New pilot - general question on losing drones and flyaways

[reemas]

Hi everyone, my first drone is the Mavic Pro 2. I do know how to fly drones and am learning the nuances of the DJI interface and drone itself.

Really I just want to better understand what causes drones to go missing or fly away or get lost. I also hold a pilot license so I’m respectful of all FAA rules and regulations in my area. Just want to know more about how likely or unlikely it is I’d lose a drone over water or while hiking due to some non-user related error. For example the software crashes, or some type of radio interference or other issues.

Also how often should I be calibrating the drones IMU?

 

[Bunny Too]

Hi everyone, my first drone is the Mavic Pro 2. I do know how to fly drones and am learning the nuances of the DJI interface and drone itself.

Really I just want to better understand what causes drones to go missing or fly away or get lost. I also hold a pilot license so I’m respectful of all FAA rules and regulations in my area. Just want to know more about how likely or unlikely it is I’d lose a drone over water or while hiking due to some non-user related error. For example the software crashes, or some type of radio interference or other issues.

Also how often should I be calibrating the drones IMU?

Howdy from Wyoming @reemas , welcome to the community, plenty of fine folk and excellent information here.

 

[Jack Daw]

Never calibrate the IMU unless the program tells you you have to.

 

[Simmo]

Remain in VLOS and your chances of not losing the drone are heaps better.

 

[reemas]

Never calibrate the IMU unless the program tells you you have to.

Thanks didn’t know this. I’ve seen people, even prominent YouTube reviewers, saying to calibrate this and the gyro after it ships from China and anytime after traveling a long distance.

 

[Cyberdude47]

What is VLOS?

 

[Bunny Too]

What is VLOS?

Visual Line Of Sight.

 

[rfc]

Hi everyone, my first drone is the Mavic Pro 2. I do know how to fly drones and am learning the nuances of the DJI interface and drone itself.

Really I just want to better understand what causes drones to go missing or fly away or get lost. I also hold a pilot license so I’m respectful of all FAA rules and regulations in my area. Just want to know more about how likely or unlikely it is I’d lose a drone over water or while hiking due to some non-user related error. For example the software crashes, or some type of radio interference or other issues.

Also how often should I be calibrating the drones IMU?

This is not related specifically to flyaways, but if you want to expand your question to include totally unexpected crashes: One of the most frequent reasons for these is taking off from magnetically disturbed locations. One must pay close attention to the compass indicator on the screen before takeoff and confirm that it matches the real orientation of the A/C, or it will immediately after takeoff go whacko bonkers on you, in most cases un-recoverablly so.

Do a search here and you will find many such crashes.

 

[Jack Daw]

Thanks didn’t know this. I’ve seen people, even prominent YouTube reviewers, saying to calibrate this and the gyro after it ships from China and anytime after traveling a long distance.

Some people think you should calibrate the compass after travelling a long distance, but I haven't. myself, seen anyone suggest you need to do anything to the IMU or GPS.

 

[Nosebump]

Hi everyone, my first drone is the Mavic Pro 2. I do know how to fly drones and am learning the nuances of the DJI interface and drone itself.

Really I just want to better understand what causes drones to go missing or fly away or get lost. I also hold a pilot license so I’m respectful of all FAA rules and regulations in my area. Just want to know more about how likely or unlikely it is I’d lose a drone over water or while hiking due to some non-user related error. For example the software crashes, or some type of radio interference or other issues.

Also how often should I be calibrating the drones IMU?

Ah, a fellow pilot! Then you know all of the airspace requirements. If you haven't registered your drone with the FAA, please spend the $5.00 and do so. The fines are draconian.

You can apply for your drone license and fly under part 107 which allows much more flexibility. As a pilot, you'll be exempted from the knowledge test if you've had a recent bi-anneal. Now for your real question.

Avoid proximity to cell towers. They can cause a fly-away.
Don't do "range" tests. Not only are they illegal, but they're stupid as well.
Set up your drone correctly and pay particular attention to your Return To Home settings. If you need a list of settings, let me know.
Calibrate your IMU when you get your drone, and after a software/firmware update. Also if you've traveled.
Learn to fly the drone before messing with photography. As a pilot, some of the controls are counter-intuitive. As an example, we "pull-up" to increase our altitude. If you "pull-up" on the left stick, you'll sink into the weeds (-Ask me how I know). Go to some big field with no overhead power lines or obstructions and just practice. Use up a whole battery or two. When you want to take pictures, get the drone above anything that you can run into. Then you can play with the gimbal and other camera settings. The RTH button will be your friend! Before you land, position your camera looking straight ahead and not down. That way you won't booger-up your Hasselblad lens.

