Bird collision 😬😬

[VPARREIRA_PT]

Dears,

Only to share that I've my first bird impact in one of my drones...

I saw something in the application, the gimbal moved and I saw that was something that have impacted my drone (air 2s).

I was able to return to home but was not a good feeling....

I wish you all a great 2022 without any drone incident

 

[Roamer105]

Count your blessings!!

 

[Deleted member 103366]

I was skimming your log and noticed, you started the RTH at 3:32 and a distance of 447m, 11 seconds later the drone had covered only 38m, (distance = 409m) an average speed of approximately 3.5m/s, that seems rather slow.
What drone is this?
You may have been flying in high wind blowing from the homepoint. Your drone was above the RTH height and did not descend which is probably correct behaviour but your RTH height was quite high.
Unless height is required to maintain ground clearance I suspect the drone would have been safer if you had reduced its height, the winds tend to be weaker/slower lower down. Similarly an unnecessarily high RTH height can put the drone up into fast wind.
You might also like to check the maximum permissible height above the ground in Portugal, a quick google suggests 120m, and I see that you apparently changed it at 7 seconds from 30m to 147m. Presumably that would be legal if you were flying up hill.

 

[VPARREIRA_PT]

I was skimming your log and noticed, you started the RTH at 3:32 and a distance of 447m, 11 seconds later the drone had covered only 38m, (distance = 409m) an average speed of approximately 3.5m/s, that seems rather slow.
What drone is this?
You may have been flying in high wind blowing from the homepoint. Your drone was above the RTH height and did not descend which is probably correct behaviour but your RTH height was quite high.
Unless height is required to maintain ground clearance I suspect the drone would have been safer if you had reduced its height, the winds tend to be weaker/slower lower down. Similarly an unnecessarily high RTH height can put the drone up into fast wind.
You might also like to check the maximum permissible height above the ground in Portugal, a quick google suggests 120m, and I see that you apparently changed it at 7 seconds from 30m to 147m. Presumably that would be legal if you were flying up hill.

Dear Philius, thanks for your message.

I've cancelled the rth (5s after the bird impact) because I've recovered the normal gimbal behaviour and I was thinking that would be more fast do the rth manually instead os the automatic...This is why rather slow. Regarding the wind ...No wind, nothing, after I did the return to home manually with air 2s.

After I did some flying checks near to the home point to see if something was wrong but everything was ok. In the ground I've also checked 2 times the propellers and they are fine.

Regarding the maximum altitude yes in Portugal is 120 but I never go over 100.

My first bird impact in more than 150 flights...but can appen in each flight.

Best regards

 

[sar104]

Dear Philius, thanks for your message.

I've cancelled the rth (5s after the bird impact) because I've recovered the normal gimbal behaviour and I was thinking that would be more fast do the rth manually instead os the automatic...This is why rather slow. Regarding the wind ...No wind, nothing, after I did the return to home manually with air 2s.

After I did some flying checks near to the home point to see if something was wrong but everything was ok. In the ground I've also checked 2 times the propellers and they are fine.

Regarding the maximum altitude yes in Portugal is 120 but I never go over 100.

My first bird impact in more than 150 flights...but can appen in each flight.

Best regards

I'm just curious - did you see a bird hit it, or are you simply inferring a bird strike from the odd behavior and the AirData notification?

 

[VPARREIRA_PT]

I'm just curious - did you see a bird hit it, or are you simply inferring a bird strike from the odd behavior and the AirData notification?

I saw the gimbal with an erratic behaviour (1 second ) and I was assuming that was an impact that is why I've returned to home. If I didnt see anything In the display I was continuing my flight...

After I saw the register and I saw the log and was when I saw the erratic behaviour not the gimbal.

Regards

 

[sar104]

I saw the gimbal with an erratic behaviour (1 second ) and I was assuming that was an impact that is why I've returned to home. If I didnt see anything In the display I was continuing my flight...

After I saw the register and I saw the log and was when I saw the erratic behaviour not the gimbal.

Regards

Okay - that's pretty inconclusive.

 

[Crouching Leopard]

Your situation does indicate an impact of some kind.

I have found that, a gust of wind or even a breeze can cause gimbal erratic behavior that initially looks like a bird strike. Sometimes, flying at the wrong angle to the wind / breeze can cause this behaviour. See the attached video. This was taken a few days ago with a mild breeze and no wind warning. Scary at the time. The sudden pitch down was part of the erratic behavior. I stopped the flight and returned home. Inspected the drone, found no issues. Everything was clean. .

I will check the flight logs to see if anything is logged there, but I have had this before in a cross wind situation.

 

[zeusfl]

Your situation does indicate an impact of some kind.

I have found that, a gust of wind or even a breeze can cause gimbal erratic behavior that initially looks like a bird strike. Sometimes, flying at the wrong angle to the wind / breeze can cause this behaviour. See the attached video. This was taken a few days ago with a mild breeze and no wind warning. Scary at the time. The sudden pitch down was part of the erratic behavior. I stopped the flight and returned home. Inspected the drone, found no issues. Everything was clean. .

I will check the flight logs to see if anything is logged there, but I have had this before in a cross wind situation.

For me that looks like a gimbal malfunction, in my opinion, judging by the trees the wind is not strong at all and the Mavic Air 2S can handle much more than that without affecting the gimbal.

 

[Crouching Leopard]

For me that looks like a gimbal malfunction, in my opinion, judging by the trees the wind is not strong at all and the Mavic Air 2S can handle much more than that without affecting the gimbal.

Found this interesting DJI video that might explain what happened in mine and vpaerriera situation. So much to learn and remember. Dont konw how this is reported n the log files, must check them when I have a moment.

 

[zeusfl]

When the video is right your drone gimbal was shaking that is not normal.

 

[LayinLo]

Birds love attacking my air2s when doing morning hyperlapses. I’ve been told that a BB gun/pistol can work wonders to scare them off...

 

[VPARREIRA_PT]

Your situation does indicate an impact of some kind.

I have found that, a gust of wind or even a breeze can cause gimbal erratic behavior that initially looks like a bird strike. Sometimes, flying at the wrong angle to the wind / breeze can cause this behaviour. See the attached video. This was taken a few days ago with a mild breeze and no wind warning. Scary at the time. The sudden pitch down was part of the erratic behavior. I stopped the flight and returned home. Inspected the drone, found no issues. Everything was clean. .

I will check the flight logs to see if anything is logged there, but I have had this before in a cross wind situation.

Hello,

In the log files did you have any bird impact?

Regards

 

[VPARREIRA_PT]

For me that looks like a gimbal malfunction, in my opinion, judging by the trees the wind is not strong at all and the Mavic Air 2S can handle much more than that without affecting the gimbal.

Hello,

What is strange is that I saw the gimbal with erratic behaviour and in the logs the information about possible bird impact...it's really a coincidence.

Thanks

 

[eEridani]

I've seen the scratchy gimbal motion once, but that was after an unintentional landing in sand -- one drone leg missed the landing table and it fell the 30 inches to the beach. The next flight exposed the problem, but it wasn't continuous, just a random catch or jitter.

A loop, some low pressure air, and patience, I was able to get gimbal clean and the problem has never returned. Air2.

 

[MS Coast]

Found this interesting DJI video that might explain what happened in mine and vpaerriera situation. So much to learn and remember. Dont konw how this is reported n the log files, must check them when I have a moment.

That video is directed at the Mavic 2. Does that behavior occur in the Air 2S?

 

[Crouching Leopard]

That video is directed at the Mavic 2. Does that behavior occur in the Air 2S?

Dont know for sure, but I have seen it happen in my FPV and mini so I am guessing it may be universal.