Here we made a video version of it:

Thanks Tim, I'm hoping to not my crash my P4 when it comes. Been practicing with a used P2 that I picked up cheap.

Hope all new users read this!

this is a great article. Thank you. Just picked up the Phantom 4 for my first drone. What an amazing aircraft

jstoppie@comcas Posted at 2016-4-17 13:04
this is a great article. Thank you. Just picked up the Phantom 4 for my first drone. What an amazing ...

Also thank you for your support!  Happy flying!

I sent my phtantom 3 in so the RMA people could check the flight logs, after a week they emailed saying it's going to cost £600 to repair and suggested just buying a new one. So I said ok just send it back. The phantom 3 came back in a worse condition than it went. All screws missing from arms. They clearly didn't even check the flight logs as when I contacted them to find out what had caused it they said maybe a low battery or pilot error. If they had checked the flight logs they would have seen the fact it was fully charged. I approached the RMA team again who told me how to get the logs myself and send them over which i did. They replied with it looks like it never took off ( again a good reason to why it had flight problems) so now I'm stuck with a useless shell with missing screws. Just a warning I hope it never happens to anyone else. RMA shown no interest in me since

sy Posted at 2016-4-26 08:53
I sent my phtantom 3 in so the RMA people could check the flight logs, after a week they emailed say ...

Just for your information, RMA stands for Return Materials Authorisation, it is a paper form, not an organisation.

Simple as it is, thanks!

sy Posted at 2016-4-25 17:53
I sent my phtantom 3 in so the RMA people could check the flight logs, after a week they emailed say ...

DJI don't look at flight logs!  My P3P recently crashed into a tree due to loss in GPS lock (it drifted into the branches of the tree and fell).  I've been flying for 10 months and this was the first time that it happened after upgrading to firmware 1.8.  Sent the unit in, they looked at the unit right away and sent me an invoice.  Luckily, the repair cost was only $100.00 but the invoice was hard to understand and they don't tell you what they are going to fix.  The invoice said "pilot error" and "turned on over 40 times after crash," which is BS.  I turned it on twice after the crash to make sure that it still working.  Anyway, I paid the invoice and ask DJI what was the pilot error that I made so I can prevent another crash in the future.  A couple of days later, they replied and said "you were in complete control of the aircraft."  What?  Now, they want me to send them the flight log again.  I don't think we'll ever get a straight answer from them.  According to my research online, if there is a crash, it is always "pilot error" and pay the invoice or they'll send it back.  This will be my first and last DJI product, that's for sure...

gedgar2016 Posted at 2016-1-25 21:39
This MAY be a tad off topic, but since I'm lying here with a broken pelvis, and some broken ribs it' ...

I believe at some point everyone will end up in that same situation thanks for the great reminder I hope you have healed up some by now

Nice , thank you

Don't ever fly when is humidity because your compass may go crazy and it will start atti mode...

julian_andres22 Posted at 2016-5-20 12:48
Don't ever fly when is humidity because your compass may go crazy and it will start atti mode...

Humidity affecting the compass ??
No ... magnetic fields is what affects a compass.
Humidity can reduce radio distance but it won't do anything to your compass.

Helpful. Don't understand why anyone would want to fly one in their homes though that's just plain stupid.

Thanks Tim. As a newbie i really appreciate this info

Awesome information, thankfully I haven't had any of these things happen to me.  And now after reading your post, hopefully can continue to avoid theses situations with added knowledge, very good.  I think one other thing that should be mentioned is people not calibrating their compasses correctly, or regularly before flights.  I would hope by now most of us would know to do this, but I fear this is not probably the case.

Awesome information, thankfully I haven't had any of these things happen to me.  And now after reading your post, hopefully can continue to avoid theses situations with added knowledge, very good.  I think one other thing that should be mentioned is people not calibrating their compasses correctly, or regularly before flights.  I would hope by now most of us would know to do this, but I fear this is not probably the case.

I think this is awesome information, and I agree it should be put in the box of the quads.  I know I will think of these with more intent now after reading your post, great stuff.  Though I would like to mention one other thing that I can see as a problem, and as far as I know, is, or was  a common problem in the past.  And that problem is people not calibrating their compasses correctly, or before flights.  I am kind of a stickler about this and it is something I have always ritually done,.  And that's why I am posting this, as I never post anything , but feel this is just as important as any of the above.   After three years of flying, compass issues have not contributed to any problems I have ever encountered.  Good flying mates

Thanks!!! Great post Tim!