Use a landing pad! You can get a free one at any US Post Office. They're mislabeled as Priority Mail Shipping Boxes. Leave them flat until you crash your drone. Then they fold open into a handy-dandy box that you can ship your drone back to DJI for repair. The landing pad will protect your drone from ground debris that can and will damage your props, or get sucked into the cooling intakes of the drone. -Of course you can buy one of those cute ones from Amazon with a big H, and that fold up, but for now, the shipping box will work just fine.

When you start your drone, wait until the GPS green appears. When you take off, climb to at least 30' so the drone will more accurately record its home point.

Create a checklist. That way you won't forget to do something, like removing the gimbal clamp.

That's enough for now. Good luck with your drone. You'll have loads of fun, and it's cheaper than flying the Cessna.

 

[Jack Daw]

Ah, a fellow pilot! Then you know all of the airspace requirements. If you haven't registered your drone with the FAA, please spend the $5.00 and do so. The fines are draconian.

You can apply for your drone license and fly under part 107 which allows much more flexibility. As a pilot, you'll be exempted from the knowledge test if you've had a recent bi-anneal. Now for your real question.

Avoid proximity to cell towers. They can cause a fly-away.
Don't do "range" tests. Not only are they illegal, but they're stupid as well.
Set up your drone correctly and pay particular attention to your Return To Home settings. If you need a list of settings, let me know.
Calibrate your IMU when you get your drone, and after a software/firmware update. Also if you've traveled.
Learn to fly the drone before messing with photography. As a pilot, some of the controls are counter-intuitive. As an example, we "pull-up" to increase our altitude. If you "pull-up" on the left stick, you'll sink into the weeds (-Ask me how I know). Go to some big field with no overhead power lines or obstructions and just practice. Use up a whole battery or two. When you want to take pictures, get the drone above anything that you can run into. Then you can play with the gimbal and other camera settings. The RTH button will be your friend! Before you land, position your camera looking straight ahead and not down. That way you won't booger-up your Hasselblad lens.

Use a landing pad! You can get a free one at any US Post Office. They're mislabeled as Priority Mail Shipping Boxes. Leave them flat until you crash your drone. Then they fold open into a handy-dandy box that you can ship your drone back to DJI for repair. The landing pad will protect your drone from ground debris that can and will damage your props, or get sucked into the cooling intakes of the drone. -Of course you can buy one of those cute ones from Amazon with a big H, and that fold up, but for now, the shipping box will work just fine.

When you start your drone, wait until the GPS green appears. When you take off, climb to at least 30' so the drone will more accurately record its home point.

Create a checklist. That way you won't forget to do something, like removing the gimbal clamp.

That's enough for now. Good luck with your drone. You'll have loads of fun, and it's cheaper than flying the Cessna.

News to me. I'm of the "if-it-ain't-broke" school on this sort of thing. In fact, I almost always move my MA rather than calibrate the compass. The more things you screw around with, the more you'e likely to break something.

 

[reemas]

If you haven't registered your drone with the FAA, please spend the $5.00 and do so. The fines are draconian.

Thanks for the plethora of tips and information! What is the purpose of registering the drone with the FAA?

Set up your drone correctly and pay particular attention to your Return To Home settings. If you need a list of settings, let me know.

Would love to get the setting information from you.

Calibrate your IMU when you get your drone, and after a software/firmware update.

Why calibrate the IMU when its first received? DJI said it was factory calibrated. Just curious what the benefits are here.

Thanks again for the wealth of info, looking forward to getting up to speed in these areas.

 

[JLeePhoto]

Lots of good advice here. I’m no expert and have minimal time in compared to many here. But, I am one of 80+ 107 pilots flying for a media company with very stringent training requirements for safe flight.

We were taught to read the manual and hold fast to the DJI recommendations. Thus, we only calibrate when the App tells us to and are careful to keep up to date with updates.
We were taught that the most frequent reason for a flyaway are wireless or magnetic interference. Checking to assure that the icon on our compass is oriented the same as the drone is part of the preflight checklist.
I can confirm that if the compass is confused, you are asking for trouble.

