DJI Mavic, Air and Mini Drones
Friendly, Helpful & Knowledgeable Community
Join Us Now

have we reached the point of to much reliance on technology

old man mavic

Well-Known Member
Premium Pilot
Joined
Nov 15, 2018
Messages
15,718
Reactions
58,117
Age
77
Location
Llanbradach South Wales UK
hi fellow flyers i am starting this thread to ask the question in the title.it is in reguards to the UAVs themselves not about cameras the worry that i see is before long our hobby as UAV pilots will be superceded by us being a hobby of UAV launchers i have no problem with tech that makes our UAVs safer or better able to take amazing pictures but i fear that the tech is taking away the pure pleasure of controlling something flying through the air i know you can turn off the gps stick it in sport mode.or even airplane mode and wiz around but to me that defeats the object of having the tech on board i feel that the latest DJI UAVs are trying to be all things to all people and there complexety is there downfall when problems arise with there use
 
  • Like
Reactions: Porky and calmar81
I think it’s more a case of people just expect to not have to learn any more. Without the tech it would be very hard to use something like the M2P as the camera platform it is. You’d spend so much time trying to just fly the ****** thing.

If people took the time to understand the equipment and it’s limitation all would be good.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I think I know what you’re up to, but I think everybody who wants just the pleasure and skills to fly, would build / fly a fixed wing airplane with just one propeller and rudders..., helicopter or even multicopter. You can adjust the technical „help“ you are getting with leaving away servos, gyros etc.

But I bought my Mavic because I don’t want to have problems. I want to have it go exactly where I want it to go, do what I want it to do ... I don’t mind, if there’s much tech involved if it gives me the experience I want to have.

I personally use my Mavics for photography and don’t want to care about how to get it in the air and hold it there :)

But: I absolutely love the feeling to fly it, also. It’s like a dream becoming true... and with nearly no learning curve. There’s still so much to learn with those aircraft. That’s why we’re all here, I think.
 
You do realize that DJI is making consumer and professional-grade photo and video capturing equipment and not toys for feeling, right? There are literally dozens of other quads meant for playing around with max experience of control and flight. Some of which will go over triple the speed of a Mavic Pro with ascent rates that match horizontal speeds of the Mavic.

What you're saying is like complaining that you bought a Maybach and you don't get the flickable feel of a Miata.
 
If you *want* a flying challenge then get a CP heli. I’ve been learning to fly them in and off for a few years now. They’re hard!!
 
well done gentlemen you summed up the whole reason for my thread something as comlex as a mavic is what makes it so good at what it does and a lot of people who fly them seem to forget that and then complain when things go wrong hence the title to much reliance on technology
 
I flew helicopters at one stage in my life, (RC ones) but kept crashing them so flying DRONE’s was a breeze. I like the evaluation of all new technology, anything to make flying much easier is a bonus in my eyes. I can concentrate more on taking photos while my M2P just hovers, how easy is that.;)
 
Coming from a long and varied background in R/C (and control line & Free Flight as well) I do think that the technology has over simplified the whole process. It has allowed a new breed of "aviators" to take to the air that have no desire to learn anything more than swipe the credit card, toss the battery on charge for an hour, click, point, and enjoy the "flight".

I do think at some point we will see the "tipping point" when too many people who honestly don't care where/how they are flying and something negative happens. At that point the powers to be (FAA/NTSB) will have their usual Knee-Jerk reaction and regulate to the point of being almost impossible to fly "just for fun".
 
  • Like
Reactions: old man mavic
I flew helicopters at one stage in my life, (RC ones) but kept crashing them so flying DRONE’s was a breeze. I like the evaluation of all new technology, anything to make flying much easier is a bonus in my eyes. I can concentrate more on taking photos while my M2P just hovers, how easy is that.;)
just trying to evoke some discussion the forum seems to have gone a bit flat in the last couple of days hows the kitchen going
 
just trying to evoke some discussion the forum seems to have gone a bit flat in the last couple of days hows the kitchen going

I know that dad;) just trying to push this thread along;) All done, just going over the snagging list now, finishing touchesThumbswayup
 
  • Like
Reactions: old man mavic
I know that dad;) just trying to push this thread along;) All done, just going over the snagging list now, finishing touchesThumbswayup
great news son
 
You can't turn off GPS and sport mode uses GPS just like the other modes do.
sorry thought sport mode was like atti on my other UAVs thanks for the heads up
 
sorry thought sport mode was like atti on my other UAVs thanks for the heads up
Sport mode just allows a greater tilt angle which gives greater speed. It's just faster P-GPS mode.
Obstacle avoidance can't work at the bigger tilt angle of Sport Mode because it won't be looking in front of the drone.
But since your drone flies faster in P-GPS mode without OA, it's not something you'd want to leave on for most flying anyway.
 
