Bloody flying rats ( seagulls)

[paul2770]

Hi all

So there I was day 3 of flying having bought Mavic Pro last Tuesday. Days 1 and 2 went well on beginner so thought would try normal set up and went to Fleetwood beach UK. No wind sunny and beach quiet. Auto lift off. Raised up to 10 metres then woosh the white flying rats ( seagulls) attacked taking turns to dive bomb the drone and swoop away missing by inches. Landed **** quick manually so drone wouldnt go up to 30 metres as per GTH setting. I recon there was about 30 of them.

So lesson learned there. Seagulls in numbers will attack a drone.

All part of the fun I suppose.

Does anyone manufacture a drone with a machine gun on the front ?

Regards Paul

 

[Lastrexking]

I’ve had the same problem near Whitby, Filey and Flamborough here on the east coast. Had to land and give up.

And, even worse - they trick and nick yiur chips!

 

[25Vettes]

Just fly straight up. Birds have to circle to go higher and will usually disengage. (At least that's what they do here!)

 

[Alan_M]

Seagulls, can't stand 'em! Horrible birds. If you think it's bad when they attack your drone, you want to see what it's like when they attack YOU!

 

[DoomMeister]

The trick is to leave a bucket of fish downwind of the area you intend to fly at. The gulls then go there to fight over the tasty treats while you fly your drone in peace.

 

[xspwhite]

Hi all

So there I was day 3 of flying having bought Mavic Pro last Tuesday. Days 1 and 2 went well on beginner so thought would try normal set up and went to Fleetwood beach UK. No wind sunny and beach quiet. Auto lift off. Raised up to 10 metres then woosh the white flying rats ( seagulls) attacked taking turns to dive bomb the drone and swoop away missing by inches. Landed **** quick manually so drone wouldnt go up to 30 metres as per GTH setting. I recon there was about 30 of them.

So lesson learned there. Seagulls in numbers will attack a drone.

All part of the fun I suppose.

Does anyone manufacture a drone with a machine gun on the front ?

Regards Paul

I love Seagulls, they are so full of character. They were probably just having fun making a game out of it.

I agree with DoomMeister, bring them some treats.

 

[MacCool]

Hi all

Does anyone manufacture a drone with a machine gun on the front ?

Regards Paul

They do, but I'm guessing you might have trouble getting one...

 

[torsen]

Just a thought does anyone have any experience/observations of gulls being put off attacking because of strobes? This struck me this morning during extended flying and filming around multiple gulls and only a cursory interested was shown for my M2P which is fitted with 4 Arc 2's (arms) and an Arc XL red on top...

 

[Chip]

I dare say the seagulls in Wales are a tad smarter than those in the neighboring provinces....all like their chips though.

 

[dronerdave]

Just a thought does anyone have any experience/observations of gulls being put off attacking because of strobes? This struck me this morning during extended flying and filming around multiple gulls and only a cursory interested was shown for my M2P which is fitted with 4 Arc 2's (arms) and an Arc XL red on top...

I use strobes 4 strobes (2-white/red & green) on my MP and they still swarm but I've never been hit... yet.

 

[Rchawks]

When we lived on the gulf it was a blast flying with them on the slope, all they wanted to do was chase and keep up with you. Now once I made the mistake of feeding them bread by hand while they were flying and like the gentleman says rats with wings ( wife and I called them that too) just the sheer number of them that appeared out of nowhere. I had to drop to my knees and cover up from them fighting to get a bite, very scary I was really afraid I'd lose an eye. Last time I ever did that. Wife filmed the whole thing from a distance. Just like Hitchcock's THE BIRDS.

 

[Rockycat]

Just punch out and get above them real quick. Birds of prey attack from above, so the Gulls will respect that you are above them.

 

[FASTFJR]

Jump ahead to the 2:40 second mark of the video below. I think I flew that 7-8 times before the dam birds stopped going after my Mavic. I don't even think they were seagulls, was in Bermuda

 

[hiflyer201]

Can you imagine the reaction of the spectators on the beach if you actually lost your drone to one..it probably wouldn't be pretty.

 

[Rchawks]

Chip, that is the coolest thing I've ever seen!

 

[Chip]

Chip, that is the coolest thing I've ever seen!

I searched the forum and wow people do not like seagulls much! Lots of bad press. I feel lucky because I have never had a problem with seagulls despite many chance encounters over Puget Sound. Have seen some gulls flying recklessly for sure but I feel I kind of understand their attitude.

 

[Philgib]

I did my first fly at the beach this afternoon.

As soon as flew above 10 meters, one seagull standing on a pole started to scream. Then they came, about 4 big ones flying like the infamous Red Baron over my little Mini.

I had experience with large RC gliders of over 2 meters wingspan with seagulls and never had any trouble. I am not sure what annoys them here, would it be the engines rotation noise, or the encouraging small size.

One dived on the mini and almost touched it with her wingtip as I was above the sea. Had it been touched ever so slightly, I would have lost it into the sea. Not nice at all as I am realtor selling houses on the waterfront, hoping for amazing pics and that is the reason why I invested 500 bucks on the Mini.

I know they fly away when you clap on your hands. Maybe some tiny buzzer / speaker clapping every 10 seconds would do it.

I realized now that the mavic mini misses one spare channel to play with foreign things, strobe, buzzer, sweeties releasing system. That is what I had on my previous DIY drones. .

Has anyone used the "FIND MY DRONE" function while flying ? This could do the trick.

 

[driver4591]

funny about that never had seagulls however my drone has been swarmed by bees they followed it every direction I went all around it .It was truly amazing .I was so wrapped up in the moment I forgot to press record .that was the only disappointing part of that flight.

 

[JanB]

No problems at all with seagulls here in Southkorea till now. They are very polite and give space when a drone is arriving...

 

[Rchawks]

Jeeze, I'm looking forward to avoiding all the flying critters out there! Too bad it comes with a $400. risk.