pre flight checklist

[JMC3]

On the weekly reviews of top posts I see many folks having issues with lost and or damaged drones. I was wondering what others do in the preflight to assure they have a good un eventual flight? Being new to the drone I am overly cautious and sometimes too much so. When I flew rc fixed wing I had a preflight list I went through.

 

[Lastrexking]

Hiya. Take your pick ?

Search results for query: Pre flight checklist

mavicpilots.com

 

[African wildlife]

Hi JMC3. I'm not so sure that being overly cautious is a bad thing. We only fly for professional filming. When we started using a drone a few years ago (P4P+), we knew of a documentary company that had already crashed three of them - one in the cameraman's back garden and another in the Amazon (yes, rainforest - not warehouse).

My first flight was on, liftoff, up to 1m or 3ft, hover, down again, off. Overly cautious? Perhaps.

We work mainly overseas in challenging situations and I've yet to crash.

Pre-flight checklist? Is your brain switched on? This is by far the biggest one.

We have a piece of purple ribbon about the gimbal lock or protector as it needs to be taken off before starting up We have a similar system for the Mini 2's gimbal cover which is now an additional tool for us.

Always check battery level.

There are a few other pre-flight things, but psychology or alertness is absolutely number one. And for everything else in life.

 

[Camino Ken]

There are a ton of preflight checklists around that you can search for as @Lastrexking pointed out. There are a few things that I do every single time and (knock on wood) have not had a single mishap In my two years of flying my drone.

1. Check the weather, especially the wind. It typically gets worse with altitude.
2. Check the props for any nicks or cracks.
3. Check the body and especially the sensors for damage and cleanliness.
4. Check that the firmware is up to date.
5. Check for any warnings in the app and resolve.
6. Check that the aircraft heading on the map matches the actual direction. - this might be the number one cause of fly always and erratic flight behavior.

7. Always fly within your knowledge, experience, and skill.

8. Have fun!

 

[Rich QR]

1. Check the weather, especially the wind. It typically gets worse with altitude.
2. Check the props for any nicks or cracks.
3. Check the body and especially the sensors for damage and cleanliness.
4. Check that the firmware is up to date.
5. Check for any warnings in the app and resolve.
6. Check that the aircraft heading on the map matches the actual direction. - this might be the number one cause of fly always and erratic flight behavior.

7. Always fly within your knowledge, experience, and skill.

8. Have fun!

That's a good list. I'll add a couple of items:

As I'm checking the props, I'll check that each motor turns freely. Each one should feel like the others.

Check and set RTH height as appropriate. High enough to clear obstacles, not much higher.

Check airspace with B4UFLY app.

 

[old man mavic]

its not just a pre flight check list where you intend to fly ,but you can do most of the airframe checks at home in the warm before you go out for the day this would include a complete connection between the drone ,RC and your screen device ,to see if there are any updates then you will have a good internet connection to do them ,this is especially important if you have not flown for a few weeks ,and may not be aware that there have been any changes ,its possible that if you go somewhere that does not have a good internet access, then the drone could refuse to fly and you would have had a wasted journey
always check all your batteries are fully charged as well including the RC and device

 

[Stealth01]

For your reading pleasure... If you would like the X.Doc files to edit, PM me.

 

[hiflyer201]

I always do a post flight, I flag the gimbal cover, and I'm very careful handling and 'Hangaring" the drone so my main pre-take off check is the ND filter and the annunciator info on the app. I always hover and check controls after take-off . I hand land and I always take a good look at the drone at eye level. I'm not sure what I'm looking for but I don't want to see or hear any changes.

 

[SpitFire]

Welcome to the forum from Chicago the Windy City.
I have six Check lists.
1# Pre flight checklist ( at Base)
2# (in Field)
3# (Takeoff procedure)
4# (After takeoff procedure)
5# (After landing checklist)
6# (Emergency procedure)
For instance AC out of sight, lost VLOS.
Lot of good suggestions for flying safe.

 

[eaglesurfing]

What?? there are apps for Pre-flights checklists.

To many option to chose from but it is good practice to use one.

 

[icecoldgin]

For me, one of the most important pre flight checklist boxes is YOURSELF.

Are you in the right mental and emotional state to fly? Are you alert, sane, and did you wake up on the right side of the bed?

Drone may be perfect but if the pilot is not .... well, we all know what will happen.

 

[PacificSkyDreamn]

It would be nice if DJI would add a feature in the Fly App so you could load or create your own checklist.

 

[Thomas B]

It would be nice if DJI would add a feature in the Fly App so you could load or create your own checklist.

Just make your own and put it on your device.

 

[PacificSkyDreamn]

Just make your own and put it on your device.

I actually do have my own, plus the ones from earlier in this thread that Stealth01 provided. I was just suggesting that it would be nice if they were in the Fly app so I didn't have to exit the app an open Adobe then go into its library, find them and then open them. Also they don't look as well in landscape on aniPhone screen - and holding the controller sideways is a pain.

 

[Thomas B]

Maybe just keep them as a plain native text file on your device

 

[Galeforce1]

It would be nice if DJI would add a feature in the Fly App so you could load or create your own checklist.

Agree totally. It would save everyone - including DJI, a lot of time, trouble and cost.

 

[Glenn Pettiet]

Welcome to the forum from Chicago the Windy City.
I have six Check lists.
1# Pre flight checklist ( at Base)
2# (in Field)
3# (Takeoff procedure)
4# (After takeoff procedure)
5# (After landing checklist)
6# (Emergency procedure)
For instance AC out of sight, lost VLOS.
Lot of good suggestions for flying safe.

Wonder if you would share them with me?

 

[makneyse]

I have a checklist I've been using for years in the US and when I moved to Canada I updated it to correspond with the specifics for flying north of the border. But I guess calling it a checklist doesn't do it justice since it also has emergency procedures, troubleshooting tips and links to many of the preflight sites I visit to check the weather, NOTAMs, get airspace authorization, etc. You can see more here: www.groundcontrolresources.com.

I do charge a few bucks for it but it offers more than your typical checklist. It's got interactive check boxes if you want to use it on your phone or you can print the heart of the list onto a single sheet of paper. And as mentioned, the links are super handy when doing your research on the computer.

In addition, I'm always open to other drone ops' recommendations if they feel my lists are lacking anything!