DJI Mavic pilots - Australia

[foxpuppet]

That's unreal, I would be wary about the storm screwing with the Mavic's electronics but it paid off this time.

Yeah I had a screwy gimbal for a few seconds and that was enough for me to bring it down. I think it may have actually been a wind gust. But most of the flight was dead still.

 

[rbmustering]

Hello all...from KEITH in the south east south australia...just bought my first drone and really pleased..
cheers

 

[FrankyDrone]

Hello! Moved from mini racing quads to the Mavic. Ordered through Apple and awaiting delivery.

Fixed wing pilot in the real world, but really looking forward to this new toy!

Am I the first from Melbourne?


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Hi there,

Here is another Melbournian

Which side of town do you live, where do you usually fly. I am in the south east.

 

[Brendo82]

Morning all.
From NoR Perth.
First drone and loving it.
here for advice and lessons on how to take better photos and videos

 

[wombat]

Hi Brendo82, welcome to the best site for UAV, everybody is willing to help, I have got help from these guys on here they are awesome, it is also my first Drone, you will enjoy, I am SoR Perth
one tip is print out the manual and read it, lots of info in there.

 

[Michael Ainsworth]

Hi all.
Newbie to all things Drone.
Just retired and the choice was Mens Shed or develop my photography hobby. Live in Wollongong NSW.
New Mavic arrived 5 days ago and I have been devouring all the experience and knowledge on this site. Has made interesting and at times anxiety provoking feelings especially when reading all the disasters that have happened.
As this is new I will be spending a lot of time reading the full manual downloaded and printed and also in the Simulator mode.
Will also be operating the drone in beginner mode until I feel more confident. My aim is not to see how high, far or fast it goes but to get into position for some good quality nature video.
I also do a great deal of Kayaking, Camping, Hiking and Long distance m'bike rides so have a choice of different locations and scenery.
Looking forward to some interesting times and interaction on this forum.
As an aside from what I can gather probably 90%, or more, of all posted problems come from some sort of operator failing rather than the machine, would this be right?

 

[Clintsc9]

G'Day Sarge. Good to see someone I actually know on here.
My readings are similar, most failures seem to come down to operator error. I notice there's been a few battery disconnection problems in the last few days, so maybe check all your batteries click in securely. I'm double-checking each time now.
Nice to have a drone that fits in the topbox.
Cheers

 

[Michael Ainsworth]

G'Day Sarge. Good to see someone I actually know on here.
My readings are similar, most failures seem to come down to operator error. I notice there's been a few battery disconnection problems in the last few days, so maybe check all your batteries click in securely. I'm double-checking each time now.
Nice to have a drone that fits in the topbox.
Cheers

Hi Clint, you could fit a few drone in your topbox!
Good you recognised me, was going to put my forum name up but thought I'd make a fresh identity.
Over next several days will be spending time on the simulator and going to the local reserve and just fly in a very limited way until I find out what I can do and also hopefully reduce the risk of fatal damage to the Mavic.
Cheers, catch up maybe at Lightning Ridge?

 

[Taffylad]

Hi all, I'm from Port Macquarie up on the Mid North Coast of NSW. Had my Mavic for a few days now after waiting about 4 months and loving it.

 

[Gibbo592]

I think we live in the best place form droning for sure

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Hi down under I assume you live on the Northside?

 

[Downunder]

Hi down under I assume you live on the Northside?

Yeah, my videos seem to give that away don't they

 

[Gibbo592]

Where was the beach footage taken, have you been in the glasshouse mountains yet ?

 

[Downunder]

Beaches were stadbroke and double island. I practically spend most of my droning in the Glasshouse Mountains. Love the place. Hardly anyone around and great scenery. I've got about 5 videos of the Glasshouse on my channel.

 

[aresando]

Civil Aviation Safety Authority - CASA

Thanks. Should I understand from this map and what I read on casa.gov.au that I actually can fly by day over the harbour, provided that I stay more than 30m away from boats and the shore?

 

[foxpuppet]

Thanks. Should I understand from this map and what I read on casa.gov.au that I actually can fly by day over the harbour, provided that I stay more than 30m away from boats and the shore?

That's not how I understood the map, what are you reading on Casa's site?

 

[aresando]

That's not how I understood the map, what are you reading on Casa's site?

I was on my phone before and only saw the pic without the associated post. It's hard to believe the map means what it's supposed to mean but I understand better now. That said, that remains a facebook page and there is nothing official on casa.gov.au that relates to this restriction. The only restrictions I can find for recreational purposes, consistently, is that " if you are in controlled airspace, which covers most Australian cities, you must not fly higher than 120 metres. " (eg on rpa_brochure_recreational_dl_150dpi.pdf | Civil Aviation Safety Authority)...

So now that I understand the map better, I take that indeed the harbour is a no-go, though it's ok to fly outside of the red zone... Bondi beach as an example will be ok (as long as I stay below 120m).

Thanks for insisting on this... I truly understood the map the other way around (seriously, what's the point in mentioning maximum altitudes such as 500ft or 1000ft on a map addressed to drone owners, other than to highlight that those are the maximum altitudes above which it is forbidden to fly?)

 

[bakerboy]

Bondi beach as an example will be ok (as long as I stay below 120m).

And avoid flying over anything populous
And avoid the rescue chopper, which can pop up without warning

 

[foxpuppet]

Instagram post by Banjo Vogt • Apr 12, 2017 at 1:01pm UTC

 

[52Telecaster]

Hi Guys,
Another one from Perth WA and NOR, love my new Mavic and always reading the forums for tips and advice.

Cheers

 

[foxpuppet]

Sooo let's talk about drone rage.

This afternoon I was visiting with the family at my inlaws place. I knew we would be there around sunset so took my Mavic along. They live on a skinny ridge with valley views over the water below. Once you move past the houses it's mostly all bushland

Took off ascended to 120m elevation facing west flew forward about 200m and held position for around 8 minutes shooting video and taking stills.
Adjusted course another 300m west over the valley and started a left slow panning shot facing the horizon. Mid pan I heard a small engine plane to my right and Immediately spun the Mavic to try and spot it and simultaneously started to descend. I dropped to about 60m which put me 20m above the tree line below. As soon as the plane passed I spun again to track it then ascended to 120m panned back to the right and continued filming the horizon.

Continued flying doing a few pans and still shots, making adjustments to settings etc as the sun went down then manually returned back to the takeoff point.

I was flying for about 20 minutes all up

While this was underway and not long after the small plane had passed I noticed 2 guys chatting down the street about 70m away but thought nothing of it, a few dog walkers had passed by while I was inflight, said hello and continued on.

As soon as I touched down on the ground I see one of the 2 guys jogging towards me with a beer in hand. As I know a few people in that street I thought it might have been someone I knew but when he got close the face was angry and unfamiliar.

He comes right up to my face almost stepping on my mav and yells

"What the F do to think your doing?"

Sorry what do you mean?

AM (angry man) "you were over my house while my kids were in the pool"

Huh

AM Repeats same line and adds "when I came out and stuck my finger up at it you flew away so what were you doing flying over my pool?"

I proceeded to explain what I was doing and show him the footage from my cache and explain I wouldn't have been over his house.

It seems like when I dived down for the plane he thought I was coming in to look at his kids. I explained that I'm required to descend straight away when another aircraft is present and after showing the footage from that exact bit of the flight he calmed down considerably.

I get being protective, but he was pretty much twice my size and primed to punch on without warning.


Anyone else had any similar incidents?

Here's a few shots from the shoot