Extreme Winds or Defective Unit?

[flyindubs]

Hey guys! Merry Christmas!

Semi-experienced pilot here - I've had my Phantom 3 Pro for just over a year (in fact I bought it on Christmas Eve last year!).

I got my Mavic Pro about a week ago after being on the shipping list for a couple months. I love it, I can't wait to travel with it (whereas travelling with the Phantom was a NIGHTMARE!).

I launched my Mavic right when I got it (well, after charging) -- I was really excited to fly it. I SUPPOSE that in my excitement, I overlooked how windy it was. There was blowing snow off my roof, and it was quite cold. But, I really honestly think I would have noticed if it was TOO windy to fly. I'm thinking either I was just so excited, or, perhaps winds picked up REALLY fast shortly after I took off.

I let the Mavic hover at around 30 meters while I tried to remember how to take the training wheels off. It hovered just fine in the wind, no immediate concerns at all. But shortly after I got higher, I noticed it starting to list in one direction. I didn't think much of it as I was looking around at the controller getting used to it.

Long story short, I went through a NIGHTMARE. I literally had to consciously decide "either come to grips that this is going to crash and I wont get it back, or give it ALL I HAVE to try to get it back"! It started drifting further, so I mashed the joystick back to where I was, but the wind was *apparently* so strong that all this did was slow its drift in the wrong direction -- it did not come back to my direction at ALL whatsoever. To the point where I decided to just get in my car, mash the joystick to the home direction, while driving to try and find it. I ended up driving 4 kilometres from my home and got to a road where I thought I could land it. It was simply drifting WAY too fast to have any chance of landing it once I got out of the car, so I decided to let her down in a snowy field (assuming I would be crash landing, and then going on a salvage mission).

I was able to point the camera down, and get the drone to hover around 10 cm off the ground, and SURPRISINGLY I got it to land very calmly. I then had to trek about 20 minutes in knee-deep snow -- thank goodness for the GPS! I was able to trek to its exact location. Of course, 20 minutes later, there it was sitting pretty with its lights flashing, not even a scratch.

My concern is, according to the weather that day, winds were only 30km/hr -- I googled it and apparently this is only considered a "light breeze" lol. So, I'm confused as to whether or not this was some sort of issue with the drone? Or is the Mavic really unable to operate in that kind of wind? Perhaps it was the cold, too? I just know that my Phantom has been through much crazier winds, albeit in warm temperatures.

I'm in no way blaming the Mavic though -- if it can't fly in winds that heavy, then it just can't and that's fine. I learned a lesson (and I thought I was a pretty good pilot) to REALLY assess the wind before taking off.

Anyone else have this problem in this level of wind?

I've flown it since -- no problems at all, it seems even more stable than the Phantom. Although MUCH slower!

Thanks!

 

[james_mav]

Hey guys! Merry Christmas!

Semi-experienced pilot here - I've had my Phantom 3 Pro for just over a year (in fact I bought it on Christmas Eve last year!).

I got my Mavic Pro about a week ago after being on the shipping list for a couple months. I love it, I can't wait to travel with it (whereas travelling with the Phantom was a NIGHTMARE!).

I launched my Mavic right when I got it (well, after charging) -- I was really excited to fly it. I SUPPOSE that in my excitement, I overlooked how windy it was. There was blowing snow off my roof, and it was quite cold. But, I really honestly think I would have noticed if it was TOO windy to fly. I'm thinking either I was just so excited, or, perhaps winds picked up REALLY fast shortly after I took off.

I let the Mavic hover at around 30 meters while I tried to remember how to take the training wheels off. It hovered just fine in the wind, no immediate concerns at all. But shortly after I got higher, I noticed it starting to list in one direction. I didn't think much of it as I was looking around at the controller getting used to it.

