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That tree came out of nowhere (Video "The Death Of A Mavic" Added 3/9/17)

RC Mantis

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I was filming The Palace Of Fine Arts in San Francisco this evening. The sun was low in the sky and behind the Palace. With the harsh back lighting I was thinking the only way to get a decent exposure was to fly close enough to keep the Mavic in the shadow of The Palace. I decided to do a sideways pan and had a few moments where I lost track of the Mavic in the Sun. Being mistakenly certain that I was safe over the water I continued my pan until I saw branches and leaves on my IPad screen. I destroyed thee propellers and broke the gimbal. Who knows what other damage that is not obvious to the eye. I am relived to say there was no third party property damage and no one got hurt.

Lesson learned. Do not fly sideways when you loose sight of your Mavic even when the camera is giving you nice video that makes you think you are safe.

I just submitted my "DJI Care Refresh Claim" I will keep you guys updated on how that goes.

Ok you are all free to tell me what an idiot I am now, However I am already beating myself up on that point.

 
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Easy mistake to make but I'm sure all the Monday morning quarterbacks are suiting up for the game.

Experience is what you gain right after you need it. I'm sure next time you're in this situation, you will think back and make a change like fly from a different point or have a spotter to watch.
 
Of course you want to keep vlos at all times (wink, wink, nod, nod, say no more). But if you were to fly using your tablet screen, a good rule of thumb would be to not fly where you are not looking.
 
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Why beat yourself up? It's one of those things that can happen to anybody who is trying to create the perfect shot. I wish I had spotters when I fly but I don't. The best way that I found to minimize the chances of crashing into branches is to break the shots into smaller tightly monitored segments and then try to edit them as seamlessly as possible, but sometimes you need to get it in one shot and take a bit of a risk. Numerous guys wreck $6000 DSLRs trying to make the great shot. It's always painful but it comes with the territory.

DJI should have you up and running soon.
 
I'm coming at this from a different point of view. Doesn't it seem that the Mavic is prone to gimbal damage rather easily as a result of accidents? I've seen a lot of posts about crashes resulting in gimbals breaking and I think it is a weak point on these devices.

Feedback....,
 
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I'm coming at this from a different point of view. Doesn't it seem that the Mavic is prone to gimbal damage rather easily as a result of accidents? I've seen a lot of posts about crashes resulting in gimbals breaking and I think it is a weak point on these devices.

Feedback....,
I think looking at it tells me this is the weakest link. But to work as well as it does what else can be done
 
Complacency and over confidence is always dangerous. I snapped the arm of my mavic through over confidence - **** happens, bizarrely the gimbal appeared undamaged.
Mines in the Netherlands being repaired/replace under car refresh - problem is they are waiting on spares to be delivered from DJI. I'm now onto week 3 of waiting, it's starting to become annoying now! Hope yours is sorted quickly
 
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Yes, in an ideal world we'd all have VLOS and spotters with radios with us - but sadly that's just not practical.

If I'm flying sideways or backwards, I fly the route forwards first, setting waypoints along the way, often walking with the drone to check clearances. Then with the mission programmed in I let Litchi or your chosen system fly safely around leaving you to control the camera and watch out for people.

The other advantage of tis is that you can set up the shot on a previous visit and save off the route, wait for the sun to be just in the right position, or the weather to be better - then fly knowing your not going to hit anything! (unless the trees have grown since you set it up!)
 
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I just eddied my original post to include the video. I have enjoyed lurking and learning form all of you on this forum. I hope my mistake can be educational for others here.

 
I just eddied my original post to include the video. I have enjoyed lurking and learning form all of you on this forum. I hope my mistake can be educational for others here.


Well, you and I have learned our lesson. That's out of the way.
 
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I find that satellite / google earth view is useful on the map in the corner, it's not precise but it's often good enough to tell you that you are over land and not water, or approaching a line of trees. It is a good backup to LOS where you may not be able to assess the position in relation to an object depending on the angle you are watching from.
 
One way to avoid sideways crashes is to plan your mission on Google Earth, then load it into Litchi App to fly. You can avoid obstacles during your mission, make much smoother turns, set the camera to train on your points of interest as you are flying, and set a given distance above the ground to maintain and it controls the drone elevation. All you have to do is watch as it creates your masterpiece without worry of crashing.
 
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