"I always carry a screwdriver, a spare prop blades, Battery, Charger, SDcard" My pre-flight check: A. on the ground: Props (Blades and Screws) / Battery (Voltage, Capacity, Temp) / Weather App. (UAV forecast, Google Maps) / SDcard B. in flight (hovering): Establish a good RTH point and GPS lock / Drone (Vibration and Sound) -check for abnormalities / Determining the RTH altitude by climbing slowly and doing a full 360 to set a proper RTH altitude. My post-flight check: Props (blade and screws) / Batt (temp and Capacity / Remove SDcard
One of the rules I made for myself when preparing to land my drone is to be certain it's facing away from me so I can land it intuitively rather than having to remember that the left and right controls are reversed. Fortunately I only had to replace one propeller before I made that rule.
1 - Flying indoor on the first day? Done it and crashed it. 2 - Flying over water? Done it and crashed twice (First time half submerged second time all submerged for around 10 minutes. Still working, thank god) 3 - Trusting intelligent flight? Done it. First time I made a auto fly up and away crashed into a tree... survived. 4 - Power lines? Haven't done this one... yet. 5 - Check list. Working on one. 6 - Flying in VLOS. I try to folow it. Watching your video just made me think that I should have seen it long ago, when I bought my c-fly faith 2. Keep up the good work. Love your videos.
1. Yep 2. Yep 3. No 4. No 5. Yep 6. Yep Another mistake I still make is forgetting to turn on "Record" when flying. One more is forgetting to check to see if my SD card is inserted (not preflight checking) I am getting better, tho' Great video! Thank you. 🙏
You’re My #1 source of Drone Flying Common Sense! THANK YOU! As a retired C-5 Flight Engineer who can’t fly anything anymore, this is my new revelation return! I miss the flying that much! I now have more than a few friends who are interested in flying too, and you’re my referral for everything from pre-purchase to after. What to learn FIRST which ultimately helps determine the drone they buy. THANK YOU!
Rule 6 is not logical. If I live on a farm, flying below 400 feet on my own property, there will be no planes flying by, no wires, no other drones, no anything! and I would know the land entirely. It is a great rule in an urban area sure, or unkwon grounds,but severely and unnecessarily restrictive in other situations.
Just wanted to add my 2 cents in support of being very careful flying under reflective surfaces. In my case it wasn't over water but on a sunny day over a field of new snow. Keep your drone above 30 feet and you should be fine. I also suggest not tilting the camera downward for a 90 degree look at the snow. The sensors need to see contrasty surfaces.
#1 is not a issue at all if the beginner buys a drone with optical flow and obstacle avoidance. Both features are quite common now, but were not common at all when you began.
Great tips, Russ. I have been flying drones for 13 months and my cautious nature has kept me out of trouble. I am sharing this video with a friend of mine who just purchased a Mini 3 Pro. Cheers from Wisconsin where the weather is not much better than your own.
I feel like I've made most of these mistakes (and a few more) in less than 3 months of flying. It's taken me five attempts to get a video of me cross country skiing at my favourite resort because 1) didn't check if I had enough battery, and didn't check whether the winds aloft at RTH height were too high, 2) gust of wind crashed my drone into a tree while trying to set it up, 3) forgot to start the video, 4) started the video, but then the big video button on the top of the RC controller got pressed while tucking the controller into my jersey. On the fifth try, I finally got everything except I had the drone too high and it tapped a skinny little branch and crashed.
As always, excellent tips! One of the most important skills I learned from pilot training is developing a logical sense of self awareness over my thought processes. If I ever think, don’t worry I’ve got this, or watch this, those are usually famous last words 😅😁❤
VLOS is definitely the #1 rule broken by not only new pilots but a huge number or experienced one. New pilots do it because they are not usually aware of the rules. Experienced pilots do it because they are bad pilots and think that rules don't apply to them. Yes, I have done it on occasion when I was new. What bothers me is that they flaunt it by posting "distance" videos on RUclips and brag about it. All fun and games till someone puts an eye out. :) You missed one common mistake though, one I made the first time I flew my Air2. Not looking up before you take off. Took off right under a tree thinking I would just fly forward and out....but being the inexperienced pilot I was I hit up by mistake and flew right into the branches. GOt lucky, only damage was a nick in one blade and one leg tip pop out but was easily poppled back on. Laugh now, but was freaking then. LOL.
