On Sunday 12th January MM and me had a bit of flying time around our local river in Armagh Northern Ireland. Weather was good. Wind was around 10mph well within MM capabilities.
View attachment 92256
11 minutes into the flight, the drone dropped 27ft and almost hit the water, it failed to respond to my power inputs on the left stick. The drone was sent back and the flight log also sent to DJI.
DJI responded that the drone was OK.
When asked for their analysis of the flight log it was as follows:
Dear David,
Thank you for your message.
Our Data Analysts have checked the data you provided. Please see their conclusion below:
"1. The aircraft worked under GPS mode and did not respond well to the pilot's command due to the strong wind;
2. Flight Time T=05:16,Relative Height H=13.6 m,Distance to Home Point D=31.8 m,there was no pilot’s input, the aircraft tilted 11.6 degrees rightward to resist the wind,which indicates that there was strong wind affecting the aircraft;
3. T=05:31,H=12.3 m,D=34.1 m,the warning of “High wind velocity. Fly with caution and land in a safe place ASAP” appeared;
4. T=11:00,H=3.7 m,D=23.5 m,the aircraft descended because propulsion was affected by the strong wind;
5. T=12:47,the aircraft landed on ground and no crash incident happened "
If there is anything else we can do for you, please let us know. We will be happy to assist you.
Kind Regards,
Stefan
Customer Service EU
DJI Europe
So, at 5:31 I got a message saying High wind velocity, I honestly cannot remember, but if I did, I did. Apparently during the entire flight, that was the only message I got regarding High Winds.
At 11:00 "the aircraft descended because propulsion was affected by the strong wind"
The MM did not get blown away from me or anywhere else, it simply descended.
That's it case closed.
For me, its the end of me and the MM, I simply cannot put a drone in the air if I can't control it.
There are numerous other posts on this forum and the DJI forum as well citing MM falling from the sky.
I think there is a problem, a serious problem with the control systems of the MM, perhaps lack of power, I don't know but I am very, very glad I still have my Mavic Air.
Flight log here: DJI Flight Log Viewer - PhantomHelp.com
Please note, I hand launched the drone about 13 feet above the level of the river.
Around 11 minutes into the flight the drone descended 4 feet without my input, I then reacted and despite full throttle the drone continued to descend until it reached minus 11 feet. I estimate the drone was about 30 feet above the river level before descending, my calculations are:
Start of descent = 16 feet
End of descent = -11 feet
Height above river at end of descent, about 3 feet
30 feet
This is a dronie, taken just before the failure, notice the water is calm and very, very little wind.
The DJI report, point 4 says propulsion failed due to strong wind, it will be interesting to see is anyone can throw light on this, the only mention of strong wind being reported was at 5.16 and 5.30 into the flight.
Having flown a Spark and Mavic Air for over 3 years I can honestly say I have never experienced control issues like this one.
Maybe a crazy thought but my experience goes way back to a Phantom 1 and on occasion it was known to develop what was called a vortex effect that would cause the sudden loss of lift and sometimes it would drop all the way to the ground and either crash or bounce. The craft would develop a doughnut of turbulent air and drop through the center of it leaving you to watch it fall at full throttle. The best way to defeat this was to move to the side kind of like getting free of a riptide. Sometimes that worked and sometimes it did not. Maybe the design of the MM has allowed this to creep back into some of these flights. Just a thought, please don't blast me...
Maybe a crazy thought but my experience goes way back to a Phantom 1 and on occasion it was known to develop what was called a vortex effect that would cause the sudden loss of lift and sometimes it would drop all the way to the ground and either crash or bounce. The craft would develop a doughnut of turbulent air and drop through the center of it leaving you to watch it fall at full throttle. The best way to defeat this was to move to the side kind of like getting free of a riptide. Sometimes that worked and sometimes it did not. Maybe the design of the MM has allowed this to creep back into some of these flights. Just a thought, please don't blast me...
Well, at least DJI is going to cover it (with a replacement, I presume?). Good luck!DJI have taken the view its a warranty issue. They are not conceding there is an issue with the drone, but it looks like they are replacing it. As I have said several times, for me, we must have control of the aircraft when we are using it, if not, we are flying in an irresponsible way and we could cause damage of injury. There are many, many stories on this site of lack of control. The flight records exist of these instances and DJI need to explain them and fix the issue.
Anyone who has been into aircraft for long know that a microburst can happen at any time. It crashes real aircraft as large as jetliners, so something so light as a MM will not be able to deal with it, especially over a wide open area like water.
A clue to see if this happened is to see if the MM went to full power to maintain altitude.
Just a suggestion if you want a weather explanation.
Edit: Downburst - Wikipedia
I had a very similar problem. It happens over and over again, different locations. I finally took a video of me pushing the up-stick, and the drone crashing to the ground, failing to respond to the stick input. I've sent it in for repair, but my guess is they are going to say 'nothing wrong' The thing flew great before the firmware upgrade to 1.04. Now it's basically un-flyable.
Look at original RA #. It should have your Mini serial #.. cross check with one you got back.MM returned to me today, no report, just exactly what I sent to them was sent back. So, I don't know if its a new one or my old one. I now have a MM for sale, I can't trust it.
Back to the Mavic Air for me, I use my drone when touring, its been in Canada and across Europe with me. It would be heartbreaking to bring a drone with me and lose it due to wind or loss of control.
The first 30 seconds of this video is why I have a drone.
the more negitive MM flights i read about the more im glad i bought the bigger Mavic Pro , hope it gets bettr for all MM drones
The MM AC and RC do get paired much like the other DJI systems. However you only need to send remotes if they are potentially the source of the problem.Did you send in your remote with it?
In other words do you link the mini with the controller like a Phantom?
Rod
Nope, kept the remote, if I had to guess I would say the MM is a new one, its got all the stickers on it. I also sent in three batteries, I got one returned in a box (as in a new one) and the other two wrapped in bubble wrap. The MM links to the controller which obviously has your phone in it for a screeen.Did you send in your remote with it?
In other words do you link the mini with the controller like a Phantom?
Rod