CHECK YOUR PROPS. I learned my lesson today. Also, those "crashed/lost" drone alarm beacons come in handy after a crash.

[Don Testme]

Always check props for cracks, damage, and proper attachment, before takeoff. Also check the hinges to make sure they are not going to fail. For years, I never did. I will now.

Today, I flew a routine recreational flight with a MAVIC 3, when suddenly, my drone's video feed indicated it was out of control and falling. It fell out of my line of sight and thus lost signal after nearing ground level. WHY OR HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?

The day before this, I accidently skimmed some small tree branches with my props. The drone almost fell but recovered. I neglected to inspect the props and their attachment to the drone after this event as the drone was still flying normally. I suspect a blade may have cracked slightly or it's pivot point became damaged. I may have seen this if I took the time to check the blades individually.

The next day, I assume, one of my props broke and ripped itself off the drone. This was made evident when I recovered my drone. One prop was missing, and the spring was warped out of place, as if the prop was forcefully ripped off the drone. I assume one blade of the prop pair snapped or became unhinged, causing an imbalance, thus ripping the prop off.

The drone crashed near the edge of a main roadway in the tall grass and brush. I was lucky I did not hit a car. I followed the rule, you can cross traffic, but don't fly or hover above it. I was flying down the roadway, 20 ft off to the side at about 100ft altitude.

Luckily, the crash only caused cosmetic damage. The drone had a cushy , soft crash landing from 120ft into tall, bent, matted dry grass.

Finding it worried me. But, I had 2 drone alarm beacons attached to it. They were flashing and creating a high-pitched beeping sound. The drone made its way under the grass somewhat. I would have never found it if those beacons weren't blaring away, I just had to walk toward the noise. Once close enough I saw the flashing lights.

I no longer have care refresh on that drone, so I purchased personal property insurance through State Farm for 65 dollars per year. If it did suffer irreparable damage, I would have been covered. I was lucky though. No claim had to be made this day.

 

[PixelMagic]

Thank you for sharing your experience. We all profit from the lessons learned. Hope you are airborne again soon.

 

[MA2 317]

Always check props for cracks, damage and or proper attachment before takeoff.

Check.

Luckily, the crash only caused cosmetic damage.

Thank goodness the gimbal / camera wasn't compromised.

It seems that's the most fragile and expensive thing to replace on any drone.

But, I had 2 drone alarm beacons attached to it. They were flashing and creating a high-pitched beeping sound.

I used a tracker tag on my Spark years ago.

Never had to use it, but it felt safe flying with it.

They do work.


.

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

A while back there were two, fairly close together (timewise) threads about possibly Air xyz's loosing half a prop hub.
With my own M2P I have noticed that if a prop catches something stiff, like a twig, it is often not the leading edge that gets damaged, rather it is the trailing edge.
I assume the reason is that the 'caught blade' pivots and the other blade comes round and whacks the trailing edge. I did have a Mavic 2 break, in a small tumble, one of the three 'hooks' that hold the prop hub down on the motor, I wouldnt have noticed it barr the fact that it caused the motor the be notchy.

Cracks can be very difficult to spot so I slightly twist a blade when checking it, in the hope of opening up any hiding crack.

Oh check the motor arms for non symetrical droop and any new additional movements. It very easy to miss hidden damage. It took me 3 dismantling and fixings to find all the damage in a crashed M2Z.

 

[Don Testme]

A while back there were two fairly close together (timewise) threads about possibly Air xyz's loosing half a prop hub.
With my own M2P I have noticed that if a prop catches something stiff, like a twig, it is often not the leading edge that gets damaged, rather it is the trailing edge.
I assume the reason is that the 'caught blade' pivots and the other blade comes round and whacks the trailing edge. I did have a Mavic 2 break, in a small tumble, one of the three 'hooks' that hold the prop hub down on the motor, I wouldnt have noticed it barr the fact that it caused the motor the be notchy.

Cracks can be very difficult to spot so I slightly twist a blade when checking it, in the hope of opening up any hiding crack.