Immediately upon takeoff we hover about 10ft and check all controls to assure the bird is behaving as instructed.

We only fly with the assistance of a visual observer and only with VLOS so the observer can keep track sUAS and warn of any dangers and deal with any distractions.

We practice flying with only manual control inputs and without the aid of the screen in case telemetry is lost. We were taught that automatic features like Return to Home are a frequent cause of problems and to use only as a last resort.

Finally, we are discouraged from using special flight modes or any additional software as relinquishing control to a flying computer is subject to glitches and failure.

Have fun and good luck. Hope some of this helps.

 

[Qoncussion]

Never calibrate the IMU unless the program tells you you have to.

Thanks didn’t know this. I’ve seen people, even prominent YouTube reviewers, saying to calibrate this and the gyro after it ships from China and anytime after traveling a long distance.

I hate to disagree with @Jack Daw's statement, but once you have enough experience, you'll know when to calibrate the IMU, without the app telling you to do so. You'll learn how to notice the little differences while flying ~ between a healthy IMU, and one that requires calibration.

A few months back my MP would drift ever so slightly to the left, when flying a *long* straightaway. I calibrated the IMU, then used the on-screen grid in Litchi, which displays an "X" on the screen, which crosses in the exact center of the screen. I lined up the cross of the X on the trunk of a tall pine tree and flew straight forward. At a range of 3,000 feet, the craft stayed precisely on target. Sure enough, calibrating the IMU did the trick.

After a while, you'll learn what is normal, and what just doesn't feel right.

 

[MavicMo]

Some good info in this thread and some "huh"?

I've been flying drones for years, hundreds of hours flying my various DJI drones and my Yuneec drones, Doesn't make me an expert, but I've got lots of experience to share. I've NEVER had a flyaway in the hundreds of hours of flying, NEVER had a mysterious or random crash.

I follow some simple rules -

• I use a checklist and follow it religiously regardless of how short the flight is
• I don't rush and I take my time rather than rush to get my drone into the air
• I have NO error messages or warnings displayed of any type that may interfere with the flight
• I hover my drone in front of me and make sure no errors or warnings pop-up before performing whatever task i'm doing. If errors/warnings pop-up I do NOT ignore them.
• I scout the area I'm going to fly to ensure there are no unknown/unexpected obstacles
• I'm aware of the weather/atmosphere conditions and fly accordingly
• I don't push the limits of flight time. If I want to capture a particularly object and it's distance may be pushing battery limits, I'll move closer to it

Regarding CC. Back in the day it was recommend you do it every time you change location, but today not so much. There are two situations I do CCs. When I'm prompted to do so on the App OR when I notice my drone tends to drift. I've NEVER had an issue because I've performed a CC...

Good Luck flying and filming!

 

[Simmo]

Never done an IMU cal....
Never had a crash either..
Guess I'm just lucky?

 

[SpitFire]

Hi everyone, my first drone is the Mavic Pro 2. I do know how to fly drones and am learning the nuances of the DJI interface and drone itself.

Really I just want to better understand what causes drones to go missing or fly away or get lost. I also hold a pilot license so I’m respectful of all FAA rules and regulations in my area. Just want to know more about how likely or unlikely it is I’d lose a drone over water or while hiking due to some non-user related error. For example the software crashes, or some type of radio interference or other issues.

Also how often should I be calibrating the drones IMU?

Welcome from Chicago. Mavic Pilots forum is a very useful tool to help you gain knowledge, confidence, and ability to fly your drone. You will have a lot of questions, and one of the places to get answers is on Mavic Help. Look at Mavic tips, has answers to all your questions. The drone is like a airplane a person does not get in and fly a plane for the first time with out gaining experience.
Blue skies and safe flying.

 

[Nosebump]

Thanks for the plethora of tips and information! What is the purpose of registering the drone with the FAA?


Would love to get the setting information from you.


Why calibrate the IMU when its first received? DJI said it was factory calibrated. Just curious what the benefits are here.

Thanks again for the wealth of info, looking forward to getting up to speed in these areas.

Why register your drone? The fine for not doing so is (-I think) $250,000.00. Why do they want it registered? Because they control airspace, and they do.

