First fly away. Got lucky.

[jac1957]

Had my first Mavic Mini flyaway a few days ago. All rookie mistakes. Windy day. Flying around a lake (large flat area allowed wind to gust hard and fast). My trouble started when i was 75 ft altitude and 175 ft distance. Wind took the drone out to about 705 ft distance. OH! and before I forget I was in C mode doing video. Tried to RTH. drone went to 95 ft and really struggled. BY now i am seeing visions of a watery grave for my drone. RTH didn't work so tried a manual return. Luckily i still had about 50% battery. Managed to fight it back to where i was. But again being a rookie I didn't think to go to S mode and drop my altitude. Now i know better. Lessons learned? Pay attention to wind conditions. Know the limits of your equipment. Take a few seconds in a case like this and think what you should do. And while the Mini is a good strong drone for its size it is still an ultralight and wind can be its enemy. One other thought this flight was 12 minutes long and i was once again lucky i didn't lose contact with my Mini.

 

[DanMan32]

Item to note: RTH is it's own mode and has its own max speed and attack angle.

 

[Thomas B]

Also, whenever possible fly out against the wind and return with it. Gives a margin of safety related to battery life.

 

[Guitarzan]

Also, whenever possible fly out against the wind and return with it. Gives a margin of safety related to battery life.

Now that's some sage advice...thanks!

 

[wjkrysak]

Also, whenever possible fly out against the wind and return with it. Gives a margin of safety related to battery life.

Good advice. Learned from experience

 

[Meta4]

Had my first Mavic Mini flyaway a few days ago.

If you put your drone up in a wind that's too strong and end up losing it, the drone did not fly away.

 

[Jet skier]

That’s a blow away not a fly away

 

[jac1957]

Now we are just arguing semantics. The point is I had a problem and made some mistakes and I learned from those mistakes. Was hoping someone else would learn from my mistakes.

 

[jonthecourier]

HI. I think a lot of us make the same mistake of setting the RTH height too high and forget it which of course is wrong and that's why some get of us get fly away's because the RTH is set too high and the bird find's it's too windy at the set height and you get a fly away.

 

[Meta4]

Now we are just arguing semantics. The point is I had a problem and made some mistakes and I learned from those mistakes. Was hoping someone else would learn from my mistakes.

The semantics are important.
Years ago at the dawn of DJI time, flyers would lose their drones and not understand why.
That was the genesis of the "flyaway".
If you didn't know why you lost the drone, who could challenge you when you said that it just flew away?
But since 2015 when DJI drones started using the Go app, we've been able to investigate the recorded flight data.
What we've learned is that drones don't just fly away.
There is always a reason for losing a drone and the overwhelming majority of cases are due to poor operation.
But the word flyaway won't die and fade away.
Every day threads are started suggesting someone's Mavic flew away and new flyers pick up the idea that their drone has a mind of its own and is likely to just fly away.

It would be good to avoid the term when you are talking about a simple case of someone putting their drone up in high winds and allowing it to be blown away.
Perhaps it's semantics to you but the difference is important.

I've been flying these things for six years now and investigating lost drones and crashes every week and I still haven't seen a credible "flyaway".

 

[Dave Maine]

I want to reinforce the nomenclature issue here. “”Fly away” implies a drone problem. A strong wind blow away is not a drone problem but a pilot error. A very different cause.

 

[Capt KO]

I guess he should have said, I had a “pilot error” today, but I recovered. That’s a little embarrassing but true. Ug

My early mistakes were on Phantoms, much more forgiving.

 

[MaxE1955!]