Sport mode just allows a greater tilt angle which gives greater speed. It's just faster P-GPS mode.
Your obstacle avoidance can't work at the bigger tilt angle because it won't be looking in front of the drone.
thanks that why i joined the forum great way to learn from more experienced pilots have never flow in sport mode thanks for the info
 
I used to fly prewar antique planes & just loved it. Have 2 runways on the farm but broke my back so just bought a drone & goggles. I thought you could use airplane mode & just fly pure stick & rudder? What I'm used to I had to hand prop, no electric at all.
 
I love the photographic and video my MPP affords me but like Oldman Mavic I have yet to try out the sport mode. I did get bored quickly with letting the intelligence of the UAV fly me instead of me flying it. I enjoy being in control of the take offs and landings. I am glad to have the safety net aspect of RTH and so on but I like doing it myself.
 
  • Like
Reactions: old man mavic
You do realize that DJI is making consumer and professional-grade photo and video capturing equipment and not toys for feeling, right? There are literally dozens of other quads meant for playing around with max experience of control and flight. Some of which will go over triple the speed of a Mavic Pro with ascent rates that match horizontal speeds of the Mavic.

What you're saying is like complaining that you bought a Maybach and you don't get the flickable feel of a Miata.
Well said! Just as in many of the threads involving changing props folks seem to be losing track of why they bought a Mavic in the first place. I have other drones to tear up the sky with that are cheap and easy to fix after the inevitable crash. They are lousy for photography but very "Miata" like in the air and you must fly them every second. Very different from Mavic.
 
YES.
1.The internet is so convenient that we now allow many of our crucial systems to connect to it in order to make configuration and control easier and less costly...it's dumb and will bite us in the arse
2. The increasing reliance on very high tech systems that only a few people actualy understand renders the general populace powerless, unless you have vast amounts of cash or are part of the global elite.
 
Kinda yes, but it's not becasue of technology, it's because of stupid and lazy people.

Technology has almost always been developed in order to make advanced tools that enable qualified people who know how to do a job to do it better/more efficiently/in a less boring way.
But since the tools are advanced a bunch of people with no idea insist in getting and using them and expecting them to do everything for them without the need for any learning, understanding or supervision.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BigAl07
as to a drone. love my mavic pro.
but yes peps as a whole are way to reliant on tech.

there was this one thing in a "sitcom" back in the 60's, never seen before (or much) in sifi of the very olden days.
that item when it does not work today or (fantastic as it sounds) not installed, peps are dumb founded.





sit com.......... star trek.

item................auto open/close doors.
 
Put a veteran aviator of 70 years ago into a DC3 and he/she will probably gift you with many, many stories about how they were able to "fly that bird" by the seat of the pants, in all weathers. The technology of the time was pretty good, but certainly by today's standards fairly simple requiring an almost constant level of human input from start up to touch down. Put that same aviator into the left hand seat of an A380 or Boeing 787 and he/she would struggle to understand how it was possible to get such a huge aircraft off the ground, using that "funny little stick thing". Try and explain to the aviator the complex technology behind how it is possible for these aircraft to fly and there's a good chance that soon after uttering the phrase "fly by wire" their eyes will begin to glaze over!
However, cut through all that stuff but call upon their basic knowledge of flying and there would probably be a very good chance they would be able to master the mechanics of getting the A380 or 787 off the ground and to maintain some semblance of controlled flight. I suspect that unwittingly, for the veteran aviator at least, it would mostly be the aircraft's "back-room" technology which got it off the ground, prevented stall situations and "sniffed" the airspace around it to help minimise (avoid) the risk of flying into to something other than more clear air.
Maybe the analogy is not the best, but hopefully you get the picture. Flying a UAV with simple technology would be perfectly possible, but as a pilot your work would almost solely be focused on the physical effort involved in the mechanics of flying, with other activities such as photography likely being a very distant and low priority - if you wanted your pride and joy to survive beyond its maiden rotation. Flying the current generation of prosumer type UAV's doesn't require you to hold an engineering degree or to have mastered aviation physics, but it certainly offers you the luxury of exploring new frontiers in flying and photography - all relatively simply.
In fact, I would suggest, alongside UAV's full-size cousins, the tech' brain of our favourite bird probably wants the vagaries of human "interference" with their mathematical abilities to keep an aircraft flying safely to be kept to an absolute minimum. Play with my control surfaces and take your photographs, but leave the "real" grunt work to me. Trust me, I know what I'm doing! :oops::rolleyes:
 
As an example I don't use a cell because we have to walk around outside to get 1 bar to use it. I'm not on social media just because I see it as useless, just my opinion. Our land line & internet went out monday & the internet wouldn't even do a speed test but I could post barely. It was just fixed within the last hour but my point is I was bored silly without my laptop & a phone. I never realized I was so dependent on tech. I had a very remote hunting camp I sold because after breaking my back I couldn't even get there & we had no rech but had a blast. Today was a wake up call for me.
 
Lycus Tech Mavic Air 3 Case

DJI Drone Deals

New Threads

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
130,598
Messages
1,554,236
Members
159,603
Latest member
refrigasketscanada