This was the second weekend of flying the Autel Robotics X-Star drone and I have to say this is an impressive product. I settled on the X-Star after a lot of research and trying out the DJI Phantom 3 and 3DR Solo. A combination of features, price, and customer support made me feel comfortable and confident in the X-Star. So, time to put in the hours to learn how to fly.
While flying in the beginner mode for safety, I still managed to crash it in the trees by clipping branches, and it was awesome. Of course, a 16 MPH wind made the flying more challenging.
Each flight so far has been with the propeller guards fully installed and no damage has been done to the craft, motors, or propellers.
This is the premium model in bright orange. With future plans for commercial operation and surveillance, the coloring is much more visible and provides a additional level of safety. To help with training, I built a landing pad and painted it fluorescent orange to aid in unassisted landings when the camera is angled straight down.
As shown in the video below, at times the propeller guards are visible from the strong 16 MPH winds, but the image and video are still very stable. These drones have a 3-axis gimbal and I am very impressed with how it operated in the conditions.
Going in for a manual landing.
And the landing was a bit off the mark.
