Extreme newb scared to fly mavic

[Macariushk]

I have had my mavic for a few days now and finally took it out in the back yard to see if i could just take off, move around a little and then land it.
Beginner mode ? √
GPS locked on 15 √
Scared the crap out of me ? √
Almost crashed it on maiden voyage? √
Had to check underwear after landing and prop shut down √
Scared to do it again ? √√√√√√√√√


I have the flight record if anyone is willing to look at it and tell me what im doing wrong.
Im sure i probably should have not hit RTH but then i did manage to cancel it so i could take control. I have NO IDEA how i managed to keep it out of a BIG tree in the back yard after hitting RTH. I just got lucky.

This is my first drone and i clearly have no clue what im doing.
I also have prop guards on it if that may be causing any issues.
What i really need is a flying teacher as its clear im in trouble.
Problem may = 59 year old man with 20 year olds drone . That all equals trouble. Especially as a newb.

Did u use the simulator ?

Practice using that first

 

[wonkamavic]

Im past that post. I dont need the simulator as im flying in the beginner mode with no issues.
I just need to figure out if my gimble noise is normal

 

[royster]

There is a post above, maybe yours about that banging noise, seems some have a Mav with the noise & say its not an issue. My one day old Mavic does not make that "bang" & it would drive me nuts everytime I fired her up.

 

[pbzpln]

As it has not happened to me (yet....), don't take my word, search ATTI here, but if you lose GPS, your Mavic will start flying like that $50 trash you didn't learn to fly.

Of course, maybe its just that the ten year old in me likes flips.

 

[wonkamavic]

There is a post above, maybe yours about that banging noise, seems some have a Mav with the noise & say its not an issue. My one day old Mavic does not make that "bang" & it would drive me nuts everytime I fired her up.

were you forced to upgrade the firmware to 0900 as i was ?
i can not accept that banging noise as its unacceptable for something that delicate that costs that much money.
its going back to amazon as im packing it up today.

 

[wonkamavic]

As it has not happened to me (yet....), don't take my word, search ATTI here, but if you lose GPS, your Mavic will start flying like that $50 trash you didn't learn to fly.

Of course, maybe its just that the ten year old in me likes flips.

ATTI ? that brings fear to my heart and im in no way ready for that. im in the beginner mode with my prop guard training wheels for awhile.

 

[wonkamavic]

I honestly think that the banging gimble could be fixed in the firmware to slow down the gimble speed during boot to stop the banging. im guessing its an inertia thing. im not sure why
DJI doesnt have an answer for this. As soon as i heard that bang from the gimble right out of the box, i called DJI and of course they did the standard calibrate bs and
said they were not sure what would be causing that to happen. My god their support is terrible. Everyone says how nice they are on the phone, and THEY ARE, but nice
does not resolve problems. Wouldnt you be nice nice nice if you had no idea how to address the problem ? Nice dont get it with me. Id rather they treat me like crap and get the problem resolved.
Im retired from the telecommunications / IT industry and i can tell you for a fact, when a support network is being overly " nice " you should be worried .

 

[Daniel murphy]

I have had my mavic for a few days now and finally took it out in the back yard to see if i could just take off, move around a little and then land it.
Beginner mode ? √
GPS locked on 15 √
Scared the crap out of me ? √
Almost crashed it on maiden voyage? √
Had to check underwear after landing and prop shut down √
Scared to do it again ? √√√√√√√√√


I have the flight record if anyone is willing to look at it and tell me what im doing wrong.
Im sure i probably should have not hit RTH but then i did manage to cancel it so i could take control. I have NO IDEA how i managed to keep it out of a BIG tree in the back yard after hitting RTH. I just got lucky.

This is my first drone and i clearly have no clue what im doing.
I also have prop guards on it if that may be causing any issues.
What i really need is a flying teacher as its clear im in trouble.
Problem may = 59 year old man with 20 year olds drone . That all equals trouble. Especially as a newb.

Hi Wonka!

Another newbie here. I cracked up when I read your post. Having never flown anything before I know exactly where your coming from. I found that if I watched TopGun the movie whilst wearing a pilots hat and blazer I had much more confidence! At the weekend I flew it around a local airport but same as you it didn't go well.

Drone causes Gatwick Airport disruption - BBC News

Oh well, things can only get better for us, just have to keep practicing.

 

[wonkamavic]

Hi Wonka!

Another newbie here. I cracked up when I read your post. Having never flown anything before I know exactly where your coming from. I found that if I watched TopGun the movie whilst wearing a pilots hat and blazer I had much more confidence! At the weekend I flew it around a local airport but same as you it didn't go well.

Drone causes Gatwick Airport disruption - BBC News

Oh well, things can only get better for us, just have to keep practicing.

MAVERICK !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[wonkamavic]

Actually, it only took me about an hour to get comfortable flying with it at low altitude and now im completly comfortable with the beginners mode. I do think that no users guide for the app is deplorable.
Its not exactly an easy idiots interface and is actually pretty complex and very easy to get lost in the menus. I think the app is the achilles heel of the DJI product line. The reviews of the app speak for themselves . If they had an app with a beginners interface that looked like the parrot bebop it would be awesome.

 

[Daniel murphy]

Yes I agree, I suppose DJI offers the simulation mode which I used for 10 mins before I had the balls to take it out on its maiden voyage.
I'm comfortable with the camera settings as I used to own high end DSLR cameras. But this is a different ball game! I'm just getting used to the basic controls. last night I did try a few of the pre-flight modes.
So what are you using yours for? I'm into mountain biking so I bought it primarily for that but having flown in wide open spaces and nearly crashing it I doubt theres much hope for me flying in tight forests.

