I hope it's not too late, but can I humbly request that all brand new Phantom owners read and study the manual before lifting off. Save yourself the agony of totalling your awesome flying machine on your very first flight. Reading and studying the manual will also help you from becoming a "fly-away" statistic.

You'll find that most of us here at the DJI forum would agree that the Phantom is not a trial and error platform.

My recommendation: Read. Know. Fly.

Happy Christmas.

Insitb.......SO very right.  While it's easy to simply ask the question here the new owner will learn better when the look it up and read it for themselves.  That being said, if one has read the manual (as difficult as it is to read the small grey print) and they have done some research on youtube and still cannot figure out how to solve their problem, then here (or the Phantom Vision + Owners Facebook page) is the right place to ask for assistance.

Merry Christmas to you and all here!!

Great point instib.....is it like this around this time of year where we see an influx of noobie questions about their new quadcopter?

Ready-to-fly does not mean you are ready to pilot!  Cars are ready-to-drive but would you loan your car to someone who has never driven?  

It is only a bad experience if you did not learn anything, grasshopper...

As a newbie to quad copters I found the factory manual not very well put together.  I do have some experience putting together manuals as an engineer.

There is a lot of information in the manual but without going through (non-DJI) YouTube videos did I finally grab the quick start guide and with the intent of just verifying that I had everything loaded up correctly and doing a quick backyard test.  Well it was my fault that I got too excited with my new "toy" and ended up crashing it into my outdoor fireplace.   Again it was definitely my fault and I should have waited for the open field down from my house.

But I don't think that newbies should be discouraged from asking questions on this forums.

Since I was a kid (old man now... well 50 ain't THAT old) I wanted to fly model helicopters... they were WAY expensive back then, so never happened.  Last year for Christmas, my wife bought me a "toy" helicopter... interest reignited! Discovered the Phantom... pretty expensive "trainer" even if it "practically" flies itself!

Bought a couple of v911's and "learned to fly... crash... and eventually got pretty good.  Saw the "new" Vision+ v3 & decided to do it...
Got a screaming deal... 3 batteries, 16 props, set to Naza-M, calibrated, & test flown. (I'm not very trusting... so I verified w/ software and all was as promised)

Read the manual online before it ever came, watched loads of videos, learned all about it.  After it came, I read the manual again. Powered up remote & wifi, then "un-proped" phantom. connected iphone, checked camera function... all good!!  Left the props off, took it outside, powered up, got 12 satellites... all good!  Calibrated compass... worked as advertised, easy.  Ready for takeoff (no props), armed motors... spun up to idle, revved up motors slightly, let go, back to idle. Throttle lock shut down, restart, control "V" shutdown.  Put it away.

Today, (day after Christmas) was flight day... reviewed everything.  No backyard flying, because I don't know how sensitive the controls are... off to the high school's open fields for a test flight.  Low flight, maneuvers, climb land, test failsafe from 100 meters away.  All worked perfect! Video of all of it... Now a real flight... totally uneventful, incredibly fun!

Next time... test ground station in a big unobstructed open field... (I know how it works, know it climbs AS it goes to first point)... I'll confirm for myself in the open with a small all in view flight course... JUST TO BE SURE!!

So the point is... get familiar with it!  I'm not into losing a $1300+ "bird" because I "can't wait"...
Maiden flight totally uneventful & a COMPLETE THRILL with NO HEARTACHE!!

Obviously I'm no expert with 3 flights... but I still have my phantom, pristine as when I pulled it out of the box!
Love this thing! What fun!!

Andy, that's pretty much my pathway into my Phantom adventure. I think it was the first time I ever actually read the manual of anything I've bought.  

It really is ever so tempting to take it up right after opening the box and I empathize with all peeps that lost their pride and joy right off the bat. But at 1K+ a pop,  I was gonna do everything I could to not become a statistic eh.

Twas the day after Christmas,
and all through the house,
Nothing was in place,
not even the couch,

The kids are all scared,
and hiding in their rooms,
It seems they can't take,
The Phantoms sonic booms,

That is  to fly outside,
I told him so loudly,
He said he can't,
It's way to cloudy,

The kittie litter is blown,
all over the floor,
Its easier to land in,
than to land by the door,


The wrappings are shredded,
and blown all over the house,
All he got me,
was this plain looking blouse,

Next year will be different,
He will get only 1 box,
No more toys for him,
He's only getting socks

Hahaha, awesome Gerry!

+10!

I began studying manuals the end of November.  I am so glad companies put their manuals online now.  Nice to be trained and ready to go when your shipment arrives.  No, the manuals aren't perfect, I'm just thankful they are not written in engrish.

Thanks for all the videos. I read the manual for a week and did not understand much until I watched a few hours of them. Still nervouse but ready to try out my new Phantom