Hi guys,
My stepson is visiting next week and I will be giving him my Mini2 and controller/device. He has no drone experience and I will give him all my expertise (hahahaha) along with a tablet to use and a spare battery. We will practice a lot. Anyway, I would like to ask you guys to post some important information or tips for him. I know I will forget something....or a lot. Thank you very much.

He shouldn’t listen to you haha.     . Just kidding open big field minimum height above trees (don’t ask mr why.
Do not leave it on roof of car and drive away.. ( I now have a mini 2.  Wonder why.
Doug

Haha You bet. I  am planning to give him my procedure for first time flight in a new area: Launch and rise to a safe altitude. Then do a 360 and watch for anything appearing above the horizon. If there is anything appearing, then increase altitude until they are not. Set RTH to that altitude plus 20 feet.

If it was me, I would make him watch some drone crash videos on youtube before his first flight Just the right amount to scare him enough to be cautious and pay attention to advice; but not to the extent that he would not enjoy (or even worse, refrain from) flying...

Hi Gary,

Most important is to learn him a good before flight check, pre-flight * and after take-off checks.

* minimum how to check compass (map view arrow direction compare with the actual true drone heading at the ground)

Have good fun with learning him all the do and don`ts.

cheers
JJB

Hello there GaryDoug. Good day and thank you for sharing these wonderful information with us. It will be best for him to prepare a preflight checklist every time you fly your DJI Mini 2 to avoid any unwanted incident when operating or flying your DJI Drone. Have a safe and a happy flying always.

All good advice fom those in the know. I hope he has many hours of fun and enjoys your gift.
Also, I hope you have deep pockets when he comes to you in the near future with:- "Dad! you know that Dji FPV/Air 2s, do you think.............."

I'm sure you will not forget anything to pass on.  However, I've found a good pre-flight check to be very important for new fliers.  Good luck and stay patient.

Let my nephew fly my drone over weekend!  Best advice I gave him was Not to panic and if you do just let go of BOTH sticks and the drone will
stop and hover were it is, so you can compose yourself and check its Hight and where it is etc before you start flying again?

Done this myself a few times :-)

what really helps me with confidence when i first started flying, similar to when some people first start driving, know the location of brake.  for the mini2 remote, i put a red fluorescent sticky dot on the rth button.  there's no time to read labels and looking for buttons when timing is everything.  i practiced using that button so whenever if ever i got confused or wanted to freeze stand still.  and if i am struggling to regain control and ready to give up, press and hold.  i labeled because i flew multiple drones and 5 different remotes 5 different buttons.

i understand dropping the remote or letting go of both sticks works but for me, that's not intuitive and it's not natural to be honest, it never worked when my drone was crashing.  every time my drone was out of control, the drone never froze in place by letting go of the sticks. ;) maybe sending a pause or rth might work.  but yes it is true, the drone probably crashed into the tree trunk because you actually flew it into the tree trunk which tells you it isn't intuitive to just let go to avoid a collision (drone drifting notwithstanding).

anyway, you get my point.  the pause button is your friend.  close your eyes, squeeze that button, and pray.
i was going to say "....and don't trust the sensors" but there are none.

My advise would be to teach him how the quickshots work, with regards to movement / behaviour of the drone. This way he knows the limitations on when and where he can use quickshots without risk of crashing.
I understand that not everyone uses quickshots, but since your son is new to drones, i'm inclined to think that he will try using all available features.

whiteghost Posted at 5-25 04:16
Let my nephew fly my drone over weekend!  Best advice I gave him was Not to panic and if you do just let go of BOTH sticks and the drone will
stop and hover were it is, so you can compose yourself and check its Hight and where it is etc before you start flying again?

That I agree with. Plus know where the pause button is if you panic or do not know what to do. Practise this to be able to think of what you are doing when something goes wrong and to compose yourself. As earlier said, restrict speed, distance and height on an open field. That is how I started after reading a lot in tthes forums first.

To add to DJI Stephen, JJB, etc.,

Pre launch: Check your RTH settings (height & mode)
Set to Normal mode, as it starts in this mode regardless of switch setting
Check wind conditions before take off
Check your Satellites Locked
Check RTH has been updated before moving from home point

Make sure he knows the rules about flying over people, vehicles, night flights, 250 gram limit, etc.
Also, let him know to have fun!

Also great gift!

Thanks for all the info. I probably should have mentioned that he is about 55 years old ;-)

GaryDoug Posted at 5-25 11:04
Thanks for all the info. I probably should have mentioned that he is about 55 years old ;-)

Oh! In that case, his own pockets will be deep enough.

GaryDoug Posted at 5-25 11:04
Thanks for all the info. I probably should have mentioned that he is about 55 years old ;-)

Oh, well, how old are you?
I'm 62, seeing as I'm asking a nonofmybusiness question.

I’m Suprised you didn’t get any “I’ll be your step son” posts.

marc70 Posted at 5-26 05:58
Oh, well, how old are you?
I'm 62, seeing as I'm asking a nonofmybusiness question.

I am 74.

I still have an extra Mini 1 available if anyone wants to be adopted ;-)

yogi053 Posted at 5-25 03:01
All good advice fom those in the know. I hope he has many hours of fun and enjoys your gift.
Also, I hope you have deep pockets when he comes to you in the near future with:- "Dad! you know that Dji FPV/Air 2s, do you think.............."

Lol , join this idea. I think ; he will want 2s

GaryDoug Posted at 5-26 14:18
I am 74.

I still have an extra Mini 1 available if anyone wants to be adopted ;-)

Beat me by 2 years Gary! Stay safe!

Nice gift!
Most has been said already.
I think the best way is to focus on the flying part first. Once you master that, move on to the capturing part.
Know the legislation and respect other's feelings (about drones, although that is more a general rule hahahahaha)
Take it slow!

Thanks to everyone again. My step son flew his Mini 2 in his first real flight over the water and up and down a beach many times, 2076 feet max distance for 18 minutes yesterday. Except for the usual jerkiness of his novice panning, he did very well and landed it on the mat in the boat perfectly. He is very happy with it.