Bird Strike ... nearly!!

[Bergumbira]

I have just ordered a set of the VERY EXPENSIVE DJI propeller 'cages'. I am hoping that by totally enclosing the blades, I can turn a bird attack from a catastrophe into just a mid-air 'bump'. With luck, the cages won't effect my Mavic's performance too badly.

IMHO I don't think that any propellers protection can avoid the MP from destruction after bird collision or attack...

 

[Bergumbira]

Birds are far more acrobatic than my flyng ! Almost a head on earlier this year.

Wow, you can thank this bird for good, OMG... But he really do it for himself ahah

 

[Bergumbira]

An inch or so away from losing my Mavic ... And there's absolutely nothing I can do to prevent it in the future!! I get a nasty twinge in my wallet every time i view this clip :-(

Saying "absolutely nothing" it's wrong. Out of no flying anymore, which is too obvious and restrictive I simply advice you to check which type of birds are flying around. At the time H, with your live glance, not in the local fauna book.
Myself I classified birds in 3 categories, which 2 make me grounded.
Predators : eagles, hawks... No fly NOW
Migratory or stupid : pigeons and other flying in formation/group No fly NOW
Small playing birds with high agility (likeSwallows) : OK to fly. They mostly come around by curiosity, but not attack or collide.

Before receiving my MP I watched hundreds of videos on YouTube, mostly crashes and tutorials and I was very aware that the sky is their property.

But danger come also from trees, building and wires, drunk and other unfriendly ppl, but also kids and dogs before take off and after landing....

I was so trauma by all that crashes that I was looking online for ratio of drone loss and in which frame of time

 

[Smokey5159]

Guys,
I work in airport operations and have a "birds eye" view of our airport aircraft landing and taking off. Bird activity around our airside area as you imagine is serious stuff, so much scientific research is poured into this problem. One thing I can tell you is that aircraft on approach and landing will turn on their "hazard" lights - headlights flashing alternatively as a deterrent. Birds don't like flashing lights, especially bright strobe type flashes. I have 4 strobe lights on my Mavic - red and green on the front landing legs and 2 Cree strobes - one on the back and one on the top at the front. I have a pine forest over the road from my place and I fly (practice) in the cleared area and often have parrots etc buzzing around. I can tell you that before I installed the strobes the birds were very interested, but now - when the white strobes especially are activated the birds take a wide birth and most disappear. Try the cree strobes if you want to scare the crap out of our feathered friends.

 

[mlash]

Here is my close call (one of a few).

 

[hilbrink]

Yeah i’m usually flying close the waters edge here in Switzerland and the gulls are a major pain in the rear-end. I found that it starts at about 5 meters and the hassle ends above 40-50 meters.

Does anyone have same experience ?

 

[Edward De Bruyn]

Nasty problem and I think everyone experienced already such attacks.
Had it once with a gull and once with a pigeon...escaped by flying the drone back to me.
But how to avoid, hear a lot of guys putting orange stripes or big eyes on the drone.
Are these helping to avoid attacks ?
Don't like to put strobes but if only this would help...I will try this as well.

 

[Mavic Schwa]

This is something that happens far too often. Obviously the feathered beasts are to blame and must be delt with! I too love to film near the shore here in FL we have swamp, rain, ocean, and nothing else but birds year round! Friend we must launch an all out assault on these rogue flapping, toothless, Beak jawed, Vermin! I call on you all to fly carefully! You are in their environment after all.

 

[simsurf]

I was starting a flight over a farm/wetland for work and a hawk started circling my old Phantom 2 when I got to my usual altitude of 80 m. Decided to land, and it followed the drone the whole way down until I landed. Pretty sure I saw an osprey attack a drone in YouTube a while back...

 

[JSSR]

Hearing lots of stories of close calls but it seems rare that they actually end up hitting the Mavic. I get heaps trying to attack mine here in Canberra and I always fly away quickly. Has anyone actually heard of the drone getting taken down or it this something that just isn't happening often?

 

[Lou]

JSSR: In answer to your question... this is a P3, but I imagine a Mavic would have had the same result....

 

[Randy]

Now that's awesome! I think you need to wrap the MP in a custom Eagle Skin! That's the best bird interaction video I've seen. Maybe we should all get into Falconry and send them up to protect our drones.

I was flying mine Saturday at a lake we flew into with my floatplane, hovering it to frame the shot of our plane and cabin when out of nowhere comes a peregrine, it made a close fast pass, freaked me out, I was ready to put it in sport mode to do some evasive maneuvers when the peregrine kept going on his way to wherever he was headed. It's nesting season and this area is anything but peregrine nesting habitat, it's wet lands with no cliffs within 40 miles so it came as a surprise to see one where I had never seen one before.

 

[DomoDan]

I've seen numerous posts on THIS FORUM of birds hitting drones. Hawks can be straight viscous and are STRONG.

 

[Pegasus1]

Wonder if you could have a couple of very bright, rapidly flashing LEDs on the Mavic which would trigger if an object is sensed closer than a certain distance. Or a loud piezo screaming at the bird like a predator warning maybe. Or both

 

[Blucenturion]

Guys,
I work in airport operations and have a "birds eye" view of our airport aircraft landing and taking off. Bird activity around our airside area as you imagine is serious stuff, so much scientific research is poured into this problem. One thing I can tell you is that aircraft on approach and landing will turn on their "hazard" lights - headlights flashing alternatively as a deterrent. Birds don't like flashing lights, especially bright strobe type flashes. I have 4 strobe lights on my Mavic - red and green on the front landing legs and 2 Cree strobes - one on the back and one on the top at the front. I have a pine forest over the road from my place and I fly (practice) in the cleared area and often have parrots etc buzzing around. I can tell you that before I installed the strobes the birds were very interested, but now - when the white strobes especially are activated the birds take a wide birth and most disappear. Try the cree strobes if you want to scare the crap out of our feathered friends.

I'd very much like to see a photo of your Mavic!

 

[workfortravel]

I nearly crashed my drone trying to evade birds attacking it over water on my 3rd flight (I freaked out and lost where I was) and wouldn't fly if I saw a bird hanging around. It was recommended on this forum to try hi-vis tape and vertical climb. I've fitted it out with Yellow Hi-vis tape (thin strips to each arm - on both sides and the back). Touch wood, it seems to work to me. I was flying around birds on the weekend (seagulls and swallows). The swallows came in for a look, but lost interest very quickly. The seagulls didn't come near. Although I wouldn't test it out around hawks or eagles etc.

 

[Rbruz]

As much as I LOVE my MP, I've noticed that the flyers most at risk are all coastal, so I have ordered the SwellPro Splash Drone 3 Auto. This drone is as happy wallowing in the see as it is 320 ft in the air. I will use my MP inland, and the Splash taking care of my coastal activity. I quite like the idea that I can video in rain, snow and bird infested coastal areas without my drone ending up in Davy Jones' Locker.

Friend invented it flew it, horrible flight time.

 

[workfortravel]

JSSR: In answer to your question... this is a P3, but I imagine a Mavic would have had the same result....

That's awesome footage!

 

[Mavic Schwa]

JSSR: In answer to your question... this is a P3, but I imagine a Mavic would have had the same result....

**** nature you scary! I've flown through flocks had flocks fly through my path, never hit a bio-drone. Glad you got it back! Show off them Battle scars.

 

[CoolBreeze]

Flying to checkout a river light buoy I thought I spotted a nest, hovering to take a look, up pops a unhappy momma hawk. Took a swipe at Mavic.