One thing about VLOS, one would think the manufacturers would make their drones some bright easy to see color instead of gray. Gray really doesn't help with visual line of sight.
That's one of the reasons why I put bright yellow skins on all of my DJI drones. Of course the main reason, is to match the color to my drone business name.
With reference to the pre-flight checklist, I'll give you another reason. On my previous outdoor flight, I had the RTH altitude set at 100' to avoid the trees in the area. The next weekend, I had family over. It was raining, but they wanted to see the drone. I suspect you know where this is going. I was flying inside, distracted by all the stuff going on around me. Instead of manually piloting the drone to a safe location and landing, I selected RTH. It immediately flew straight up into the ceiling of my living room. No serious damage done, but had I gone through the settings ahead of time, I would have caught that.
Aboslutely top-notch video, presented in a very nice way. None of the usual amateur dramatics and machismo. Most welcome. Above all, never trust the automation and always be in direct control.
This happened to me in Mount Holyoke, and for some reason I was just flying in the screen went sideways as the drone sunk, I went back and tried to get it a few times but I had no luck at I’m picking at the bottom blindly. I’ve even thought about buying a submarine drone but it was the first Mavic mini, so may it rest in peace
Couple additional mistakes. 1. Never fly with a low battery. I just went for a quick photo on a low battery and the auto lane feature set it down in a tree. 2. Buying the right drone for your use. I like to take still shots, not video, and for me there isn’t much out there with full control of the camera unless you step up to the big drones that hold dslr’s. I know someone that bought a DJI drone but was really more into racing. Do the research and pick the correct drone for your needs.
I recently had the opportunity to fly over a body of water for the first time since buying my drone in November 2022, I flew in Florida at a beach and off a pier on a river. On the beach side I took off and was flying at least 15 meters up when I flew out over the water, had absolutely no issues at all. When I flew off the deck of the fishing pier at the river which was calm with very little wind as well at a height of about 4 meters off the surface the drone started acting funny and was drifting some without input on the controller and I didn't know why. After seeing this video if I had I raised the drone up to the same height as I had at the beach before flying out I may not have had those problems. I ended up just doing a very short flight off the pier and landed it manually back on the pier.
I've been doing the bonus tip since I starting flying in 2015. That drone used a Gopro for the camera which I'd already been using for a couple of years prior to getting a drone so the habit was already well established. As you can imagine, I have a sh*t ton of archived videos on multiple hard drives going back a decade. 🙂
I was in Pigeon Forge Tennessee with my Air 2s. I was flying over a creek when my friend ask me how fast it would go. Like you I showed off hit a tree and it fell in the creek.
In New Mexico when a Thunderhead cloud moves over you, there is very strong winds Very strong. I was in my backyard my drone was flying about the same height as the rain gutter on my house and the wind came up out of nowhere. What I never realized was these winds have a huge updraft quotient. Yup, my drone shot up 100 - 150 or so. No hope of pulling the throttle stick back to bring it down. Last I saw it was cruising off into the the desert plains at what looked like 30mph or better. getting higher and higher in the sky.
Hi Russ , for 6 years , you are very very knowledgeable my Man ! I can't believe it is only six years , i started in 2018 and it would take me 20 years more to get close to what you know , Amazing !!! Nice. ! Keep on Keeping On Brother .
Big rule that cost me a Phantom 3 camera - monitor your battery state vs your "home" location. When your battery runs low and triggers return to home, drone rises to a preset RTL altitude, smashing into tree branches above it :) Or your RTL altitude is not high enough for the objects (trees/buildings) around you.
Adhearing to VLOS will suddenly make a lot more sense after you've lost your video stream to your controller a couple of times... never happened on my first Air 2s, but it definitely can happen on my current setup.
Wow, I've done 4 of those 6 things, and I've only been flying 8 months. Flying indoors, now most of my indoor flying has been has been FPV with a micro whoop. Forgot about the power lines, crashed and broke my drone. I was quite happy with DJI repair service. I been BVOLS before I even know what that was. I've also done the no checklist, get flying and find I forgot the SD card at home! All great tips.
With the way the Mini Pro 3 flies not breaking #6 is sure hard to do. You can fly by FPV and it is like guiding a camera view in a 3D modeling program on the computer. If your not careful you can forget you are flying a remote drone.
