It’s called Buying and Flying the DJI Phantom Quadcopters and it is a must-read for anyone looking to buy a drone. The second published flying guide by author Craig Issod, Buying and Flying is an extensive examination of the DJI line of UAVs and walks readers through every step of their first flight -from unboxing, to GPS calibrations, to retrieving a wayward drone.
While the book does focus on DJI products, the lessons in this book are universal when it comes to flying a small unmanned aircraft system.
For example, its generally good practice to ignore yaw (the dimension of control that rotates the drone on its center axis) on your first flight. If you face the same direction as the drone when flying, it is easier to get used to the other controls (pitch and roll). As soon as you change the direction the drone is facing, all of the controls change direction as well, so to speak.
Suggestions such as these should be followed by anyone who wants to fly. For that matter, even governing bodies looking to regulate consumer drones could take some leaves out of this book.
“These quadcopters are not toys,” Issod writes. “Rather, they are small aircraft and piloting them requires a skill set. The good news is, most anyone can learn the basics and, added to some common sense, they will provide a good introduction to flying.”
Buying and Flying the DJI Phantom Quadcopters is available now for Kindle on Amazon for $3.99.
Alan is serial entrepreneur, active angel investor, and a drone enthusiast. He co-founded DRONELIFE.com to address the emerging commercial market for drones and drone technology. Prior to DRONELIFE.com, Alan co-founded Where.com, ThinkingScreen Media, and Nurse.com. Recently, Alan has co-founded Crowditz.com, a leader in Equity Crowdfunding Data, Analytics, and Insights. Alan can be reached at alan(at)dronelife.com