From Authentication to Destruction in less than 6 Hours!!

[SteveAus]

I arrived home in Adelaide from an overnight international flight and was ready to open the box on my new Mavic 2 Zoom which I had delivered 3 weeks earlier. I did all the stuff you have to do prior to flying:

Charged the batteries and controller.
Updated the Firmware and a few other bits of software.
Authenticated the drone (around 10:00 am).
Spent a while on the Simulator.
Read the manual again to check on a few settings.
Had my first mini test flight in the garden at 13:00 hrs (to check the solar panels and chimneys).
An hour and a half later, took my shiny new drone to Victoria Park (which is an authorised fly-zone).
I flew around checking out various functions and used up one battery.
Put on the second battery and flew off to disaster!

I hit the top of a tree at 22.3 m above the ground at 15:33 hrs (according to the flight log).
The drone tumbled through all the branches and landed on the ground next to the trunk - one broken rear rotor arm, one set of propellers missing (three sets damaged), damage to the housing just behind the gimble, one rear landing pad missing, and a few scuff marks.

Totally beginner pilot error!
I'm not sure if APAS was activated. I suspect not. I had been flying with APAS activated while using the first battery, but I think I forgot to activate it again when I put on the second one.

Fortunately, I have DJI Care Refresh and am now in the process of getting the drone fixed and flying again.

Next time I'll make sure I am way above tall trees!

Is this a record to go from Authentication to Destruction in around 5-1/2 hours?
If it is, it's a rather embarrassing record to own!

 

[SteveAus]

Here are a couple of pics.

 

[Aussiepilot74]

Is this a record to go from Authentication to Destruction in around 5-1/2 hours?

Despite if it is a record or not, I have no intention on breaking your record when my Mavic 2 Pro arrives next week!

 

[SteveAus]

I sincerely hope you do not.
Please learn from my stupid mistake.
If you think a tree is 20 m tall, add another 10 m to your altitude (at least).

 

[GJD]

 

[4wd]

Crashes on the first couple of flights are pretty common, I get tired of suggesting not trying to do initial flights anywhere near trees let alone in small back gardens, even when you are good on the controls getting in and out of tighter spots is risky.
A further danger period is when you start to get more confident and hit something when zooming about over-enthusiastically.

 

[deleted member 877]

Why would the act of putting in a new of battery necessitate reactivating APAS or any other setting for that matter?

 

[SteveAus]

Crashes on the first couple of flights are pretty common, I get tired of suggesting not trying to do initial flights anywhere near trees let alone in small back gardens, even when you are good on the controls getting in and out of tighter spots is risky.
A further danger period is when you start to get more confident and hit something when zooming about over-enthusiastically.

I guess it is impossible to get your message out to absolutely everyone, but that was my bad luck (and piloting skills!).
I crashed my drone in Victoria Park which is a large public park and authorized fly zone. I doubt the City Council would be sympathetic to a request to remove the Gum trees that have been there for over a hundred years.

 

[SteveAus]

Why would the act of putting in a new of battery necessitate reactivating APAS or any other setting for that matter?

I am a newbie and made a newbie mistake and to be honest, I don’t know the answer to your question. I had powered down my RC as well as the drone when I changed the battery. I’m not sure if that makes a difference to the settings. It was my assumption that APAS wasn’t activated when I crashed, but it could easily be that APAS couldn’t recognize spindly tree tops. DJI has stated that this is the case and that the drone cannot avoid thin branches and power lines.
I’m putting the whole incident down to experience and I have learned a very valuable lesson. I shall certainly be a lot more careful in the future when I get my drone back.

 

[Canuk]

This was a terrible thing to happen to a new toy . Hope your back up sailing soon

 

[deleted member 877]

I am a newbie and made a newbie mistake and to be honest, I don’t know the answer to your question. I had powered down my RC as well as the drone when I changed the battery. I’m not sure if that makes a difference to the settings. It was my assumption that APAS wasn’t activated when I crashed, but it could easily be that APAS couldn’t recognize spindly tree tops. DJI has stated that this is the case and that the drone cannot avoid thin branches and power lines.
I’m putting the whole incident down to experience and I have learned a very valuable lesson. I shall certainly be a lot more careful in the future when I get my drone back.

From what I have read in forums and seen on Youtube it's pretty much a given that most pilots will crash their drones at least once and usually early in the experience curve - so don't feel bad about it. You've got the right attitude so it should be plain sailing for you going forward.

In any case, I have found that it's easy to accidentally change settings in the app - the icons are very small when DJi Go 4 is running on a standard sized phone like my Galaxy S7. This is why I'm seriously considering getting an iPad Mini 4.

 

[SteveAus]

This was a terrible thing to happen to a new toy . Hope your back up sailing soon

It’s being repaired as we speak.
I’m expecting to up in the air again next week.......but with a lot more caution

 

[SteveAus]

From what I have read in forums and seen on Youtube it's pretty much a given that most pilots will crash their drones at least once and usually early in the experience curve - so don't feel bad about it. You've got the right attitude so it should be plain sailing for you going forward.

In any case, I have found that it's easy to accidentally change settings in the app - the icons are very small when DJi Go 4 is running on a standard sized phone like my Galaxy S7. This is why I'm seriously considering getting an iPad Mini 4.

I’m with you on the size of the icons on my iPhone. The icons do seem rather small and I’m thinking about getting a mount for my iPad Pro, but I can’t decide which is the best one to get. I see more research in my future!