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Heavy Wind The Mavic Mini's Achilles Heel

Roy Rogers

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Heavy Wind The Mavic Mini's Achilles Heel : Tips on how to deal with it
(1) . If its windy just don't fly
(2) . A Lot of times the wind at ground level can be wildly different then at 150ft - 400ft . Lesson to the motors and watch for the craft to tilt as you are ascending . As the wind increases the motors will speed up and the craft will tilt to help hold its positioning . If The MM is doing this continuously , It's not a good day for flying. If you hear it intermittingly that's due to strong wind gust . This can be far more dangerous then strong sustained winds .
(3). A beautiful day at your house does not mean beautiful weather on location . Mountain tops , The Ocean , Lakes and many other places can always have stronger winds . Keep this in mind and plan a 2nd or 3rd trip instead of forcing the issues.
(4). Weather Apps and Weather report can also help . On site take note of how the wind is blowing and plan your flight with that in mind . It takes longer / more battery power to fly against the wind . Flying 800ft out with the wind may only take 2 min and 10% battery but Flying back in 25mph wind it may take 20 mins and 75% battery . It is a good rule of thumb to fly out against the wind and wind assisted to return.
(5). Refer to (1-4) and (6) wont be needed
(6). At or above 25 mph seems to be the threshold for what the Mini can do in wind . BUT 13 mph with heavy Gust is far more dangerous . If your out and the wind increases Do Not use Return To Home (RTH) doesn't use full power and if the wind is strong enough it will be pushed away. Calmly put it into sports mode turn your camera downward , bring up the map and attempt to fly home this way . The reasons for downward camera is if you lose it and it goes down you can Reference the footage to find land mark near where it lands. The Map as a screen is useful to make sure your pointed in the right direction .
(7). If your in strong wind gust and you hear an Intermittent Plastic on Plastic clinging sound .Turn your MM with its back to the wind and try to land as soon as possible ! DJI is looking into this but I have not heard a response as of yet .( "In heavy wind if its facing the wind it tilts so it can fight back and keep its position , BUT the props on the 2 front arms bend back due to the winds direct force on them at this angle and its causing them to hit the drone. While flying at 80ft 13mph wind at >then 25mph gust it was tilting and I could hear the plastic on plastic clinking so I brought it down to analyze it . That's when I found this out. ") <------ Speculation not conformed by DJI as of Yet
(8) If it is windy just don't fly

I truly hope some of you find this helpful and MM lives to Fly many more days and years
RR
 
I have also heard this clicking sound, but I can’t attribute it to a wind condition. Doesn’t make this sound all the time, and I would like to know what it is. I have noticed this several times as the mini is taking off in a no wind condition.
 
I have also heard this clicking sound, but I can’t attribute it to a wind condition. Doesn’t make this sound all the time, and I would like to know what it is. I have noticed this several times as the mini is taking off in a no wind condition.
Yowza, Sounds like some slightly stiffer blades are in order soon. These originals don’t seem able to handle the air pressure on top if greater than their push pressure. Could make them bend and hit going up or forward. Possibly the cause of the some motor overload warnings and altitude drops also. We’ll see if DJI works with us on the bugs.

Probably a firmware update that makes going up much slower and sport mode only works in reverse. LOL
 
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Yowza, Sounds like some slightly stiffer blades are in order soon. These originals don’t seem able to handle the air pressure on top if greater than their push pressure. Could make them bend and hit going up or forward. Possibly the cause of the some motor overload warnings and altitude drops also. We’ll see if DJI works with us on the bugs.

Probably a firmware update that makes going up much slower and sport mode only works in reverse. LOL
I suspect DJI already knows . I have been reading the post of people losing them and a lot of the post they got the " High wind land asap " warning and instead of flying it back themselves they hit RTH . Which is what any new drone pilot would do , but The MM doesn't use full power in RTH mode . making it so strong wind can push it father and father away . My Question to any tech guy reading this is , Why would they engineer this way ?
With-in an hour of finding out the front props can hit the drone under some conditions . I reported it to DJI as a possible Major design flaw . They seem to take it seriously , but I haven't heard back from them. So I figured I should put the word out . DJI black balled me it of course
 
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I’m not sure that this clicking sound is a prop hitting the body of the mini. Does anyone have a picture of whatever mark that may leave on the shell?
 
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If you own a Mini and find yourself stuck in the wind DO NOT hit RTH. Put your drone is Sport Mode and reduce altitude as quickly and safely as possible. The lower it gets the wind speed should slow too. Once at as low as possible, guide it back to you manually.
 
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If you own a Mini and find yourself stuck in the wind DO NOT hit RTH. Put your drone is Sport Mode and reduce altitude as quickly and safely as possible. The lower it gets the wind speed should slow too. Once at as low as possible, guide it back to you manually.
Actually try RTH with full stick forward and it flies back slightly faster (54kmh vs 46) than sports mode. Need to keep the finger on the sticks. You can also yaw full 360 as it flies back if you wanna enjoy the scenery as it comes back.
 
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Actually try RTH with full stick forward and it flies back slightly faster (54kmh vs 46) than sports mode. Need to keep the finger on the sticks. You can also yaw full 360 as it flies back if you wanna enjoy the scenery as it comes back.
You’re missing the main point. LOWER ALTITUDE. If you’re in RTH, you can’t do that.
 
Flew in windy conditions last week and I've had a couple of strong wind warnings. Always switched it to sport mode and dropped the altitude straight away.
 
Actually try RTH with full stick forward and it flies back slightly faster (54kmh vs 46) than sports mode. Need to keep the finger on the sticks. You can also yaw full 360 as it flies back if you wanna enjoy the scenery as it comes back.

That doesn't seem physically possible, since nothing is going to exceed the tilt limit of 30° in sport mode. Do you have a flight log showing that?
 
I’m not sure that this clicking sound is a prop hitting the body of the mini. Does anyone have a picture of whatever mark that may leave on the shell?
Someone posted pictures on this forum a couple of weeks ago with marks from the front props rubbing on the body, there are also reports of this on the DJI site. I’ll see if I can locate the post
 
I’m not sure that this clicking sound is a prop hitting the body of the mini. Does anyone have a picture of whatever mark that may leave on the shell?
 
Based on those pictures that are in the other thread, I don’t think what I hear on occasion is a prop smacking the body. No marks on mine.
Update:
Clickity Clack! After a closer look, guess what! Shows you how I haven’t been looking close enough at these noodles that they call propellers.2C51408E-1AE8-4316-AE32-2C1BB9328DBF.jpeg9FA758DD-C775-49DB-95EB-20F788A7CF48.jpeg
 
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That doesn't seem physically possible, since nothing is going to exceed the tilt limit of 30° in sport mode. Do you have a flight log showing that?
Just a screen shot if that would suffice?
 
Based on those pictures that are in the other thread, I don’t think what I hear on occasion is a prop smacking the body. No marks on mine.
Update:
Clickity Clack! After a closer look, guess what! Shows you how I haven’t been looking close enough at these noodles that they call propellers.View attachment 90316View attachment 90317
I’ve got a chip in my prop that looks exactly the same, no evidence of contact on the body tho.
 
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