As a newbie myself, my first month was reading everything I could find in the forums, the FAA website, flight restriction websites, local / government rules and regs, and making up a set of checklists (upgrade, pre-flight at home, pre-flight on site, per-battery launch, during-flight MOD / GPS / battery logs, per-landing checks, packing up on-site, post-flight at home, 50 flight/200 hr checklist). I then practiced quite a bit on a soccer field close to my house with no one around, getting used to the controls, the app, ATTI mode, FPV, reversed / sideways craft orientation, etc. I rigorously abide by my checklists, check MOD / GPS / compass orientation regularly, make sure the Home Point is accurately set when the motors start, and make sure the Failsafe Height is set appropriate to the environment. I only do a compass calibration when the MOD values are out-of-range (should hover around 1500), which has only happened once so far, and my "reference" calibration is at the soccer field. Make sure the antennas are appropriately aligned and point them at the craft, even if it's straight overhead.
I've never had a problem with controlling the craft even in what I consider to be challenging flight conditions (i.e. strong gusty winds, close quarters, etc.), but I always keep it within line of sight and keep the antennas aligned and pointed at it. I leave my bunch of keys in the car, make sure all RF-capable electronics are off (including any friends close by), and have the tablet in Airplane mode. When flying in ATTI mode, I always keep my finger on the mode switch, ready to get back into GPS mode if I need "instant stability", which has saved it a couple of times when the wind caused the craft to drift too close to trees / obstacles and I didn't have time to react with the sticks. Still need more practice with ATTI to get myself out of that type of situation, but the P-mode stability is amazing.
That's just me though. Other people feel comfortable with substantially less checks and re-checks. By being overly careful, I'm hoping to never have a "first crash". My overall experience has been the Inspire is rock solid, and I hope it will indeed last forever, or at least the rest of my photographic lifetime. I hope DJI doesn't mess up the firmware, though, and concentrates on quality and reliability and safety and control rather than bells and whistles. Fantastic footage, IMO, using the provided ND filter at 1080p 60fps, "landscape" preset and no color model, but most of my footage is landscapes in bright sunlight.
Again, I'm just a newbie, so all of this is just my opinion based upon minimal experience. Seems to be working, though. What fun! Sadly, I'm grounded at this point due to the Nvidia Shield recall.
mTp
