My Inspire 1 should arrive before the weekend.  Saturday I plan to work around the house (like a good little boy should) and then break open the Inspire on Sunday.  Is it reasonable to expect that I can do at least a small test flight by Sunday afternoon or evening?

Please pardon the somewhat useless message but I'm just giddie with excitement.

Perry

Shouldn't take you long to set things up. Check which firmware it's using, update if necessary, IMU calibration, compass calibration. I'm guessing you have been reading the manual to get up to speed with how things work? Make sure you pick a nice open area to conduct your first flight from. Small steps, don't go too mad with it

Know your MANUAL and Do all Firmware updates on everything and have a pre-flight check list and practice on the simulator and when your ready go fly where its safe and you cant hurt anyone.

Use the simulator first without the props on.  Get used to the stick inputs etc. and the App using the simulator before actual flight.

In addition to the above excellent guidance, BEFORE you take off, make sure you:  a) calibrate the compass at the launch site, and b) check the position of the Inspire on the satellite map (zoom all the way in) to make sure it accurately reflect the I1's current position.  

Finally, make sure you understand how to manually trigger a Return-to-Home: either by pressing and holding the RTH button on the RC for two seconds, or by tapping the RTH icon on DJI Pilot app. Be aware that the RTH behavior depends on how far the I1 is from the home point.  If the I1 is less than 20 meters (66 feet) from home point when RTH is triggered (manually or due to loss of RC connection), the I1 will immediately descend and land where it is. If the I1 is more than 20 meters (66 feet) from home point when RTH is triggered, the I1 will: climb to RTH height you set (or stay at current altitude if higher that RTH altitude setting), fly directly to point directly above home point, descend and land.  If you manually trigger an RTH, you can cancel it at any time (press RTH button again) and you can still control the aircraft position and descent speed using the RC sticks.

For your first flights find a large open field with no obstacles or trees and at a time when few people are about (flying the Inspire is like switching on a people magnet).  Although the Inspire 1 can be flown from confined spaces, you need some practice and experience before you do so. An open field allows you to make the odd mistake without damaging your aircraft, your pride or your pocket.

One other pearl.  Set RTH height greater than the tallest structure in your area.    Otherwise, if there is an obstruction, it will head home and hit that obstruction.  You want it to return over the obstacle.

Don't panic, take it slow

Thanks guys.  It was a long long saga with UPS finally getting the drone.  It was suppose to be here Wednesday and I didn't finally get it until Friday.

The manual says there are videos.  I'm going to start there and go slow.

The first reply from iSky mentions "IMU Calibration" but no one else does.  Its not in the wiki.  I found one update where it mentions an improvement.  So I thought it was something that was needed in the past.

I just happen to be going through the video for the Pilot App again looking for the part about making a route on the map.  I was fast forwarding through and saw something about "IMU" so I stopped and sure enough, big as life, are various things about the IMU.  The video must be old because the app has changed slightly but there is a "Check" and a "Calibrate".  Seems like that should be mentioned more often.  The compass calibration is mentioned often but not the IMU.  Should this be done with each new location just like the compass calibration?

The "RTH" algorithm that David mentions where if you are within 20 meters of home it just lands I noticed on the simulator and assumed it was a bug but perhaps not.  I did RTH (in the simulator) via the app and it raised up and came home.  Then I did RTH via the transmitter and it just landed.  Probably in case 1 I was outside the 20 meters and case 2 I was inside.  (I had read about it but it had slipped my mind when I was playing with the simulator.)

I've watched all the tutorial videos, read through the manual (downloaded the PDF), gone through the paper instructions sent with the unit, played with the simulator some.

I found three or four small mistakes in the manual and videos.  E.g. one video with the two guys they say you can charge both the transmitter and the intelligent battery at the same time but two written places say that you can't (so I haven't).  Is there a place to report these?

All went well but I have questions (that I'll post in another thread).  I have two batteries.  I drained them both without any mishaps or anything (aside from various pilot bumbles).