Practice, practice, practice.

[Datadogie]

This drone flying is not as easy as I thought it would be. It's OK just zooming about the place but I have to make sure the camera is also setup right. (no over/under exposure, which ND filters) and of course frame your video to keep it interesting. Watch out for obstacles. Ooops watch that tree. Phew missed. Thus my header. "Practice, practice, practice."

 

[Astrix]

This drone flying is not as easy as I thought it would be. It's OK just zooming about the place but I have to make sure the camera is also setup right. (no over/under exposure, which ND filters) and of course frame your video to keep it interesting. Watch out for obstacles. Ooops watch that tree. Phew missed. Thus my header. "Practice, practice, practice."

Agreed but learn to fly as much as you can in Atti mode ... if you are good at it in this mode then you won’t get any surprises should GPS mode fail for whatever reason. Atti mode is more fun anyway... you actually have to pilot the drone ... GPS mode is a luxury that does most things for you.

 

[Datadogie]

Apperently you cannot switch off ATTI mode in the Air.

 

[Travisimo]

This drone flying is not as easy as I thought it would be. It's OK just zooming about the place but I have to make sure the camera is also setup right. (no over/under exposure, which ND filters) and of course frame your video to keep it interesting. Watch out for obstacles. Ooops watch that tree. Phew missed. Thus my header. "Practice, practice, practice."

Yep, there is a lot to learn, but it sounds like you are taking that seriously, so that's good. When I was first learning, I just flew in a big open field for several hours getting used to the controls, the gimbal, etc. And I watched a LOT of YouTube videos - those were indispensable when first learning how to fly, use the app, and get good footage.

Most important things to remember are 1) wait for strong GPS lock before taking off, 2) make sure your Return to Home settings are appropriate (RTH altitude, etc), and 3) don't fly under anything that could cause your Air to fly up to Return to Home altitude. Stay within line of sight (especially when learning), and concentrate more on flying at first than getting good footage (that can come later after you are a more experienced pilot).

EDIT: And because of the recent string of fly-away's, it's also VERY important to make sure the heading of your aircraft in the app on the map matches the actual heading before you take off. If the app heading isn't the actual heading you see visually of the aircraft, then you have a compass problem and should not take off.

Happy flying!

 

[Plawa]

Or Mavic or Spark...

 

[Akoztha]

Yep, there is a lot to learn, but it sounds like you are taking that seriously, so that's good. When I was first learning, I just flew in a big open field for several hours getting used to the controls, the gimbal, etc. And I watched a LOT of YouTube videos - those were indispensable when first learning how to fly, use the app, and get good footage.

Most important things to remember are 1) wait for strong GPS lock before taking off, 2) make sure your Return to Home settings are appropriate (RTH altitude, etc), and 3) don't fly under anything that could cause your Air to fly up to Return to Home altitude. Stay within line of sight (especially when learning), and concentrate more on flying at first than getting good footage (that can come later after you are a more experienced pilot).

Happy flying!

Great tips Sir

 

[Datadogie]

Yep, there is a lot to learn, but it sounds like you are taking that seriously, so that's good. When I was first learning, I just flew in a big open field for several hours getting used to the controls, the gimbal, etc. And I watched a LOT of YouTube videos - those were indispensable when first learning how to fly, use the app, and get good footage.

Most important things to remember are 1) wait for strong GPS lock before taking off, 2) make sure your Return to Home settings are appropriate (RTH altitude, etc), and 3) don't fly under anything that could cause your Air to fly up to Return to Home altitude. Stay within line of sight (especially when learning), and concentrate more on flying at first than getting good footage (that can come later after you are a more experienced pilot).

Happy flying!

I have been watching a lot of youtube mistakes and following forums (not just this one) and learning from their mistakes. Some of which are idiotic. Lets see how for I can fly this thing with the wind is the best and out of line of sight to me also means out of line of wifi. There are too many to mention. But keep them comming so I learn by others mistakes.

 

[wanderrich]

Yep, there is a lot to learn, but it sounds like you are taking that seriously, so that's good. When I was first learning, I just flew in a big open field for several hours getting used to the controls, the gimbal, etc. And I watched a LOT of YouTube videos - those were indispensable when first learning how to fly, use the app, and get good footage.

Most important things to remember are 1) wait for strong GPS lock before taking off, 2) make sure your Return to Home settings are appropriate (RTH altitude, etc), and 3) don't fly under anything that could cause your Air to fly up to Return to Home altitude. Stay within line of sight (especially when learning), and concentrate more on flying at first than getting good footage (that can come later after you are a more experienced pilot).

Happy flying!

Also making sure your drone and the icon arrow are pointing in the same direction before taking off....seems to be a common mistake that can signify a serious compass issue and result in lots and lots of issues....

 

[Red Baron]

Practice getting to know how your craft flys before attempting vids or pictures. Go to a big open field and put in some hours with no vids or camera works. Fly in both modes and get to know how it flys- Then and only then start learning about filming- Just my two cents but it will save you heart ache in the future- Also the pause button is your best friend anything goes wrong or bird starts to act funky hit the pause button then when it is stable resume flying.

 

[Datadogie]

Practice getting to know how your craft flys before attempting vids or pictures. Go to a big open field and put in some hours with no vids or camera works. Fly in both modes and get to know how it flys- Then and only then start learning about filming- Just my two cents but it will save you heart ache in the future- Also the pause button is your best friend anything goes wrong or bird starts to act funky hit the pause button then when it is stable resume flying.

