I purchased the P3S so my grandson and I could do something together we both like. We watched a lot of videos which all seems to be pretty old. Thanks to several members in here, We have the newest updates, app version, firmware and I guess that's all we need. We chose the P3S because of the reviews we read and lots of people said it was very easy to fly. We have yet to fly it because it seems that so many people on here are crashing and seem to think that the new firmware is causing the problems. Is there anything special to pay extra attention to? Is this one of those deals where it either flies right or crashes the first time with the new firmware and if it flies the first time we don’t have to worry about the new firmware again? Also I sent a email to support 6 days ago asking if the Samsung Galaxy S7 would work with the GO app. Someone on here said that it would work. Finally heard back from support yesterday and they said that it would not work with the app. They said all the phones that it would work with were posted. I've started rethinking and overthinking this thing to where I'm at the point that I just want to fly the dang thing.  Does anybody else use the S7 without problems. Thanks....Kevin

I felt the same and probably so did hundreds of others,
Go for it
Don't go past your comfort zone
Take it a Little step at a time

We've all been there before. To be nervous is to be expected, heck even after many flights. The Phantoms are very easy to fly, just take it slow and learn the aircraft. Not to say things can't happen or won't but that's with anything. I think it's awesome introducing the younger generation to flying these, they are almost as much fun tinkering with them as they are to fly! Start out in an open area and have a blast. As far as the phone, it should be plenty to run the app but I don't have any first hand experience as I run mine on an IPad Pro.

I crashed mine within seconds of lift off. wasn't paying attention to what I was doing. keep it in beginner mode until you get the hang of it and have fun

Just make  sure that S1 is in its upmost position and if you go into the app switch it to beginner mode I use the iPhone 7 plus and have no issues   Enjoy the Phantom and if you can fly figure 8's that will get you and your grandson more proficient in flying. It is a blast to fly. And you can use the app to land it so no worries.

I fly mine on an old Sony z1 phone. That isn't on DJI list but it works just fine.I would fully test the dji app on your phone, if the app crashes try putting the phone into airplane mode, there is a thought that the wifi and the 3g/4g services interfere.
If when flying the app crashes, no problem, you can fly without the app running. The bird wont just fall from the sky. make sure you stay in gps mode on the controller, s1 switch fully up. then you can release the controls and the bird will stop and hover.
So if you think things are getting out of hand, fingers of the sticks and the bird will hover. That gives your brain chance to settle and think things through.
Fly in a wide open space. Keep the bird in sight, fly in a pair so one is flying the other is spotting.
Take some binoculars if you have them, it helps when you start to fly a distance.
Some on here say ohh 500m is not far enough, well its hard to see a phantom at that distance, and judge distance to objects.
Before you take off make sure you set the return to home height to a level that will allow it to fly over all obsticles in your flight path.
Look around your chosen flight area and plan a simple flight path to follow.
If when flying you loose sight and your dji app stops telemetry, flick the s2 switch up and down twice and it will return home.
Test the features like that to gain confidence.
These birds will fly themselves, they don't crash its normally the pilots that crash them.

Don't panic, just enjoy the flying.

Most Android phones aren't on the approved list (in part due to the number of models available).

If the app crashes you can just fly it home manually (if in line of sight) or initiate a return to home from the RC.

Hi
From my experience the P3S is a brilliant drone to fly, (its the only one I have flown). The thing about forum groups is genrally people talk about the issues they have either crashing lost/ no RTH. some do talk about the great flioghts they have had, but we tend to use forum groups to imform other of issues we have had.  I've crashed twice but the P3S seems to be quite sturdy.  

I crashed mine within seconds of lift off. wasn't paying attention to what I was doing. keep it in beginner mode until you get the hang of it and have fun facappapk.online

If you're nervous about your phone, leave it at home.  You don't need it.  Just concentrate on flying without the phone distraction.  Once you do a few flights and get comfortable, you can use the phone and app.

I use a sony z3 most of the time but revert to an ipad or an old android tablet when I want a bigger screen to be able to see more in the screen (these all work fine). Almost crashed into a power line on my first flight but the wife was watching and warned me in time.

The phantom is a very easy drone to fly. My 5 year old loves flying it. I just get it up about 30 to 50m and let him take over flying it around above anything. If it is all going wrong for him he just lets the sticks go and it just stops where it is while he works out what he needs to do to get it back to where he wants to get it.

I am currently trying to learn to fly a fpv racer and that is taking a lot of work to get the hang of. It does not auto level and can be driven into the ground with force to easy.

So far both myself and my son have not ever crashed the phantom in the last 18months that we have been flying it. I can not say the same for the fpv racer in the last 4 weeks. There is something wrong if I do not crash at least once every time I take it out to fly. At least props are cheep for the fpv racer.

It seems like a lot of people have issues because those are who will post. They feel like they have a reason to post. You won't have people posting "Another day without issues".

Anyway, as others have said. Start of slow, and build confidence in yourself and your equipment. Keep it in beginner mode. Fly in a wide open field where you have little or no interference and get a good calibration. Start flying low and close to you then go out from there. Take your time and don't push too hard. Most of all, Have fun and fly safe!

Let the Phantom surround you very slowly and look for its reactions of your commands. You can take off and fly a short way away and return,after that you may land the copter. Just said,let the copter hop around.

