As a newcomer myself with only 3 hrs of unmanned flying, it would be arrogant for me to tell you what to do.
However, as a pilot with 21,000 hrs, perhaps I can tell you a few things, and you can decide what to keep and what to discard:
- I fly a drone like I fly an aircraft. That means that crashing it is out of the question, just like I do in a manned aircraft. What that also means is that I start my preflight with all the "pertinent information" as the FAA says.
- I look at Airmap, and figure out the airspace.
- I look at UAV forecast and confirm winds aloft and Kp index.
- I then try to position myself downwind of my flight path. In other word, I am going into the wind, so that when s..t hit the fan, I am flying with a tailwind back to home point.
- I also try to keep the automation out. As a result, I try to keep a line of sight, and I would not fly the drone behind a tree line as an example. Rather, I will move myself so that I am not adding the risk of losing signal. If I do lose it, RTH automation will show up, and as pilots never fully trust the automation in our jets, I don't see how I would fully trust it with a drone either. As you keep reading this message board, there are many threads with people putting their Spark into trees or other obstacles, because they were either too close, or RTH put the aircraft into branches, etc, etc... Again, rule number 1: crashing is bad juju....
- When I see something I want to take a picture of, I try to temper my little boy enthusiasm and slow down to follow a checklist I made. Again, rule number 2: fly it like a real aircraft. You would not want your captain to show up in the cockpit at the last minute and quickly get airborne without some prep right? So I make sure the
battery is securely in place, that the sensors are clean. Turning on the controller first, so that if there is a runaway with the motors going full power, you can do something about it. Setting a home point. Setting a RTH altitude. Check the compass sensors and gyroscopes. By that time, I usually have 12 satellites which is my minimum for launching.
- And finally, just like you would probably hate that I go buzz your house, I am respectful of others. I avoid flying over a group of people, especially if they are strangers. I am noise conscious and will climb higher if needs be. I also limit myself at 400 feet altitude, because I don't want to be "that guy" when one of us put a drone into manned aircraft. It has happened, and will happen again. And quite frankly, the pictures I take needs to be lower, otherwise, I can use a real plane to do it!...
Hope this helps.