Long story short, I went through a NIGHTMARE. I literally had to consciously decide "either come to grips that this is going to crash and I wont get it back, or give it ALL I HAVE to try to get it back"! It started drifting further, so I mashed the joystick back to where I was, but the wind was *apparently* so strong that all this did was slow its drift in the wrong direction -- it did not come back to my direction at ALL whatsoever. To the point where I decided to just get in my car, mash the joystick to the home direction, while driving to try and find it. I ended up driving 4 kilometres from my home and got to a road where I thought I could land it. It was simply drifting WAY too fast to have any chance of landing it once I got out of the car, so I decided to let her down in a snowy field (assuming I would be crash landing, and then going on a salvage mission).

I was able to point the camera down, and get the drone to hover around 10 cm off the ground, and SURPRISINGLY I got it to land very calmly. I then had to trek about 20 minutes in knee-deep snow -- thank goodness for the GPS! I was able to trek to its exact location. Of course, 20 minutes later, there it was sitting pretty with its lights flashing, not even a scratch.

My concern is, according to the weather that day, winds were only 30km/hr -- I googled it and apparently this is only considered a "light breeze" lol. So, I'm confused as to whether or not this was some sort of issue with the drone? Or is the Mavic really unable to operate in that kind of wind? Perhaps it was the cold, too? I just know that my Phantom has been through much crazier winds, albeit in warm temperatures.

I'm in no way blaming the Mavic though -- if it can't fly in winds that heavy, then it just can't and that's fine. I learned a lesson (and I thought I was a pretty good pilot) to REALLY assess the wind before taking off.

Anyone else have this problem in this level of wind?

I've flown it since -- no problems at all, it seems even more stable than the Phantom. Although MUCH slower!

Thanks!

Did you try sport mode once it was drifting?

 

[stealle]

I think it's suppose to handle winds up to 43 km/h. I've been in winds 30 km/h. I didn't have that much trouble. I could tell it was working harder to fly into the wind tho. It's been awhile so I can't remember if I was in sport mode or not. james_mav suggestion for sport mode is a good one. I suppose you updated the firmware and at least calibrated the sticks and compass, right?

 

[flyindubs]

I did calibrate -- didn't update though (although it didn't prompt me to). I THINK I tried sport mode? I did see the button when I was desperately trying to get the drone to fly back and I did hit it, but I feel like it told me I couldn't switch modes mid-flight? Is that the case? In the panic of it all I didn't really try with sport mode much more than that.

 

[JohnC]

Yeah you get the message about modes if the 'enable flight modes' switch is in the default,. i.e. off position. This switch also prevents access to active track, gesture etc..

Just had a short 'garden' flight here in the UK, gusting 40mph, so a bit beyond the limits published, it was just a short test flight to confirm the firmware update was OK. I did learn though that a hand catch in sport mode is still a bit tricky as it tries to 'get away' from your hand.

 

[TRP]

Did you have good gps lock? Good satellite reception? I ask because I hand launched my Mavic at night on a beach with 30mph winds with no issues, Flew to about 400' and took a few photos as well. I dont see how you can have that much trouble with 30kph winds unless there were 40-60kph gusts alongside the wind. I probably would have flicked it into sport mode to try to get it back to me in your situation.

 

[4wd]

If you have obstacle avoidance turned on the speed is reduced considerably and even a moderate wind will see it drifting away. You can actually go sideways or backwards faster than forwards - or turn it off - quickest way go into sports mode which give you higher top speed too.

Not sure that explains what happened here but winds can be a great deal stronger just above tree height.It can be very hard to judge and weather reports are of limited use as stong winds can be brief and localised for a variety of reasons.

 

[stealle]

I did calibrate -- didn't update though (although it didn't prompt me to). I THINK I tried sport mode? I did see the button when I was desperately trying to get the drone to fly back and I did hit it, but I feel like it told me I couldn't switch modes mid-flight? Is that the case? In the panic of it all I didn't really try with sport mode much more than that.

Get into Sport Mode by flipping the switch on the side of the remote control. It's an actual physical switch on the RC. Don't be afraid of it. Your Mavic will still hover steady as a rock but it will be faster and able to fly into wind easier.