Demonstration result in a crash of my Mavic Air 2S

[zeusfl]

Making a video in how to launch correctly a drone from the balcony I leave APAS ON to demonstrate how erratic can be result in a crash. Without I want I demonstrate the worse case scenario in what happen when you leave APAS ON. The best solution is leave the drone in sport mode after and before enter the balcony or any confined area.
This was with my Mavic 2S.

As I teach the good videos I always will show my errors or bad outcomes.

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[vindibona1]

Good demonstration Zeus. I often launch from a balcony similar to yours, but perhaps a bit narrower. But I do it a bit differently as I am afraid of exactly what you demonstrated. So far I've limited balcony launches to my Mini 2 as I haven't tested "hand launches" with my M2P

What I do is hold the Mini 2 past the railing of the balcony after acquiring enough satellite for good GPS. I will pull both sticks together to get the motors started (using the screen's launch icon would probably be better) and then while clearing the railing and the ceiling overhead, the motors running I'll push it up into the air (not quite "tossing" it, but that would work) and it begins to hover. I let it hover for a bit to make sure it's stable...

.....THEN I fly it to a the closest open area and land it, creating a new home point that would provide enough space and safety should it have to RTH. Then I take off again with the new SAFE home point.

To reiterate what you said, you don't want your homepoint to be where it can't come straight down and land in a safe place, like the roof of a home or apartment building.

 

[Yaros]

THEN I fly it to a the closest open area and land it, creating a new home point that would provide enough space and safety should it have to RTH. Then I take off again with the new SAFE home point.

This is unnecessary, you can update the homepoint from the app's menu, set it to the current drone position, or select any position on the map.

 

[zeusfl]

Correct. All you need is to hover over the area that you desire as a home point and just update the home point. You do not need to land.

 

[vindibona1]

This is unnecessary, you can update the homepoint from the app's menu, set it to the current drone position, or select any position on the map.

While this is true, I really don’t like working off the screen for things like this. In my case I have a landing spot about 30 feet from my balcony. I can land it exactly where I want it to come back. Once it’s back down near that designated home point I can then fly it back to the balcony. Over-cautious? Perhaps. I am just not a small screen person, which is one reason why I like the Mavic 2 controller which has many more programmable features than its successor used for the mini 2 and the other more recent drones.

 

[zeusfl]

While this is true, I really don’t like working off the screen for things like this. In my case I have a landing spot about 30 feet from my balcony. I can land it exactly where I want it to come back. Once it’s back down near that designated home point I can then fly it back to the balcony. Over-cautious? Perhaps. I am just not a small screen person, which is one reason why I like the Mavic 2 controller which has many more programmable features than its successor used for the mini 2 and the other more recent drones.

Unfortunately with DJI drones, there are no bottoms available for this kind of function so you need to depend on the screen. All other functions are the same. You need to deal with it.

Same for photography. In the phantom era, the camera adjustments were in the RC control. Now is more difficult. It is what it is.

 

[Dbez1]

Vindi, if you have a clear landing spot 30’ away, why don’t you just fly from there? Not being critical, just curious. Have a good day.

 

[StantonZ]

The best solution is leave the drone in sport mode after and before enter the balcony or any confined area.

I too have found this (bold added by me) to be the best solution.
The mistake I made is forgetting to return to normal mode before my next take-off (it wasn't pretty).

 

[vindibona1]

Vindi, if you have a clear landing spot 30’ away, why don’t you just fly from there? Not being critical, just curious. Have a good day.

To answer your question, there are multiple reasons, one which I will not go into. But the thing is that I live about 100' from a golf course that is typically my flight path and has tall trees "guarding" it and the balcony has a vantage point for keeping VLOS, especially at lower altitudes. If I were to be down at the lower launch spot I'd only be 20'-30 feet from the trees which would not be ideal. I'd not have visual on my drone almost immediately unless I put it way up in the sky first. I'd be walking down the steps to launch, then coming back up to fly, which makes little sense when I can just launch from the balcony, land downstairs in the clear and re-launch.

 

[zeusfl]

To answer your question, there are multiple reasons, one which I will not go into. But the thing is that I live about 100' from a golf course that is typically my flight path and has tall trees "guarding" it and the balcony has a vantage point for keeping VLOS, especially at lower altitudes. If I were to be down at the lower launch spot I'd only be 20'-30 feet from the trees which would not be ideal. I'd not have visual on my drone almost immediately unless I put it way up in the sky first. I'd be walking down the steps to launch, then coming back up to fly, which makes little sense when I can just launch from the balcony, land downstairs in the clear and re-launch.

And this is the exact reason I like to fly from high spots. My balcony is not the best example since my trees are pretty high but to do simple tests I use my balcony often.

 

[MS Coast]

I too have found this (bold added by me) to be the best solution.
The mistake I made is forgetting to return to normal mode before my next take-off (it wasn't pretty).