For DJI drones specifically, sport mode will not be active when you restart the drone and controller, it will start in normal mode. It will only switch to sport mode if you switch back manually. That is the behavior of my Air2S and Mini 2 anyway.
Good info Russ! A note about leaving the aircraft in sport mode: When powering back up, the aircraft will be in normal mode no matter the switch position in most DJI drones. You'd have to cycle the switch to get back to sport mode.
6 years, it's been a journey Russ from the start there with you. I live in a no-fly zone in the Netherlands and sometimes I practice on a field near my home, just to keep in shape as a pilot. There are plans to close the airbase near me and then the no-fly becomes a fly zone. Can't wait to finally film my own town and surroundings (still have the trusted Mavic Pro). Might even buy me a new drone than 😛
Omg I was using my Inspire 2 at the fairgrounds dirt track to do a pre-flight practice before the races. While flying using the FPV camera I didn't/couldn't see the ONE power line and all of a sudden POP! Sparks fly and my drone goes down! Thank goodness for insurance!
Russ, I had just bought a SD Card for my Phantom then watched this video and it was one you recommended. Well since then I got and Avata so I just got two cards from your link. I really enjoy your videos. (PS don't spend it all in one place🤦♂)
Excellent video. I’ve made plenty of mistakes with my drone as I’m sure many of us have 😂 One thing though.. when you talked about having a preflight checklist, you said that if you fly in sports mode and forget to change it back.. the next time you fly it’ll still be in sports mode. This isn’t the case for the Mini 3 Pro at least. I wish it was though, because I tend to use cine mode mostly but if I leave it on that mode, it always starts off in normal mode next time. I have to move the switch to normal & then back again, presumably this would be the same with sports mode? Cheers, Steve
Nice video. I started flying in 2014. I have never made any of these mistakes. The only person I ever showed my drone to is my wife when I taught her how to fly.
I flew my brand new Mavic Air 2 about 30 inches (less than 1 meter) over a reservoir out almost a mile. I also flew it backwards while doing this until OA Beeps made me yaw around to see a huge tree branch out over the water. Never realized how badly that could have gone until later.
After I crashed my drone in water and lost all of the footage and photos from that day (all day - 4 batteries) I know replace the SD card each time I replace a battery 😅
Thanks for the none GPS flight warning! Following a train through a tunnel ought to be difficult, and dangerous for the drone. Don't worry, I know it's illegal during most circumstances. Aha, water can be tricky and dangerous. It swallowed my E58 drone when the wind took over during landing.
Was flying a TELLO indoors and got distracted. I looked up and it was coming right at my face, put my hand up just in time and blocked it. Sustained multiple small cuts on my hand.
Please go on with a follow up! The last mistake has not been done yet! Looking back to the lessons prior to the private pilots license reading aircrash reports was a recommended part.
I doubt if you'll reply to this but anyway I too have had my share of crashes. I understand line-of-sight perfectly. Tell me why it is that manufacturers manufacture drone that can go 2. 3. Even 4 what gives.?
When I pack my air 2s away after flying in sport mode, it always reverts back to normal mode on the next flight, even though the remote is still in sport mode. Always thought that was a bit annoying but that's just what mine does.
My first mistake was drone orientation. I had the drone inside facing me where everything is the opposite versus the drone facing away from you. Flew it right into the wall. Luckily no damage
Hi Russ: VLOS is there for a reason. Because I don't have perfect sight, especially with my mini 3 pro, I affix a strobe light on the bottom. I can pick up on the strobe light faster than searching the sky for my drone. I don't fly it more that a few hundred feet away; but that's just me.
So very good video, think i have been into most of them examples myselfe, (i´ve been flying drones since 2013) but learned of them too. Make yourselfe som prechecklist and follow them. there is a reasen why airline pilots have checklists.. and, fly with "better safe than sorry" in your mind. :-) happy flying...
