Mavic Lost! Failure to Return to Home

[dirkclod]

My sincere apologies. I simply was unable to control myself after reading the thread, and therefore shouldn't have been participating.

That was for everyone not just you.
Sorry if you thought it was.

 

[Red_Raven]

That was for everyone not just you.
Sorry if you thought it was.

I just made that assumption because all around the Internet moderators get triggered by words like ****, shut it and c**t.
Glad you guys don't.... Lol

....I'll find my way out!

 

[AwesomeIan]

Hi all,

I've been a longtime reader of this forum, all the way back to my Phantom 3 Professional days. I've owned the P3P, the P4, and now, for a brief time, the Mavic Pro. According to my profile, I have 1,131,787 feet logged (214.35 miles) and 16 hours 14 minutes of flight time, synced between my iPhone and iPad. Not professing to be a pro, but not considering myself a novice. This is my first post. The reason I'm motivated to make a post is because I want to share with you what happened to me today. I ordered the Mavic Pro Fly More Combo direct from DJI on 10-3-16. I picked it up from the FedEx center last night after 6pm on 11-29-16 because no one was home to sign for it. Got it home, charged up the batteries and remote. Did the compulsory update. Flew it twice that night from my house. Short flights, nothing fancy, just checking out the handling and functions. I noticed it had a tendency to drift to the left or crab sideways in forward flight. Did the stick calibration which seemed to alleviate it somewhat but did not eliminate it. Gimball had a slightly tilted horizon, adjusted that in software. Other than that, all seemed well and I was very wowed and pleased with the diminutive size of it along with the build quality and solid construction of the airframe and remote. Ok, onto the third and final flight. That happened today, at around 11:30 am. I took off near the downtown of a major metropolitan area. I flew towards the city center. Had good solid signal with the Occusync system - it isn't all just marketing hype, I can really tell the difference between the strength of the video downlink as well as the higher quality of the feed. Still crabbing a bit, it was challenging to fly in a straight line. I flew about 7800 feet to the city center with a good signal. Here's where everything went pear shaped. I could tell the signal was starting to degrade around the tall buildings. Battery was at 47%. Altitude was around 300 feet. I was in the process of ascending to get better signal to make the trip back home when the image greyed out and finally dropped. Got the prompt asking if I wanted to return to home, which I said yes. Stood there for about 20 - 40 seconds, expecting to get signal back any second. A minute goes by. Then two and three. Then four minutes. At which time I started to get that panicky feeling rising in my chest. I jumped in my car and drove the straight shot downtown, got there in about 4 minutes, holding my remote out the window the whole time. Got all the way to where I last lost it. Nothing. Never re-established signal. The remote just sat there, saying "CONNECTING" on the screen. It was gone. Went back to where I launched. It was nowhere to be found. Vision positioning system was turned OFF. Smart return to home was turned ON. Return to home altitude set at 90 meters. Buildings in that area are around 450+ feet tall. I have the FAA registration in the battery compartment as well as my telephone number to claim a reward. I had the drone about 18 hours before I lost it.

After taking some time to compose myself I picked up the phone and called DJI technical support. I spoke to a tech and described my situation, in which he opened a case for review. I synced my flight records, provided my email address and serial number on the back of my controller, a screen shot of my order number for proof of sale, along with the above description of what happened. The rep said that they would review the incident and get back with me in one to two weeks. What they will determine, or do, I don't know and the tech was noncommital when I asked him that. I contacted DJI sales through chat and waited awhile before one became available (there were 91 people ahead of me) and asked about the $749 Mavic without the RC option to see if it was available, as it is not available for purchase on their website. The $749 option without the remote was touted during the official announcement. The DJI sales rep replied with:

"Right now there is not any Mavic without remote controller for sale yet. We may release one later. Mavic pro comes with a remote controller. You are not recommended to use Mavic without controller. When you fly in wifi mode, the max height and range will be cut."

So now my options are to wait till the tech support gets back to me about my fly away issue, or I can order a $999 Mavic with RC, or do without. I have all the other accessories to the drone, extra batteries, car charger, bag, etc. I just really need the aircraft. After considering this issue all day, I went ahead and ordered the $999 Mavic. If tech support gets back to me and determines that I can get a concession whether its a full replacement or option to buy the aircraft only at a reduced price, I can always cancel my order. Somehow I don't feel optimistic about this though.

