I’m late to the discussion, but I’d like to add to your info.
Since August this year, I’ve been flying a Mavic Pro Platinum. Using an IPad
mini 4, and all the updates to IOS, and firmware.
I have 297 flights, over a distance of 2,073,000 ft, and 54 hours of flight time. Most flights are from my home in the country with huge forests all around, including my 15 acres. I’ve learned how to dodge trees. In all that flying I have used all of the intelligent flight modes and have taken hours of video.
I have had no crashes, and only one forced landing with only 5% battery remaining. I’ve learned that trees and other structures that are between you and the quad will always attenuate the signal, and your signal is the limiting factor. When there is a clear line of sight for the signal, the battery becomes the limitation.
I have a flight regimen that keeps me out of trouble.
- Always take off with 100% charge.
- Use precision take off with at least 11 satellites.
- Land when the battery reaches 30%. Use both manual landing to hone your skills, and the RTH button to test the calibration of your quad.
- Calibrate the IMU and compass every 20 to 30 flights.
- Change the props every 200 flights. I use OEM props.
- Never fly beyond a signal loss down to 3 bars for the control signal.
- Never ignore a return to home warning thinking you’ve got lots of battery remaining.
- Fly up-wind when winds are excessive. If winds drift you in P mode, use Sport to get back and land. (Actually flying in wind is fun and is a good learning experience.)
- If you find yourself in a forced landing mode, you can maintain your height by pushing up on the left stick. Scary but it works.
- Don’t fly around people, and try to follow the rules.
- Stay with this forum, and watch a lot of YouTube. You never stop learning new things.
Very conservative, but it’s what has kept my quad in one piece and me out of jail.