Do you Trust your mavic

[poppeye]

Recently i have started to doubt my mavic, i dont fly to crazy far out any more.
Wind, gimbal error, signal loss, suddenly a helicopter nerby, drone start to not respond so well.

What are other opinions ?

 

[lightbg]

I try to stay legal (USA) 400’ agl , LOS, and a 3rd eye on the sky around.....some Heli activity, but mostly nosy hawks.

Way more confidence than my other non-DJI quads.

If my point of interest is beyond LOS, I simply land and drive to a closer home point.

If anything my Mavic has been a confidence builder.

Jake

 

[dirkclod]

100%
If I was in a jam I would just drop it .

 

[Kevjones777]

I think if you understand the capabilities and the limitations then you are better equipped to deal with any potential software glitches or factors that might affect your flight. My Mavic Air does EXACTLY what the manual says it can do. The functions work EXACTLY like described in the manual and the aircraft performs EXACTLY within the parameters advertised. I have no reason not to trust it. I have searched every forum website that I can find to read as much as I can. No where on the internet, that I can find, is there a verified description of an error or event that is common to all Mavic Air's that can be described as a design flaw that requires the aircraft to be "re-called". I think personally think that DJI's testing program is incredible to be able to mass produce such a complex piece of kit with so few faults. As in any manufacturing process, there is always the chance that a unit or two got through the QA that was faulty and I am sure DJI will honor their return program in these cases. If you bird does what it should there is no reason not to trust it in my humble opinion. (it is just my opinion).

 

[Regulator23]

I will add my thoughts. My Mavic Pro is my first 'real' drone and initially I was very leary of venturing out since I was on a small peninsula, surrounded by salt water in just about every direction. I had to trust it or I could have never really flown it much. After 3 weeks of venturing out as far as 10,500 feet away, and dozens and dozens of other flights including waypoint routes, follow me mode in my boat, POI, and others, I have to say, I have 100% confidence in my drone, the other equipment (batteries, camera, etc.) and in the Go fly app. I've got several hundred hours now, and to date, no issues whatsoever. I don't push any limits and when I fly on windy days (which is pretty often), I make sure I'm always thinking about wind direction, wind speed, and my return home plans. This thing had far exceeded my expectations.

 

[Tinmania]

The more I fly my Mavic Pro the more I trust it. Have read a lot here as well, and yes lost drones do happen--but in almost all threads like that I have learned something that could prevent me from having the same fate. I also learned more about my MP's limitations, so as not to push my luck.



Mike

 

[Jayfdee]

I trust my P4 more than my MP, probably because I have more hours on the P4.Also the P4 has paid for itself, if it goes down where I fly it would be unrecoverable, but although I would be sad to lose it,I have had my fun with it. It seems more stable in wind.
My MP I have put it through its paces, and it has performed well, but occasional glitches, but still very reliable, it is my "go to" drone of choice and I would hate to lose it.

 

[MavicCF]

I would say I didn’t trust mine for the first month, but after that it had “proved” itself as a good, solid Pro and I trust it entirely to do what it’s supposed to. Now if it does what it’s supposed to, it’s up to me not to do anything stupid with it that would cause it to fail. Pilot error seems to be the most common cause of crashes, so to me the question is not do you trust your Mavic, but can your Mavic trust you?-CF

 

[Tinmania]

I trust my P4 more than my MP, probably because I have more hours on the P4.Also the P4 has paid for itself, if it goes down where I fly it would be unrecoverable, but although I would be sad to lose it,I have had my fun with it.

I think this is an overlooked factor for many of us, and it doesn't necessarily have to be "paid for itself" monetarily. Even if you only fly for fun or as a hobby, surely the longer you have and use your Mavic the more it has proven to have been a worthy purchase. But losing it after a few flights, with no insurance, ouch. A year later it is still ouch but for me it would be more of, "well at least I got good use out of it" (after I stopped crying).

I flew giant scale R/C and it was similar. The (lost) plane that still hurts the most was barely a week old (seized aileron servo at full deflection). Granted that was closer to Inspire 2 in cost than a Mavic but since it was recovered I was able to salvage a lot of it, including the engine (which still cost more than a Mavic to just have rebuilt). Now with a drone there is always a chance that once you take off, you may never see it again. So you can't even console yourself with nonsense like "well it only cost 82% as much to rebuild compared to buying new so not too bad" lol.



Mike

 

[JLB768]

I do, it took me a while though, I just ventured further each time. I do my best not to push it, I stay under 400, never drop below treetop level if I can't see it, stay on the ground if wind is close to 20mph, etc. I think a little common sense goes a long way.

 

[JoostGT3]

It took me a while, but I do trust it as well... also because it has never gone rogue.
Sure, I have had nerve-wrecking gimball resets mid-flight, and lately the weird app disconnects, but never have I had that the Mavic would not respond and go off with the pigsies.

One thing I have contemplated but never really tried is waypoint missions though... this is something that I would like to try, but I also have the feeling that if I do something wrong in the programming, it might fly off into the sunset, leaving me behind sad and alone :-/

 

[melmartin]

My MPP has been extremely trustworthy. It's sad to read the stories of calamity, but almost always they turn out to be novice pilots who make wrong assumptions or haven't checked the manual to understand these rather complicated systems.

I also note that often their 'eyewitness' observations and memories vary from what the logs display. I expect we're getting some wishful thinking about how an incident went down. The logs are invaluable.