Too late. This was videoed at Slains Casle, Cruden Bay, Aberdeen.

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[Travisimo]

Too late. This was videoed at Slains Casle, Cruden Bay, Aberdeen.

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Very cool. And a good location to practice too because there aren't a lot of other obstacles around other than the castle itself. That castle would be a good opportunity to try some of the quickshots too. For example, you could do a Point of Interest circle around the castle by flying directly overhead, setting the POI spot, flying out to a desirable radius, and then have it fly automatically in a circle around the castle. Another good one might be a Dronie backwards from the castle's ocean-facing side. Or even a Boomerang.

Great job!

 

[Kevjones777]

Right if you would like an example of a flight proficiency test. This is more or less what you would need to practise and be tested on. You would also need to complete a theory exam if you wanted a commercial licence. However I believe all pilots should be able to at least fly these patterns competently. Go practise these and become a better pilot.

 

[Datadogie]

Thank you for the useful advice. Will never stop practicing.

 

[Datadogie]

Also making sure your drone and the icon arrow are pointing in the same direction before taking off....seems to be a common mistake that can signify a serious compass issue and result in lots and lots of issues....

Such a simple peice of advice easily overlooked.

 

[Simmo]

Right if you would like an example of a flight proficiency test. This is more or less what you would need to practise and be tested on. You would also need to complete a theory exam if you wanted a commercial licence. However I believe all pilots should be able to at least fly these patterns competently. Go practise these and become a better pilot.

Hey Kev, Can I use these images to show some of the members of our Aussie FB group?

 

[Kevjones777]

Hey Kev, Can I use these images to show some of the members of our Aussie FB group?

Yip anything to make people better pilots is welcome.

 

[highcastle]

Right if you would like an example of a flight proficiency test. This is more or less what you would need to practise and be tested on. You would also need to complete a theory exam if you wanted a commercial licence. However I believe all pilots should be able to at least fly these patterns competently. Go practise these and become a better pilot. View attachment 34446 View attachment 34447 View attachment 34448 View attachment 34449 View attachment 34449 View attachment 34451

Thank you this is great stuff - these are super useful flight training exercises! I've been flying multirotors for years and this just shows how much more there is to learn. This should be in a sticky.

 

[Tanushiheadbash]

Think I am in the same boat as you. Just expended my first two batteries flying in one of the local fields this morning. It is going to take a lot of practice, I can tell. Not getting much battery life either which doesn't help. That will be down to the cold, was a frosty but still -3C this morning here in Stirling. I started in Beginner Mode, but then turned that off as I felt at that speed I would have a flat battery before I had done anything. I have to say using the left stick for left/right isn't coming naturally to me, I feel like I should be going up down with the left and right left with the right stick. I will persevere and if it's not coming good might need to look at changing my stick layout. Managed not to hit anything, which was good. I manually launched and landed successfully a few times and had a wee play with the camera, just to get a feel of how the button layouts feel and work and to test it. Seemed Good.
Given I was in a totally flat open field I was amazed how easy it was to lose sight of the drone. I flew it away from me maybe a 100 metres and dropped the altitude to about 10 or 11 feet and looked away a second. Couldn't for the life of me relocate it visually, was lost in the background- there was a line of trees about a mile beyond. I ended up using the map to fly back towards me and eventually it popped into view! Good fun though.

 

[Kevjones777]

Think I am in the same boat as you. Just expended my first two batteries flying in one of the local fields this morning. It is going to take a lot of practice, I can tell. Not getting much battery life either which doesn't help. That will be down to the cold, was a frosty but still -3C this morning here in Stirling. I started in Beginner Mode, but then turned that off as I felt at that speed I would have a flat battery before I had done anything. I have to say using the left stick for left/right isn't coming naturally to me, I feel like I should be going up down with the left and right left with the right stick. I will persevere and if it's not coming good might need to look at changing my stick layout. Managed not to hit anything, which was good. I manually launched and landed successfully a few times and had a wee play with the camera, just to get a feel of how the button layouts feel and work and to test it. Seemed Good.
Given I was in a totally flat open field I was amazed how easy it was to lose sight of the drone. I flew it away from me maybe a 100 metres and dropped the altitude to about 10 or 11 feet and looked away a second. Couldn't for the life of me relocate it visually, was lost in the background- there was a line of trees about a mile beyond. I ended up using the map to fly back towards me and eventually it popped into view! Good fun though.

There is actually no right and wrong way. I have flown all kinds of RC planes for many years and eventually it makes very little difference switching between stick modes. I fly my drone left stick up=power for altitude left right on that stick for yaw left and right . Right stick forward backward and rotate left and right. There is no right or wrong. The new RC pilots for planes were usually taught in Mode 2 which is favoured here. The USA guys in the past tended to favor mode 1. (generalising of course).

PS try and stick with a mode until you get the hand of it and dont switch between modes. Oh and lastly remember to fly with your feet and balance in the begining. Both feet flat facing the drone when it's going away from you slight adjustment to the left when you turn left and right etc. The when flying towards you, imagine that it is coming over one of your shoulders so turn slightly away from it. I usually turn slightly to the left then fly it as if it were going away from you.

 

[MrBigbe]

Really make sure that you do your pre flight checks. So many people don't and they drop there bird from losing a prop. Also flying to low . my first and only crash was me playing around at about a foot off the ground the road had just the slightest incline but I lost that foot over distance the front gear hit the ground folded the limb back and next thing I know I was tumbling down the road scuffed up my gimble cover and tossed a prop.