I did a quick test flight this morning with the new DJI Lito X1. I just wanted a 2 minute zip around an area I hadn’t flown before, over water (the Collie River to be precise) and with a bit of luck, get some motion tracking on a boat or two that might be at the boat ramp.
No luck on the latter sadly, but no matter, the flight did teach me an important lesson I had obviously become a little complacent with.
ALWAYS do a pre-flight check before setting off.
In the past I would normally take off, let the drone hover and then go through the various needed checks before flying, but this time, for some unknown reason, I didn’t and as a consequence, the first minute or more of the flight showed the ground and the water as the gimbal was pointing straight down and I hadn’t checked the view screen before starting recording.
To be slightly fair to myself, I am not entirely sure if other models like the Avata 360, the Mini or MAVIC series or even the Flip don’t auto centre the gimbal but be that as it may (or not be), it still unforgiveable not to check.
So, with many new people flying drones now, I thought it might be worthy of putting together a quick checklist for people to follow as they get to grips with this new hobby / sport.
- Before anything, check your batteries in both the controller and the drone itself
- Make sure the gimbal is not restricted before taking off
- Check your props for any looseness, cracks or chips and replace as necessary
- Ensure your internal memory is free and / or the SD card is installed and recordable
- After take off, don’t do ANYTHING but hover until you get the message the Home Point has been updated. This will; ensure the Return to Home option works correctly if something does go wrong
- Check the video image to make sure the gimbal is centred and not pointing straight down (or up) and correct with the thumbwheel accordingly
- Check the Google maps on the controller to make sure it is operational
- On the image from the camera on the controller (or smartphone) look out for any over exposure (zebra pattern) and correct it
- When hovering, do a quick video record to ensure the SD card (or internal memory) are OK
- Check to see if you are in Cinematic, Normal or Sport mode and correct accordingly. Remember that in Sport mode, obstacle evasion systems may not be operational.
When your flight is finished, double check everything is turned off and then copy your image files off to a safe location such as a PC as soon as possible.
Finally, fly safely and stay within the rules. Remember, whilst some of these drones are only quite small, effectively you have a flying lawn mower at your fingertips that can cause huge damage if you are careless or something goes wrong.
PS: Not noticing that the gimbal is positioned wrongly is also a sure sigh you are watching the physical drone, not the screen.