Mavic Pro: Crashed first day, still going strong ...Avata: Gone... Mavic 2 Pro: Crashed yesterday ( extenseve repairs required) .. Just bought the Air 2S... lets see how it goes..lol
My a2s and a2 and mini 2 defaults to norm mode even if in sport when I start it and fly I have to go back to norm then sport. Maybe it was an update after you did it
Well, Here it is 3~15~23, Got my New Mini 3 Pro a Few Weeks ago. I’ve Flown it inside my House & Crashed it Twice in the 1st 3 days !!😳😌🤷♂️ All is well though, Replaced 4 Of the Eight Props ! Outside, Tried to Land it on a somewhat Inclined Grassy Lawn,…Knicked 2 More Blades slightly, Didn’t have to Replace them. By the Way, I used the Existing Screws since it was a Brand new Drone. Probably should have used the New ones !?? Anyone Know if this is Ok to do ?? Line of Site is Kind of Impractical Because the Mini 3 Pro is Soooo…”Small” & Makes it Very hard to See @ even 300’,…(But Line of site as far as No Obstacles in the way is Do-able).Power Lines are Many Around Me, & Intermittently Losing The “Transmission” Connection Between the controller & the Drone, was Definitely caused by These Power Sources.😮 That is also a Concern. I Conscientiously Am going to be More Cautious Now Russ, Thanks for These Great Tips To Beginners like Myself !!🤗😎👍✈️
Im still confused why feel into the water? Seems like somethings missing. This drome wants to come what made it fall? Those sensors dont reach 100 feet anyway. Confusing
I saw some crazy person on RUclips fly his Inspire 2 in what looked like an apartment! That’s like flying a lawnmower in your apartment or house. And with those blades, the result of hitting someone or getting hit would be about the same!
Russ, I can't open the file after I downloaded it? I'm talking about the check list. I don't know if it's because I'm using my cellphone? Maybe I should try it on my personal computer, but I wanted to hear from you before I go ahead and do that. Thanks again for sharing. 👍👍👍
Great videos Russ, keep up the good work. My 2 cents worth on the SD cards-I've purchased four SanDisk cards from Amazon (same specs as you refer to) and used in two drones. DJI FPV and Mini 3 Pro. Both state "SD card too slow". I purchased 2 new ones from Samsung and they work perfect. Could I be getting counterfeit cards from Amazon?
i always fly VLOS , don't want to loose the drone and i always format the S card after i load them on my PC and one mor thing i do not fly over people my drone fell one time and it made a 1 in. hole in the ground, just think if it hit someone.
"I always carry a screwdriver, a spare prop blades, Battery, Charger, SDcard"
My pre-flight check:
A. on the ground:
Props (Blades and Screws) / Battery (Voltage, Capacity, Temp) / Weather App. (UAV forecast, Google Maps) / SDcard
B. in flight (hovering):
Establish a good RTH point and GPS lock / Drone (Vibration and Sound) -check for abnormalities / Determining the RTH altitude by climbing slowly and doing a full 360 to set a proper RTH altitude.
My post-flight check:
Props (blade and screws) / Batt (temp and Capacity / Remove SDcard
One of the rules I made for myself when preparing to land my drone is to be certain it's facing away from me so I can land it intuitively rather than having to remember that the left and right controls are reversed. Fortunately I only had to replace one propeller before I made that rule.
same !
I flew rc aircraft. Another way is to turn your body the and look over your shoulder. I still do it instinctively with my drone.
Nice I’ll rememeber that!
1 - Flying indoor on the first day? Done it and crashed it.
2 - Flying over water? Done it and crashed twice (First time half submerged second time all submerged for around 10 minutes. Still working, thank god)
3 - Trusting intelligent flight? Done it. First time I made a auto fly up and away crashed into a tree... survived.
4 - Power lines? Haven't done this one... yet.
5 - Check list. Working on one.
6 - Flying in VLOS. I try to folow it.
Watching your video just made me think that I should have seen it long ago, when I bought my c-fly faith 2.
Keep up the good work. Love your videos.
8:59 I love how a vast majority of RUclipsrs say this and then go fly out of sight.
When I got my first drone, I was so excited, that's why I flew indoors.
1. Yep
2. Yep
3. No
4. No
5. Yep
6. Yep
Another mistake I still make is forgetting to turn on "Record" when flying.
One more is forgetting to check to see if my SD card is inserted (not preflight checking)
I am getting better, tho'
Great video! Thank you. 🙏
You’re My #1 source of Drone Flying Common Sense! THANK YOU!
As a retired C-5 Flight Engineer who can’t fly anything anymore, this is my new revelation return! I miss the flying that much! I now have more than a few friends who are interested in flying too, and you’re my referral for everything from pre-purchase to after.
