Hi all.

I've flown some smaller quads before, including a couple of nanos and Blade Glimpse FPV, but have been jonesing for a while for a drone big enough to not go squirrely if the outdoor breeze kicks up to more than just a faint whisper. When I saw that several places were putting the Phantom 3 Standard on Black Friday deals for $400, I couldn't resist and took the plunge - the smart way, of course. I made the purchase online early Thursday morning when the Black Friday price first took effect, and picked it up in store after the mad rush.

I've registered with the FAA, marked the Phantom with the number, downloaded both the DJI Go app and the FAA B4UFLY app, watched the DJI tutorial videos, and a few other things that delayed the first flight, but helped make sure the first flight would not also be the last. I took the Phantom to a park near where I work, outside the 5 mile radii of both the Air Force Base in town and the International Airport, and took a flight over an empty ballfield.

The reviews I read were correct. If you can't fly a Phantom 3 Standard, you can't fly anything at all. I left it set to Beginner mode for the first flight, and just had a good time getting a feel for the controls. I'm looking forward to many more flights with this bird.

Only question I've had so far is that yesterday, the B4UFLY app showed the field where I flew as clear. This morning, it shows it in the 5 mile radius for a heliport training facility. For things like a small training facility heliport, will the app only show the caution if flightplans are logged for that time frame?

Hi all.

I've flown some smaller quads before, including a couple of nanos and Blade Glimpse FPV, but have been jonesing for a while for a drone big enough to not go squirrely if the outdoor breeze kicks up to more than just a faint whisper. When I saw that several places were putting the Phantom 3 Standard on Black Friday deals for $400, I couldn't resist and took the plunge - the smart way, of course. I made the purchase online early Thursday morning when the Black Friday price first took effect, and picked it up in store after the mad rush.

I've registered with the FAA, marked the Phantom with the number, downloaded both the DJI Go app and the FAA B4UFLY app, watched the DJI tutorial videos, and a few other things that delayed the first flight, but helped make sure the first flight would not also be the last. I took the Phantom to a park near where I work, outside the 5 mile radii of both the Air Force Base in town and the International Airport, and took a flight over an empty ballfield.

The reviews I read were correct. If you can't fly a Phantom 3 Standard, you can't fly anything at all. I left it set to Beginner mode for the first flight, and just had a good time getting a feel for the controls. I'm looking forward to many more flights with this bird.

Only question I've had so far is that yesterday, the B4UFLY app showed the field where I flew as clear. This morning, it shows it in the 5 mile radius for a heliport training facility. For things like a small training facility heliport, will the app only show the caution if flightplans are logged for that time frame?