did NOT lose my Mavic today, for a change

[motopokep]

every week we read about how some unfortunate member lost his Mavic. I always read those posts to learn from others' sad mistakes. Today I did some lite flying in 9 mph wind and also decided to take some footage up high right above me, skies were clear, no air traffic. Took her up to about 550 and noticed the Mavic couldn't hold position above me and was starting to drift off with a high gust of wind. I tried fighting the wind at first by bringing the Mavic back to right above me, and down at the same time, but it didn't seem to come down as fast, and this was counterproductive as 2 propellers would rev up to move it backward, thereby decreasing efforts of descent. I immediately realized that and let off the right stick and just kept holding full down on the throttle and let it drift just a little bit with the wind, but as soon as I dropped to about 300 ft, the wind wasn't much stronger than on the ground, so I was able to bring it back right above me and keep descending. Maybe this will help someone in a critical situation.

Another common knowledge thing I noticed on distance runs is that once you start to lose RC signal, you gotta increase altitude to regain signal, but at 400 ft and above the wind starts to get much stronger at times and you get wind warnings, so you gotta bring her down to avoid stronger wind, but the downside, again, is that you're losing signal.... so that's a factor limiting flight distance, balancing signal and altitude with stronger wind up high. that's usually a deciding factor for me to turn around and go back to be on the safe side.

so keep in mind when you're up high and drifting with the wind, sometimes the best thing to do is not so much fight the wind, but bring the Mavic down first, and then come back.

 

[Just_nick]

Flying above 400 feet AGL is not smart to begin with, both because of aircrafts and because the winds aloft are much stronger.

 

[colinfowler]

if im going to go up to 400 i do at take off. if the distance from home point increases then I know iv hit wind. I then lower altitude until distance stops increasing. if anything goes wrong its above me and not a mile away.

 

[Mossiback]

Don't forget sport mode.

 

[Divebomber]

I'm beginning to form a theory that all these missing drones are winding up in the same place as the one sock that gets lost in the laundry. Motopokep, (sounds a little like a name for an ancient Egyptian king) it was good you had the presence of mind to solve the problem. A lot of us go into "deer in the headlights" mode and basically just hit RTH, which is a great safety net in the right conditions, but doesn't always work (as we've seen). Your problem analysis and recovery touches on something I have a theory about (I hope not to test the theory). When a drone is fighting strong winds at altitude, and you hit RTH, it just tries to fly back to the Home Point without descending to an altitude that has less wind. What the operator observes is what he/she thinks is an odd behavior, but the drone is operating exactly as designed. The obstacle avoidance altitude the drone is supposed to attain on RTH is a minimum altitude the drone is directed to fly. If it's above that altitude, it just tries to make a beeline for home at its current altitude. The thing to do in that case is to cancel RTH, and get the drone to descend straight down to an altitude that is below the strong winds, THEN RTH. Sport Mode will allow you to descend, if nothing else works. I've also seen videos where drone operators with larger...."courage" than myself actually shuts the drone motors off, lets it fall to a reasonable altitude, then restarts the motors. You won't catch me doing that on purpose, but it's an option. Nice job getting your drone back. I myself use one of those retractable dog leashes on my drone as I fly. I'm a tad paranoid about losing it.

 

[joejaxvic123]

"did NOT lose my Mavic today..."

Give it time...

 

[Divebomber]

"did NOT lose my Mavic today..."

Give it time...

You talkin' to me??! I didn't say he did... . I actually congratulated him for his non-panicky response to the situation.

 

[joejaxvic123]

It's in the OP title, I'm just messing with him.

 

[MavicCF]

