Donnie Frank
Well-Known Member
I'm a new flyer with an MPP since the middle of December. Given the weather in the NY area, I'm reading more than I'm flying. However, so far, all of my flights have been an absolute pleasure and I've experienced total control. I'm a photographer and I love the added dimension of aerial imagery.
But I'm reading here about all of these fly-aways! If I was to believe all that I've read, I'd have to anticipate that it's not a matter of IF I'll get a fly away, it's a matter of WHEN!
Is this true? Am I destined to lose my drone? Is there something I can do to mitigate the risk? I'd like to believe that if I don't fly in high winds, or near large metal structures, or anything else I can control, that I won't have to worry about the MPP failing to come back to me. I can't believe there'd be a market for $1000+ throw-aways.
I do have insurance (State Farm)...but that only protects me financially...it doesn't protect me from the anxiety each time I put it up in the air!
Is it really just a question of "when"?
No. 100% of fly-aways and/or crashes are due user error. 85% of them are due to direct, bad input from the user. 5% are Return To Home mishaps from users who didn't plan their RTH, and either ran directly into an object or landed on/in a tree, etc. 5% are due to the user actually counting on "Object Avoidance." The remaining 5% are due to allowing untested, unscrutinized, willy-nilly software/firmware updates.
I have three birds; Inspire-1, Mavic Pro and P4P, and all are rock-solid reliable. Not a single one runs on the latest FW. Not a single one uses the latest software. Not a single one has crashed.
Unfortunately, DJI and Apple products are such that they almost force updates onto you. The only way to avoid this is to set your equipment up to NOT automatically update, and then continually refuse updates. The DJI offering are marketed as "plug-n-play" and "user friendly," but to truly unlock their potential, one must do their due diligence. The GOOD NEWS is that their hardware is VERY well built. Kudos to DJI for a great design team and engineering dept. The bad news is that they use their customers as beta testers for all their firmware and software. Some new FAA rule comes down the pike and their developers code away, and deploy WAY too soon. In order to fully enjoy the uber reliable hardware side of DJI, one must keep a close watch on the software/firmware side.
I will help you out. My Mavic Pro runs the following. I have specific reasons for running the versions I run, one of them being NOT wanting to log in or take "tests." The hacker community generally agrees.
Go 4 App: 4.0.8
Aircraft: 01.03.0700
Remote Controller: 01.03.0700
Because I have hacked the NFZ limits, these really don't matter as much:
Flight Database: 00.00.01.04
Basic App Fly Safe Database: 01.00.01.05
Precise App Fly Safe Database: 01.00.01.05
I've disabled "Object Avoidance" in the software. I tried it for a day and it drove me nuts erroneously stopping for this, that and the other thing. So I just turned it off and never looked back. She flies solid as a rock. Behavior is very predictable. And while the camera leaves a little to be desired, the video and photos are "good enough" for real estate work or hobby videos and/or VLOGS.
Good luck!
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