There should be a sticky post of how not to lose it on the first day.

BaNZ · Apr 12, 2018

I'm only a few weeks old but I spent quite a bit of time crawling this forum and thinking of scenarios that I might lose control of the drone. At first I was really worried seeing how many people losing their mavic all the time. It makes me think that I bought a unstable drone with a terrible software that can fly away by itself anytime.

Then when I read their post and logs carefully. I see that people are flying it at night with no vision. Or going well and above legal altitudes. Ignoring the wind warnings, signal lost, interference etc. Cancelling RTH or low battery.

We need a sticky post and hope that people will read it before their first flight.

Divebomber · Apr 12, 2018

BaNZ said:
I'm only a few weeks old but I spent quite a bit of time crawling this forum and thinking of scenarios that I might lose control of the drone. At first I was really worried seeing how many people losing their mavic all the time. It makes me think that I bought a unstable drone with a terrible software that can fly away by itself anytime.

Then when I read their post and logs carefully. I see that people are flying it at night with no vision. Or going well and above legal altitudes. Ignoring the wind warnings, signal lost, interference etc. Cancelling RTH or low battery.

We need a sticky post and hope that people will read it before their first flight.

I had the same experience when I first joined the forum. I kept my MP in beginner mode for about 20 flights, so very fearful if I let it farther away than arm's reach, it would take off like a dog let off a leash. But then, as I read more and more, like you, I realized that most of the lost drones were due to people not understanding them. The MP and other drones are really sophisticated. I think DJI did a great job on the MP (other than the big brother flight restrictions). But a lot of the errors and drone losses could have been avoided with a little planning and thought. Certainly there are equipment failures in some cases, but if I were to make a judgement call, I'd say a large majority of flight failures are human error. The manual is a very dry read. Lots of details and warnings, my favorite of which is to not fly the drone inebriated (I guess I won't be able to fly much). But it's important to read and understand the manual, and for things that are too vague, come here and ask questions, or go to YouTube, where there are literally hundreds of instructional and educational videos about drones.

Kilrah · Apr 12, 2018

BaNZ said:
and hope that people will read it before their first flight

That's not how people work unfortunately. They already have enough to read but they don't, yet one more thread won't change it.

Just_nick · Apr 12, 2018

How not to lose your drone:
1. Check your RTH settings
2. Stop flying BVLOS
3. Set your RTH altitude properly
4. Test your RTH where you can still recover it
5. Make sure your props are attached properly
6. Don't fly in high winds
7. Stop trying to fly in tunnels or under tree canopies if you don't know what you're doing.
8. Stop flying close to objects.
9. Buy a cheap $20 Syma drone and learn how to fly that before you experiment with an $800 drone.

IShouldBeWorking · Apr 12, 2018

Just_nick said:
How not to lose your drone:
1. Check your RTH settings
2. Stop flying BVLOS
3. Set your RTH altitude properly
4. Test your RTH where you can still recover it
5. Make sure your props are attached properly
6. Don't fly in high winds
7. Stop trying to fly in tunnels or under tree canopies if you don't know what you're doing.
8. Stop flying close to objects.
9. Buy a cheap $20 Syma drone and learn how to fly that before you experiment with an $800 drone.

Yup! Great list. I'd add two more:
10. Do not ignore error messages
11. Ensure good GPS reception before takeoff.

DesertWindAero · Apr 12, 2018

Just_nick said:
How not to lose your drone:
1. Check your RTH settings
2. Stop flying BVLOS
3. Set your RTH altitude properly
4. Test your RTH where you can still recover it
5. Make sure your props are attached properly
6. Don't fly in high winds
7. Stop trying to fly in tunnels or under tree canopies if you don't know what you're doing.
8. Stop flying close to objects.
9. Buy a cheap $20 Syma drone and learn how to fly that before you experiment with an $800 drone.

You forgot the most important one: "Read the frikkin' manual."

There are some others:

1) Read and search these and other forums for problems that others have encountered and what the solutions are
2) Watch a crapload of YouTube videos...there's a LOT of great information out there regarding what to do, and what NOT to do.

chezedog · Apr 12, 2018

BaNZ said:
We need a sticky post and hope that people will read it before their first flight.

Seems to me these people will ignore the documentation, run right out, crash/lose their very expensive aircraft, then come here and ask why it happened. Anyone with the presence of mind to read posts here before flying would probably read the manual, and peruse how-to videos first anyway. That said, it wouldn't hurt.

