Hypothetical: Can the Props on the Mavic Air 2 be started while the aircraft is in freefall?

[Mort7]

Hypothetically speaking, can you start the props using the CSC on the Mavic Air 2 while the aircraft is in freefall? does it "catch" itself and begin hovering?

If we threw one out of a plane or terminated the drone's flight at altitude (by CSC), would the aircraft be able to save itself?

I realize terminating the flight at altitude could be seriously unsafe, which is why I'm asking hypothetically, not trying this out in my nearest field.

 

[THE CYBORG]

Don't know if it’s possible with the Air 2 but it works with the Pro

 

[old man mavic]

well if you can afford to write off a MA2 then the only way to find out is to do as you suggested
it could work ,but then equally it may not ,there are to many variable factors for any answer to be correct

 

[Mort7]

Don't know if it’s possible with the Air 2 but it works with the Pro

That's a great video, I'm surprised the aircraft could recover from freefall that quickly! Maybe once I expand my fleet I'll give it a try.

 

[Deleted member 103366]

In theory yes, in practice ...... a possibly expensive question.
I think it will come down to does the MA2 tumble when it falls, if it tumbles is there software that will not allow a restart if the angle of tilt is too great?
The same question applies to the Mavic Mini and the M2's.
This was why I asked for the video of the MM 940m freefall and thought it quite hopeful, it appears to fall in a flat spin.
A phantom 3 doing that WILL restart its motors, I have done it, but you need to throttle up to halt the fall. I don't know if the Mavics would throttle up automatically

 

[THE CYBORG]

That's a great video, I'm surprised the aircraft could recover from freefall that quickly! Maybe once I expand my fleet I'll give it a try.

I take it you have more money than me

 

[dawgpilot]

Anyone with Care Refresh that is about to expire wanna give it a try? ?

 

[Mort7]

Anyone with Care Refresh that is about to expire wanna give it a try? ?

Ask me that again in June/July and I might have an answer that you'll like lol

 

[MA2 317]

I assume the CSC procedure works for the MA2?
I'm not going to try it anytime soon with the MA2.

I've flown my Spark for over three years and it never worked.

I tried several times after seeing YouTube videos of it not working and reading that DJI has disabled it for the Spark?
?

All it did was corkscrew down when I tried.

 

[DanMan32]

MA2 317" data-source="post: 1137444" class="bbCodeBlock bbCodeBlock--expandable bbCodeBlock--quote js-expandWatch">

I assume the CSC procedure works for the MA2?
I'm not going to try it anytime soon with the MA2.

I've flown my Spark for over three years and it never worked.

I tried several times after seeing YouTube videos of it not working and reading that DJI has disabled it for the Spark?
[emoji848]

All it did was corkscrew down when I tried.

If you mean CSC to shut off props, then yes, that would be a challenge since the default setting is to allow CSC cutoff in am emergency situation as determined by flight control. You should be able to change the CSC setting in the app.

However it should be possible to start props with CSC.

 

[Deleted member 103366]

The spark manual says
"To perform the CSC midair in case of an emergency, hold for 1.5 seconds to stop the motors mid-flight. Stopping the motors mid-flight will cause the aircraft to crash."

To me that sounds similar to what, in the MM, is known as "emergency only" mode. In that mode the motors can be stopped only after there has been an emergency, but the MM manual explicitly mentions an alternative mode that is available, "Anytime", where the motors can be stopped at a time of your choosing.
I have tried a CSC with a MM in "emergency only" mode, starting at 100m + down to maybe 2m and it was a powered, controlled descent the whole way down, as in your corkscrew, and it hovered as soon as I released the CSC position.

The above wording makes me wonder if the Spark has only the equivalent of the MM's "emergency only" mode.

 

[Miataguy]

From 400 feet, you would have less than 5 seconds from the time it started to fall. By the time you realize it isn't flying and search for the controls to restart it, the game is over.

 

[Dannyslam]

Both the MM and MA2 CSC shutoff will work if the mode is set to "Anytime". I have tried it about 2 feet off the ground with both birds over some thick plushy grass.

However from a high altitude free fall will they restart? That is an excellent question. I would guess that as long as the bird is falling flat then yes. But if it tumbles no. As a hand catcher (MM are notorious for being a tad bit difficult to hand catch) and having to turn a MM on it's side to get the motors to shut off, if it tilts too far I don't think it'll allow a restart.

 

[Tentoes]

I don't want to risk my MA2 to find out!

 

[itsneedtokno]

The spark manual says
"To perform the CSC midair in case of an emergency, hold for 1.5 seconds to stop the motors mid-flight. Stopping the motors mid-flight will cause the aircraft to crash."

To me that sounds similar to what, in the MM, is known as "emergency only" mode. In that mode the motors can be stopped only after there has been an emergency, but the MM manual explicitly mentions an alternative mode that is available, "Anytime", where the motors can be stopped at a time of your choosing.
I have tried a CSC with a MM in "emergency only" mode, starting at 100m + down to maybe 2m and it was a powered, controlled descent the whole way down, as in your corkscrew, and it hovered as soon as I released the CSC position.

The above wording makes me wonder if the Spark has only the equivalent of the MM's "emergency only" mode.

I gotta find out if this is the case for the MA2

 

[Dannyslam]

I gotta find out if this is the case for the MA2

I assure you it is. Advanced safety settings. Turn it to anytime and pull the sticks the same way to start them and they will shut off mid air.

 

[itsneedtokno]

I assure you it is. Advanced safety settings. Turn it to anytime and pull the sticks the same way to start them and they will shut off mid air.

@PhiliusFoggg wrote:

I have tried a CSC with a MM in "emergency only" mode, starting at 100m + down to maybe 2m and it was a powered, controlled descent the whole way down, as in your corkscrew, and it hovered as soon as I released the CSC position.







@Dannyslam ... This part too? I know about CSC and restart, but the "controlled" CSC is new to me.

 

[Tentoes]

Here's an MP that fell from 5km up!

 

[Deleted member 103366]

I gotta find out if this is the case for the MA2

For clarity the controlled descent I mentioned is nothing more than a corkscrewed descent at the maximum descent rate for the flight mode that the drone is in. It is nothing special.

If anyone wishes to try the CSC in "Anytime" mode or its equivalent I would suggest switch the flight mode to the slowest flight mode, "cinesmooth" in the mini and start, over a soft landing area., at a height that is the equivalent of 2 to 2.5 x the max descent rate for that fight mode so that the freefall is as little as possible. I did this with the mini in cinesmooth starting at about 6 to 7 ft and the fall was maybe 18" on to grass. One of the YouTubers did this with his boys catching the mini in a blanket. From memory the gyrations of his drone were more than I saw in cinesmooth so I am not sure of the flight mode used in his experiment.

 

[Ben Anderson]

I saw a video on YT recently in which someone intentionally emergency shut off his MA2. It did not restart and went on to fall in water. A question I have is if it was higher would it have more time to restart? Regardless, my own assumption will be that if I do an emergency shut off, then it is the end of that flight.