I'm beginning to form a theory that all these missing drones are winding up in the same place as the one sock that gets lost in the laundry. Motopokep, (sounds a little like a name for an ancient Egyptian king) it was good you had the presence of mind to solve the problem. A lot of us go into "deer in the headlights" mode and basically just hit RTH, which is a great safety net in the right conditions, but doesn't always work (as we've seen). Your problem analysis and recovery touches on something I have a theory about (I hope not to test the theory). When a drone is fighting strong winds at altitude, and you hit RTH, it just tries to fly back to the Home Point without descending to an altitude that has less wind. What the operator observes is what he/she thinks is an odd behavior, but the drone is operating exactly as designed. The obstacle avoidance altitude the drone is supposed to attain on RTH is a minimum altitude the drone is directed to fly. If it's above that altitude, it just tries to make a beeline for home at its current altitude. The thing to do in that case is to cancel RTH, and get the drone to descend straight down to an altitude that is below the strong winds, THEN RTH. Sport Mode will allow you to descend, if nothing else works. I've also seen videos where drone operators with larger...."courage" than myself actually shuts the drone motors off, lets it fall to a reasonable altitude, then restarts the motors. You won't catch me doing that on purpose, but it's an option. Nice job getting your drone back. I myself use one of those retractable dog leashes on my drone as I fly. I'm a tad paranoid about losing it.

Just out of curiosity, have you worked out how many Divebombers it is to Motopokep?

 

[Priest]

I have a very similar story. A few days ago, it was very windy. So windy that I knew there would be no actual flying, but I still intentionally took my MA out to see how it would handle in strong winds compared to larger drones I’ve flown. My plan was to simply hover and see how well it holds its position.

At about 50’ altitude, it was being kicked around but doing a great job of holding its own. When the winds seemed to die down, I stupidly flew it up to 100’ and quickly learned about wind gusts and how the wind on the ground can be dramatically different than the wind above. Almost immediately the wind caught it and started carrying it away. I went full-forward thrust to bring it back but the wind was so strong that the Air wasn’t even a match. I looked down at the controller and watched it get carried away - 500ft, 1500 ft, 2500 ft. and thought “Well, this is how I lose my week old Mavic Air. I can’t believe this!” Then I noticed I still had a lot of battery left, and I was still connected. So I took a deep breath and quickly thought this through...

I can’t fight the wind. Even at full-throttle it’s still being carried away. I have to get it out of the wind; I have to bring it down! So I started using the camera to survey the area. I was beyond the trees, beyond the river, I didn’t recognize anything but saw that the trees were far below. Once I brought it down to around 50’ it started gaining ground. It was no longer being carried away. I spent several perioulous minutes navigating over the river and above/around trees until I finally saw it again and was able to bring it home safely. It was very scary and a lesson quickly learned.

Sorry if this story was a bit long-winded (no pun intended). But the moral for those still reading is to not freak out, take a deep breath and quickly assess the situation to get it under control. So much can happen in a matter of seconds, and so many people just freeze up or become a “deer in the headlights”.

Keep pushing yourself, testing things out safely, and learn as much as you can! Hopefully my experience and the OP’s can help out others.

 

[macoman]

U guys have balls to take your expensive aircraft in bad weather. I never risk my baby Mavic Pro when is windy, raining or even when the sun is not out. I am very very careful with my investment.

 

[motopokep]

gonna try to answer almost everyone in 1 post:

Flying above 400 feet AGL is not smart to begin with, both because of aircrafts and because the winds aloft are much stronger.

Completely agree, but it's tempting, and it's the only way I can get signal on distance runs (obviously doesn't relate to yesterday's run right above me). Speeding is not smart either, but we all do it. As far as aircraft, I was in that area doing some low flying for 20 minutes and no aircraft went by. Besides, in that area, no aircraft goes lower than about 1,000 ft, if I'm judging right. Just gotta be smart about it if you're gonna fly above 400, gotta know the area and what air traffic there is like. As far as winds being higher up above, that's exactly why I flew right above me, maintaining a visual on the MP at all times. As soon as I saw MP drifting, I decided to bring it down. It's not nothing like Priest's situation below where his MA drifted 2500 feet.

Don't forget sport mode.

I was actually in sport mode at all times, sport mode was able to bring the MP back to original position right above me, but wasn't much help descending and trying to fly back. Good point, sport mode is always your friend in windy situations.

Divebomber, all goods points. I've almost done the motor kill trick with my fpv drone, took it up high, then bring the throttle all the way down to just let the motors idle, and the drone would be in a free fall, tumbling down, spinning in all directions, and then you up the throttle and up she goes. scary stuff, wouldn't want to try this with the MP, given the fact that MP doesn't let you idle, props always spin to maintain hover...given the choice whether to kill the motors on the MP and let it free fall and try to start it up, or just let it drift and lower altitude and bring it back, like Priest did, I'd choose the latter....unless you have no choice because your battery is almost dead.

