I've considered using only 2 prop guards to aid in orientation during flight, but I'm afraid something unexpected may happen and I fear crashing my new bird.Guess I could try it in a wide open area at very low altitude over soft grass, but then I'm afraid that higher altitudes may produce different results.
Maybe rigging a counterbalance if necessary I suppose.


Can anyone give me some advice on flying with only 2 guards?


Thanks!

It would be better to use all four so your Phantom remains as balanced as possible.

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Why not paint 2 a different color?

Four is best bet. Potentially TWICE as good as two! Ha! Besides the added insurance and confidence and NOT having to buy any more propellers, you get reinforcement of area experiencing "cracks" (which I don't have - probably because I have prop guard brackets!).

Seriously, cheap and solid insurance with no real downside. They come in two colors for front and rear anyway. Just do it.

I have only ever flown with prop guards on and I have quick release prop guards in red, black, white, and orange (pairs) so using different colors is not a problem.
But what is a problem is distinguishing those colors when silhouetted against the sky or at long distances.
I think I may experiment with attaching something very lightweight to both of the front guards, small flags on thin wire perhaps.
Although maybe the new graphic on the 1.2.0 iOS app will solve the problem for me.

Not a good idea.  It will unbalance the drone and may cause your drone to crash.

You should use 4. just paint 2 of them has has been suggested.

Fulgerite Posted at 2015-7-8 07:52
Not a good idea.  It will unbalance the drone and may cause your drone to crash.

What's not a good idea?
Using only 2 prop guards?
or using 4 and putting something very lightweight attached to 2 of them?
or both ideas?

I don't know, I see people attaching things like GPS trackers to one side of the aircraft and they don't seem to have a problem.  That seems like as much unbalancing as I'm talking about.  I realize other factors could be in play also but I may have to experiment and see what works.

DJI-Dave Posted at 2015-7-8 08:02
You should use 4. just paint 2 of them has has been suggested.

Thanks, but I guessed you missed my post about already owning different colored prop guards.
I was hoping that would suffice but different colors mean nothing when the bird is over 200' away, especially if silhouetted against a bright sky.

editfx Posted at 2015-7-8 13:26
Thanks, but I guessed you missed my post about already owning different colored prop guards.
I was ...

yep, sorry I must have missed that.

I bought prop guards and used them for awhile, but I find they show up in the video a fair amount.  Of course the props do sometimes but less often.  Outdoors, around natural objects, tree's etc, I don't see the value in the props.  They aren't really going to protect you that much.  Around structures, I think they can be valuable and inside they are a must.  I've been doing most of my flying outside in nature and haven't used mine in a good while.  
I use four for balance as well.  Do you find your guards showing up in your video?
What kind of flying are you using them for?