I crashed my Mavic Air after 1 hour

[swooshdave]

There is zero chance I would take the drone under a bridge with so little experience. Even after flown a bit when I flew under or through some bridges I was well puckered.

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It wasn't the bridge that got you it was just going the wrong way and giving your drone a bath.

 

[mjbok]

I know you feel bad and are beating yourself up about it. I've told this tale before, but perhaps it will make you feel better.

I had the OG Phantom. No camera (though I added a GoPro), no telemetry, no height restrictions. Funny how what was so amazing then is now so antiquated, but I flew it...a lot. Any pictures I got were a crap shoot and the video was always garbage (jello). On one occasion I lost it. I was flying it and in the sun/clouds I lost sight of it and had no idea where it was. It was time to start scouring the neighborhood looking for it. Turned off the controller. Went in to find my keys. Walked around the neighborhood to see if anyone had heard/see it. Someone pointed me back in the general direction towards my house. Walked that way and it was hovering in my backyard, right about where I had taken off from. Battery died mid-flight a few months later and 200 foot drop caused some problems. I fixed it, but it was never the same. So I walked away from the hobby for awhile.

Walking through a store I saw a display (with video) of the new Typhoon H. A hexacopter? Wow. 4K video? Wow. Obstacle avoidance? Wow. Built in display on the controller (that looked professional? Wow. Price tag? Wow. I wanted that drone, but it was too much for me to justify (to myself) to buy it.

I ended up getting the 4k quad from Yuneec. Still had the built-in screen, still had 4k video. I was psyched to have it arrive. It came on a Friday evening via UPS. Charged up the batteries and was going to go out Saturday morning to fly. Took my 13 year old son out with me. He could fly it to.

Flew one battery. Took some pics, took some video. Landed. Took off, gave my son the controls. He flew it for a bit, but the battery was down around 30% so he turned it back over to me.

Him: Are you going to land here, out in the open, where there are no obstacles?

Me: Nah. I got this.

I fly it over to the parking lot. I'm bringing it down and it is above a sidewalk next to the parking lot. Our car is to the right. I figure I will make a fast move and put it right behind our car and it will look cool to him. I hit the stick...and the drone goes right into a chain link fence. It falls, shatters a leg and destroys the camera. Total flight time? Less than 30 minutes. Cost of repair? $300. I got it fixed and never flew it again. Sold it for $450. Stupid. And it wasn't because I had no experience, it was because I was showing off.

 

[WildHarleyGuy]

Nice video until the plunge...

 

[Gecko10]

There is zero chance I would take the drone under a bridge with so little experience. Even after flown a bit when I flew under or through some bridges I was well puckered.

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It wasn't the bridge that got you it was just going the wrong way and giving your drone a bath.

Beautiful Dave

 

[Mavic_Dan]

Oops my bad for not reading properly.

 

[Mavic_Dan]

No I accidentally pulled down on the stick unfortunately. All my fault!

@swings16 just pointed me to the part where you mentioned you throttled down instead of up.

Anyway, have fun and fly safe!

 

[ExploringYonder]

I can understand why you reacted this way. It’s taken me a bit of time to get used to the left controller. Seems backward to me. I think forward for ‘down’ and back for ‘up’, just like the joystick in a plane.

As stated above - good shot until...

 

[duhs10]

I can understand why you reacted this way. It’s taken me a bit of time to get used to the left controller. Seems backward to me. I think forward for ‘down’ and back for ‘up’, just like the joystick in a plane.

As stated above - good shot until...

I think that way too... I haven't inverted the Y-axis on my Air (if you can even do that) but I find that mode 3 on my Mavic Air feels much more natural than the default stick layout.

 

[zzxrox]

I found this highly entertaining. Sorry it got wet but things happen. I just want to point out you knew the risk from the beginning. On the other side....was it fun??? I'm not gonna lie, I push my MA and try crazy stuff. Fly thruogh this or fly under that. Sure I make sure no people or things are around but I go have fun. I think the fact that its so easy to fly does that. I am thinking or getting a race drone instead. Get it fixed and try it again! I think it would have been a great shot except for the drop Just my two cents

 

[Tim Santa Maria]

I'm a newbie too so you never stop learning. Oh, I guess it was a calculated risk. Hopefully, one of the Mav Community suppliers can assist. I've read alot of excellent posts and positive feedback by THUNDERDRONES trying to help out the Mav Community. I like how they try to help out especially with what might seem difficult requests. Hopefully you are back flying soon Great video BTW

 

[smoothie]

It wasn't brave it was stupid hahaha....

It was a tiny little pathetic bridge, no chance of losing gps.

You can see in the video I pulled up way too high after but that was out on panic. You can see the drone become uncontrollable in the air and then the video cuts out before the drone hits the ground.

Started off cool, then just got painful to watch.

 

[ScubaBob]

Hey guys, I'm new to drones and new to this forum.

Today I had a bad day due to making a bad decision. With only 1 hour and 30 minutes flight time with my brand new Mavic Air, I tried to get an under a bridge shot. Plenty of clearance and water was flowing slowly, no risk of splashing.
Travelled through the bridge perfectly but as I got to the other side I panicked, tried to throttle up and accidentally flicked the stick the wrong way. Throttled down at 100% straight into the river. I heard the splash and instantly throttled up and the drone managed to get up out of the water. There was immediate damage as the gimbal was moving uncontrollably but I could still control the actual drone itself. I was trying to bring the drone into land instantly to get the battery out, but as it was coming into land it started malfunctioning, became uncontrollable, flipped over and flew upside down into the ground doing a fair amount of damage.