 

[wonkamavic]

Yes I agree, I suppose DJI offers the simulation mode which I used for 10 mins before I had the balls to take it out on its maiden voyage.
I'm comfortable with the camera settings as I used to own high end DSLR cameras. But this is a different ball game! I'm just getting used to the basic controls. last night I did try a few of the pre-flight modes.
So what are you using yours for? I'm into mountain biking so I bought it primarily for that but having flown in wide open spaces and nearly crashing it I doubt theres much hope for me flying in tight forests.

its just a toy for me and i enjoy flying it. i really did not have a legit reason to get it. i just want to do it. im flying in my back yard at low altitude in the beginners mode. yesterday i flew it across the 6' fence out of the back yard and landed it on top of a 24" enclosed car trailer and then took off again just to see if i could do it. no problem. just have to make sure to point camera down to observe where you are really landing as it can be deceiving as to where you really are. i then got brave and ascended to about 40 feet and flew it around the corner of the big garage out of my sight and landed it on the deck of an equipment trailer via the ipad view ( kinda scary still ). but the garage is metal and i had an interference error after landing and it stopped me from taking off from the deck of that trailer. i had to walk to go get it. as long as you take baby steps / go slow /. dont do anything crazy stupid, its kind of hard to crash it. i have prop guards on but ive never needed them yet... but they are staying on for now.

 

[Dotcomguy3020]

I remember tryin to fly my 1st drone. A walkera runner 250. That thing was in the dirt more than it was in the air. No GPS stabilization on it at all. I didn't have time to sit around and learn to fly. So I bought a SKI flamewheel and built it. I like to tinker. Anything with GPS was awesome.

 

[wonkamavic]

just printed out the return label for mavic #1 and ordered mavic #2 ( this time no tax woohoo )
mavic goes back to amazon via ups tomorrow morning
lets hope mavic #2 does not have gimble issues

 

[frankiez]

that is still a little unnerving but im afraid of heights. i have never been on an airplane and never will be. we shall see if the drone height on the ipad bothers me. im sure i will get used to it.
but im flying on my property which is only 1.5 acres and loaded with trees. im staying at low altitude until i get more confident with it. im just taking it slow and easy. i flew the mavic right up to my face about 24" away while sitting in a chair and it did not scare me at all. it seems to be rock solid. i did turn on the prop cage for my guards ( not cages ) and it seemed to stabilize the mavic much more. the video i posted is what i am doing. im still doing squares and not ready for the figure 8 just yet.

24"?! And the controller didn't vibrate and beep telling u there was an obstacle?!

 

[wonkamavic]

24"?! And the controller didn't vibrate and beep telling u there was an obstacle?!

yes it did. i was just getting used to close control. it was raising HE$$ and vibrating ....

 

[jeremybirn]

> A tutorial for the app would be awesome. Especially for a newb like myself

DJI Mavic Pro: Tips, Tricks, & Techniques

This is a 2-hour course on using the Mavic, with a lot of the lessons being in the app. The teacher of the course posted on this forum a few days ago that the whole course was unlocked so we could view it for free for the next few weeks. Instead of registering, just click on each video lesson in the "Contents" box on the right, and you watch the whole thing without signing in.

I'm new to drones myself, but having flown my new Mavic a bunch of times over the past few weeks since I got it already makes it a much more pleasant experience than the first flight. Of course my almost-2-hours of flight time makes me a total noob compared to many of the experienced people on this forum, but those first few hours have already made a world of difference. After reading the manuals and watching some training videos, go out and practice as much as possible, and over time you'll feel more comfortable.

 

[Arkarian]

I have had my mavic for a few days now and finally took it out in the back yard to see if i could just take off, move around a little and then land it.
Beginner mode ? √
GPS locked on 15 √
Scared the crap out of me ? √
Almost crashed it on maiden voyage? √
Had to check underwear after landing and prop shut down √
Scared to do it again ? √√√√√√√√√


I have the flight record if anyone is willing to look at it and tell me what im doing wrong.
Im sure i probably should have not hit RTH but then i did manage to cancel it so i could take control. I have NO IDEA how i managed to keep it out of a BIG tree in the back yard after hitting RTH. I just got lucky.

This is my first drone and i clearly have no clue what im doing.
I also have prop guards on it if that may be causing any issues.
What i really need is a flying teacher as its clear im in trouble.
Problem may = 59 year old man with 20 year olds drone . That all equals trouble. Especially as a newb.

I go to a local park. Much more space. First flight I took it up to 400 feet and couldn't see it and panicked. Hit RTH and it landed right on my helipad.

RTH is not a bad feature if you have watched videos and set it up correctly RTFM

 

[wonkamavic]

> A tutorial for the app would be awesome. Especially for a newb like myself

DJI Mavic Pro: Tips, Tricks, & Techniques

This is a 2-hour course on using the Mavic, with a lot of the lessons being in the app. The teacher of the course posted on this forum a few days ago that the whole course was unlocked so we could view it for free for the next few weeks. Instead of registering, just click on each video lesson in the "Contents" box on the right, and you watch the whole thing without signing in.

I'm new to drones myself, but having flown my new Mavic a bunch of times over the past few weeks since I got it already makes it a much more pleasant experience than the first flight. Of course my almost-2-hours of flight time makes me a total noob compared to many of the experienced people on this forum, but those first few hours have already made a world of difference. After reading the manuals and watching some training videos, go out and practice as much as possible, and over time you'll feel more comfortable.

That video series is OUTSTANDING and i have been watching them over an over and each time i pick up something different. Thanks you sooooo much for sharing that.

 

[Arkarian]

They appear to be locked now.