Determining the direction of the Mavic

[Desertdude]

When I'm flying the Mavic and I'm far enough away where I really can't see what direction it's facing. So when I want to bring it back to me I might be flying it farther away because it's facing the wrong direction. Plus on a sunny day it's tough to see my phone to determine which way it's facing.
Do you guys have any tricks for knowing which way it's facing.

Right now I'm just using the return to home button.

 

[HueJorgan]

The map helps

Practice with its bloomin marvellous

 

[leesmavic]

Touching that map extends it full screen, by the way. Helps when all you need is to set direction

Sent from my XT1572 using MavicPilots mobile app

 

[Mavic]

Give it a little bit of forward pitch and see what direction it is moving to. If it's to the left, keep going forward, and give it left turn stick till you see it stop moving horizontaly left. Now it will be facing you.

Same thing when going right with forward pitch. Keep turning right till it stops moving in a horizontaly right movement.

Practice, practice and practice more. It will save you one day.

Here is a tutorial about it.

 

[fcat]

The map has a red triangle to show which way its pointing!

 

[Scoobydude]

Just tap Home lock in the modes and pull the right stick back, no matter which way it's facing it will come stright back to you. Easy peasy.

 

[Randy]

I agree, if the sun is at your back it's difficult to see what direction to bring it back. What I've found is hit the RTH button it will stop, pause, and it will point to you almost immediately, then after after about 10 seconds I take it out of RTH, put it in sport mode and push the right stick all the way forward "making sure it stays centered" and zoom home.


Sent from my iPhone using MavicPilots

 

[Mavic]

Guys.

Do not only rely on GPS, maps shown in apps, red triangles, just pull back sticks or compasses.

Learn to fly it the old school way too.

Believe me. It will save you one day!

 

[CactusJackSlade]

Guys.

Do not only rely on GPS, maps shown in apps, or compasses.

Learn to fly it the old school way too.

Believe me. It will save you one day!

What he said!

 

[CactusJackSlade]

I thought putting some bright colored tape on the front of the leg and "nose" would help.... but it did not really help as much as I thought... It's just easier to keep a bit of forward stick going and then turn it and see which way it goes.

I think the only thing that might help would be very bright LED's on the legs and nose...

The Mavic has such a low profile it's easy to lose visual orientation, this was my attempt at making the front end more visible...

 

[Auspete]

Above suggestions all excellent.
Probably an obvious suggestion but I often just hit RTH then when it gets close enough to see what direction it is then cancel RTH and take back control

 

[Desertdude]

Just tap Home lock in the modes and pull the right stick back, no matter which way it's facing it will come stright back to you. Easy peasy.

I'll have to try that thanks

 

[FPVJunkie]

You could also add two of these Strobon lights in white to the front arms to help with orientation.
Link: Strobe Lights : Ready Made RC LLC, The Leader in All Things FPV, RC, and Beyond

From the Lights for Front thread: Strobe lights for front

 

[NYCMAV]

Forget maps, the radar is your best friend for orientation.

 

[Desertdude]

You could also add two of these Strobon lights in white to the front arms to help with orientation.
Link: Strobe Lights : Ready Made RC LLC, The Leader in All Things FPV, RC, and Beyond

From the Lights for Front thread: Strobe lights for front

Cool thanks for the link I might buy two of these.

 

[F6Rider]

No rocket science here, just give the Mavic forward stick and watch for aspect change, just turn it so there is no aspect change, now it is either going straight back or away, a glance at the distance numbers on the controller will tell you which. ( if the controller is dead it's going RTH in any case) As the man said, electronic aids are great, but learn it old school first, just in case.

 

[F6Rider]

Cool thanks for the link I might buy two of these.

Please stick to Red, Green, and white, as they are the expected aviation NAV marker colors.

 

[Desertdude]

Using the red triangle for the direction of my drone is great that's just what I was looking for. If that didn't work I would use the return to home button.

 

[fschilder]

When I'm flying the Mavic and I'm far enough away where I really can't see what direction it's facing. So when I want to bring it back to me I might be flying it farther away because it's facing the wrong direction. Plus on a sunny day it's tough to see my phone to determine which way it's facing.
Do you guys have any tricks for knowing which way it's facing.

Right now I'm just using the return to home button.

You can also use the Home Lock function. That way it doesn't matter which way it is facing. Just pull down on the right stick and it will fly to you.

 

[Desertdude]

You can also use the Home Lock function. That way it doesn't matter which way it is facing. Just pull down on the right stick and it will fly to you.

Where is the home lock button?