Fly away immediately at launch

[TechieBrad89]

So I took off...... that’s all she wrote.
Immediately after take off it shot up, and up, and up, and up....

past it’s safety limit, until finally my controller lost connection. I could use all the controls on my controller, except the down stick for altitude.

knowing I had a refresh plan, I killed the rotors. After about a 3 minute free fall from about 800 meters, I have my drone in hand.

not one broken blade, not one scuff. Works fine. I cannot believe it.

what happened to cause this? I mean, I’ve had it lose connection and it just returned to home, but this is a first.
I’d upload a flight log or whatever it’s called, but I cannot figure out how to download it.
This is a mavic mini.

 

[JohnLietzke]

You will need to post your logs. There are some really great and experienced members on here that interpret what happened. I have been having trouble with IOS 14 and macOS Big Sur copying the logs from my phone. I have been using AirData.com it is free and allows you to sync you DJI account and export the logs.

Your Mini is a beast if it fell a 1/2 mile and had no damage. Does it power up without errors?

 

[Meta4]

I’d upload a flight log or whatever it’s called, but I cannot figure out how to download it.

From your minimal description, it sounds like a yaw error situation.
But your flight data is needed to confirm if that was the case.

Go to DJI Flight Log Viewer | Phantom Help
Follow the instructions there to upload your flight record from your phone or tablet.
That will give you a detailed report of the flight.
Come back and post a link to the report it gives you.
Or .. just post the txt file.

And a description of the launch spot and the surface you launched from would be helpful.

 

[TechieBrad89]

Will do thank you.

powered up, turned on, played with the gimbal, took off again (this time inside so if it wanted to fly away again it would hit the roof lol) and it hovered fine. After a brief look over, there’s not a scratch and no cracked blades. I killed the rotors because with the refresh plan there’s no replacement If you don’t have the broken drone in hand to send them. Found it blinking red in the woods. Powered off and back on just fine.
The drone Gods have looked out for me. Lol

 

[Deleted member 103366]

Meaning no offence but a 3 minute free fall suggests to me a much greater height than 800m, I have stopped the motors of a Phantom 3 in mid air and the terminal velocity, quickly reached, was, from memory, around 16m/s.
3 minutes from 800m is around 4.5m/s.
Are you sure you stopped the motors? What was the response to the CSC command set to, "emergency only" or "anytime"?
I am also wonder how it was possible for the drone to break the 500m ceiling that is, I believe, hardwired into the drone.

To get the flight logs connect the phone to a computer then via the computer (windows) look in the folders
Computer/phone-name/Phone/DJI/dji.go.v5/FlightRecord
&
Computer/phone-name/Phone/DJI/dji.go.v5/FlightRecord/MCDatFlightRecords

 

[TechieBrad89]

it felt like three minutes. In reality I have no clue how long. I did start recording and haven’t reviewed the footage yet.

I know it was extremely high and it never stopped going up. My app kept saying you’re breaking laws being this high, but never stopped ascending. Finally after realizing my refresh plan was null and void without the actual drone in hand, I remembered how to kill the rotors. It could have been much less, I say 3 minutes cause that’s when my controller showed no connection, I’m assuming it lost connection upon impact with the ground.
The footage should give me an idea of how long the fall was once the rotors were killed.

 

[Meta4]

The footage should give me an idea of how long the fall was once the rotors were killed.

The data is what's needed, and would show heights, not video.
It only takes two minutes to get it.
I'm wanting to go out .. is there any chance the data will show up soon?

 

[TechieBrad89]

Sorry, I’m out and about trick or treating with the kids.
I’ll post it later this evening.

sorry. I didn’t realize you were waiting on me to upload it.

 

[Deleted member 103366]

If you are on an Android phone you may be able to find the txt flight logs via the "my files" app as "documents", and for the DAT file by searching for "DAT". Whether or not you can upload them from there via wifi etc. I haven't a clue, sorry

 

[TechieBrad89]

It’s a pain in the butt. I have an iPhone. Headed home right now to plug in my phone and extract the txt file.

 

[Otisangb]

I'm wanting to go out

Your to old to go trick or treating

 

[dirkclod]

Your to old to go tricker or treating

Not with his kids he not. Must have missed that.
Take your time Brad. Enjoy time out with your kids.
You don’t get anytime back. Post those logs but it’s not
going to kill no one to wait abit.
These guys can tell you what happened they just bored ?

 

[TechieBrad89]

Your to old to go trick or treating

Took the kids.

 

[Otisangb]

Took the kids.

Understood, I was quoting meta4 as a joke. I do look fwd to reading the upcoming flight analysis.

 

[TechieBrad89]

Meaning no offence but a 3 minute free fall suggests to me a much greater height than 800m, I have stopped the motors of a Phantom 3 in mid air and the terminal velocity, quickly reached, was, from memory, around 16m/s.
3 minutes from 800m is around 4.5m/s.
Are you sure you stopped the motors? What was the response to the CSC command set to, "emergency only" or "anytime"?
I am also wonder how it was possible for the drone to break the 500m ceiling that is, I believe, hardwired into the drone.

To get the flight logs connect the phone to a computer then via the computer (windows) look in the folders
Computer/phone-name/Phone/DJI/dji.go.v5/FlightRecord
&
Computer/phone-name/Phone/DJI/dji.go.v5/FlightRecord/MCDatFlightRecords

So I made it home and connected the phone to my computer.

Unfortunately im not finding any folders like that.

 

[Otisangb]

Must have missed that.

Must have missed who I was quoting. All good.

 

[TechieBrad89]

From your minimal description, it sounds like a yaw error situation.
But your flight data is needed to confirm if that was the case.

Go to DJI Flight Log Viewer | Phantom Help
Follow the instructions there to upload your flight record from your phone or tablet.
That will give you a detailed report of the flight.
Come back and post a link to the report it gives you.
Or .. just post the txt file.

And a description of the launch spot and the surface you launched from would be helpful.

I launched from the same usual spot I normally launch from - directly in front of our house. We live in a very grassy area so I launch from the palm of my hand. Once it took off... it was gone. All controls worked with the exception of the down control on the left stick.

 

[dirkclod]

Must have missed who I was quoting. All good.

I did, sorry about that. I’m moving to fast reading and missed that.
And you were right .?‍

 

[TechieBrad89]

I did, sorry about that. I’m moving to fast reading and missed that.
And you were right .?‍

Its all good.

You guys are MUCH nicer than the reddit communities. I'm almost done with reddit. Every group is so toxic.

 

[Deleted member 103366]

So I made it home and connected the phone to my computer.

Unfortunately im not finding any folders like that. &

It’s a pain in the butt. I have an iPhone.

Ahh you might need to use the I tunes thing, HOW TO: Retrieve DJI Phantom Flight Logs from an Apple Device | Phantom Help

I think Meta4 will need the DAT file which should be in the MCDatFlightRecords folder. From what I can see in the txt flight log your flight went bananas and reached 964m at its highest. I think you did stop the motors because the data seems to stop at that height and if memory serves me correctly the txt flight logs is recorded only whilst the motors are running or maybe the connection was lost.
The DAT file is recorded from drone power on to power off.