Flying mavic to another city

Jacobegg · Feb 9, 2017

First off I want to say this is not my video and I'd rather not have a swarm (pun intended) of drone police coming to go off on if this is legal/illegal/stupid.
I just wanted to know what is everyone's thoughts on this. Personally I thought it was really cool and I'm impressed with how far the mavic flew on one battery. I'd like to give it a try just to see how the mavic handles on a first hand experience. Of course I would need to find an open area away from basically everything. It would takes lots of planning but it looks kinda fun. I have a link to the video below.

CC Rider · Feb 9, 2017

VERY intense and impressive video, by anyone's standards. It truly shows just how powerful and precise the Mavic is and how accurate and helpful its built-in features are to even make such a city-to-city trip possible - on one battery, yet - while driving in a car and then landing safely as designed. In my opinion, the pilot definitely handed himself well in what had to be a very nerve-wracking situation. He pushed an envelope I'm not yet prepared to even consider doing. Hats off to him.

Totally unrelated to the subject at hand, but I noticed a constant shimmering in the central part of the image throughout the flight footage. Is this the result, do you think, of filming through the plastic gimbal cover? First time I can recall seeing that particular visual disturbance in a Mavic video. Thanks for sharing the video.

Jacobegg · Feb 9, 2017

I totally agree!
And yea he has the plastic dome on. Whenever I fly with it on I have a hair light object moving around as such. I thought it was hair but I believe it's a scratch on the dome itself. I have yet to find the scratch/hair/object.
At least I know I'm not alone now.

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rfc0001 · Feb 9, 2017

He probably left the gimbal cover on since he figured he might crash land and wanted to protect it. Otherwise, I don't know why anyone would fly with it on while they are filming.

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rfc0001 · Feb 9, 2017

I noticed it was extremely windy in the video. My guess is the tail wind had a lot to with the distance since it was going 45mph.

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CC Rider · Feb 9, 2017

rfc0001 said:
He probably left the gimbal cover on since he figured he might crash land and wanted to protect it. Otherwise, I don't know why anyone would fly with it on while they are filming.

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That makes the most sense and would be a logical precaution to take if embarking on such a venture.

But I am surprised by the number of posts I've read in this Forum in which too many Mavic flyers are stating they leave their gimbal covers ON during every flight. I pointed out in one thread I posted in about this how DJI instructions specifically state to remove the gimbal cover prior to flight, adding that the inexpensive molded plastic cover was hardly made to handle optics and would ruin filming and photos. Still, there are folks out there taking images with an all-around good camera through an $11-piece of non-optical plastic designed only to protect the Mavic's camera and gimbal during transit. To each his or her own, I guess.

erkme73 · Feb 9, 2017

What I found the most interesting was the estimated remaining time. It was constantly adjusting - and by very wide margins. He covered an enormous amount of distance in just the first 20% of battery - and the estimate was still above 20min remaining. When I fly in sport mode, and I'm full throttle, I see my time go to low teens or even single digits in just the first few minutes. I can only assume he had such great time estimates and low discharge rates due to the wind.

rfc0001 · Feb 9, 2017

Yep, if you noticed in the parking lot before they took off there was at least a 30 mph wind blowing in their face. I'm sure they took advantage of this to fly with the wind and try for a distance record. He actually wasted the last 10% landing it. Could have easily gone farther, but probably didn't want to push it.

erkme73 · Feb 10, 2017

rfc0001 said:
Yep, if you noticed in the parking lot before they took off there was at least a 30 mph wind blowing in their face. I'm sure they took advantage of this to fly with the wind and try for a distance record. He actually wasted the last 10% landing it. Could have easily gone farther, but probably didn't want to push it.

Has anyone ever seen the true speed exceed 45mph in a strong tailwind? I have not. In fact, I see a dramatic decrease in top speed when I fly into the wind. It certainly accelerates and flies with less resistance going the opposite direction, but I've not seen the RC show more than 45mph.

So, my theory is that the forward speed/pitch of the MP is regulated by the GPS speed. The flight controller will not let the MP fly faster than 45. So even if you're giving it full throttle in a 30MPH tailwind, the MP is only applying enough forward speed for 15MPH. And, that, I believe, is why these guys were able to fly 20,000 feet in the first 20% of battery despite being in sport mode, full-throttle forward. It would be the same as being in sport mode on a dead-calm day, doing 15 mph.

Jacobegg · Feb 10, 2017

Yea 45 is my top speed but I barely see it go past 41ish. And because it didn't have to fly back against the wind I'm assuming that's another reason it went for so long

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rfc0001 · Feb 10, 2017

erkme73 said:
Has anyone ever seen the true speed exceed 45mph in a strong tailwind? I have not. In fact, I see a dramatic decrease in top speed when I fly into the wind. It certainly accelerates and flies with less resistance going the opposite direction, but I've not seen the RC show more than 45mph.

So, my theory is that the forward speed/pitch of the MP is regulated by the GPS speed. The flight controller will not let the MP fly faster than 45. So even if you're giving it full throttle in a 30MPH tailwind, the MP is only applying enough forward speed for 15MPH. And, that, I believe, is why these guys were able to fly 20,000 feet in the first 20% of battery despite being in sport mode, full-throttle forward. It would be the same as being in sport mode on a dead-calm day, doing 15 mph.

Agree it seems regulated.

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