Crash second time out

[lproyect]

So I go out to Flushing Meadows Park after being informed by Central Park employees that drones are not permitted.

I press the take off button on my Ipad and the drone lifts off nicely. I directed to go about 15 feet upwards and 100 feet forward, which it does. The next step is to try the home button. That's where things go kind of nutty. I see a pop-up telling me I am in a restricted area (the park is not that far from two major airports) and I need to check "override restriction" and "take full responsibility" (can't remember the exact words). Next I am prompted to answer yes or no to override the automatic home function. Of course, I don't want to override the home function and say no. Thereupon, the drone rises to 60 feet or so and heads directly to the tree I am sitting underneath (the glare on an IPad is awful). In attempting to get it back to the ground (it is not exactly visible within the branches), I push the joystick but it crashes into a branch and tumbles to the ground.

So I am out a thousand dollars.

I should add that I worked as a programmer for 45 years and am quite technical. Two things. If I knew about NYC being a no-fly zone, I never would have bought it. I had planned to use it for a documentary I am working on that would have included some aerial shots in the Catskills but never would have put up with the hassle of taking the subway to Forest Hills and then walking a mile and a half to the park, which was filled with people barbecuing, tossing frisbees, etc.--let alone crashing into a tree.

It now is clear to me how all those Mavic Pro Youtube videos originate in Kansas, Utah, etc. Getting things done in NYC (or LA and SF probably) is a pain in the ***. I guess I am lucky that I didn't spend much more than a grand. I am getting it repaired and sending it to my nephew in rural Pennsylvania.

Sooner or later, the word will get out that a Mavic Pro is a waste of money for people living in urban no-fly zones. If DJI and other drone companies were smart, they'd set up a training facility in NYC so that people like me won't be left with a bitterness over wasted time and money.

 

[Anthony Viscomi]

My 1st question is: Did you take off near the tree you were sitting under?

 

[EarlieP]

My 1st question is: Did you take off near the tree you were sitting under?

I think that's a given!

 

[lproyect]

Yes, but the drone was launched from a sidewalk that was not underneath the tree.

 

[spindlejockey]

What was the RTH altitude set at?

 

[lproyect]

I honestly didn't check. I am not sure what bearing this has on the drone having a mind of its own and ascending to a height 4 or 5 times higher than that I was navigating it at.

 

[Michael Ainsworth]

Did you wait for confirmation on take off that Home point was recorded, also RTH would have a default setting already if you didn't look at it first.
The Drone rises to that height then comes back to its recorded home point.
It appears that you didn't do your due diligence before buying the Drone and subsequent operating procedures.

 

[beachcombing]

To the OP, check out this site to view where the no fly zones are. AirMap.io

You probably were only 1.5 to 2 miles from Laguardia Airport. I'm surprised you were enable to even take off.

I sympathize with you crashing however, there's no excuse for not knowing what the rules are before you fly and having a bare minimum understanding of how the Mavic works and what the settings do and how the settings should be set.

I would imagine that there are many people in urban areas who would disagree with your assertion that the Mavic is a "waste of money".

 

[Anthony Viscomi]

I honestly didn't check. I am not sure what bearing this has on the drone having a mind of its own and ascending to a height 4 or 5 times higher than that I was navigating it at.

As others have stated, "the RTH (Return to Home) is preset", thus it always ascends upon activation. I have mine set to 70 meters in order to avoid any tall obstacles.

 

[lproyect]

You know something. I spent 2 months studying Mavic Pro instructional videos before buying it, including on the DJI website. All of them mention calibrating the compass and other basic steps but I don't recall a single one mentioning anything about recording the Home Point. I say that as someone who spent 21 years at Columbia University maintaining UNIX/Sybase systems using Perl. If I had trouble getting this machinery to work, I can't imagine what someone nontechnical trying to make a film would go through especially a woman who had to walk a mile and a half to get to an isolated park in Queens carrying a thousand dollar piece of gear with not a single cop in sight. But all of this is academic. It goes to my nephew who is in rural Pennsylvania. As far as New Yorkers are concerned, why would anybody buy a camera drone at this point when you can get arrested for using one? I had planned to use mine in Upstate NY but this is an expensive toy for someone who will be restricted to using it inside their apartment.

Btw, this is what DJI says about RTH: "Some users have said that the Return to Home function, one of the touchstone functions of our drones, is in fact a button designed to lose your drone." Nice.

 

[Anthony Viscomi]

Yes, sometimes it might be the simple things can be overlooked. I have a similar background as you (RPG, C, & VB) and live in a metro area (Philadelphia). When I began flying these things a few years ago, I started in the Pocono area where my family has property, thus if any mistakes were made by me the terrain was very forgiving.

 

[beachcombing]

When you send the Mavic to your nephew, please be sure to send him a link to the Mavic User Manual so that he can learn about the RTH Altitude and how the Mavic uses that setting and all the other settings.

 

[lproyect]

Sure, I'll also refer him to this RTH video tutorial, which is about as mind-numbingly confusing as anything I've seen about flying a Mavic Pro. That should really get his juices flowing. If I had stumbled across anything like that video beforehand, that would have been reason enough not to waste $1000.