Oh check the motor arms for non symetrical droop and any new additional movements. It very easy to miss hidden damage. It took me 3 dismantling and fixings to find all the damage in a crashed M2Z.

All is good on my Mavic 3, luckily, Very Lucky.

 

[marshvet]

Always check props for cracks, damage and or proper attachment before takeoff. For years, I never did. I will now.

Today, I flew a routine recreational flight with a MAVIC 3, when suddenly, my drone's video feed indicated it was out of control and falling. It fell out of my line of sight and thus lost signal after nearing ground level. WHY OR HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?

The day before this, I accidently skimmed some small tree branches with my props. The drone almost fell but recovered. I neglected to inspect the props and their attachment to the drone after this event as the drone was still flying normally. I suspect a blade may have cracked slightly or it's pivot point became damaged. I may have seen this if I took the time to check the blades individually.

The next day, I assume, one of my props broke and ripped itself off the drone. This was made evident when I recovered my drone. One prop was missing, and the spring was warped out of place, as if the prop was forcefully ripped off the drone. I assume one blade of the prop pair snapped or became unhinged, causing an imbalance, thus ripping the prop off.

The drone crashed near the edge of a main roadway in the tall grass and brush. I was lucky I did not hit a car. I followed the rule, you can cross traffic, but don't fly or hover above it. I was flying down the roadway, 20 ft off to the side at about 100ft altitude.

Luckily, the crash only caused cosmetic damage. The drone had a cushy , soft crash landing from 120ft into tall, bent, matted dry grass.

Finding it worried me. But, I had 2 drone alarm beacons attached to it. They were flashing and creating a high-pitched beeping sound. The drone made its way under the grass somewhat. I would have never found it if those beacons weren't blaring away, I just had to walk toward the noise. Once close enough I saw the flashing lights.

I no longer have care refresh on that drone, so I purchased personal property insurance through State Farm for 65 dollars per year. If it did suffer irreparable damage, I would have been covered. I was lucky though. No claim had to be made this day.

Are the drone alarm beacons an "add on"? In other words, not the built in "find my drone"?

 

[HenryMow]

About a week ago I noticed that my M2P suddenly sounded different in flight. Two of us inspected the propellers fairly carefully and did not see the hairline crack about a quarter inch long on one of them! Luckily, a third person inspected the next day, and this time saw the crack---and we replaced that propeller before taking it up again with a cracked prop.

What I learned is that it is all too easy to miss tiny damage, but since there was a noticeable slight change in the way it sounded, thank goodness, it was caught before potential disaster!

As others have said, we are all profiting from one another's experiences, this is worth much!

 

[MA2 317]

Are the drone alarm beacons an "add on"? In other words, not the built in "find my drone"?

Here are some of the trackers used by pilots.

DJI Mavic 2 Accessories & Tips | Mavic Help

Mavic Help is a site for help with DJI Mavic 2 drones. Find the latest fixes, how-tos, guides, accessories, modifications, and more.

www.mavichelp.com

.

 

[marshvet]

Here are some of the trackers used by pilots.

DJI Mavic 2 Accessories & Tips | Mavic Help

Mavic Help is a site for help with DJI Mavic 2 drones. Find the latest fixes, how-tos, guides, accessories, modifications, and more.

www.mavichelp.com

.

Thanks! Which one did you use?

 

[MA2 317]

Thanks! Which one did you use?

I used the Loc8tor on my Spark.

It comes with a transmitter and a hand held tracker about the size of a credit card.

The tracker will beep faster as you get closer and LED lights to help with the search.

Never had to use it, but I would have my wife hide it in the yard or down the alley and it worked.

Only 400 foot range, but it's better than nothing.

The Marco Polo unit is popular since it has a strong radio frequency with better range than Bluetooth and doesn't need GPS.

.

