Santa Claus came and gave you what you want the most – a brand new drone! It’s but natural to get excited over it and to want to test it as soon as possible. As suppliers who sell electronics say, drones are toys for the big boys, but they don’t come cheap. For sure, you don’t want to see your drone quickly crash back to you because you simply can’t wait to use it.

What do you need to find out to get the most out of your new gadget? How can you learn how to make it fly? What are the precautionary measures you need to know?

Firmware Update

To prevent an expensive drone tragedy, the first thing you need to do is go online. Find out if your drone offers a firmware update. Firmware-wise, all electronic devices are only as recent as the day theyre created, packed, and delivered. After which, you can find upgrades to take care of bugs, add features, and other cleaning particulars that a firmware update deals with. So getting your drone up-to-date with the latest version is a crucial action to take at the very beginning.

Be patient in installing the update. It takes time. While waiting for it to finish, read the drones guidebook and pay attention to all single-line instructions. These guidelines will keep you from wrecking your new drone.

Register Online

Its now mandated by the FAA that all drones ranging between 0.55 and 55 pounds must be registered. Drone registration is not just to follow the law and pay the small fee, but also to get you to accept the FAAs regulations on the recreational use of drones.

The registration fee is $5. However, if you sign up before January 21, 2016, you’ll get your registration fee rebated back to you. Once signed up, you’ll get a registration number you can affix onto your drone. If you lost your drone, anyone who finds it can, at the very least, use the FAA registry to find you.

Read the Manual

Read the drone’s manual from cover to cover. You need to charge its battery anyway, so you’ll have enough time to read. Understand the drone through its manual. Drones are very pricey and it helps to know exactly what to expect when its activated.

Regardless if you’ve flown a drone in the past and know its basic features, your new drone might be a different design. If so, odds are good it will behave in a different way. Determine what your drone is all about through the manual. Youll also find out about unique functions and features you may not know about.

Download the App

After reading the manual, download the drones app directly to your mobile gadget. The smartphone has a calibration utility that can easily remind you of all drone procedures for your new gadget. Some drones have an interactive flight simulator which lets you practice virtual flying using your controller.

Once youve educated yourself with the ins and outs of drone flying, take time to watch drone videos on YouTube. There are tons of tutorials from both experts and amateurs you can learn from.