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[Gary cato]

You know something. I spent 2 months studying Mavic Pro instructional videos before buying it, including on the DJI website. All of them mention calibrating the compass and other basic steps but I don't recall a single one mentioning anything about recording the Home Point. I say that as someone who spent 21 years at Columbia University maintaining UNIX/Sybase systems using Perl. If I had trouble getting this machinery to work, I can't imagine what someone nontechnical trying to make a film would go through especially a woman who had to walk a mile and a half to get to an isolated park in Queens carrying a thousand dollar piece of gear with not a single cop in sight. But all of this is academic. It goes to my nephew who is in rural Pennsylvania. As far as New Yorkers are concerned, why would anybody buy a camera drone at this point when you can get arrested for using one? I had planned to use mine in Upstate NY but this is an expensive toy for someone who will be restricted to using it inside their apartment.

Btw, this is what DJI says about RTH: "Some users have said that the Return to Home function, one of the touchstone functions of our drones, is in fact a button designed to lose your drone." Nice.

The home point DOES record automatically as long as you have GPS,

The RTH altitude though has to be set, make sure to tell your nephew, there is a difference.

The RTH altitude u can set and must set before you fly. Or trees and stuff get in the way and i have never had an RTH fail on me (yet).

i am surprised in that two months that you never watched a you tube basics video as they nearly all talk about setting RTH heights and home points.

Your nephew is lucky to be getting it. i am sure he will enjoy it immensely.

 

[GooniesNeverDie]

Is this for real?

You're bragging about how smart you are, and spending twenty years in college (?) and you didn't read the RTH info? The drone didn't do anything it shouldn't have.

Lastly the "RTH" feature in my opinion and many others is a last ditch resource to get you're bird back if and when something bad happens. You should always try to fly your drone yourself. RTH is somewhat of a parachute type thing.

Lastly, you talk about how bad this drone is for you're living environment... who's fault is that? You spent "months" watching videos and researching before buying? But it never occurred to you to look and see if you lived in a NFZ?

Tell me this is a late April fools joke?

 

[GooniesNeverDie]

By the way you can thank your Friend Casey Neistat for making drones a problem in NYC. His antics have all but ruined it for anyone there. He's now under investigation.

 

[Chris.K]

i do empathize with your commentary on where you can and cant fly the mavic. id imagine that would be very frustrating...caveat emptor ?

complicated to use ? really ? i found it incredibly simple and intuitive. on a scale of 1-10 my technical skills would be a 3...4 max. so the only conclusion i can draw from this discussion is that the mavic was designed for idiots like me not technical geniuses like you. lol

 

[lproyect]

Yes, this is an April Fools Joke--on me.

What I learned after crashing four drones

"But, buyer beware. I also crashed four drones in the research for this article. So let me pass on some hard lessons I picked up along the way."

 

[dwallersv]

You know something. I spent 2 months studying Mavic Pro instructional videos before buying it, including on the DJI website. All of them mention calibrating the compass and other basic steps but I don't recall a single one mentioning anything about recording the Home Point. I say that as someone who spent 21 years at Columbia University maintaining UNIX/Sybase systems using Perl. If I had trouble getting this machinery to work, I can't imagine what someone nontechnical trying to make a film would go through especially a woman who had to walk a mile and a half to get to an isolated park in Queens carrying a thousand dollar piece of gear with not a single cop in sight.

With all due respect, my friend, you're quite bitter and upset right now. I get it. However, it's impacting your rationality on this.

Here's another fact to incorporate in your analysis: The vast majority of Mavic Pro customers DO find out that they need to check NFZs, check their RTH settings before flying, and check where the Mavic has recorded its homepoint. This includes engineers like yourself, and completely non-technical enthusiasts (that post all sorts of electronics ignorance on this site all the time, but I digress).

It seems pretty likely your crash was pilot error. Dust it off, get it fixed, and stay with it. Learn from the experience.

Otherwise, if this was really just a toy you had a passing interest in you should get aa cheap GPS camera drone, like the Hubsan 501S (even cheaper and still GPS the 502S) and have fun with that.

 

[lproyect]

"The vast majority of Mavic Pro customers DO find out that they need to check NFZs, check their RTH settings before flying, and check where the Mavic has recorded its homepoint."

What is this? The Mavic Pro cult? Google "mavic pro crash" and you get 770,000 results. The USA Today reporter who crashed 4 drones is their technical reporter. In other words, his job is exploring new technology. His article is about what he learned testing different drones, including Mavic Pro. The first thing he says is: MISTAKE NO. 1: TRUSTING THE DREADED “RETURN TO LAUNCH” FEATURE.

In other words, "return to home". So Mavic told him not to use this unless as a last resort, "when all else fails". Stupid me to try to use what I assumed was a major feature on my first time out. I should have read the fine print, like those provisos software vendors ask you to "agree" on that always have some wiggle room that will screw you in a court of law.

Look, people. I am sure that the Mavic Pro brings you exquisite pleasure. I have the same reaction to my JVC professional video camera that I used for my documentary and Final Cut that I am using to edit the footage. I just made a mistake buying the Mavic Pro because VideoMaker magazine raved about it. At any rate, my nephew can get some use out of it, I am sure. If he breaks it, that's the end of the story.