 

[Don Testme]

A while back there were two fairly close together (timewise) threads about possibly Air xyz's loosing half a prop hub.
With my own M2P I have noticed that if a prop catches something stiff, like a twig, it is often not the leading edge that gets damaged, rather it is the trailing edge.
I assume the reason is that the 'caught blade' pivots and the other blade comes round and whacks the trailing edge. I did have a Mavic 2 break, in a small tumble, one of the three 'hooks' that hold the prop hub down on the motor, I wouldnt have noticed it barr the fact that it caused the motor the be notchy.

Cracks can be very difficult to spot so I slightly twist a blade when checking it, in the hope of opening up any hiding crack.

Oh check the motor arms for non symetrical droop and any new additional movements. It very easy to miss hidden damage. It took me 3 dismantling and fixings to find all the damage in a crashed M2Z.

I think when the prop shaved a bit of a that tree branch the day before, a prop hinge became damaged. After looking at the motor head and seeing the warped /bent out of place spring, I thought maybe one prop snapped off its hinge causing such and imbalance that the other prop twisted itself off the motor.

 

[Xitor]

I purchased personal property insurance through State Farm for 65 dollars per year. If it did suffer irreparable damage, I would have been covered. I was lucky though. No claim had to be made this day.

So this is separate from your home owners right? What type of deductible do you have. I need to talk to my state farm agent about something similar.

 

[RangerEd]

Always check props for cracks, damage, and proper attachment, before takeoff. Also check the hinges to make sure they are not going to fail. For years, I never did. I will now.

Today, I flew a routine recreational flight with a MAVIC 3, when suddenly, my drone's video feed indicated it was out of control and falling. It fell out of my line of sight and thus lost signal after nearing ground level. WHY OR HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?

The day before this, I accidently skimmed some small tree branches with my props. The drone almost fell but recovered. I neglected to inspect the props and their attachment to the drone after this event as the drone was still flying normally. I suspect a blade may have cracked slightly or it's pivot point became damaged. I may have seen this if I took the time to check the blades individually.

The next day, I assume, one of my props broke and ripped itself off the drone. This was made evident when I recovered my drone. One prop was missing, and the spring was warped out of place, as if the prop was forcefully ripped off the drone. I assume one blade of the prop pair snapped or became unhinged, causing an imbalance, thus ripping the prop off.

The drone crashed near the edge of a main roadway in the tall grass and brush. I was lucky I did not hit a car. I followed the rule, you can cross traffic, but don't fly or hover above it. I was flying down the roadway, 20 ft off to the side at about 100ft altitude.

Luckily, the crash only caused cosmetic damage. The drone had a cushy , soft crash landing from 120ft into tall, bent, matted dry grass.

Finding it worried me. But, I had 2 drone alarm beacons attached to it. They were flashing and creating a high-pitched beeping sound. The drone made its way under the grass somewhat. I would have never found it if those beacons weren't blaring away, I just had to walk toward the noise. Once close enough I saw the flashing lights.

I no longer have care refresh on that drone, so I purchased personal property insurance through State Farm for 65 dollars per year. If it did suffer irreparable damage, I would have been covered. I was lucky though. No claim had to be made this day.

Lessons learned incidents are always nice to read about especially if the incident only caused a minor cosmetic damage.
BTW what kind of coverage did you get with State Farm or what's it called? I'm in San Diego and my State Farm agent says drone insurance isn't available.

 

[Don Testme]

Lessons learned incidents are always nice to read about especially if the incident only caused a minor cosmetic damage.
BTW what kind of coverage did you get with State Farm or what's it called? I'm in San Diego and my State Farm agent says drone insurance isn't available.

It's the same kind of insurance you get for rings or jewelery. They called it personal property insurance. They needed the drone receipt and the serial number. They covered it for 65 dollars per year at a value of 2100 dollars.

I was told, its no different than losing a ring and making a claim. You lose a drone, you make a claim. In Florida, they allow it under their personal property insurance policy.

edit: If I lose the drone, I call, make a claim, they look for a new one, order it and have it sent to me. That's their words.

 

[SteveR43]

It's the same kind of insurance you get for rings or jewelery. They called it personal property insurance. They needed the drone receipt and the serial number. They covered it for 65 dollars per year at a value of 2100 dollars.