Had my first Mavic Mini flyaway a few days ago. All rookie mistakes. Windy day. Flying around a lake (large flat area allowed wind to gust hard and fast). My trouble started when i was 75 ft altitude and 175 ft distance. Wind took the drone out to about 705 ft distance. OH! and before I forget I was in C mode doing video. Tried to RTH. d rone went to 95 ft and really struggled. BY now i am seeing visions of a watery grave for my drone. RTH didn't work so tried a manual return. Luckily i still had about 50% battery. Managed to fight it back to where i was. But again being a rookie I didn't think to go to S mode and drop my altitude. Now i know better. Lessons learned? Pay attention to wind conditions. Know the limits of your equipment. Take a few seconds in a case like this and think what you should do. And while the Mini is a good strong drone for its size it is still an ultralight and wind can be its enemy. One other thought this flight was 12 minutes long and i was once again lucky i didn't lose contact with my Mini.

The first time it happens (and it will) is a gut churning experience. Seeing your drone fly away, seemingly under its own control can make anyone panic. That’s why it’s important, ESPECIALLY with the Mavic Mini to find a calm day with plenty of open space and practice for a few days to become acquainted with the controls and flight characteristics. It’s hard for new folks (even veterans of RC) not to rip open the package, put the props on the drone and want to immediately go to 400ft altitude and 5000fr distance, but that’s surely going to lead to disaster. The first thing EVERYONE wants to do is blame the drone. 99.9% if the time it’s operator error. I had my first drone, a GoPro Karma. (Ewwwwww) fly away and it took me weeks to feel even slightly comfortable taking off after receiving its replacement. Still get a gut check sometimes when my DJI drones do something I’m not expecting in the air. But that is what keeps me aware and attentive to the aircraft and weather conditions. Just like a motorcycle, the minute you think you have it totally figured out, is when you mess up and end up eating pavement. It is cliche’ but true, practice is ESSENTIAL and the more you fly, the better you become. IMHO!

 

[DanMan32]

As you get more familiar with your quad, test how it handles in winds, but do so in controlled situations. Take it to a park with a football or soccer field. If it starts to get away from you, LAND! Hopefully you'll still be in the ball field or at least the park.

I flew mine Saturday in what seemed like moderate gusts which it probably could have handled, but I wasn't comfortable in how it sounded handling the wind. I was also by a lake. So I only briefly took it up to 35ft but only within 100ft and along the shore. Most of the time I was no higher than 12ft. Really I was there to practice flying around trees. I had the prop cage on which probably didn't help with handling the wind.

 

[wjkrysak]

I did most of my drone learning on football and soccer fields, here in the city. Almost a safety net of flat land and clear air space, except light poles and fences

 

[DanMan32]

I did most of my drone learning on football and soccer fields, here in the city. Almost a safety net of flat land and clear air space, except light poles and fences

Even the poles and fences offer some challenges to learn from, as well as judging distance.

 

[wjkrysak]

Yep, had some close calls with stadium lights. Good practice for pine trees, here in Georgia.

 

[hiflyer201]

As you get more familiar with your quad, test how it handles in winds, but do so in controlled situations. Take it to a park with a football or soccer field. If it starts to get away from you, LAND! Hopefully you'll still be in the ball field or at least the park.

I flew mine Saturday in what seemed like moderate gusts which it probably could have handled, but I wasn't comfortable in how it sounded handling the wind. I was also by a lake. So I only briefly took it up to 35ft but only within 100ft and along the shore. Most of the time I was no higher than 12ft. Really I was there to practice flying around trees. I had the prop cage on which probably didn't help with handling the wind.

The prop guards are really a hindrance when flying in gusts. It will behave much better with them off in that situation.

 

[Westbrook55]

Just ordered Mini a couple of days ago. Expecting in mid-January. Very excited! Reading as much as I can before first flight. Appreciate the experience of seasoned drone pilots. Hope to be one someday myself. Thanks for the info.

 

[wjkrysak]

Just ordered Mini a couple of days ago. Expecting in mid-January. Very excited! Reading as much as I can before first flight. Appreciate the experience of seasoned drone pilots. Hope to be one someday myself. Thanks for the info.

The wait is part of the adventure. Soak up as much information from the forums and Tube as you can. Plenty of "advice" out there. Wish you well on your flights. Share your progress with us.