i love my Mavic but just can't cut the imbecile cord and allow it to fly out of my sight.  Finally got out of beginner mode but can't shake the, am I really in control feeling when flying.  
Also trying to get a feel for when it's too windy to fly.  I usually wait until it's pretty calm, but not sure how much wind speed is too much?

... you don't have to get the feeling to know when its to windy, simply install UAV Forcast app, that will tell you the windconditions at your location. I do not fly when wind-conditions is aboven 5m/s. I know that MP can withstand more wind, but better safe then sorry. Don't be mislead with low wind at ground level, higher up in the air there will be more wind.

Same here, I know with more flight time I will be more accustome to flying further out.

Rol Posted at 2017-9-14 10:47
Same here, I know with more flight time I will be more accustome to flying further out.

You have a map on the app so just keep an eye on it that way

Me too. It's been a week and I told my wife that I was being "deliberate and cautious" in my learning to fly the MP and she said "you mean chicken, right?" I said "Yup."

Hotelone4 Posted at 2017-9-14 11:18
Me too. It's been a week and I told my wife that I was being "deliberate and cautious" in my learning to fly the MP and she said "you mean chicken, right?" I said "Yup."

I flew 1.6 miles on the first day. 2months since buying it now.

I think your doing fine because after all your supposed to "fly within line of sight" anyway....

R&L Aerial  Posted at 2017-9-14 11:59
I think your doing fine because after all your supposed to "fly within line of sight" anyway....

Yah but how many people on here break those rules?! Loads, there are loads of threads on here about range testing. And if you are ment to keep your drone in LOS why does dji give you 4 miles to play with? I have a sportsbike that will do 200mph, need i say more??

Go with your instinct. If you don't feel comfortable flying outside of LOS, don't. That's where many new pilots (as well as pilots who THINK they know more than they do) get into trouble. There is nothing wrong with being cautious and building up your skill and confidence over time.

Learn your aircraft, get comfortable with the controls and then expand your flight range (height and distance) a little at a time. You do this and you'll be ready (and capable) of safely flying beyond LOS quicker than you think.

No desire to fly out of the line of sight unless i'm doing a beach shore run or something.  I live in  an area with buildings and powerlines which my Mavic Pro is allergic to

Dread-Pirate-Ro Posted at 2017-9-14 12:22
Yah but how many people on here break those rules?! Loads, there are loads of threads on here about range testing. And if you are ment to keep your drone in LOS why does dji give you 4 miles to play with? I have a sportsbike that will do 200mph, need i say more??

I know, i know, i was just saying that for the new guys.

Hotelone4 Posted at 2017-9-14 11:18
Me too. It's been a week and I told my wife that I was being "deliberate and cautious" in my learning to fly the MP and she said "you mean chicken, right?" I said "Yup."

My wife Said almost the same thing...

If you are afraid to loose the eyesight of your drone I would recommend an antenna booster. This works pretty good and almost doubles your flight range. Search on Amazon.com or Banggood.com they are pretty cheap like 10 bugs or so. They work excellent for Mavic and Spark.

R&L Aerial  Posted at 2017-9-14 12:42
I know, i know, i was just saying that for the new guys.

Yah fair enough mate keep it in los until you get used to it. Its an expensive piece of kit after all. Make sure you are very careful after any FM updates! 900 works great for me and i will never update.

Paul_IA Posted at 2017-9-14 12:37
Go with your instinct. If you don't feel comfortable flying outside of LOS, don't. That's where many new pilots (as well as pilots who THINK they know more than they do) get into trouble. There is nothing wrong with being cautious and building up your skill and confidence over time.

Learn your aircraft, get comfortable with the controls and then expand your flight range (height and distance) a little at a time. You do this and you'll be ready (and capable) of safely flying beyond LOS quicker than you think.

I agree, go with your gut. You will know when it feels right to take the next step.

..nobody flies out of visual sight because we all have spotters with really good binoculars........and in case anyone asks.....

I have kept mine in LOS  at all time. and in a few occasions I'm glad I did. I lost connection and the screen went black. I had to fly it back and land and restart to get picture again.  but i wish I could get the nerve to fly further to get some great pics.

I had the same feeling when I was a newbie, was always scared of flying away. And guess what, I saw an interesting car driving on the road and I was so naughty to follow it, then I lost it on and visual range, my heart beat super fast, and finally, I got my drone back according to the indicator, map and the transmission interface. Then I gradually practiced flying further, further, further. And I think I am a mature man now. For the wind, we don't suggest flying it when the speed exceeding 10m/s, the app will have messages pop up when the speed reach 6m/s and 9.6m/s. All in one, practice makes perfect. Be calm and caution and take it easy.

i love pushing the limits of my drone.  i suggest getting comfortable with your drone first and foremost.. learn how it behaves and reacts and acts.     the drone will compensate for wind, assuming its in GPS position mode!  i dont recommend flying in winds that are gusting suddenly or going 20mph constantly.. also remember that while the app does a amazing job at predicting battery life left and run time remaining, its not perfect in every situation.. means it could show you have say 10 minutes of battery left as you turn around but it may not compensated for the wind that helped it get out that far so it may be fighting harder than it expected estimate to get back..  i had it happen where i was 3,500+ feet out when i hit critical battery voltage alert fighting a nasty 10 mph cross wind.. but i used my knowledge i learned, i illegally flew my drone up to about 600 feet AGL to fight auto landing and push it towards me hard as i could..i made it..

