First Significant Flights Today… Wow

[Piper J3]

I’ve been flying RC since 1975. I’m a retired Mechanical Engineer. My first RC system was a Heath Kit, if that tells you anything. So, I’ve been doing this for a long time.

Fast forward to last week. I pre-spent my next COVID stimulus check and bought a MA2. So, instead of stimulating US economy it went to China. Oh well, I need to be happy.

I flew the MA2 around the house and used all three batteries. Easy to operate and totally cool. Such things they have now. Today I flew in a large open field that has a water tower at the far end. I flew 1500’ to the water tower and took a bunch of super high-quality still photos. I then hit RTH and machine came back at 20 mph and landed smack in the middle of my helipad. Flew all three batteries with the new Fly app that shows enhanced battery monitoring. Works a charm.

 

[Hauptmann]

Welcome to our forum, from Hauptmann in the friendly skies of Texas!

The MA2 is a terrific machine with a great camera. Lots of cool stuff to shoot in Ohio! Be glad you got the Fly More kit--you'll appreciate those extra batts.

Read the manual (link below), and be conservative at first. Practice using "Find My Drone" (DJI doesn't make it easy). Don't wait until you lose your MA2 before you try to learn under stress in less than ideal conditions.

We have over 100,000 members world wide to help you advance as a pilot and photographer. Ask for help when you need it. Share your work when you can.

Thanks for joining!
https://dl.djicdn.com/downloads/Mavic Air/20180213/Mavic+Air+User+Manual_v1.2.pdf

 

[THE CYBORG]

Hi Piper J3 Welcome to Mavic Pilots.

New flyer advice.Wide open space.
Slow & easy
Power-lines & trees are evil.
Don't forget to read the manual
Download Air 2 manual HERE

 

[lee82gx]

one last advice, fly back manually, as much as possible.

 

[Piper J3]

one last advice, fly back manually, as much as possible.

Why do you recommend manual flying back to home? It seems safer to let the automatic feature bring it home....

 

[lee82gx]

automated is never safer. you never really have control over flying over or around the obstacles, you also never really know for sure if you set the correct RTH height vs obstacles.

lastly, though it rarely happens with Mavic Air 2, RTH can encounter higher winds that the drone can withstand if you set a super high RTH height. In that case the drone will just spend all its battery fighting the wind and going nowhere. usually the drone will alert you to cancel automatic rth and manually fly home, but a new user may not understand and just watch the drone fight the wind and not move back.

the correct maneuver is to reduce height and fly back manually or set to sport mode and take your chances vs flight time.

what i do enjoy is to let automatic rth engage and come back when the power is just enough. i will cancel rth afterwards and fly back manually. finally, on your return flight, if manually, you can still engage in some minor video or photo captures that does not really deviate from the straight path.

 

[Piper J3]

automated is never safer. you never really have control over flying over or around the obstacles, you also never really know for sure if you set the correct RTH height vs obstacles.

lastly, though it rarely happens with Mavic Air 2, RTH can encounter higher winds that the drone can withstand if you set a super high RTH height. In that case the drone will just spend all its battery fighting the wind and going nowhere. usually the drone will alert you to cancel automatic rth and manually fly home, but a new user may not understand and just watch the drone fight the wind and not move back.

the correct maneuver is to reduce height and fly back manually or set to sport mode and take your chances vs flight time.

what i do enjoy is to let automatic rth engage and come back when the power is just enough. i will cancel rth afterwards and fly back manually. finally, on your return flight, if manually, you can still engage in some minor video or photo captures that does not really deviate from the straight path.

Thank you for detailed explanation. Today I intend to learn "Find my Drone". I will make special copy of these instructions and keep handy when I fly. This machine is absolutely incredible...

 

[lee82gx]

well actually i might as well say it. active tracking in parallel mode is always risky, and will often result in crash. i used it 3 times and crashed 1 time, 2 close shaves. safe to say i'm never using unless in the wide open now.

even in trace mode, the drone going up and down by itself is a risk if you have trees, leaves and branches all around.

yes it is a great drone for the money.

 

[THE CYBORG]

Why do you recommend manual flying back to home? It seems safer to let the automatic feature bring it home....

Practice makes perfect, you learn to fly when you are in control & it is more fun doing things for yourself.
Like lee82gx says things can go wrong if you rely on automation.
Can’t remember the last time I used RTH but I think it was when I bought the M2P to make sure it worked

 

[Jet skier]

Why do you recommend manual flying back to home? It seems safer to let the automatic feature bring it home....

It increases your flying time doing it manually which is always a good thing for practice

 

[burma419]

Why do you recommend manual flying back to home? It seems safer to let the automatic feature bring it home....

Flying back is just like flying out... completely safe. Don’t pass up a chance To practice your flying skills. RTH is very nice but don’t rely it. The Mavic Air 2 is a very solid drone.

 

[itsneedtokno]

Why do you recommend manual flying back to home? It seems safer to let the automatic feature bring it home....

So I think it's a good practice to get used to RTH, but like others have said, once your connection is strong enough (if you were flying from a great distance) I would return manually.

In manual flight you can do things like descend with forward movement for a faster descent speed in sport mode (how I get out of high winds on the way home)

 

[DroneQuixote]

Video or it didn't happen!

Congrats on earning your new wings! I'm in the same boat. What's funny is that you appear to be doing a lot more flying horizontally, I've been taking my steps vertically. I like getting a bird's eye-view of the area. Then again, I live in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, and it's easier to take things above a certain height and explore the horizon from those heights. I recommend going to Youtube and looking at all the videos you can. One that really stuck with me is to make sure to have the sun at your back so that your videos/pics aren't whitewashed. Happy flying!

 

[Estabro]

One tip I can offer if you haven't discovered it already is pressing the little maps icon in the bottom left corner will open a small thumbnail sized window that shows the map and a trace of your flight path. I use this often to get my bearings if I lose sight of it, and also to fly back along the same path I came. For me, it made me more confident returning to home manually.

 

[TreeHugger]

Why do you recommend manual flying back to home? It seems safer to let the automatic feature bring it home....

Learn all of your features. I fly in (for lack of better term) a "forest" sometimes - big trees everywhere. It comes in handy on the occasion that I lose visual - get me back to my open area. Could I simply switch to the map mode and manually re-orientate - of course, it's normal to me.
Test your features and learn when / how to use them.

Edit:
Should be mentioned - it is nice when your RTH will put you back exactly from your start. It does not always happen that way - sometimes a few feet off.

 

[Peshoa]

Do not use RTH too much...and hand land is better and safer....