RSV4 · Apr 12, 2018

I think number 1 should be don’t try to fly indoors lol
Way to manny ppl crash and burn on that one

nikkolaa · Apr 12, 2018

Best advice : only buy during winter so you will have to wait at least two months to safely have your maiden flight!!
And in the meantime,, you read read read and got crazy about all the ways you could lost it

Never had any issues yet, even if I fly sometimes in (very) degraded cases

For instance, taking off with only 22% battery.. Well, when you see a giraffe for the first time, you're not sure another one would be so close later on [emoji5]️

Damnit, they were three!!! [emoji3] RTH triggered automatically when finalizing the landing at 40cm high!! Ouch

ICHOTT · Apr 12, 2018

Just_nick said:
How not to lose your drone:
1. Check your RTH settings
2. Stop flying BVLOS
3. Set your RTH altitude properly
4. Test your RTH where you can still recover it
5. Make sure your props are attached properly
6. Don't fly in high winds
7. Stop trying to fly in tunnels or under tree canopies if you don't know what you're doing.
8. Stop flying close to objects.
9. Buy a cheap $20 Syma drone and learn how to fly that before you experiment with an $800 drone.

Generally agreed but not necessarily in that order.

The OP asked about “not losing it on the first day”.

Most answers, inc those above are correct but actually losing it is because of being FAR too unnecessarily ambitious!
1. read the damned manual, just the basics of the following
2. first just learn:
Switch on, Take off, hover, land , switch off.
Repeat, repeat, repeat.
Joystick practice within a few feet and back again etc.
Then do more and build up from you tube vids and the manual .
If all that is too boring for a circa £1000 drone then crack on, lose it and join the ‘what happened’ threads

locoman · Apr 13, 2018

there is here
5 Ways to Prevent Flyaways

locoman · Apr 13, 2018

BaNZ said:
I'm only a few weeks old but I spent quite a bit of time crawling this forum and thinking of scenarios that I might lose control of the drone. At first I was really worried seeing how many people losing their mavic all the time. It makes me think that I bought a unstable drone with a terrible software that can fly away by itself anytime.

Then when I read their post and logs carefully. I see that people are flying it at night with no vision. Or going well and above legal altitudes. Ignoring the wind warnings, signal lost, interference etc. Cancelling RTH or low battery.

We need a sticky post and hope that people will read it before their first flight.

I am sure you have heard the old saying....
You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink.

Good suggestion though.

Squamer · Apr 13, 2018

Reading the manual and understanding the drones features should be number 1. When you see someone post, I lost my drone and then the flight log says they flew in 35mph winds and their RTH height was ridiculous it’s hard to have sympathy. Sometimes stuff happens, but most of the time it’s ignorance or lack of basic education.

GLJones · Apr 13, 2018

When I ordered my Mavic Air, I spent the time waiting for it to be delivered downloading the manual, reading it cover to cover, reading forums like this one and the DJI forums, watching YouTube video tutorials and "how I lost my drone" videos and downloading the apps to my mobile devices. When it came in, I updated all the firmware and read the manual going through all the apps.
THEN, I took it to the park and flew it very carefully until I was familiar with how it behaves. After 20+ flights now, I have no problem taking it to 400ft AGL and a couple thousand feet away. I have never had it so far I can't see it, nor have I lost connection and had it RTH automatically. I have manually run RTH to see what it would do so I could understand it's behavior.
Now, I have had a toy drone for months with zero stabilization systems that I learned to fly well before getting the DJI. I understand how to control the DJI in ATTI mode because of this prior experience. Haven't had the GPS drop out yet but I did fly it indoors once in ATTI using the downward sensor to maintain position.

I think WAY too many people get a drone, skip the manual and just do the Quick-Start. They ignore all common sense instructions and quickly lose control and sometimes lose the drone, or destroy it. Then, they appear on boards and Amazon's rating system and claim the product is flawed. Manufacturers today have a really tough time. In addition to the actual bugs, assembly flaws and other legitimate issues, they have to deal with a public that blames everything on someone else and never takes responsibility for their own mistakes. While I have seen many legitimate complaints online, I think the vast majority are user errors where the user is trying to avoid responsibility and trashing a product they didn't bother to do their due diligence with prior to use. Don't be those people. Drones are complex devices, subject to wind, temperature and other external forces. While DJI has tried to make it as easy as possible to fly, doing so without a good understanding, and at least reading the manual, will likely lead to disaster. Take your time and go slow and you will not suffer the fate of many an irresponsible drone newbie.