I was told, its no different than losing a ring and making a claim. You lose a drone, you make a claim. In Florida, they allow it under their personal property insurance policy.

edit: If I lose the drone, I call, make a claim, they look for a new one, order it and have it sent to me. That's their words.

They cover fly aways too? Or, even just crashed and lost drones?

 

[Crouching Leopard]

Always check props for cracks, damage, and proper attachment, before takeoff. Also check the hinges to make sure they are not going to fail. For years, I never did. I will now.

Today, I flew a routine recreational flight with a MAVIC 3, when suddenly, my drone's video feed indicated it was out of control and falling. It fell out of my line of sight and thus lost signal after nearing ground level. WHY OR HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?

The day before this, I accidently skimmed some small tree branches with my props. The drone almost fell but recovered. I neglected to inspect the props and their attachment to the drone after this event as the drone was still flying normally. I suspect a blade may have cracked slightly or it's pivot point became damaged. I may have seen this if I took the time to check the blades individually.

The next day, I assume, one of my props broke and ripped itself off the drone. This was made evident when I recovered my drone. One prop was missing, and the spring was warped out of place, as if the prop was forcefully ripped off the drone. I assume one blade of the prop pair snapped or became unhinged, causing an imbalance, thus ripping the prop off.

The drone crashed near the edge of a main roadway in the tall grass and brush. I was lucky I did not hit a car. I followed the rule, you can cross traffic, but don't fly or hover above it. I was flying down the roadway, 20 ft off to the side at about 100ft altitude.

Luckily, the crash only caused cosmetic damage. The drone had a cushy , soft crash landing from 120ft into tall, bent, matted dry grass.

Finding it worried me. But, I had 2 drone alarm beacons attached to it. They were flashing and creating a high-pitched beeping sound. The drone made its way under the grass somewhat. I would have never found it if those beacons weren't blaring away, I just had to walk toward the noise. Once close enough I saw the flashing lights.

I no longer have care refresh on that drone, so I purchased personal property insurance through State Farm for 65 dollars per year. If it did suffer irreparable damage, I would have been covered. I was lucky though. No claim had to be made this day.

Thanks for the post. I check my props before every flight by running my fingers along the blades and feeling the tops to ensure they are seated properly. I do a lot of metropolitan city Centre flying for commercial work and am always on the lookout for safety issues. Not everyone does this. I recently borrowed a friends M2 pro and was horrified to find his blades were badly cracked and chipped form an accident 2 years previously, and he was still flying it for commercial video work!. I changed the blades for him! Worse still, he is a pro helicopter pilot who checks his props before every flight, but did not take damaged drone blades seriously!

Not always the case that someone is willing to come forward when they have made a mistake. Always good to learn from others experiences.

 

[3rdof5]

Good advice.
Back in the Phantom days before we had folding arms and folding props 99% of Pilots had to attach and remove the props before and after each flight, which forced us to ensure the props were flight ready.
With the Mavics, its easy to neglect that important pre flight check.

 

[Crouching Leopard]

Always check props for cracks, damage, and proper attachment, before takeoff. Also check the hinges to make sure they are not going to fail. For years, I never did. I will now.

Today, I flew a routine recreational flight with a MAVIC 3, when suddenly, my drone's video feed indicated it was out of control and falling. It fell out of my line of sight and thus lost signal after nearing ground level. WHY OR HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?

The day before this, I accidently skimmed some small tree branches with my props. The drone almost fell but recovered. I neglected to inspect the props and their attachment to the drone after this event as the drone was still flying normally. I suspect a blade may have cracked slightly or it's pivot point became damaged. I may have seen this if I took the time to check the blades individually.

The next day, I assume, one of my props broke and ripped itself off the drone. This was made evident when I recovered my drone. One prop was missing, and the spring was warped out of place, as if the prop was forcefully ripped off the drone. I assume one blade of the prop pair snapped or became unhinged, causing an imbalance, thus ripping the prop off.

