DJI RC Pro 2 and DJI Air 3S – First Drone Flight

Good day, folks! Shawn here from Air Photography. A few days ago, I uploaded a test flight with the DJI Mini 4 Pro and the new DJI RC Pro 2. Today, we’re doing the same thing, but this time we’re flying the DJI Air 3. I’m going to share my first flight with you. It might be a boring video, or it might not be—we’ll soon find out. Let’s get the drone up in the air and go for a flight.

Home point has been set. Before we go too far, I want to address visual line of sight. I received comments on my DJI Mini 4 Pro video about flying beyond visual line of sight. In Canada, the rules for sub-250g drones are different. We can fly them beyond visual line of sight and above 400 feet, as long as it’s done safely without risking people or aircraft. For larger drones like the DJI Air 3, Air 3S, or Mavic 4, we must keep them within visual line of sight.

Another thing to note: the audio you’re hearing is from the built-in microphone on the controller. I’m also recording a backup audio track with my DJI Mic 2, just in case. If I use the Mic 2 audio, I’ll note it in the description. If there’s no mention on the screen or in the description, the audio is from the built-in microphone.

Flight Experience

Let’s go for a flight. One thing to mention about recording audio: it’s different from flying with a DJI Mavic 4. With the RC Pro 2’s built-in microphone, we can embed audio into the screen recording but not the HD video, unlike the Mavic 4. This is also true for the DJI Mini 4. Hopefully, a firmware update will address this, but for now, it’s not possible.

It’s a beautiful day today. I planned to do this a couple of days ago, but we had rain. Today is gorgeous—perfect for flying. In a moment, I’ll show you what happens when filming in vertical mode with the Air 3. It’s pretty neat how it works.

Just like with regular controllers, we can use Active Track, Spotlight, and Point of Interest with the new controller. They all work wonderfully.

Vertical Mode

I’ll stop recording briefly to show you how vertical mode works with the Air 3S and the new controller. When you turn the screen, it films normally, but everything is scaled down to fit. In 2.7K vertical mode, you’ll see darkened edges indicating the frame. However, when you switch the RC Pro 2 screen to vertical, those black bars disappear, giving a nice, full vertical view. This is great for those who film in vertical mode.

Now, I’ll switch back to normal 4K video and hit record again. Let’s put it into Sport Mode.

I’m really loving the RC Pro 2. It’s a great controller. Many people have said they plan to purchase it for their Air 3 or Air 3S. If you own a Mini 4 Pro, it’s a bonus—you can use it with all your drones. I’m curious to hear how the audio sounds when embedded into the screen recording. Hopefully, it’s decent.

There’s a slight breeze today, but it’s not too windy. We’ll see how it handles wind noise, as there’s no way to attach a windscreen to the controller.

Audio Sample and Controller Features

I won’t make this video too long. I wanted to demonstrate vertical mode and provide an audio sample from the built-in microphone. Like the Mini 4, the Air 3 flies beautifully. The RC Pro 2 is a great controller with a bright, 7-inch screen. You can switch to vertical mode if you film a lot in that format. It’s a bit pricey, so it may not suit everyone, depending on how much you fly.

A bird got a little too close for comfort, so let’s initiate a return-to-home. There are some trees above, so we’ll need to bypass them as it lands.

Return to home initiated.

You can see the green line showing that the drone recognizes the trees with its advanced return-to-home feature. It descends lower before reaching the trees and flies in safely. It’s impressive how the Air 3S and Mavic 4 Pro’s advanced return-to-home builds a real-time map during the outbound flight. It knows where obstacles are and can plan its return, even without satellite connectivity. If you lose connection, it can still return safely and land where it took off.

Final Thoughts

That was a sample test flight with the Air 3S and the DJI RC Pro 2. It’s a fantastic controller, and I highly recommend it. Hopefully, you enjoyed this video and found it valuable. Thanks for watching, and we’ll see you in the next one!