To those debating Malcx's post.
Folks, I think you are missing a point with potentially serious consequences, that point is.
With certain models of Mavics ( I only have hands on experience of the Mini and
M2P/Z's and am not going to plough through manuals for others, hence "certain")
the CSC command may not stop the motors if the drone has its 'CSC response' set to the default mode of operation.
With the 'CSC position' response set to "
Emergency Only" (the default mode) I have taken my
Mini up to over 100m and then put the sticks in the CSC position and held them there. The Mini did, of course, come down 'quickly' but the motors were running all the way down and it was a controlled descent at the descent rate applicable to the flying mode i.e. C, P or S.
In similar tests, from lower altitudes, I even noticed the descent rate slow as the drone descended into the range of the vision sensors, as per a normal descent. It probably did slow during the 100m test but I wasn't paying that much attention to its descent speed.
With the response set to "Anytime" yes, the motors will shut down in midair, I did this experiment starting low down with the flight mode set to C (slowest descent rate and flight speeds to give me the lowest feasible test height and hopefully gentlest crash, the thinking worked). The motors stopped after the CSC position had been held for around 2 seconds and the mini dropped onto grass.
With a
Mavic 2 Pro I am not willing to risk testing this in free flight. But I have launched the drone then caught it and, to simulate free flight, started to wobble it. With the 'CSC position' response set to "Breakdown", the CSC position did not stop the motors irrespective of however long it was held ( I held it for probably 15 to 20 seconds).
With the 'CSC position' response set to "Always", the CSC position did stop the motors, and quickly so, but I didn't 'time it'.
I think this behaviour needs highlighting and emphasing as I would not mind betting that there are people out there who will miss the significance of the difference between the two response modes. I was puzzled by it and fortunately investigated it.
So, in a nutshell, if my Mini was caught in Malcx's Apache situation and the Mini's CSC response was set to "Emergency Only" and if I, coming from a Phantom 3 Adv pilot's mindset, had chosen to CSC it out of the Apach'e's way, the mini would not have dropped. I am inclined to think neither would the
M2P.
For clarity I am not advocating the use of the CSC position as routine in ANY mode.
I suspect that a mid air motor stop with the Mini will result in a crash as I suspect the Mini will tumble in free fall and, as a consequence of that tumbling, it will be impossible to restart the motors. I am not even prepared to gamble testing any of this with the
M2P in free flight.
From memory, with a Phantom 3 Adv the CSC position always works but you have to hold the position for 5 seconds