"did NOT lose my Mavic today..."

Give it time...

I like that one, Eddie . Mentally I am preparing myself losing the MP some day due to prop failure, battery failure, short circuit, etc. That wouldn't feel as bad as pilot error. I've lost a $100+some drone, my first one, in wind before, was devastated, searched for it....my $300 UpAir One fell out of the sky due to faulty RTH, so been there done that...losing the MP would suck, but that would be an excuse to buy Mavic II right away, I hear they're gonna be bigger and more stable.

Priest, great job, but for the sake of the Mavic, please don't fly when ground wind speed as above 10 mph..or at least stay under 50 feet, but watch the trees.

I never ever go fly my MP if ground wind is above 10 mph...it's just not fun, cuz I gotta stay above 75 feet around here to avoid hitting high trees and buildings, and it's just wind warning after wind warning taking the fun out.

 

[colinfowler]

no aircraft goes lower than about 1,000 ft, if I'm judging right

Aircraft min altitude is 500'
Any airport or airfield can set there own min altitude for approach and stacking circuit.
Any aircraft can land anywhere when necessary (in an emergency landing scenario)

 

[timinator]

You can spend a few hours learning how to fly and a lifetime learning when to fly.

 

[MountainMan2017]

Something about being above 400 feet makes me say , if you did lose it it’s your own fault. Part of the rules in owning / flying these drones is Not to go above 400feet. Just saying. As for you getting yours back. Glad to hear that and you were smart not to panic and think things out. Good job.

 

[Turn11]

I was actually in sport mode at all times

You may find this thread interesting once you get past #10 and the discussion gets serious. Quickest way to descend. I don't know if (CSC) is an option without being on the ground. From the RTFM

I did not read and digest the How To article . The RTFM doesn't seem to think so without prior setup through the Go 4 app

In the Specifications it mentions ascent & Descent speed but not what they are or which is faster.

 

[corchard]

I did NOT lose my drone today either!

I took off from an empty parking, hovered at 3 feet for 5 seconds and landed. It was terrifying. It wobbled once and I though it was a gonner. It probably would have been lost forever.

 

[motopokep]

thanks to posts on read on this forum and distance flight videos I've watched on youtube, I did not lose my drone again last weekend. Took it out 16,000 feet (3 miles) and came back with 14% battery. Was flying along a beautiful shoreline, somewhat windy, and when flying outbound, noticed the MP was doing 40mph in sport mode, and battery was barely draining. Don't remember the exact battery % at what distance and I cleared my flight logs since then, but the number 74% stuck in my mind at about 3 miles out, which seemed unbelievable, but made me realize that the cause of that was flying with strong tailwind. I was tempted to go further, but having remember the warnings about flying out with tailwind, and all of the "I lost my Mavic" posts due to this, I decided to turn around and man the MP was fighting some winds on the way back, in sport mode, it got back at 14% battery. another happy "did not lose my drone" post.

But wait, on my 2nd flight that day, I came god **** close to losing my drone. I have no idea what happened but RTH saved me. I flew out like 800 feet at a different location, didn't seem windy, 3-5 mph. All of a sudden DJI app crashed and my tablet restarted after awhile I let go of all controls on the RC and distance started to increase like crazy, it was drifting away from me VERY fast, and I couldn't see where. Maybe a sudden gust of wind. I tried to use the "rotate and come back" telemetrics method, but while rotating and pressing forward, seeing if distance will start to decrease, it still kept drifting away. It was like at 2,000 ft away or more at that point. It felt like it was flying away on its own without my input. I pressed the pause button, and nothing, it still was flying away. I was starting to come to terms of losing it. This all happened very fast. At that point I initialized RTH and my baby got back. I tried to examine the flight log in the DJI app but because it crashed, that flight was not saved. so, almost lost my drone, but did NOT.

Oh and after that, same day, I went up to about 1100 feet altitude, right above me, at same location where I almost lost it, and the MP stayed perfectly above me, not drifting anywhere. What troubled me though is that I kept the throttle up but the RC wouldn't telemetrics were stuck at 1,000 ft altitude so that rang an alarm that something could be wrong with the signal, coupled with the scare of the almost flyaway I had earlier, so I brought it down. The logs later confirmed it was at almost 1,100. Applauzos: did NOT lose my drone that day.