What to learn FIRST which ultimately helps determine the drone they buy. THANK YOU!
New flyer here and really appreciate this information!! Have followed you since receiving my Mini 3 Pro. Thanks much!
Rule 6 is not logical. If I live on a farm, flying below 400 feet on my own property, there will be no planes flying by, no wires, no other drones, no anything! and I would know the land entirely. It is a great rule in an urban area sure, or unkwon grounds,but severely and unnecessarily restrictive in other situations.
It’s private property so ignore it
Why not take the flying drone test it's free and very intuitive and lasts for 5 years it's a no brainer
Good luck!
Just wanted to add my 2 cents in support of being very careful flying under reflective surfaces. In my case it wasn't over water but on a sunny day over a field of new snow. Keep your drone above 30 feet and you should be fine. I also suggest not tilting the camera downward for a 90 degree look at the snow. The sensors need to see contrasty surfaces.
Thanks for the tip I’m about to take mine out in snow. Would you recommend disabling detection under snow?
#1 is not a issue at all if the beginner buys a drone with optical flow and obstacle avoidance. Both features are quite common now, but were not common at all when you began.
Great tips, Russ. I have been flying drones for 13 months and my cautious nature has kept me out of trouble. I am sharing this video with a friend of mine who just purchased a Mini 3 Pro. Cheers from Wisconsin where the weather is not much better than your own.
I feel like I've made most of these mistakes (and a few more) in less than 3 months of flying. It's taken me five attempts to get a video of me cross country skiing at my favourite resort because 1) didn't check if I had enough battery, and didn't check whether the winds aloft at RTH height were too high, 2) gust of wind crashed my drone into a tree while trying to set it up, 3) forgot to start the video, 4) started the video, but then the big video button on the top of the RC controller got pressed while tucking the controller into my jersey. On the fifth try, I finally got everything except I had the drone too high and it tapped a skinny little branch and crashed.
Ha! It will get better each time you fly
As always, excellent tips! One of the most important skills I learned from pilot training is developing a logical sense of self awareness over my thought processes. If I ever think, don’t worry I’ve got this, or watch this, those are usually famous last words 😅😁❤
This is honestly good advice to keep us all humble
VLOS is definitely the #1 rule broken by not only new pilots but a huge number or experienced one. New pilots do it because they are not usually aware of the rules. Experienced pilots do it because they are bad pilots and think that rules don't apply to them. Yes, I have done it on occasion when I was new. What bothers me is that they flaunt it by posting "distance" videos on RUclips and brag about it. All fun and games till someone puts an eye out. :) You missed one common mistake though, one I made the first time I flew my Air2. Not looking up before you take off. Took off right under a tree thinking I would just fly forward and out....but being the inexperienced pilot I was I hit up by mistake and flew right into the branches. GOt lucky, only damage was a nick in one blade and one leg tip pop out but was easily poppled back on. Laugh now, but was freaking then. LOL.
One thing about VLOS, one would think the manufacturers would make their drones some bright easy to see color instead of gray. Gray really doesn't help with visual line of sight.
Yes!
Paint works for me.
That's one of the reasons why I put bright yellow skins on all of my DJI drones. Of course the main reason, is to match the color to my drone business name.
Mistake 3 is trust the automated features but always have the controller at the ready no matter what.
With reference to the pre-flight checklist, I'll give you another reason. On my previous outdoor flight, I had the RTH altitude set at 100' to avoid the trees in the area. The next weekend, I had family over. It was raining, but they wanted to see the drone. I suspect you know where this is going.
I was flying inside, distracted by all the stuff going on around me. Instead of manually piloting the drone to a safe location and landing, I selected RTH. It immediately flew straight up into the ceiling of my living room. No serious damage done, but had I gone through the settings ahead of time, I would have caught that.
I am a new casual drone operator and wanted to say your video was very helpful and offered very credible tips. Thank you🙂
Aboslutely top-notch video, presented in a very nice way. None of the usual amateur dramatics and machismo. Most welcome. Above all, never trust the automation and always be in direct control.
This happened to me in Mount Holyoke, and for some reason I was just flying in the screen went sideways as the drone sunk, I went back and tried to get it a few times but I had no luck at I’m picking at the bottom blindly. I’ve even thought about buying a submarine drone but it was the first Mavic mini, so may it rest in peace
Also, don't have a few drinks and fly the drone! haha
Couple additional mistakes.
