trees, buildings etc. They are involved in most incidents.

Read up on return to home procedures, practise using RTH and cancelling it so you understand how it works and how you can resume control in an RTH situation.
Never launch or land on a steel or reinforced concrete surface.
If flying in a strong wind situation, never fly away downwind.

And as the Mini's top speed in P-GPS mode is only half that of the bigger DJI drones, be very careful about flying in winds of more than about 10 mph.
 
Do not pay any attention to the "I flew my mini two and a half miles. That will only cause you grief if you try. Line of sight with a max 400 foot ceiling. And on that note, remember that the mini is light weight. The wind is your enemy. Download UAV Forecast it has a great wind profile section that gives wind speeds at various altitudes. And if UAV Forecast says it's not good to fly then it probably isn't.
 
What are your top three tips for a virgin pilot using the Mini?
1) Read and understand the manual
2) Be aware of these things (many not found in the manual)
3) Fly outside in a location that's free of all obstacles while learning
 
I’ve never flown a drone and my Mavic Mini should be here in a week. I'm looking for a few tips or do’s and don’ts. What are your top three tips for a virgin pilot using the Mini?
do what i did listen to these guys when they talk and if your not sure ask
 
Besides reading the manual and not flying indoors, I would recommend you to play a few hour in DJI Flight Simulator once you get the controller. Partly to correct your muscle memory but also to learn about yourself when things go wrong. What are your basic instinct when you're about to fly into a pole or a tree? In my case, video games have taught me to steer the left stick in the opposite direction. The issue with DJI is that the drone will just go up or down when doing that but continue its path. So I'm still struggling to relearn this response.
Loving all this info as im new as well! What is the simulator and how does it work?
 
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