5 days later, my Mavic Air just died (RIP)

[ac0j]

yes

 

[Just_nick]

Flying through a bridge: the magic words for death.

 

[Kilrah]

"You want to change the default behavior of returning home to just hovering" - That wasn't an option on the Mavic or Spark, is it now ?

Spark no, Mavic always has been.

 

[John23]

Howdee, thank you all for the kind messages
do you guys think that I could prevent this lost reception issue using a non-WIFI drone ?

@NickB did you mean that you never went across any bridge with a drone ?

@Simmo yeap I read the manual (which is not thick at all) but I didn't know that the Collision Avoidance would crash my drone into that stone pylon ! (because of a lost signal - that I doubt I could get because my remote control was so pointing the drone !)

@synaesthesia : at least your Collision Avoidance didn't crash your drone into a wall

@Kilrah : didn't know that I could lost reception as the RC was pointing the drone like 10 meters away. But the thick wall (and its framework probably) scrambled maybe the WIFI ?

@MavicMo : yup I got your point now

@Top Hat : thx, yes, RIP, down the river ..

@shb : I guess I should have done a couple of test with tunnels & metals before practicing on the top of a not so quiet river

@Cliff_622 : getting an exlusive video about the GMO'mified Gates family would have been a good story too !

@Talley : thx for the kind words, did you remove all the CA in order to complete those attempts ?


thanks again guys and happy flights,
John23

 

[mblaide]

If you have DJI Care Refresh and can find the drone in the river then you can send it in for a new one at a modest charge. They will cover mistakes like this but only if you return the drone.

 

[John23]

If you have DJI Care Refresh and can find the drone in the river then you can send it in for a new one at a modest charge. They will cover mistakes like this but only if you return the drone.

thanks @mblaide but the drone sinked and has probably been taken far away down this muddy river. And I didn't subscribe to the DJI Care Refresh option when I bought that Mavic

 

[Talley]

John,

I was flying my P3P when I was doing it... It's a bit more robust in the does anything your controller tells it to regardless if crap is in the way lol

 

[Vind]

Always fly first in an open field to get the feel of it Very expensive learning experience

 

[OldBlueHeron]

If you elect to get another DJI make sure that you read the actual manual online and not just the quick user guide that comes with the drone.

 

[John23]

make sure that you read the actual manual online

sure, downloading the Spark manual right now, think I'm gonna train a little bit with a smaller drone first eheh

 

[gtolover]

look on the bright side,you can say you were one of the first if not the first to lose a MA,that bridge is probably at least 50% steel and just coated with concrete as a filler.

 

[Dan]

Should of switched it in to ATTI mode, oh wait.... This is a MA.

Get a hackable MP, should be easy to do once you understand how ATTI mode behaves.

 

[Simmo]

That video wont work for me, but I dont reckon it was GPS, I reckon simple forward sensors, saying 'obstacle' fly over or around, which it clearly couldn't do...

 

[vertrider]

Man,

sorry to hear. That’s a loss.

However: look ahead, learn from this experience, and restart flying drones.

Tipps:

- first: take an evening or two time, and watch all the DJI tutorials. the ones for the Mavic Pro are great as well.

- second, get OUT of the City on the Country side on the weekend. Search for a wide open spot, and practice flying there.

- don’t fly over people etc, don’t fly in the city, unless you have practiced at least for 10 hours - again outside the city.

next time your pilot errors could harm people etc.

OK?

Cheers,
Chris

 

[vertrider]

Ps: Update your knowledge about the No-Fly Zones in your Area.

Flying Drones heed responsible actions, and you should train with your drone as much as possible.

flight hours can’t be replaced with anything else. from practice you get good. and not from fooling around.

Cheers

 

[Huddy]

I’m sorry to hear about your lost drone. The usual culprits will chant their ‘read the manual’ mantra. I find this most unhelpful. I see no evidence that you didn’t read the manual. You came here for help and you were met with that shallow preaching.

Having said that, I’ve had my Mavic for a year and I’m nowhere near experienced or confident enough to attempt something like this. Everything about it screams ‘don’t do it’. It’s not in the manual, but it’s about your own judgement.

Please learn from this. Buy another drone and always fly well within your capabilities. Don’t lose self-confidence.

 

[Anthony Viscomi]

Sorry that you loss your Air and I won't bother to point out the mistakes you made because they've already be covered. Though I will say that I own/owned multiple DJI products and have never had an issue or even come close to losing one.

 

[KevinPritchett]

This is a tough crowd! Sorry for your loss. An important part that comes with flying a drone is knowing how to stay calm under pressure and identifying the problems that your equipment is experiencing before reacting in a way that will cause you to loose your drone. In my opinion your initial issue was with your drone utilizing several obstacle avoidance triggers at the same time which caused it to freeze. I have 35 foot ceilings and fly in my house often and while flying my MA I noticed that it would freeze and shimmy in a crazy way if multiple sensors are triggered at the same time. That has never occurred with any of my other drones while flying in the house. I’ve flown through bridges, over bridges, through dense forest, in homes, in extreme low light, you name it and I have not crashed, however; I’ve learned a lot from those unique characteristics my drones have displayed while navigating in various environments that most are afraid to tackle. And each of my drones behave differently in those environments. I think your lack of experience and familiarity with your equipment got you this time. Learn from it and get another drone! Don’t let the bashing stop you from enjoying this outstanding hobby. There’s not a bridge out there that I would be afraid to tackle... but you must understand every detail of your equipment and the flight characteristics to ensure you can avoid a sticky situation.

 

[Callum]

that bridge is probably at least 50% steel and just coated with concrete as a filler.

Doubt it.

It's an old bridge, as he fly's under you can see it is made of brick with a keystone arch.

 

[Air Beetle]

I was thinking of a training scenario where I fly from the driveway into the garage to learn how it behaves in that exact scenario. I could tune the settings and learn what to expect should I find myself in a spot that would look the same to the Air. It’s on my list of things to “try”. I don’t know that I would ever try it over water. I did shoot progress videos of the construction of my garage with my P4. I never could quite get it up through the trusses because it was too big but I did fly through the 6x4 window without triggering forward avoidance. It was a cool video.

I might be the next one to lose one LOL.