1. Never fly with a low battery. I just went for a quick photo on a low battery and the auto lane feature set it down in a tree.
2. Buying the right drone for your use. I like to take still shots, not video, and for me there isn’t much out there with full control of the camera unless you step up to the big drones that hold dslr’s. I know someone that bought a DJI drone but was really more into racing. Do the research and pick the correct drone for your needs.
I recently had the opportunity to fly over a body of water for the first time since buying my drone in November 2022, I flew in Florida at a beach and off a pier on a river. On the beach side I took off and was flying at least 15 meters up when I flew out over the water, had absolutely no issues at all.
When I flew off the deck of the fishing pier at the river which was calm with very little wind as well at a height of about 4 meters off the surface the drone started acting funny and was drifting some without input on the controller and I didn't know why. After seeing this video if I had I raised the drone up to the same height as I had at the beach before flying out I may not have had those problems. I ended up just doing a very short flight off the pier and landed it manually back on the pier.
Good one Russ. I’ve found that seagulls hate drones and will attack
I swear my Skydio 2 is attracted to telephone wires lol
Remember, a good Pilot is always learning. Regards from Wales 🏴 U.K.
Well explained....thank you....
Spot on with every one...
Great advice! 💯💯
the only drawback about the dji mini 3 pro is you cant keep it in line of sight its that small, i cant see my drone when it passes 80 yards.
I've been doing the bonus tip since I starting flying in 2015. That drone used a Gopro for the camera which I'd already been using for a couple of years prior to getting a drone so the habit was already well established. As you can imagine, I have a sh*t ton of archived videos on multiple hard drives going back a decade. 🙂
Wouldn't it be great if the Dji app or 3rd party app can mark power wires in red color to see on the display and avoid-
that's awesome idea but that's a lot of mapping to do.
don't think it'll ever be implemented.
Not only beginners but experienced pilots need to review. Thanks for a job well done.
Thanks for the checklist. After years of cheap drones, I finally bought a real one and your videos are great.
Very helpful advice👍
Thanks Russ! As a new drone pilot your words of wisdom are very important to me! Thank you once again for a great video!
Just hit a power line last night. Was lucky that it just brushed it and never made it crash!
I was in Pigeon Forge Tennessee with my Air 2s. I was flying over a creek when my friend ask me how fast it would go. Like you I showed off hit a tree and it fell in the creek.
Oh crap!
In New Mexico when a Thunderhead cloud moves over you, there is very strong winds Very strong. I was in my backyard my drone was flying about the same height as the rain gutter on my house and the wind came up out of nowhere. What I never realized was these winds have a huge updraft quotient. Yup, my drone shot up 100 - 150 or so. No hope of pulling the throttle stick back to bring it down. Last I saw it was cruising off into the the desert plains at what looked like 30mph or better. getting higher and higher in the sky.
Hi Russ , for 6 years , you are very very knowledgeable my Man ! I can't believe it is only six years , i started in 2018 and it would take me 20 years more to get close to what you know , Amazing !!! Nice. ! Keep on Keeping On Brother .
Great tips as always. Good job.
Big rule that cost me a Phantom 3 camera - monitor your battery state vs your "home" location. When your battery runs low and triggers return to home, drone rises to a preset RTL altitude, smashing into tree branches above it :) Or your RTL altitude is not high enough for the objects (trees/buildings) around you.
Adhearing to VLOS will suddenly make a lot more sense after you've lost your video stream to your controller a couple of times... never happened on my first Air 2s, but it definitely can happen on my current setup.
Wow, I've done 4 of those 6 things, and I've only been flying 8 months. Flying indoors, now most of my indoor flying has been has been FPV with a micro whoop. Forgot about the power lines, crashed and broke my drone. I was quite happy with DJI repair service. I been BVOLS before I even know what that was. I've also done the no checklist, get flying and find I forgot the SD card at home! All great tips.
Very nicely done Russ. That's excellent information for everyone not just new pilots because it's very easy to get complacent
With the way the Mini Pro 3 flies not breaking #6 is sure hard to do. You can fly by FPV and it is like guiding a camera view in a 3D modeling program on the computer. If your not careful you can forget you are flying a remote drone.