Still, I think DJI has done an exemplary job of making these aircraft accessible to the average person, but pilots just can't unbox them and fly. I've learned to get a really good look at my RC and iPhone screen before taking off, making sure all the systems are up and running with a solid GPS lock. I'm also getting very **** about checking weather. Even if I get a good forecast, but see trees bending in the wind, I'll trust my eyes rather than weather observations that may not reflect the current moment.

 

[RKX]

Since my mavic is only about a week old I am still in that Can I trust you stage with it, even when I bought my non DJI quads last year (mjx Bugs 3 & b2w) I had trust issues for a few weeks, and they only cost 300 each. You have to build that trust.

I have been sensible and not with my mavic. I fly out in the open, and around my neighbourhood, I pushed it as far as I pushed my non dji drones right away, if I knew I was safe there then I knew I would be able to push further.

My max distance with the bugs 2 was 456 feet altitude, and 1650 feet out, and at that point the drone complained more than I did from LOS. and it always came back,

I've done that with the mavic and gotten so much more from it, as the video is rock solid so I am confident with regular flight distances within the rules.

I've started to push it recently, I set my agl limit to 200m and I've gone out to 500m no issues. I don't see a point to going to 500m altitude, but I know I will get curious at one point. It's the nature of the beast.

I want to be able to take her out to 4km (the limit in CE mode) but I do NOT in any way have enough confidence in that right now. Thats all day by day learning. I want to know the ins and outs of everything before I seriously test the range.

Its all a day by day, I read all the incidents here, in each I also see the solution and the cause, and that improves my risk assessment and what would I do in this situation scenario. When I think I have it all backwards and forwards for situations and how to fully run every little bit of my drone, I will be ready to push the limits.

 

[JoostGT3]

My MPP has been extremely trustworthy. It's sad to read the stories of calamity, but almost always they turn out to be novice pilots who make wrong assumptions or haven't checked the manual to understand these rather complicated systems.

I also note that often their 'eyewitness' observations and memories vary from what the logs display. I expect we're getting some wishful thinking about how an incident went down. The logs are invaluable.

Still, I think DJI has done an exemplary job of making these aircraft accessible to the average person, but pilots just can't unbox them and fly. I've learned to get a really good look at my RC and iPhone screen before taking off, making sure all the systems are up and running with a solid GPS lock. I'm also getting very **** about checking weather. Even if I get a good forecast, but see trees bending in the wind, I'll trust my eyes rather than weather observations that may not reflect the current moment.

Agree. Just yesterday I saw a post from someone who bought a Mavic Air non FMC, coming here to ask how to charge it... I don't understand those people. How can you buy a $1000,- toy and not be bothered to RTFM? I'm sure 90% of the "My Mavic had a fly-away and seriously I didn't do anything" cases can be traced back to behavior like this...

 

[Jayfdee]

Agree. Just yesterday I saw a post from someone who bought a Mavic Air non FMC, coming here to ask how to charge it... I don't understand those people. How can you buy a $1000,- toy and not be bothered to RTFM? I'm sure 90% of the "My Mavic had a fly-away and seriously I didn't do anything" cases can be traced back to behavior like this...

Litchi is very often blamed for crashes/fly aways etc, the expert analysts on this forum usually get to the bottom of things.

 

[ac0j]

I have left my Mavic on the dresser next to my wallet several times. Never had any valuables missing (Yet ) *crosses fingers*.
However I have noticed my bowl of M&M’s seems light. I always suspected my wife for that. Maybe a nanny cam needs to be deployed?

 

[Lake_Flyer]

I trust it alright but only with my own fingers at the controls, even RTH is too autonomous for me. No trust in active track, with reason. No trust in obstacle avoidance and VPS/precision landing and landing protection, these are always switched off. No trust in GO4 at all, after any sudden updates that always have something changed or added undocumented, lack of Atti switch also bothers me.
Hardware wise it's a great little drone that flies very stable. But software wise no, from all the preprogrammed modes I only use cinematic and tripod and sometimes POI orbit.

 

[Just_nick]

I have zero faith in the GO4 app, no faith in the obstacle avoidance setup (it's more of a risk for a lost drone than it is beneficial to my flying), little faith in DJI repair out of warranty, and very little faith in new firmware updates. That being said, I can cover almost all of my fears with State Farm's coverage for $60 a year, so I'm only stuck hoping that the new firmwares don't cause issues.

That aside, I really wish more drone companies would step up so DJI would get its game together. The current drone market reminds me of the liter bike market back in 2006-2008, where the companies just didn't give a **** about consumers and released the same vanilla bikes with different color schemes each year, and maybe a few extra horsepower. Then BMW came into the market with the S1000RR and murdered the current market, and suddenly everyone got their ***** into gear and made cool bikes, again. That's exactly what we need in the drone market.

 

[Boob8282]

I have a lot of confidence in my mp. I don't have a ton of flight time on her but every flight I feel very good that everything will go as planned. I also trust my spark just as much. Love both drones

 

[WEOTN]

Recently i have started to doubt my mavic, i dont fly to crazy far out any more.
Wind, gimbal error, signal loss, suddenly a helicopter nerby, drone start to not respond so well.

What are other opinions ?

I trust the Mavic, it's my own judgement I hold in question... I keep reading the manual - again - and understand more. I realize my mistakes, usually from ignoring what I've read. I do believe other pilots suffer from this more than admitted, and the Mavic plays scape goat.

Having a background in HAM radio, and having some sleuthing tools for WIFI frequencies, I have learned to check a new area for possible interference if practical. Look for WIFI scanners that show signals as a graph so you can see both how many active devices there are and their intensities. You may find your controller can be drowned out quicker than you think.