Mavic Pro Checklist


Drone

1. Open arms and spread propellers

2. Check props for nicks, cracks, and security

3. Remove camera cover and gimbal clamp

4. Check battery security

5. Check camera

Camera facing forward and up

Check lens for fingerprints

6. Check bottom and back and sides for obstructions to airflow

7. Insure that SD card is installed

8. Insure that switch in SD compartment is set to RC (-NOT WiFi)


RC Controller

1. Check charge

2. Spread antennas and arms (-handles)

3. Attach phone and plug in the connection cable

4. Connected, with everything GREEN and Ready to Fly


Start-up

1. Remote - ON (-Short quick tap, then long 2nd tap)

Display will show ATTI, GPS, then READY TO GO

2. Drone - ON (-Short quick tap, then long 2nd tap)

3. Start the DJI Go 4 App

4. Adjust phone brightness (-slide up from bottom of the phone screen)


After Takeoff

-Raise drone to at least 30' to set home base


After Landing

-Allow drone to cool off

-Insert gimbal clamp and cover


Pre-Flight Settings


Calibrate

1. IMU

-Click on GPS icon (top, middle), which opens the MC Settings page

-Scroll to the bottom to Advanced Settings

-Scroll to Sensor State

-Click on IMU calibration and follow the steps

2. Compass

-Spread the arms back out

-Attach props

-Go to same quadcopter MC Settings as above

-Follow the compass calibration procedure

3. Gimbal

-From the quadcopter menu, go to bottom and click the camera icon.

-Click on Auto Calibrate Gimbal and follow the steps

App Settings

1. Enable Obstacle Avoidance - ON

2. Allow Horizontal Obstacle Avoidance - OFF

3. Enable Backward Flying - ON

4. Enable Obstacle Avoidance - OFF

5. Advanced Vision Settings

Enable Downward Vision Positioning-- ON

Smart Landing Protection-ON

Precision Landing- ON

Turn on Smart Return Home-ON

6. Return to Home Altitude - 60 meters

7. Maximum Altitude - 122 meters

8. Distance Limit - ON

9. Maximum Flight Distance - 2000 meters


Update Firmware and software

-AS NEEDED


Video Settings

-Click on lower right "slider settings" icon

-Select MANUAL mode

-ISO 100 to 200 for best images (use lowest ISO possible)

-Adjust Shutter to around 60 (Shutter speed should not be less than twice the frame rate)

-Set White Balance for ambient conditions

-Set 4K/24 fps (4096x2160) *2.7k is great too

-Tap center of screen to set the focus!

Under MC Settings

-Go to ADVANCED, then EXP to adjust sensitivities

Throttle down - 0.25

Rudder Left - 0.10

Backward/Left - 0.15

Sensitivity

-Attitude (-how aggressive it reacts to control input) - 100

-Brake how aggressive it reacts to lack of input) - 130

-Yaw Endpoint (left/right rotation input limit) - 50

-Urgent Stop Mode - DON'T set to "always”, set to "Breakdown"

Gimbal Settings (-Camera icon before (...)

-Gimbal Mode – FOLLOW

-Centering Camera – When horizon is screwed up, do on a level table

-Adjust Gimbal Roll – Same as above

-Gimbal auto calibration – Maintenance issue

IN ADVANCED SETTINGS

-Gimbal Pitch EXP – 10 (Gimbal speed, rated 0-100)

-Gimbal Tilt Limit – ON (Lets you see above the drone 30°)

-Gimbal Pitch Smoothness - 15

-Gimbal Yaw settings - ON

-Gimbal Pan Synchronous Follow - ON

-Enable Upwards Gimbal Tilt - ON

 

[charliesRig]

Never fly with less the 20% battery

 

[flyersnut]

This is not related specifically to flyaways, but if you want to expand your question to include totally unexpected crashes: One of the most frequent reasons for these is taking off from magnetically disturbed locations. One must pay close attention to the compass indicator on the screen before takeoff and confirm that it matches the real orientation of the A/C, or it will immediately after takeoff go whacko bonkers on you, in most cases un-recoverablly so.

Do a search here and you will find many such crashes.

This is not related specifically to flyaways, but if you want to expand your question to include totally unexpected crashes: One of the most frequent reasons for these is taking off from magnetically disturbed locations. One must pay close attention to the compass indicator on the screen before takeoff and confirm that it matches the real orientation of the A/C, or it will immediately after takeoff go whacko bonkers on you, in most cases un-recoverablly so.

Do a search here and you will find many such crashes.