The drone crashed near the edge of a main roadway in the tall grass and brush. I was lucky I did not hit a car. I followed the rule, you can cross traffic, but don't fly or hover above it. I was flying down the roadway, 20 ft off to the side at about 100ft altitude.

Luckily, the crash only caused cosmetic damage. The drone had a cushy , soft crash landing from 120ft into tall, bent, matted dry grass.

Finding it worried me. But, I had 2 drone alarm beacons attached to it. They were flashing and creating a high-pitched beeping sound. The drone made its way under the grass somewhat. I would have never found it if those beacons weren't blaring away, I just had to walk toward the noise. Once close enough I saw the flashing lights.

I no longer have care refresh on that drone, so I purchased personal property insurance through State Farm for 65 dollars per year. If it did suffer irreparable damage, I would have been covered. I was lucky though. No claim had to be made this day.

Well, despite my always checking my props, Today I lost 1 blade from my front right hand prop. The props are MAS and only fitted about 5 flying hours ago. I had already done 3 flights that afternoon. Before each flight I checked the props for looseness and on the last flight did notice marginally more movement in the failed blade, but it was marginal and I have never lost a prop or blade in 450+ hours of flying, plus they are brand new MAS. I had not hit a tree or hard landing or anything, So I took off on a last leisure flight thinking I would change the props when I got home.

No such luck. The blade flew off when about 2 feet off the ground, and the drone shot off at a 45 degree angle to a height of a bout 20 metres over some commercial buildings. I was pressing the down stick hard whilst trying to bring the drone back before it disappeared over a main road some 200 metres away. The drone continued at a roaring pace but did descend and I got it back to within about 10 meters of me and I reckon I could have "safely" crashed it into the football field I took off from but then the remainder of the prop flew off and that was it. No hope of control. Instead it spun descended towards a low tree 10 meters away, hit and crashed to the ground. Busted right hand arm.

Salutary lesson here in always flying within the safety rules and also not assuming that because something comes from a reputable source and is brand new, it cant fail.

Anyway, sorry to the MAS fans, but I am going back to DJI originals and now including an up and down movement test on the blades as well as all the other checks

Not happy but it could have been worse. Perhaps my hours of practice at least enabled me to get it away from dangerous areas, who knows.

 

[IFlied]

In the last 2-3 years, I’ve broken a couple arms (Mini SE), and repaired with JBWeld. A small piece of fabric embedded in the epoxy across the break adds strength, rather than just gluing the edges together. Still flying !

 

[4 inch pistons]

Well, despite my always checking my props, Today I lost 1 blade from my front right hand prop. The props are MAS and only fitted about 5 flying hours ago. I had already done 3 flights that afternoon. Before each flight I checked the props for looseness and on the last flight did notice marginally more movement in the failed blade, but it was marginal and I have never lost a prop or blade in 450+ hours of flying, plus they are brand new MAS. I had not hit a tree or hard landing or anything, So I took off on a last leisure flight thinking I would change the props when I got home.

No such luck. The blade flew off when about 2 feet off the ground, and the drone shot off at a 45 degree angle to a height of a bout 20 metres over some commercial buildings. I was pressing the down stick hard whilst trying to bring the drone back before it disappeared over a main road some 200 metres away. The drone continued at a roaring pace but did descend and I got it back to within about 10 meters of me and I reckon I could have "safely" crashed it into the football field I took off from but then the remainder of the prop flew off and that was it. No hope of control. Instead it spun descended towards a low tree 10 meters away, hit and crashed to the ground. Busted right hand arm.

Salutary lesson here in always flying within the safety rules and also not assuming that because something comes from a reputable source and is brand new, it cant fail.

Anyway, sorry to the MAS fans, but I am going back to DJI originals and now including an up and down movement test on the blades as well as all the other checks

Not happy but it could have been worse. Perhaps my hours of practice at least enabled me to get it away from dangerous areas, who knows.

My FPV threw a Master Airscrew off about 6 minutes into a flight. Crashed on concrete about 4 feet from a house. I found it by replaying the last 30 seconds over and over In my goggles. I will never buy MA again.