Bird Strike ... nearly!!

boone · Jun 13, 2017

And vertical is the evasive action you want to take.

smantri · Jun 13, 2017

Seconds before this hawk put me into a violent spin...

Pathogen · Jun 13, 2017

boone said:
And vertical is the evasive action you want to take.

I think you might be right, because the Mavic is able to climb abruptly. The little birds around my place seem to react favourably the more aggressive I make the Mavic behave when they approach. They seem to recognize the front of Mavic when I turn it to face them. I was worried about crows here because they are always harassing the eagles, but they have no interest in the Mavic for one reason or another, maybe they are too smart?

Denn_oh · Jun 13, 2017

I agree with the 'vertical' evasive action ... there aren't many birds that can emulate a Mavic's vertical punch. Fortunately, gulls seem to fly at a distance to 'evaluate' the Mavic ... then attack. I now make a rapid escape when the situation occurs. My DJI blade cages have arrived, and they look like they will offer good protection, I will be pitting them against the gulls very soon

Denn_oh · Jun 13, 2017

smantri said:
Seconds before this hawk put me into a violent spin...

WOW!!

Fletcher500 · Jun 14, 2017

I fly over the ocean and have had a few seagulls get close, but no major problems so far.

Yesterday a large crow was making a B line for the MP and making it clear vocally he was not happy about the little MP invading his air space.

I stopped it mid flight, turned the MP directly at the Crow, i.e. Squared up, and the Crow abruptly changed course and flew away. My son and I were laughing at the spectacle.

I figured I was going to have to do some evasive flying but the crow backed down quickly...funny.

Pathogen · Jun 14, 2017

Crows are funny. I've been flying in the same area for a couple of weeks now. Today when I stepped out of the shop, there was half a dozen on the shed, seemingly waiting for the show. They are easily smart enough to understand the Mavic is somehow related to me, and since I always talk to them whenever I'm out in the yard, and have been determined to not be a threat, maybe they are looking to make friends with the quad-copter?

Knight Hawk · Jun 15, 2017

Pathogen said:
Crows are funny. I've been flying in the same area for a couple of weeks now. Today when I stepped out of the shop, there was half a dozen on the shed, seemingly waiting for the show. They are easily smart enough to understand the Mavic is somehow related to me, and since I always talk to them whenever I'm out in the yard, and have been determined to not be a threat, maybe they are looking to make friends with the quad-copter?

[emoji15]

Denn_oh · Jun 15, 2017

I've been wondering whether the smaller shape and the spread arms of the MP are more of a threat to our bird friends than the larger strange shaped look of the Phantoms and Inspires etc. Can anyone who owned one of these larger drones shed any light on the subject?

PS
I have received my DJI prop cages. I can see that they will definitely protect the MP from most bird threats, but the screaming motors of the MP have put me off using them in any place where a bird attack is a low risk. Come to think of it ... the screaming motors would probably frighten the birds away rather like the Stuka bombers in WWII

PPS
The cages are VERY well designed and made.

Atko · Jun 15, 2017

I've done everything I can think of to avoid a bird strike, but sometimes it's just bad luck. I always check area as best I can for number of birds, have bright orange decals and eagle eyes on front of mavic. Other than cages I can't think of anything else.

Wayleebird · Jun 15, 2017

I fear this every time I send the Mavic off on a Litchi mission

DomoDan · Jun 15, 2017

Denn_oh said:
I've been wondering whether the smaller shape and the spread arms of the MP are more of a threat to our bird friends than the larger strange shaped look of the Phantoms and Inspires etc. Can anyone who owned one of these larger drones shed any light on the subject?

PS
I have received my DJI prop cages. I can see that they will definitely protect the MP from most bird threats, but the screaming motors of the MP have put me off using them in any place where a bird attack is a low risk. Come to think of it ... the screaming motors would probably frighten the birds away rather like the Stuka bombers in WWII

PPS
The cages are VERY well designed and made.

Can I see some pics of the cages you got, please?

Denn_oh · Jun 15, 2017

A quick video of the prop cages in action. I think they could withstand a medium to hard bird attack, but notice how hard the motors are working to maintain attitude.

dwallersv · Jun 15, 2017

That's cool, but I call wimp turned up to 11 using a stick to push it around instead of your hand

Denn_oh · Jun 15, 2017

dwallersv said:
That's cool, but I call wimp turned up to 11 using a stick to push it around instead of your hand

Funny you should say that!! The first attempt at the video, I used my hand (fingers) to nudge the drone. However, the pad of my index finger protruded through one of the holes in the cage rim ... and ... the blade nipped my finger!!! Not being a glutton for punishment ... out came the plastic tube!!

DomoDan · Jun 15, 2017

Denn_oh said:
A quick video of the prop cages in action. I think they could withstand a medium to hard bird attack, but notice how hard the motors are working to maintain attitude.

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I watched with audio off, but I believe you. How much affect does it have on battery life? Did you buy these from DJI or are they after market?

Denn_oh · Jun 15, 2017

DomoDan said:
I watched with audio off, but I believe you. How much affect does it have on battery life? Did you buy these from DJI or are they after market?

These are genuine DJI cages.

I haven't had the opportunity to go out and exhaust any batteries, but opinion is that you will get 1/2 to 2/3rds of normal battery life. A guide is that when you turn on the prop guard option in DJI Pro 4, they warn you that the Return Home will occur at 15% battery rather than 10%

sommavic · Jun 17, 2017

Those gulls are nasty buggers. I just flew at Riomaggiore in Italy for a sunset shot and immediately got attacked. One flew out immediately and I just sped away. Figured I was safe. I was up for just a few minutes and he came back with his friends. A whole flock dive bombing it. Took evasive maneuvers and flew back. Even flying straight up didn't work as they were still with me at max altitude. Trying to land I was only like 10 ft away and one took a last swoop! Finally got it back safe and the crowd goes "bravo" and claps.

Fletcher500 · Jun 17, 2017

Copy that, sea gulls are a pain. When they are nesting, they go into overdrive and can be relentless. The fact that they are as smart as a barn yard chicken doesn't help.

sommavic said:
Those gulls are nasty buggers. I just flew at Riomaggiore in Italy for a sunset shot and immediately got attacked. One flew out immediately and I just sped away. Figured I was safe. I was up for just a few minutes and he came back with his friends. A whole flock dive bombing it. Took evasive maneuvers and flew back. Even flying straight up didn't work as they were still with me at max altitude. Trying to land I was only like 10 ft away and one took a last swoop! Finally got it back safe and the crowd goes "bravo" and claps.