Hi i use the the s7 edge from day one no proplems

I know the feeling. I just bought my first phantom 3 standard, and was just as afraid to start flying after all those posts about bad connections, weak signals and the app crashing. But i took my samsung S6, closed all apps and installed the latest version of the dji go app. Charged the batteries and did the checklists. Made sure the blades were secured and i was comfy to start. Checked the lists again, calibrated and pushed auto take-off. And there she went, hovering a meter in the air. Calmed myself down after having a small party in my mind and did an auto landing. That was my first 'flight'. After that just did some figure 8's and when in doubt, let go of the sticks, regroup and go on.
Have a safe flight and enjoy!

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone that replied to my post. We took me drone out for a flight yesterday and didn't have any problems at all. We did leave it in the beginner mode and probably will continue to do so for the next several flights. All the worrying that we did seems to be for nothing. Everything on the app worked and the controller did its job just fine. I guess the only problem will maybe I shouldn't say a problem but I did notice my phone got very warm. Maybe I will shut off all the apps as someone else did and see if that helps. We were getting ready to fly it again today but the wind has really picked up and looks like a thunderstorm is about to take place. There's not too many places you can go to where the people did not know you and you can get great advice and friendship. Thanks again to everyone and we hope that we can become a part of the DJI forums on family!!

I run an iPhone 6+ with a mophie external charging battery case and it drains my phone too. Its to be expected.  A lot is going on.
You go out to fly with a half charged phone its going to suffer from Malnutrition quickly. !
Glad you got it in the air.

The onboard flight SIM can help anyone get rid of the first flight jitters. ;-)

The drone must be turned on, in order to utilize this tool.


RedHotPoker

Here's my  small addition to the advice listed above.  Beware of those propeller blades.  They can kill!  Stay away from the drone while it is in flight.  If you want to get close to it, keep it at least a couple of feet above your head height .  Also, stay well away from any objects until you are very familiar with the controls.

Looks like I spoke too soon. We took the Drone for another flight and all went well until the landing. I hit the automatic Landing and the Drone came back and once it got about 4 inches from the ground or in my case a concrete pad, it touched down real easy then it bounced upside down very quickly and will spending on the props. Nothing was done different from the first flight which went so well. I don't understand how it could go from flying perfect to Landing very easy and turn it upside down and spinning on the concrete. It looks like the only damage was done to the props. There's not a scratch anywhere else on the Drone.

Changed the props today and had none problem at all.Flew out to 1000ft and the height was 430ft. Made several takey off and landings. Auto and manual. The other could have been my fault. Just happy the flip over only damaged the  props.We are very happy with it..

KEM Posted at 2017-7-17 18:17
Changed the props today and had none problem at all.Flew out to 1000ft and the height was 430ft. Made several takey off and landings. Auto and manual. The other could have been my fault. Just happy the flip over only damaged the  props.We are very happy with it..

Auto landing can be hazardous to your drone health. Much safer to take control and gently land it on your own.




RedHotPoker

I always - use the left stick to land , slowly land then keep the left stick down until the phantom motors stop .. Way safer ..

been flying RC Planes and quads for many years its always hard to take that first flight with a new bird uncertainty is a hard pill to swallow especially with the high cost of our toys. The Phantom is a joy to fly my recommendation is just tae it out auto take off with it in a large field let it hover and move your pitch and roll stick slowly to see how it reacts don't worry it will remain at the altitude during the hover. now use the left stick to yaw or spin the quad keep it low at the altitude it took off to get the feel for the controls its the easiest drone Ive ever flown due to the GPS hold its basically just like driving an RC car. I even had my 3 year old grandson flying it today.

Dirty Bird Posted at 2017-7-12 02:14
The P3S is a great bird & lots of fun.  Read the manual a few times so you fully understand things & let her rip.  Get the Litchi app & you can really do truly amazing stuff!

https://youtu.be/Mq90viXQr2U

nice Pics I also live in Baltimore

KEM Posted at 2017-7-17 07:43
Looks like I spoke too soon. We took the Drone for another flight and all went well until the landing. I hit the automatic Landing and the Drone came back and once it got about 4 inches from the ground or in my case a concrete pad, it touched down real easy then it bounced upside down very quickly and will spending on the props. Nothing was done different from the first flight which went so well. I don't understand how it could go from flying perfect to Landing very easy and turn it upside down and spinning on the concrete. It looks like the only damage was done to the props. There's not a scratch anywhere else on the Drone.

Your landing issue was most likely due to something called ground effect.  Prop lift will change quickly when you get close to a larger surface area under the craft, such as landing and takeoff.  Lift actually improves during the descent, as drag is reduced due to ground effect, and decreases slightly when ascending away as drag increases.  The transition area for most of these aircraft is about an inch or two to 2 feet off the surface/ground.  For this reason it is best to takeoff in a direct manner up to a height of about 4 feet, you can hover there while you do your flight control checks.  During landing, as others have commented should be done manually and directly down when you approach that zone i.e. avoid hovering in that area close to the ground.  Land it and shut down the motors immediately.  Assuming no other issues, such as winds or operator error and this should help reduce problems like you experienced.  Enjoy!

It's gonna happen. Just don't get brave or fancy,  You will regret it lol

I use a Nexus 7 1st gen. and it wouldn't take the dji go apps, but I did find an apps for it. Its called DJI Go Apk, its works with most tablets.

What is DJI Go Apk?

Its an app that will let you run DJIGO on your tablet.