As some of you might have read in my earlier posts my Mavic arrived about eleven days ago but unfortunately I was abroad and had to wait until I got back home 3 days ago to see it.
The first day home I only unpacked, did the charging and then spent the rest of the day with the family. The second day was some hardcore testing and setting up of the DJI Go 4 apps menu and configuring my iPhone 6+ and all setting interactions with the drone (No Props Connected). I learned a lot of things that day and will post about them in another thread. The night was spent using the simulator for about 1 hour. I got fairly proficient at maneuvering the craft and getting my head wrapped around the control's. This was not an easy task as I have been flying RC planes for 25 years and the drone stick configuration and control is so different that I had to lock all my reflex actions into a mental cage and fly by thinking hard and not by using any reflexes.
Today was flight time
I took the Mavic out to a field which is about 300 ft from the beach and went through my check list. I was a bit concerned because the wind was a bit high and was peaking at 8 mph, but I came this far and I decided that she should be able to handle it. So I started her up in beginner mode, got my home point set and proceeded to lift her off and slowly rise to 30ft so the camera could get a good shot of the wet white towel that I used as a landing pad on the grass. I then proceeded to do figure eights and box maneuvers, then side by sides and a few altitude changes. At the end of approx 15min I bought her in close to me and tested the collision system. Everything worked fine so as my batteries started to go down to 40% I did a few practice landings and take offs in quick succession just to hone my skill at landing. On the last take off I moved her away 60ft from the take off point and proceeded to test the RTH and see what would happen.
Everything worked in Text book fashion, the Drone rose up and proceeded back to the Wet Towel and then orientated itself and started to descend. I held my finger close to the RTH button ready to cancel and my other fingers in position in case anything went haywire. I am happy to say she landed dead center on the towel, I would estimate within an inch or two of where she took off and this was with an 8 MPH cross wind.
After such a great performance by the Mavic I popped in a fresh battery and decided to take her out of beginner mode and set my Max altitude to 80M and my RTH to 100M and see what I could do. This time I decided I could relax a bit and do some recordings. So I lifted off and went up to about 200 ft and started to take some panoramic video, and then proceeded to move away from my location heading more inland. As I got about 400ft away I looked down at the screen for too long and suddenly as I looked up I could not see the drone at all I will admit that a bit of panic started to hit me as my Baby was no longer visible or audible and to make matters worst I started to notice the ground wind picking up and the Mavic started giving me high wind alerts. I looked at the screen but the glare was making it very hard to see exactly where the heck I was, I started to use the Map and navigate back but the wind was really high and I felt like I was getting in over my head so I hit the RTH. I was glad I tested it because it bought the Mavic right back into buzzing range.
I looked up and saw her and noticed a lot of wind corrections going on but I decided to let her do her thing and when she got within 20 ft of the ground I realized that an exact landing on the towel was iffy, so I cancelled the RTH and manually bought her down right onto the towel with a butt load of corrections on the way down. I will freely admit the Adrenalin was pumping, but my RC experience with engine failures and busted ailerons was certainly an asset in keeping calm.
All in all it was a fun day! I pushed that second flight a bit hard for a novice but I certainly learned a lot, I made it half way back by using the Map and I think I would have been fine without the RTH had my experience level been a bit higher.
My overall assessment is that this is one heck of a flying machine. I know a lot of you are reading about crashes and getting nervous, but don't stress yourselves, just be prepared and familiar with the controls and the menus and don't fly it indoors. If your new to drones like me its a must to use the simulator for an hour or two and then take the first flight outside in a wide open area and go very easy and just have fun. And don't do what I did on the second flight unless you know the terrain very well.
The first day home I only unpacked, did the charging and then spent the rest of the day with the family. The second day was some hardcore testing and setting up of the DJI Go 4 apps menu and configuring my iPhone 6+ and all setting interactions with the drone (No Props Connected). I learned a lot of things that day and will post about them in another thread. The night was spent using the simulator for about 1 hour. I got fairly proficient at maneuvering the craft and getting my head wrapped around the control's. This was not an easy task as I have been flying RC planes for 25 years and the drone stick configuration and control is so different that I had to lock all my reflex actions into a mental cage and fly by thinking hard and not by using any reflexes.
Today was flight time
I took the Mavic out to a field which is about 300 ft from the beach and went through my check list. I was a bit concerned because the wind was a bit high and was peaking at 8 mph, but I came this far and I decided that she should be able to handle it. So I started her up in beginner mode, got my home point set and proceeded to lift her off and slowly rise to 30ft so the camera could get a good shot of the wet white towel that I used as a landing pad on the grass. I then proceeded to do figure eights and box maneuvers, then side by sides and a few altitude changes. At the end of approx 15min I bought her in close to me and tested the collision system. Everything worked fine so as my batteries started to go down to 40% I did a few practice landings and take offs in quick succession just to hone my skill at landing. On the last take off I moved her away 60ft from the take off point and proceeded to test the RTH and see what would happen.
Everything worked in Text book fashion, the Drone rose up and proceeded back to the Wet Towel and then orientated itself and started to descend. I held my finger close to the RTH button ready to cancel and my other fingers in position in case anything went haywire. I am happy to say she landed dead center on the towel, I would estimate within an inch or two of where she took off and this was with an 8 MPH cross wind.
After such a great performance by the Mavic I popped in a fresh battery and decided to take her out of beginner mode and set my Max altitude to 80M and my RTH to 100M and see what I could do. This time I decided I could relax a bit and do some recordings. So I lifted off and went up to about 200 ft and started to take some panoramic video, and then proceeded to move away from my location heading more inland. As I got about 400ft away I looked down at the screen for too long and suddenly as I looked up I could not see the drone at all
I will admit that a bit of panic started to hit me as my Baby was no longer visible or audible and to make matters worst I started to notice the ground wind picking up and the Mavic started giving me high wind alerts. I looked at the screen but the glare was making it very hard to see exactly where the heck I was, I started to use the Map and navigate back but the wind was really high and I felt like I was getting in over my head so I hit the RTH. I was glad I tested it because it bought the Mavic right back into buzzing range.I looked up and saw her and noticed a lot of wind corrections going on but I decided to let her do her thing and when she got within 20 ft of the ground I realized that an exact landing on the towel was iffy, so I cancelled the RTH and manually bought her down right onto the towel with a butt load of corrections on the way down. I will freely admit the Adrenalin was pumping, but my RC experience with engine failures and busted ailerons was certainly an asset in keeping calm.
All in all it was a fun day! I pushed that second flight a bit hard for a novice but I certainly learned a lot, I made it half way back by using the Map and I think I would have been fine without the RTH had my experience level been a bit higher.
My overall assessment is that this is one heck of a flying machine. I know a lot of you are reading about crashes and getting nervous, but don't stress yourselves, just be prepared and familiar with the controls and the menus and don't fly it indoors. If your new to drones like me its a must to use the simulator for an hour or two and then take the first flight outside in a wide open area and go very easy and just have fun. And don't do what I did on the second flight unless you know the terrain very well.