Wow, Master Airscrew was very generous to you! Nice!
Great company!
For DJI drones specifically, sport mode will not be active when you restart the drone and controller, it will start in normal mode. It will only switch to sport mode if you switch back manually. That is the behavior of my Air2S and Mini 2 anyway.
Good ones Russ 👍
The very next video that RUclips suggested after this was: "How One Forgotten Checklist Item Doomed This Jet" - coincidence? I think NOT 🤔
Good info Russ! A note about leaving the aircraft in sport mode: When powering back up, the aircraft will be in normal mode no matter the switch position in most DJI drones. You'd have to cycle the switch to get back to sport mode.
Thank you!
Great tips for new pilots, and even some experienced pilots. Thanks for sharing Russ.
Great tips and the only drone I fly inside is the toy drone, to get more practice
6 years, it's been a journey Russ from the start there with you. I live in a no-fly zone in the Netherlands and sometimes I practice on a field near my home, just to keep in shape as a pilot. There are plans to close the airbase near me and then the no-fly becomes a fly zone. Can't wait to finally film my own town and surroundings (still have the trusted Mavic Pro). Might even buy me a new drone than 😛
Alright!
@@51Drones lol. Just alright 😅
Thank you for these interesting and helpful tips. I will never forget it
Omg I was using my Inspire 2 at the fairgrounds dirt track to do a pre-flight practice before the races. While flying using the FPV camera I didn't/couldn't see the ONE power line and all of a sudden POP! Sparks fly and my drone goes down! Thank goodness for insurance!
Russ, I had just bought a SD Card for my Phantom then watched this video and it was one you recommended. Well since then I got and Avata so I just got two cards from your link. I really enjoy your videos. (PS don't spend it all in one place🤦♂)
Thank You! Your videos have been extremely helpful to this newbie. Kudos!!!
Excellent video, like every single one you upload! Thanks
Excellent video. I’ve made plenty of mistakes with my drone as I’m sure many of us have 😂
One thing though.. when you talked about having a preflight checklist, you said that if you fly in sports mode and forget to change it back.. the next time you fly it’ll still be in sports mode. This isn’t the case for the Mini 3 Pro at least. I wish it was though, because I tend to use cine mode mostly but if I leave it on that mode, it always starts off in normal mode next time. I have to move the switch to normal & then back again, presumably this would be the same with sports mode?
Cheers, Steve
Nice video. I started flying in 2014. I have never made any of these mistakes. The only person I ever showed my drone to is my wife when I taught her how to fly.
I flew my brand new Mavic Air 2 about 30 inches (less than 1 meter) over a reservoir out almost a mile. I also flew it backwards while doing this until OA Beeps made me yaw around to see a huge tree branch out over the water. Never realized how badly that could have gone until later.
Nice work and great tips Russ, with your videos and others that I watched over the last two years. I don’t break any of these rules
Thx again, great *meanwhile making pre flight checklist* tips
After I crashed my drone in water and lost all of the footage and photos from that day (all day - 4 batteries) I know replace the SD card each time I replace a battery 😅
Love your channel. Learning a lot
Thanks for the none GPS flight warning! Following a train through a tunnel ought to be difficult, and dangerous for the drone. Don't worry, I know it's illegal during most circumstances.
Aha, water can be tricky and dangerous. It swallowed my E58 drone when the wind took over during landing.
Great tips and video Russ.
Great tips! Thank you for sharing.
Always great information. Thanks.
Great advice! Thank you!
Was flying a TELLO indoors and got distracted. I looked up and it was coming right at my face, put my hand up just in time and blocked it. Sustained multiple small cuts on my hand.
Fun little drone
2:15 flying over snow with no contrast can cause altitude issues too...
Yes!
Please go on with a follow up! The last mistake has not been done yet!
Looking back to the lessons prior to the private pilots license reading aircrash reports was a recommended part.
I doubt if you'll reply to this but anyway
I too have had my share of crashes.
I understand line-of-sight perfectly.
Tell me why it is that manufacturers manufacture drone that can go 2. 3. Even
4 what gives.?
When I pack my air 2s away after flying in sport mode, it always reverts back to normal mode on the next flight, even though the remote is still in sport mode. Always thought that was a bit annoying but that's just what mine does.