How about  DJI plain fly always? How do we pilots try to recover our aircraft when it takes on a mind of its own? Most importantly, how about a column on all of these $200 TB48 "brick" batteries? I have 4 of them now. This morning I awoke to my drone sitting in my office where I let the battery run all night to discharge it, per DJI's instructions. When attempting to recharge it gives me the one green blinking light when power is pressed. It does not light up during charge and will not charge at all. I have used this battery 3 times. After each flight it is below 30% charge and left there until the night before a planned flight. This is becoming reficulous and expensive to say the least. What is one to do as DJI obviously seems to care little since they just say, 'not our problem, something you did' (as one of 1st Inspire V1 buyers and a "fly-away" victim I paid $800 to get IV1 fixed with no explanation). I'm thinking of buying battery parts to service all those who have bricked batteries. Judging by the forums, it should be profitable if I can keep fixes under new battery cost. That may be why nobody has done this and DJI holds us hostage with crap batteries. I can't wait for better competition and already am eyeing new drones not made by the Apple of UAV's.
Best of flying -if you have a capable battery.

F DJI! How about stop blaming pilots and take some responsibility for what to do when you loose signal while in VLS and off it goes while you are touching nothing?? Or the dead batteries that after 3 flights and total discharge won't charge again? It's always pilot/buyers errors or problems. Where is the update for the quad charger in OSX format not just .exe? I was a first gen Inspire buyer. Never be first to buy top line. Told it would be modular! So where is the V2 upgrade to new 3axis gimbal,? Or the new motors to be upgraded? Or even the new props? So much for believing the version 1 being modular and having access to upgrades. Liars.

Nice list. But i didnt get a black box analysis and it cost me half the purchase price to repair after only one day of flight.....pooh

Great tips! I wish I had read this before I've crashed my drone twice in two different situations described here. One of them really bad, that required me to rebuild my gimble.

Well nice one @all the points and info made available thanks at tram dji

I just recently bought a Phamton 3 standard and really very new on this field of adventure(hobby). What you written is very informative which will a great help for a newbie like me. "kudos"

Mardi

En español podría ser?

As a newbie i don't understand all the abbreviations

smoke25 Posted at 2015-11-29 13:45
Thanks, Tim, Dave. I am so very new to this that I have not been able to actually purchase my Phantom 3 Advanced. I am just here trying to learn. My hope is that I may get ahead of the game so as to avoid the angst that others have felt. And, since we do have plenty of Bald Eagles here in Wisconsin, I know know to keep far, far away!  Who knew? Thanks again!

I studied a lot for a few weeks before buying my P3S because i was waiting for a one day sale at Sams. I also subscribed to PhantomKnowledge.com. The videos are very good and informative. The guy that does them is from Madison so he's here in WI with us!

Thank you for the helpful information! Just like doing anything of skill, (eg. riding a bicycle...) it's always a good idea to know possible fails and how to avoid/handle them if possible. I liked the 'don't panic' warning one.

How do you know not to do a CSC midair? I'm honestly afraid to take it up in the air and move around with both analog sticks because it seems so easy to do.

11. Disorientation and pulling the stick the wrong way:
When the craft is not facing away from you remember right stick could move the craft right and Vice Versa.
Think about your orientation before you move the sticks in tight areas. Of course never done this myself at the beginning !!

Thanks for the tips.As a beginner I have found my P4 very easy to fly,bu

Thanks for the tips.As a newbie to flying drones I have found patience is the key.Dont be in a hurry to step up from beginner mode,I didn't want to waste My hard earned by racing in uneducated and crashing my new toy.

Tharg (from the Posted at 2015-11-20 03:45
Couldnt agree more!
People calibraring their compass before every single flight and introducing a bad calbration. Then, once airborne, they see the aircraft going into TBE and panic!

Should I be doing a compass cal before every flight? How do I know if it's a bad one?

Great advice

Thanks a lot.

HI Tim,
Why is it possible to do the CSC command when flying?
Why is that not bloked when you are flying?

Thanks allot! I learned from this!

great tips!

Excellent information and especially as it is based on real world data.  Thanks so much.