Almost had a fly-away due to wind

[crazyrider]

Drove to Lake tahoe this thanksgiving to spend the weekend and took the mavic with me. One the first day, I flew it over the lake and captured some really nice videos. The conditions were perfect and there was no wind or snow.
Next afternoon, I drove to one of the mountains. it was quite windy and cold out there although it wasn't snowing or raining, I had told myself that i wouldn't be taking the Mavic out but in the parking area, while we were about to leave, I got the itch to fly it just a "few feet" above the ground, capture some scenery and bring it down. After bootup, there were no warning signs on the app, so I increased the elevation to around 50 feet straight above my head. I spent just a sec to change the video setting to 4k, looked up straight above and the bird was no where to be seen. I looked to the left and saw it drifting away thanks to the wind **gulp**
Needless to say, I panicked a little and used the controls to bring it back. But it wouldn't move!! At this point, it was a good 100+ feet away from me. I was about to cry internally because I visualized losing the mavic.
Next thing I tried was to initialize the "Return to home" button. This failed too since I could see it struggle big time against the wind and just didnt have the power to come back home. It was becoming a tiny spec in the horizon when I made the last ditch effort and dangerously lowered the altitude to a point where I almost couldn't see it at all due to the tall pine trees and then engaged return to home again (and prayed to Lord). I saw it rise a little and hover just a wee bit higher than the trees, enough to resist the wind and began its path towards me. When it was directly over my head, I plonked the joystick down and hastened its descent towards me. That was some relief! Lesson learnt, I will never fly again if it is remotely windy. I sensed a lot of despair but was fortunate enough to experience joy when it returned back. The Mavic spent the remaining two days of the trip sitting in the warm and cozy confines of my room.

 

[Hook]

Had similar problem with wind yesterday. Sport mode zipped it right back.


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[4wd]

The problem with RTH in this scenario is it will go up quite a way where winds are even stronger.
It sounds a bit odd in this case though almost as if it went to ATTI mode for a while.

 

[crazyrider]

Had similar problem with wind yesterday. Sport mode zipped it right back.


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Sport mode sounds like a good escape plan. Didn't think about it at all.

 

[telvis]

Nearly the same thing happened to me on my second fight.

 

[Kilrah]

Sports mode is the key (well, last resort too).

There were really strong winds yesterday and I several times had to refrain myself when "hey, it doesn't seem so strong here!"... obviously it's just due to buildings/trees/stuff slowing wind down, climb a dozen meters in clear air and it's ridiculously strong.

 

[sixxus]

Did you get any warnings about battery drain? I find it hard to believe the wind was strong enough that it couldn't fly back under max power.
I think as others have said, switch to sport mode when in doubt. If you're quick with the controller, course lock can also help here to simplify your command inputs

 

[Chickenhoss]

Sports mode is the key (well, last resort too).

There were really strong winds yesterday and I several times had to refrain myself when "hey, it doesn't seem so strong here!"... obviously it's just due to buildings/trees/stuff slowing wind down, climb a dozen meters in clear air and it's ridiculously strong.

Approximately what were the winds when you were flying? They must have been very strong. The Mavic Pro can handle pretty tough wind conditions.

 

[erkme73]

There appears to be some correlation with some MPs losing GPS lock, switching to ATTI (sometimes not displaying ATTI) and drifting rapidly away from a stationary hovering position. This has happened to at least 8 different MP users that have discussed it here and at the DJI forums. Budwalker is updating his DAT converting software to include the MP. He used the data from my MP after it suffered one of these radical drifts. It would appear that switching from GPS to sport mode is what triggers this loss of stability. I've had several more flights since this discovery, and so long as I do not change to sport mode, the instability does not return.

I only mention this here because when I first encountered the drift, I thought it was fast winds at higher altitudes. It felt that way - almost like there was a rubber band attached to the MP, fighting a straight line return. Key in discovering it wasn't wind was the fact that the drift pattern was circular - very large arcs.

Just a heads up to watch your GPS signal. It'll still shows a full count, but the signal drops to a single red short line.

 

[kmaluo]

It seems like the Mavic will only use a set amount of thrust for for full right stick. Doesn't make sense you have to switch into sports mode, and that it doesn't just increase rpms when it's moving backwards due to wind. Why does DJI do this?

 

[Kilrah]

Approximately what were the winds when you were flying? They must have been very strong. The Mavic Pro can handle pretty tough wind conditions.

My point was precisely that I was wise and did NOT fly in conditions that while seemingly okayish were pretty much guaranteed to be unsuitable aloft. You must be confusing with OP.

I find it hard to believe the wind was strong enough that it couldn't fly back under max power.

The thing is it won't give max power unless you tell it to by switching to the appropriate mode. It obeys its angle limit, that is different in each mode. In P mode it also depends whether you've got obstacle avoidance turned on or off. If it's on the max bank will result in about 35km/h airspeed, if there's more wind than that you won't get back. If it's off that goes to about 55, and in sport mode around 65.

 

[Ryan Reynoso]

Like everyone said, sport mode is key. I've flown it in really really windy conditions. Although it was slow, it's still can make its way through

 

[bakerboy]

Had this happen this afternoon, would start to drift with the wind, easy enough to get back, just flick to sports mode and it moves back to the initial hover point

 

[Richard-mavic]

My point was precisely that I was wise and did NOT fly in conditions that while seemingly okayish were pretty much guaranteed to be unsuitable aloft. You must be confusing with OP.


The thing is it won't give max power unless you tell it to by switching to the appropriate mode. It obeys its angle limit, that is different in each mode. In P mode it also depends whether you've got obstacle avoidance turned on or off. If it's on the max bank will result in about 35km/h airspeed, if there's more wind than that you won't get back. If it's off that goes to about 55, and in sport mode around 65.

I was surprised to see that the Mavic is slower in P mode with VPS on. Makes sense of course, just wasn't expecting it. Guess it's easier to flick the switch to Sport for those scenarios

out of interest, does the P4P have this VPS speed throttling in P mode as well? and if so what speed is it?

 

[Kilrah]

No idea for the P4, but for the Mavic I checked today - 33km/h with OA on, 50 with OA off, 65 in Sport mode.
Note it's OA, not VPS.

 

[Richard-mavic]

thanks. it slightly freaked me out at first. especially when in a confined space - it will barely move. Might keep it off for the most part. Frankly, most of the time, if you're near objects you're probably in the wrong place!

 

[m0j0]

The power isn't the limiting factor it's the angle. When you fly it with all the sensors working it is designed to fly at a suitable angle that will allow sense and avoid technology to keep you from wrecking. If you turn the sensors off you will get more angle .. thus being able to fight the wind better.. lastly if you turn to sport mode the sensors are turned off and you then can fly at the steepest angle. Which gives you the greatest ability to fight the wind.


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[m0j0]

FYI..in my mind it isn't really a "fly-away" when you fly it in conditions that it is not designed to fly and you subsequently lose it... flying in high winds with obstacle avoidance on..that's more of a "give-away." Fly away is a term used to describe conditions where you have no control of the bird.. e.g. You move the sticks and it does nothing.


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[Fredo]

Here is a great video of what a Mavic pro can do against the wind:

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[sam2428]

I was planning on taking my Mavic with me on an upcoming ski trip to Colorado in January...this is good info to keep in mind.

Will definitely monitor the winds and be very cautious if I decide to take it out. Would get some pretty amazing shots from one of the mountain peaks, but I dont think i will go for it as the winds are highest up there as well.

Thanks in advance