I'm nervous about using sport mode in confined areas. For drones without side sensors, you can just fly sideways in Cine mode to navigate around obstacles and get into tight places.

 

[zeusfl]

I'm nervous about using sport mode in confined areas. For drones without side sensors, you can just fly sideways in Cine mode to navigate around obstacles and get into tight places.

Do not do that. If you do not feel confident using sport mode, just disable APAS. Do not fly sideways because the bottom sensor will cause what happened to me. Is better not to have sensors at that point.

The Mavic 3 is seen to be smarter in confinement places but i will do not take the chance.

 

[Dbez1]

To answer your question, there are multiple reasons, one which I will not go into. But the thing is that I live about 100' from a golf course that is typically my flight path and has tall trees "guarding" it and the balcony has a vantage point for keeping VLOS, especially at lower altitudes. If I were to be down at the lower launch spot I'd only be 20'-30 feet from the trees which would not be ideal. I'd not have visual on my drone almost immediately unless I put it way up in the sky first. I'd be walking down the steps to launch, then coming back up to fly, which makes little sense when I can just launch from the balcony, land downstairs in the clear and re-launch.

Makes perfect sense to me. Best wishes.

 

[vindibona1]

I'm nervous about using sport mode in confined areas. For drones without side sensors, you can just fly sideways in Cine mode to navigate around obstacles and get into tight places.

Why would you want to use sport mode in confined places?

I think you need to test in close quarters to see what settings/modes might work best for you. I have a Mini 2 which shares the same controller and app, but as far as the Air2 and s I don't have hands on experience with those drones, so can only make assumptions based on Mini 2 experience knowing they have the same advannced settings.

I found that I had more control in tight spaces in the Normal mode than the Cine mode. It could be the way I have the speed/smoothness set up in each lane. I don't think sport mode is ideal for tight spaces and I believe it should be reserved for when you need to get your drone somewhere fast. I tend to leave everything to move a little quicker, a bit less smooth. What helped me sort of dial in the settings was flying indoors, away from walls in a relative 6'x6' space to see how accurately and smoothly I could move in that space. I wrote up my findings about setting yaw rate/smoothness on some movements and EXP for others as (for me) the stick movements/response needed better balance. Then I took it outside to see if those indoor settings were also ideal for outdoor flying and found a few compromise tweaks were needed for outdoors.

 

[Don Testme]

Making a video in how to launch correctly a drone from the balcony I leave APAS ON to demonstrate how erratic can be result in a crash. Without I want I demonstrate the worse case scenario in what happen when you leave APAS ON. The best solution is leave the drone in sport mode after and before enter the balcony or any confined area.
This was with my Mavic 2S.

As I teach the good videos I always will show my errors or bad outcomes.

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

I do the same thing. APAS or N mode switched to Sport mode when taking of or landing in confined spaces. It is also a must, to make sure the drone is fully linked to GPS satellites. Otherwise, no secure GPS link will cause the drone to drift and hit something.

 

[Don Testme]

Why would you want to use sport mode in confined places?

I think you need to test in close quarters to see what settings/modes might work best for you. I have a Mini 2 which shares the same controller and app, but as far as the Air2 and s I don't have hands on experience with those drones, so can only make assumptions based on Mini 2 experience knowing they have the same advannced settings.

I found that I had more control in tight spaces in the Normal mode than the Cine mode. It could be the way I have the speed/smoothness set up in each lane. I don't think sport mode is ideal for tight spaces and I believe it should be reserved for when you need to get your drone somewhere fast. I tend to leave everything to move a little quicker, a bit less smooth. What helped me sort of dial in the settings was flying indoors, away from walls in a relative 6'x6' space to see how accurately and smoothly I could move in that space. I wrote up my findings about setting yaw rate/smoothness on some movements and EXP for others as (for me) the stick movements/response needed better balance. Then I took it outside to see if those indoor settings were also ideal for outdoor flying and found a few compromise tweaks were needed for outdoors.

Personally, I can't land my drone in confined places, such as fenced in narrow balconies when in N mode. The drone won't get close enough to the landing area due to the close proximity of the house's outside wall and the railing going around the patio. It's a narrow patio/balcony.

 

[Don Testme]

I too have found this (bold added by me) to be the best solution.
The mistake I made is forgetting to return to normal mode before my next take-off (it wasn't pretty).

Doesn't the A2S automatically switch back to N mode after landing and shutting it down? From your description it sounds like you're landing and still have enough power to take off again without switching batteries.

 

[StantonZ]

Doesn't the A2S automatically switch back to N mode after landing and shutting it down? From your description it sounds like you're landing and still have enough power to take off again without switching batteries.

I have the MA2, but no matter: the "mode" is a hardware switch on the controller, so it doesn't change unless you force it.

 

[MS Coast]

I have the MA2, but no matter: the "mode" is a hardware switch on the controller, so it doesn't change unless you force it.

The flight mode defaults to Normal on startup, regardless of the switch position. You have to cycle the switch to change to Sport or Cine mode.