"Imbecile"???????   LOL.  I'm assuming you mean "umbilical cord" as that is a little less self defecating.  LOL.

Dread-Pirate-Ro Posted at 2017-9-14 12:22
Yah but how many people on here break those rules?! Loads, there are loads of threads on here about range testing. And if you are ment to keep your drone in LOS why does dji give you 4 miles to play with? I have a sportsbike that will do 200mph, need i say more??

well well... we are all guilty of finding out what the real limits are ;)   my friend let me ride his Hayabusa once, i decided i'm never getting one.. i did buck 60 on public roads a few times with light traffic..  i would end up dead fairly quickly.. 160mph in a car is little more safe at least ;)

I am not afraid to fly out of sight but I just simply don't. It is against the rules in my country, but, in addition to that, I have to be responsible for what happens to the drone and if something fails then you need to be prepared for the consequences.

Jenee 2 Posted at 2017-9-14 22:14
I am not afraid to fly out of sight but I just simply don't. It is against the rules in my country, but, in addition to that, I have to be responsible for what happens to the drone and if something fails then you need to be prepared for the consequences.

Pretty much this. (Okay, so I am new and I am afraid to fly it out of sight, but I know that will pass.)

The thing is, given the perception of drones by many Joe and Joanna Public's, and legislators that don't understand tech and go for headline-pleasing through lack of understanding.... Given the first major incident that occurs when a drone is out of sight, the rest of us will be punished.

It won't matter about the real cause of the incident (say a mechanical failure, or whatever the reason is) --- it will just be sensationalised by the press for paper sales or click-bait links and to stir up outrage, and then legislators will come down hard.

The more people that fly out of LOS, the higher the chances are of having something go wrong by out of LOS flying....

I'm not judging, not saying it's not a personal choice, and not saying people shouldn't do it. Just saying that I choose not to, and what I think the risks are.

to be honest  99% of my flights the mavic goes out of sight at one point or another, never been an issue even when i had the phantoms, the video feed has been very reliable so i always know where it is.

IainWB Posted at 2017-9-14 23:17
Pretty much this. (Okay, so I am new and I am afraid to fly it out of sight, but I know that will pass.)

The thing is, given the perception of drones by many Joe and Joanna Public's, and legislators that don't understand tech and go for headline-pleasing through lack of understanding.... Given the first major incident that occurs when a drone is out of sight, the rest of us will be punished.

while i agree with this i also disagree with this at the same time.  the logic is solid, makes sense.. but the issue is the people that create the laws tend to be inept with technology and decades behind.  or they they side with questionable groups like in the US you can tell that the drone laws created with a RC plane flyer's club.. AMA which want nothing short of full exclusivity over things...
finally will always..always be those who will ignore common sense and make a scene..  and cause problems


so what i say is, if you are respectful, understanding and know what you are doing, go for it, fly out of sight use the camera, etc etc.. if your not one of those fools that tried to make a scene dont let them be the reason to limit you, be an example of someoen who can manage flying well out of eye shot..and impress the right people the right way, if they see people like you, me and others can maintian full control over out drones out of sight they may loosen laws up..but if we all hold back and only let the idiots fly out of eye shot and mess it up for us, it will only get harder to fly..

I'm also the same, its a very expensive toy and I don't want to lose it.

I keep having all sorts of "gremlins" in my drone, it always beeps and does odd things that I'm not sure of.
So I'm very nervous flying it far and over water.  If I had more confidence in the actual drone that I wasn't going to lose it and have it drop out of the sky at some point I probably would venture a little further.

Druesta Posted at 2017-9-15 17:24
I'm also the same, its a very expensive toy and I don't want to lose it.

I keep having all sorts of "gremlins" in my drone, it always beeps and does odd things that I'm not sure of.

Yep, I've had my MP for 2.5 months now and that's my approach as well, remain cautious and LOS...for now. In my area I have lots of coastline and beaches but also NFZ, so I had to learn about all that and how to still fly in the zone. Mine fortunately has been spot on and no hickups or weirdness but nevertheless I just plug along and practice and definitely don't fly way out over the ocean...for now. I just want to log flight time and get experience with my drone first before I inadvertently lose connection and drops in the ocean {:4_157:}