I am writing this to share with you my experience as both a precautionary tale and maybe as an example of a product feature not working as intended. With the smart return to home, when the drone encounters an obstacle it should try to ascend and go over, or at the very least, hover in place. I've lost connection with my Phantoms countless times and they have always come back. It's very possible that a tall building was in the return path. Ask questions, make comments, offer ideas - this is what the forum is for. I've been beating myself up all day about this, and will continue to do so for quite a while, so please, I don't need comments about maintaining visual line of sight, I'm ruining the hobby for everyone else, etc. There's a very good reason why I don't post on forums. Not just this forum, but most of them. And on here there's always going to be the people thumping rule books and that isn't something that is going to be constructive in my case. But I digress and I shall wait for it to start. Shouldn't take long.

With a spotter using binoculars I can get about 3400-4000' before you can no longer see the drone. Obviously 7800' was outside line of sight which is a requirement to fly.

 

[Strafe1]

With a spotter using binoculars I can get about 3400-4000' before you can no longer see the drone. Obviously 7800' was outside line of sight which is a requirement to fly.

Actually, I believe binoculars or the like are not allowed to extend your VLOS.

 

[ThisIsCusel]

Can I safely assume all the "drone police" made sure to report the $1000+ online purchase to their state government while filing taxes in order to pay the appropriate sales tax?

I'm sure I am just being paranoid as any self-respecting, rule following, holier-than-thou, drone enthusiast would never ever consider anything other than 100% compliance with the "Man."

 

[Grey Wolf]

I know......

Then why did you do it?
Makes us drone users look really bad when something like this happens.

 

[ThisIsCusel]

Then why did you do it?
Makes us drone users look really bad when something like this happens.

Ok, the pilot, his friend, the building manager, and this forum completes the list of people in the entire world who know or care about this particular incident.

I don't think it has had any affect on how "us drone users" look.

 

[AwesomeIan]

Actually, I believe binoculars or the like are not allowed to extend your VLOS.

Do you have a source? Not saying that you are wrong. Just trying to find where this is outlined.

 

[Grey Wolf]

Do you have a source? Not saying that you are wrong. Just trying to find where this is outlined.

Yes, FAA regulations and those of other countries absolutely forbid the use of binoculars.
It's stated that flying beyond visual line of sight requires spotters every two hundred feet or so whereby they can see the drone with their naked eyes and report to the operator by radio, cell, walkies or whatever!
However, I've discovered that the transmit button on Motorola walkies, turns off the video recording when activated and on again when pressed again. Weird!

 

[HFMan]

Do you have a source? Not saying that you are wrong. Just trying to find where this is outlined.

Read this document:

https://www.faa.gov/uas/media/model_aircraft_spec_rule.pdf

 

[Grey Wolf]

"Beyond visual line of sight" — or BVLOS — has become part of the UAV user's lexicon, and it's fairly self-explanatory; it simply means that the operator cannot physically see the drone he or she is piloting.

According to Transport Canada, the definition of visual line of sight is "unaided visual contact with the aircraft sufficient to be able to maintain operational control of the aircraft, know its location, and be able to scan the airspace in which it is operating to decisively see and avoid other air traffic or objects.” BVLOS describes UAS flight operations conducted at standoff distances beyond the visual contact described above.

Currently, Transport Canada doesn't allow BVLOS flying without a Special Flight Operations Certificate (SFOC).

Transport Canada’s Staff Instruction 623-001 establishes the following conditions for BVLOS operations:

• BVLOS flights cannot take place outside of restricted airspace, unless the operator can mitigate risk to an acceptable level i.e. through the use of ground-based radar
• BVLOS flights must not be conducted over populated areas
• BVLOS flights must be conducted in visual meteorological conditions
• BVLOS flights cannot be conducted within controlled airspace
• BVLOS flights can only be conducted within 5 nautical miles of the point of departure
• The take-off and landing/recovery must be conducted within visual line-of-sight
• Direct radio line-of-sight capability must be maintained throughout the operating area!

 

[AwesomeIan]

Read this document:

https://www.faa.gov/uas/media/model_aircraft_spec_rule.pdf

Thanks so much! Copy/pasted from that doc
"people other than the operator may not be used in lieu of the operator for maintaining visual line of sight."

"To ensure that the operator has the best view of the aircraft, the statutory requirement would preclude the use of vision-enhancing devices, such as binoculars, night vision goggles, powered vision magnifying devices"