Stupid move getting so close to water being so inexperienced I know....

Luckily for me I have DJI Care Refresh. Now my only concern is how long the refresh service is going to take (Europe) and what condition the replacement drone is going to come in. I'm scared its going to be a much older drone than the 1 hour 30 minute drone that I own.
If anyone has any previous experience with DJI Care refresh and the Mavic Air, I would appreciate it if you could share it with me.

Thanks

What is this "passion" of pilots to want to fly their drone UNDER a bridge? Do they not realize that bridges have steel and thick concrete which will interrupt the communications between the controller and satellites? Did these pilots never take any science classes in school? Geez!

 

[John Suhr]

There is zero chance I would take the drone under a bridge with so little experience. Even after flown a bit when I flew under or through some bridges I was well puckered.

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It wasn't the bridge that got you it was just going the wrong way and giving your drone a bath.

I was thinking for shots like this couldn’t you walk the bird through that covered bridge ?

 

[duhs10]

Very new to the forum... surprised by all the judgemental comments. Would have been a sweet shot.

 

[slbgeo]

Hey guys, I'm new to drones and new to this forum.

Today I had a bad day due to making a bad decision. With only 1 hour and 30 minutes flight time with my brand new Mavic Air, I tried to get an under a bridge shot. Plenty of clearance and water was flowing slowly, no risk of splashing.
Travelled through the bridge perfectly but as I got to the other side I panicked, tried to throttle up and accidentally flicked the stick the wrong way. Throttled down at 100% straight into the river. I heard the splash and instantly throttled up and the drone managed to get up out of the water. There was immediate damage as the gimbal was moving uncontrollably but I could still control the actual drone itself. I was trying to bring the drone into land instantly to get the battery out, but as it was coming into land it started malfunctioning, became uncontrollable, flipped over and flew upside down into the ground doing a fair amount of damage.

Stupid move getting so close to water being so inexperienced I know....

Luckily for me I have DJI Care Refresh. Now my only concern is how long the refresh service is going to take (Europe) and what condition the replacement drone is going to come in. I'm scared its going to be a much older drone than the 1 hour 30 minute drone that I own.
If anyone has any previous experience with DJI Care refresh and the Mavic Air, I would appreciate it if you could share it with me.

Thanks

I bought the Care refresh with DJI, also. Turns out that I kinda wasted money on it, because I went to my State Farm agent this week and got a Personal Articles Policy (PAP) added to my homeowners policy. Not only does the PAP cover my Mavic Pro from damage, it covers full value from theft and loss (yes...fly-aways too!) with NO deductible! This policy not only covers my new Mavic, it also covers my 2018 MacBook air AND 2018 iPad Pro.
If I had only covered the Mavic it would have been $60 a year ($28 actual, but there is a $60 minimum on this type of policy). So I decided to add the MacBook and iPad along with it. For all three, it's only $120 a year. Great coverage for only $10 a month!

 

[JDawg]

I bought the Care refresh with DJI, also. Turns out that I kinda wasted money on it, because I went to my State Farm agent this week and got a Personal Articles Policy (PAP) added to my homeowners policy. Not only does the PAP cover my Mavic Pro from damage, it covers full value from theft and loss (yes...fly-aways too!) with NO deductible! This policy not only covers my new Mavic, it also covers my 2018 MacBook air AND 2018 iPad Pro.
If I had only covered the Mavic it would have been $60 a year ($28 actual, but there is a $60 minimum on this type of policy). So I decided to add the MacBook and iPad along with it. For all three, it's only $120 a year. Great coverage for only $10 a month!

Still not a waste, depending on the situation you now get to crash your bird twice and still be covered.

 

[JDawg]

Very new to the forum... surprised by all the judgemental comments. Would have been a sweet shot.

There are a few who can't seem to help themselves, makes them feel better about themselves I suppose.

 

[JDawg]

What is this "passion" of pilots to want to fly their drone UNDER a bridge? Do they not realize that bridges have steel and thick concrete which will interrupt the communications between the controller and satellites? Did these pilots never take any science classes in school? Geez!

Probably need to read what happened as opposed to taking the wrong opportunity to trash the OP.

 

[slbgeo]

Still not a waste, depending on the situation you now get to crash your bird twice and still be covered.

Respectfully Dawg, I consider it to be a waste because DJI does not cover complete loss (you have to send the carcass in for replacement, which ain't gonna happen if you can't find it), plus pay extra to have it replaced...possibly with a refurb.
State Farm has better coverage, costs less and covers more. Pays replacement value directly to me so that I can go out and order a brand new one.

 

[JDawg]

Respectfully Dawg, I consider it to be a waste because DJI does not cover complete loss (you have to send the carcass in for replacement, which ain't gonna happen if you can't find it), plus pay extra to have it replaced...possibly with a refurb.
State Farm has better coverage, costs less and covers more. Pays replacement value directly to me so that I can go out and order a brand new one.

I have the State Farm $60 policy on my M2P so need to defend it. Many crash their drone and find it and in that case send it to DJI, that's all I am saying.