So my Phantom 3 Pro will arrive tomorrow, and weather permitting, I will also conduct my first flight.  I've read all the documentation, read tons of forum posts, and watched tons of videos trying to educate myself to the fullest extent that I can in order to ensure smooth flying.  I've got a couple of questions still, though, that I'd like some input on from those who are (obviously) more experienced than myself.

Firstly, after charging everything up, I know that I'll need to calibrate the compass before take off, but should I also do a gimbal calibration prior to the first flight, or is the calibration from the factory going to be fine?

Secondly, it's been hard to miss the stories about issues with the latest firmware.  I intend to check the firmware version before flight.  I'm guessing that many (all?) units being sold brand new ship with older firmware.  So, assuming it is not 1.2.6, are there any other prior versions that had large enough issues that I should upgrade past before flight?  If I do need to update a really old version to something newer, I do not want to go to 1.2.6 or else I risk issues, yes?  Should I be looking at 1.1.9, perhaps, or is pretty much any version I get out of the box going to be okay?  And has anyone gotten 1.2.6 on a unit straight out of the box (shipped with 1.2.6), and if that's the case, should I be concerned (and perhaps disable VPS), or are units shipped with 1.2.6 good to go?  I've got v1.2.0 of DJI Pilot installed on my iPad Mini 2, so using an older version of that would be a pain (I'm not horrifically opposed to jailbreaking the iPad, but I'd rather not).

Lastly, what settings in DJI Pilot should I be sure to confirm the values of prior to flying?  Right now, other an confirming the compass calibration value, I'm coming up with confirming that the RTH altitude is suffiently high to clear any obstacles (shouldn't be an issue where I intend to fly, but just in case) and perhaps enabling all flight modes (in case I do somehow end up with in-flight issues and need to switch to ATTI).

Thanks for any input!

I suggest not doing the gimbal calibration. Mine was fine then I decided to do it after watching videos and thought that it would improve something even though I had no issues. After I did it (perfectly level and nice and cold from in front of the A/C) I had  tilted horizon issues.

Oh and I never upgraded past 1.19 firmware cuz it's been flying fine.

DON'T upgrade! DON'T chance it. You may be fine but I wouldn't roll the dice on that.

What about upgrading to 1.1.9 if I'm on something lower than that?  Or should I just stay on whatever is on it out of the box and wait for the next firmware release (whatever version number that ends up being) to be vetted?

jimcloud74@yaho Posted at 2015-8-3 12:13
DON'T upgrade! DON'T chance it. You may be fine but I wouldn't roll the dice on that.

x 2 - Do not upgrade the firmware. No idea what firmware my P3P has and it's been running rock solid since day one.

your bird will not be lower than 1.1.9 .  like the rest said, leave it and fly it with that version, it will be fine.  Turn off VPS. You don't need it, unless you are flying indoors.

Well, it arrived today.  Out of the box, I had issues.  The controller kept dropping video and sometimes the entire connection to the drone before I could even lift off.  I switched channels and that problem cleared itself.  Upon trying to start the motors, I received an IMU error and it said it needed to be calibrated.  Certainly not a wise choice, but I did the calibration right then outdoors on a blacktopped surface that certainly wasn't perfectly level and with an ambient temperature in the low 80's.  Started the motors and went up.  And guess what?  No problems at all.  It flies like a dream come true.  Some tilt in the gimbal, so I'll be adjusting that (it's bad enough that I'm not going to just leave it be, but I've seen videos of worse).

So what could have caused a brand new unit to need an IMU calibration?  Getting jarred during shipping, perhaps?

I did not check the firmware version, but will be sure to tomorrow (edit: it's 1.1.9).  As I mentioned in another thread, and because they showed up at the same time, I installed the UAVBits "Strong Arm" caps (http://www.uavbits.net/store/p28 ... orcement_plate.html) before first flight to hopefully ward off potential future problems.