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Air 1 First time launching and (almost not) retrieving from a boat

spamgnome

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Did something I thought I'd probably never do. I launched my drone from a boat. Just to be "safe," I used my Air 1 (versus my Air 2) just in case. The flight was fun enough, but when I was using Active Track toward the end of the flight, that's when I got the low battery warning. I had my buddy stop the boat, I also IMMEDIATELY canceled the RTH as I knew that we were nowhere near the launch point. As I got the little drone back to the boat, my plan was to hand catch it. But...there was a "catch" that I hadn't considered--the anti-collision sensors wouldn't let me get the drone close enough to the boat. And the battery was going down. Tried going UP and attempted a landing on the boat's sun shade, but it was rocking a bit too much. I finally remembered that the sensors do not work when going sideways, so using a combo of sideways flying and getting as close to the stern of the boat as possible, I was able to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat...and a watery grave for my aging Air. Here's some of the footage I shot. Gotta love royalty free Miami Vice music!

 
Nice look around!! Good job!
 
Uuuum, can you not switch the sensors off? Yes I know 'panic' stops us thinking clearly but having been in your shoes with an M2P and the sensors preventing a manual return home, I now remember that?
 
Uuuum, can you not switch the sensors off? Yes I know 'panic' stops us thinking clearly but having been in your shoes with an M2P and the sensors preventing a manual return home, I now remember that?
Yes, I definitely thought of that, but in the time it would have taken me to navigate to that screen and do it...the clock was ticking :)
 
Yes, I definitely thought of that, but in the time it would have taken me to navigate to that screen and do it...the clock was ticking :)
Does the Air 1 have the switch for the three flying modes or do you need to go in the app? If you switch to sport mode on the Air 2, it automatically turns off the sensors.
 
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If the Go 4 app layout for the Mavic Air is the same as that for the Mavic 2 Pro you have a row of icons along the top of the screen, one of which is for the sensors. Swipe down or touch that icon, I can't remember which, and you are taken to the sensor menu.
 
Swipe down or touch that icon, I can't remember which, and you are taken to the sensor menu.
Good call... In GO4 just touch the icon and it takes you to the 'Visual Navigation Settings' screen, 'Enable Obstacle Avoidance' is the top selection. Touch or slide the switch to turn off/on. Takes all of 3 seconds to do that and 'X' back out to the Main FPV screen.

I go to that page often, click 'Advanced Setting' at the bottom and turn off 'Downward Vision Positioning' so I can hand catch. When I have the 'bird in the hand' :), go back to that screen and turn VPS back on in prep for the next launch.
 
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Awesome, thanks for sharing!
 
Would brass or nylon nuts and bolts or releasable cable ties not be better than steel? With cable ties you could probably do away with the upper plate.
Ditto a plastic tube rather than a wooden dowel for weight saving?
 
Uuuum, can you not switch the sensors off? Yes I know 'panic' stops us thinking clearly but having been in your shoes with an M2P and the sensors preventing a manual return home, I now remember that?
I was thinking this as well, but not sure about his controller or features. If it has a ''Sport'' mode, should have been able to land because it turns off all of the sensors.
 
I was thinking this as well, but not sure about his controller or features. If it has a ''Sport'' mode, should have been able to land because it turns off all of the sensors.
Minor point, depending on the drone I think the downward looking sensors may remain active.
 
Minor point, depending on the drone I think the downward looking sensors may remain active.
I can only tell you about my drone, the M2P. On it, this would be incorrect. In the "T" mode (Tripod), the camera will only travel 1 meter a second as a maximum speed and ALL sensors (front, back, top, bottom and sides are enabled. In the "P" mode (Positioning), the unit can reach a speed of 35 MPH and the front, rear, top and bottom sensors are enabled, but the side sensors are disabled. In the "S" Mode, ALL sensors are disabled and the flight speed increases to 45 MPH, which of course is mostly used for racing and competition. The horizontal sensors have a 60 degree field of view (front, back and sides- a total of 240 degrees, circular) while the vertical sensors have a 56 degree field of view (112 degrees, circular). So, turning the controller to the Sport mode would have enabled him to land the craft as he needed to. This can be verified by having a craft powered up and using a controller (in my case, I have a Smart Controller) and changing the modes and reviewing the sensor icon, which will show full, partial and disabled sensors, depending on which mode you are in.

Cordially,

Mark
 
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