One more quiz for the day. Mechanical quiz this time.

Former Member · Jan 21, 2019

Starz said:
The mistake is the material the truck is made of.

Agree. Trying to start a drone in the trunk of your car, back of an SUV, or in the bed of a pickup is a bad idea.

Former Member · Jan 21, 2019

If Donny couldnt see his display because of the sun, what preventive measures could he have taken, or what equipment could he have brought with him, before the flight to help this situation?

globeguy1 · Jan 21, 2019

Yep, much metallic interference from the truck likely had much to do with the wild gyrations....

Tofino · Jan 21, 2019

First flight he flew out of VLOS.

Mavic Pro Platinum · Jan 21, 2019

Thunderdrones said:
Great answers so far.

Did he do anything wrong by taking off from the back of his pickup truck and what do you think happened as soon as he took off?

Taking off from a magnetically interfered spot makes the compass and IMU to initialize incorrectly, after takeoff the IMU and compass would disagree with each other and the drone would not function properly and might crash.

globeguy1 · Jan 21, 2019

Thunderdrones said:
If Donny couldnt see his display because of the sun, what preventive measures could he have taken, or what equipment could he have brought with him, before the flight to help this situation?

Head umbrella, monitor designed for bright sun, hood....

Former Member · Jan 21, 2019

What do you think about his flight planning? Do you think he properly accounted for the wind, altitude, battery levels?

Tofino · Jan 21, 2019

Sunglasses for tanning on the beach and forget about trying to fly the drone.....

Mavic Pro Platinum · Jan 21, 2019

Thunderdrones said:
What do you think about his flight planning? Do you think he properly accounted for the wind, altitude, battery levels?

He flew in 20mph winds and went too low when the drone was a long ways away.

Former Member · Jan 21, 2019

Mavic Pro Platinum said:
He flew in 20mph winds and went too low when the drone was a long ways away.

Yes good point. And finally, what about his attitude with the lifeguard at the end of the flight?

Tofino · Jan 21, 2019

How can he deny any wrong doing when he has the controller in hand and is worried about his drone. He is is one of the bad apples that is ruining this fun activity for all of us other law, rule, regulation, and all other compliance, abiding "Quadcopter Operators"

Tofino · Jan 21, 2019

Even though this is fictitious.....

Former Member · Jan 21, 2019

All points well taken. Thank you for you participation!

RayOZ · Jan 21, 2019

Donny had a lousy friend, who fixes drones for a living, but didn't teach him the do's and don'ts of flying a drone.

Former Member · Jan 21, 2019

RayOZ said:
Donny had a lousy friend, who fixes drones for a living, but didn't teach him the do's and don'ts of flying a drone.

Hi man. Just call me Oddball. I only fly them, I dont know what makes em work. (This ones for you @Pietros)

Mavic Pro Platinum · Jan 21, 2019

Thunderdrones said:
Yes good point. And finally, what about his attitude with the lifeguard at the end of the flight?

Denying that it was his fault hitting the lifeguard with his drone, when he had done so many stupid things with his drone on his first flight.

BD0G · Jan 21, 2019

Thunderdrones said:
Hi man. Just call me Oddball. I only fly them, I dont know what makes em work. (This ones for you @Pietros)

An early Donald Sutherland and Telly Savalas (Kojack without his lolly)

Mavic Pro Platinum · Jan 21, 2019

Thunderdrones said:
The last quiz was procedural, and what the pilot did wrong. Call it a "reading comprehension" test.

This one will focus more on the mechanical aspects of responsible drone ownership. It's a long one. Can you think of at least 5 things he did wrong? Please, one answer per member! This is fictitious story, meant to highlight what NOT to do when flying your drone.

My friend Donny deDolt went to a beach in Florida to fly his brand new, never before flown, Mavic 2 Pro. It was a beautiful sunny day, around 110°f, and not a cloud in the sky. Donny decided to take off from the beach parking lot from the back of his pickup truck. He hooked everything up, and when the display came on, it said something about a firmware update. I'll do it later, he thought, and started the drone. As soon as it got off the bed of the pickup truck, it started flying wildly in uncontrollable circles. Piece of crap, he thought. So, Donny grudgingly marched down to the beach, put the M2P on the soft sand, and cranked up the motors. Finally, he thought, Im gonna fly! He decided to be safe, and let the drone take itself off. He hit the auto takeoff button, and the drone climbed up to a dozen or so feet, hovered for a second, and then started doing the wild circles again. This time, the drone hit a lifeguard chair, knocked the lifeguard off the chair, and climbed up again. Donny yelled that he was sorry, and proceeded to continue his flight.

At this point, Donny felt very confident that he had the ability to control the drone, so he decided to take it out over the beautiful Caribbean. Up it went, but due to the direct sunlight, Donny couldnt see his display. Heck, he thought, I can still see it with my eyes. But soon, the drone had gone so far out over the water, Donny lost sight of it. He couldnt see the display, so he ran under an umbrella, to try to see the display better. Finally he could see again. He thought he saw a dolphin swimming below, so he descended down to 10' to get a closeup. All was fine until he lost video feed. "What do I do?" he cried. Then nothing. For a few minutes, nothing on the screen. Then video feed came back but the drone was flying very slowly, Dang, he thought, it will never make it back at that speed because of the 20mph headwind. Flash! Quick thinking, he switched it into sport mode. Soon he was cruising back at 20 mph, and thought for sure he would make it back. As soon as it hit the shoreline, the critical battery function kicked in. The drone started to land. Donny did everything he could do to bring it back to him but it just kept coming down. Lucky for him, it was over land. The bad news is that it came down, and since the sensors were deactivated, landed on the head of the same lifeguard it had hit before. Donny got into an argument with the lifeguard, emphatically denied any wrong doing, and stood his ground against the stalwart lifeguard. Donnys family is accepting donations for his hospital stay. He is expected to make a partial recovery.

What did Donny do wrong?