My first mistake was drone orientation. I had the drone inside facing me where everything is the opposite versus the drone facing away from you. Flew it right into the wall. Luckily no damage
Biggest mistake is paying for tutorials when there are free ones on youtube and other places !
Hi Russ:
VLOS is there for a reason. Because I don't have perfect sight, especially with my mini 3 pro, I affix a strobe light on the bottom. I can pick up on the strobe light faster than searching the sky for my drone. I don't fly it more that a few hundred feet away; but that's just me.
Hi Chuck, can you share which strobe light you bought for your drone, maybe even an Amazon link?
So very good video, think i have been into most of them examples myselfe, (i´ve been flying drones since 2013) but learned of them too. Make yourselfe som prechecklist and follow them. there is a reasen why airline pilots have checklists.. and, fly with "better safe than sorry" in your mind. :-) happy flying...
The problem with see all the time. the DJI are grey .
So so true. Ugh
Thanks!
I was really hoping you might show your video where your drone almost got hit by a train! I’m still guilty of the VLOS thing.
Thank you Russ, as a new pilot, do you mind if I copy your list? Great video!!!
Mavic Pro: Crashed first day, still going strong ...Avata: Gone... Mavic 2 Pro: Crashed yesterday ( extenseve repairs required) .. Just bought the Air 2S... lets see how it goes..lol
I almost hit a power line the 2nd day I flew my drone. Lesson learned.
My a2s and a2 and mini 2 defaults to norm mode even if in sport when I start it and fly
I have to go back to norm then sport. Maybe it was an update after you did it
Yes yes im the n1 example 😔 brand new drone i was happy unboxed and take of at home and it just moved to the right and crashed
When doing photogrammetry you often let the drone do it's thing
Well, Here it is 3~15~23, Got my New Mini 3 Pro a Few Weeks ago. I’ve Flown it inside my House & Crashed it Twice in the 1st 3 days !!😳😌🤷♂️ All is well though, Replaced 4 Of the Eight Props ! Outside, Tried to Land it on a somewhat Inclined Grassy Lawn,…Knicked 2 More Blades slightly, Didn’t have to Replace them. By the Way, I used the Existing Screws since it was a Brand new Drone. Probably should have used the New ones !?? Anyone Know if this is Ok to do ??
Line of Site is Kind of Impractical Because the Mini 3 Pro is Soooo…”Small” & Makes it Very hard to See @ even 300’,…(But Line of site as far as No Obstacles in the way is Do-able).Power Lines are Many Around Me, & Intermittently Losing The “Transmission” Connection Between the controller & the Drone, was Definitely caused by These Power Sources.😮 That is also a Concern. I Conscientiously Am going to be More Cautious Now Russ, Thanks for These Great Tips To Beginners like Myself !!🤗😎👍✈️
Im still confused why feel into the water? Seems like somethings missing. This drome wants to come what made it fall? Those sensors dont reach 100 feet anyway. Confusing
The Ruko F11 Gim2 automatically starts up in normal mode every time you turn it on no matter what mode you leave it on.
Nice 🔄⭕🔄 , see you next :)
I saw some crazy person on RUclips fly his Inspire 2 in what looked like an apartment!
That’s like flying a lawnmower in your apartment or house. And with those blades, the result of hitting someone or getting hit would be about the same!
Russ, I can't open the file after I downloaded it? I'm talking about the check list. I don't know if it's because I'm using my cellphone? Maybe I should try it on my personal computer, but I wanted to hear from you before I go ahead and do that.
Thanks again for sharing. 👍👍👍
Great videos Russ, keep up the good work. My 2 cents worth on the SD cards-I've purchased four SanDisk cards from Amazon (same specs as you refer to) and used in two drones. DJI FPV and Mini 3 Pro. Both state "SD card too slow". I purchased 2 new ones from Samsung and they work perfect. Could I be getting counterfeit cards from Amazon?
i always fly VLOS , don't want to loose the drone and i always format the S card after i load them on my PC and one mor thing i do not fly over people my drone fell one time and it made a 1 in. hole in the ground, just think if it hit someone.
Yeah, flying ATTI indoors sucks for a NUMBER of reasons, especially when indoors, but let's be SMART, shall we?
Visual line of site.....what about FPV drones?? I am a new Drone owner and have an Avata...which I wear a headset....