How appropriate is a Mavic Air for my location?

[roverguy78]

I live in the Pacific Northwest, on a hill, in the middle of a forest. From our back deck, I would be able to maintain visual sight of a drone while flying it over the downhill side of our property. My concern is that I would be flying over a dense forest of tall conifers. In other words, if something goes wrong, it could end up stuck in an 80 ft tree, never to be seen again. I would not intend to fly it low over the trees, or in strong wind, or with low battery power. So my question is, how reliable are these drones when it comes to flying over this kind of terrain? I see lots of videos of people flying these drones over the ocean, cliffs, etc.

Appreciate any input.

 

[msinger]

So my question is, how reliable are these drones when it comes to flying over this kind of terrain?

These drones fly the same way over any type of terrain. As you already noted, the major difference between flying over flat, open ground and trees is that it will likely be tougher to retrieve the drone if it crashes or lands before it makes it back to the home point.

Don't want to lose your drone? I highly recommend reading this guide before attempting to fly:

Prevent a Crash or Flyaway with Your DJI Drone (The Complete Guide)

 

[Mossiback]

Trees have a way of scattering/absorbing signal but you should not have a problem if you maintain VLOS. However, if it does go down you will have a very difficult time finding it in a forest. You should experiment with the Find My Drone function of Go 4 and perhaps look into a Marco Polo type tracker to improve your odds of recovery.

 

[msinger]

Trees have a way of scattering/absorbing signal but you should not have a problem if you maintain VLOS

I guess you're thinking if the trees come between the aircraft and remote controller? If flying LOS, trees should not be scattering/absorbing the signal. I often fly LOS over trees and have never run into signal issues.

 

[Mossiback]

Yeah, that's why I included that he shouldn't have a problem if he maintained VLOS. People have a tendency to fly further out than they should.

 

[Maviac]

The biggest negative about the Air is radio interference. It significantly limits range in urban areas, but I’ve gotten great range in the country. Given where you are, you should be fine, assuming there’s not a big subdivision or condo development next door. An M2P will get you better range and camera (Z too, but I think it has the same camera as the Air, just with a zoom).

 

[roverguy78]

Thanks for all the great replies! I'm debating, and may end up going with a Spark instead for my first drone. I have experience with small 4 channel helicopters, but this would be my first quad.

 

[Madmitch]

I live in West Virginia, aka the mountain state. I have no choice but to fly up and down mountains, for trying to find a flat piece of land is rare, especially in south west of state, but to give you some confidence you can crash anywhere. The drone is rarely the problem, it’s who is behind the wheel of that drone that is usually the problem. Start out slow beginners mode maybe? Then you will gain confidence you need to have some fun and get some of the most incredible pictures and videos. As for the political side of drones I fly my m2p in state parks and national forests and have even come in contact with park officials, police etc. They have never told me not to fly but actually encourage it, one state trooper wants me to use it to help him find marijuana fields, lol. I guess I’m saying I’m lucky to live in a state that has no problems with drones, as long as you them in the correct manner, FYI

 

[Doit2it]

The Mavic Air is a very stable and dependable drone IMO. You shouldn't have any problems. That being said, DO NOT learn to fly your done from your back porch! Find a wide open, flat space to learn to fly, land and get used to the controls. Look for a local AMA field of nothing else is accessible. I joins the AMA with a Park Pilot membership for access to fields and the insurance. Homepage | Academy of Model Aeronautics