It was an exciting day of flying last weekend, first flying out 3 miles out filming amazing shoreline scenery with boat docks, seagulls, some other birds ducking in the water, fish and wondering if the battery will last on the way back (I always had a backup plan to land anywhere on the beach should it get to 5% before its back) then the almost flyaway scare, and then the amazing view from 1100 ft, so I decided my MP needs a week of rest, and I do too.


Disclaimer for the FAA: I'm kidding of course, I don't fly beyond visual line of sight or above 400 feet. Nothing here shall constitute any admission of any wrongdoing and all posts are the product of my creative and wishful imagination. I had a dream about all of this and decided to post about it.

 

[motopokep]

You may find this thread interesting once you get past #10 and the discussion gets serious. Quickest way to descend. I don't know if (CSC) is an option without being on the ground. From the RTFM View attachment 36891

I did not read and digest the How To article . The RTFM doesn't seem to think so without prior setup through the Go 4 app View attachment 36892

In the Specifications it mentions ascent & Descent speed but not what they are or which is faster.

are you posting this in the right thread? I think you meant to post this in the other thread where the guy was talking about cutting the motors off to quickly descend and then restarting them.

 

[timinator]

thanks to posts on read on this forum and distance flight videos I've watched on youtube, I did not lose my drone again last weekend. Took it out 16,000 feet (3 miles) and came back with 14% battery. Was flying along a beautiful shoreline, somewhat windy, and when flying outbound, noticed the MP was doing 40mph in sport mode, and battery was barely draining. Don't remember the exact battery % at what distance and I cleared my flight logs since then, but the number 74% stuck in my mind at about 3 miles out, which seemed unbelievable, but made me realize that the cause of that was flying with strong tailwind. I was tempted to go further, but having remember the warnings about flying out with tailwind, and all of the "I lost my Mavic" posts due to this, I decided to turn around and man the MP was fighting some winds on the way back, in sport mode, it got back at 14% battery. another happy "did not lose my drone" post.

But wait, on my 2nd flight that day, I came god **** close to losing my drone. I have no idea what happened but RTH saved me. I flew out like 800 feet at a different location, didn't seem windy, 3-5 mph. All of a sudden DJI app crashed and my tablet restarted after awhile I let go of all controls on the RC and distance started to increase like crazy, it was drifting away from me VERY fast, and I couldn't see where. Maybe a sudden gust of wind. I tried to use the "rotate and come back" telemetrics method, but while rotating and pressing forward, seeing if distance will start to decrease, it still kept drifting away. It was like at 2,000 ft away or more at that point. It felt like it was flying away on its own without my input. I pressed the pause button, and nothing, it still was flying away. I was starting to come to terms of losing it. This all happened very fast. At that point I initialized RTH and my baby got back. I tried to examine the flight log in the DJI app but because it crashed, that flight was not saved. so, almost lost my drone, but did NOT.

Oh and after that, same day, I went up to about 1100 feet altitude, right above me, at same location where I almost lost it, and the MP stayed perfectly above me, not drifting anywhere. What troubled me though is that I kept the throttle up but the RC wouldn't telemetrics were stuck at 1,000 ft altitude so that rang an alarm that something could be wrong with the signal, coupled with the scare of the almost flyaway I had earlier, so I brought it down. The logs later confirmed it was at almost 1,100. Applauzos: did NOT lose my drone that day.

It was an exciting day of flying last weekend, first flying out 3 miles out filming amazing shoreline scenery with boat docks, seagulls, some other birds ducking in the water, fish and wondering if the battery will last on the way back (I always had a backup plan to land anywhere on the beach should it get to 5% before its back) then the almost flyaway scare, and then the amazing view from 1100 ft, so I decided my MP needs a week of rest, and I do too.


Disclaimer for the FAA: I'm kidding of course, I don't fly beyond visual line of sight or above 400 feet. Nothing here shall constitute any admission of any wrongdoing and all posts are the product of my creative and wishful imagination. I had a dream about all of this and decided to post about it.

It's almost a certainty that you will lose your aircraft if you keep flying it the way you have been.