Iceland with Mavic Pro

cardplayer71 · Mar 1, 2017

Uridafoss Waterfall:

Route 1 East of Reykjavik:

Black Sand Beach at Reynisfjara:

Pedro · Mar 1, 2017

Wow.. Have you just come back from there?

I'm going in 2 weeks time.. Did you have any mag interference problems?

Flying in Iceland, mag interference, ATTI mode.

cardplayer71 · Mar 1, 2017

Pedro said:
Wow.. Have you just come back from there?

I'm going in 2 weeks time.. Did you have any mag interference problems?

Flying in Iceland, mag interference, ATTI mode.

Hi! You will have so much fun! I want to go with you!

On a serious note, yes, I had many compass problems. One time, I attempted a flight of about 1500 meters toward a volcano crater, but the compass went so crazy I just turned around and gave up. Otherwise, most of the fields, rivers, and such did not give too many problems. I think it's a case-by-case basis. There appear to be very large magnetite and iron deposits all around Iceland. I say give it a shot, and keep in line of sight (of course), and worst comes to worst, you can bring your bird back with the orientation lights and the distance indicator on your remote controller.

Have fun! The biggest challenges in Iceland are high sustained wind speeds, wind gusts (insane ones), and the low temps, which cause severe battery voltage problems and prop icing. Keep your batteries (and your bird) up front in the passenger compartment so they are nice and toasty.

Good luck! I look forward to your videos and photos!

BTW, if you need something while there, go see the excellent guys at Drone Fly, in Reykjavik. They sold me a P3P after I trashed my Mavic at Reynisfjara black sand beach.

http://dronefly.is/

They have a pretty remarkable array of things in stock. I was able to buy a P3P, a set of PolarPro Cinema Series PL Filters, and then they also got an extra battery in 2 days later. Best of all, they are just great guys!

The sad part is that I was not able to use my P3P at all because the weather turned, I was with a group, and could not be nimble enough to jump out and use it when those rare pockets of nice weather jumped up! The weather in Iceland changes every 5 minutes, and this is not an exaggeration. We were on the beach at Ytri-Tunga, in 30 degree F with clear skies, and 2 minutes later it was 18 degrees F, with wind so hard it would knock you down, ice pellets to the face, and a -4F wind chill factor.

Wear good gear, watch that weather, and don't worry too much about the magnetite. Good luck!

Pedro · Mar 1, 2017

Ok, so now I'm even more excited..

Thanks very much for that, now I'm going to plague you with questions!

How did the mag interference affect the Mavic, did flight become erratic at all or did you just get warnings? Any loss of control?
Did it prevent you from taking off at times?
Sorry to hear that you crashed at Reynisfjara, how did that happen?

I have read that the weather is very changeable and from you say, very quickly too. Maybe by 18th March summer will have arrived.

We'll have full ski gear with us in case we need it plus we've got an Outlander so we should be able to get about ok. Thanks for the heads up about Drone Fly, always good to know there's a shop there although the prices are pretty crazy.

What country are you from?

Peter.

hychewright · Mar 1, 2017

Excellent video, you did a fantastic job shooting that aerial video of Iceland.

cardplayer71 · Mar 1, 2017

Pedro said:
Ok, so now I'm even more excited.. Thanks very much for that, now I'm going to plague you with questions!

How did the mag interference affect the Mavic, did flight become erratic at all or did you just get warnings? Any loss of control?
Did it prevent you from taking off at times?
Sorry to hear that you crashed at Reynisfjara, how did that happen?

I have read that the weather is very changeable and from you say, very quickly too. Maybe by 18th March summer will have arrived.

We'll have full ski gear with us in case we need it plus we've got an Outlander so we should be able to get about ok. Thanks for the heads up about Drone Fly, always good to know there's a shop there although the prices are pretty crazy.

What country are you from?

Peter.

Peter,

I am from USA. How about you?

As for the magnetic interference, it only affected one takeoff so I just moved further away. During flights it was mostly error messages. I don't recall what they said except that the compass was wonky. I think maybe RTH would not work? At any rate, I didn't want to lose the Mavic on some lava field so I turned around.

As for Reynisfjara, it was poor planning and also a lack of knowledge about the specific behavior of Failsafe RTH. The full details are here:

Mavic Destroyed - How can I get my log analyzed?

Mavic Destroyed - How can I get my log analyzed?

Quite sad! But it will be ok, and now I am infinitely aware of the various RTH behaviors. Most importantly, I know how to override and cancel it to save my craft next time.

The opportunities for aerials in Iceland are so great! Nobody was bothered by the relatively quiet little Mavic and it's very discreet in its little bag. It's the perfect travel machine!!

Please feel free to ask any other questions about the Iceland trip!

Sent from my iPhone using MavicPilots

cardplayer71 · Mar 1, 2017

hychewright said:
Excellent video, you did a fantastic job shooting that aerial video of Iceland.

Thank you very much!

Sent from my iPhone using MavicPilots

Pedro · Mar 2, 2017

cardplayer71 said:
Peter,

I am from USA. How about you?

As for the magnetic interference, it only affected one takeoff so I just moved further away. During flights it was mostly error messages. I don't recall what they said except that the compass was wonky. I think maybe RTH would not work? At any rate, I didn't want to lose the Mavic on some lava field so I turned around.

As for Reynisfjara, it was poor planning and also a lack of knowledge about the specific behavior of Failsafe RTH. The full details are here:

Mavic Destroyed - How can I get my log analyzed?

Mavic Destroyed - How can I get my log analyzed?

Quite sad! But it will be ok, and now I am infinitely aware of the various RTH behaviors. Most importantly, I know how to override and cancel it to save my craft next time.

The opportunities for aerials in Iceland are so great! Nobody was bothered by the relatively quiet little Mavic and it's very discreet in its little bag. It's the perfect travel machine!!

Please feel free to ask any other questions about the Iceland trip!

Sent from my iPhone using MavicPilots

I'm in the UK..

Thanks again for the information, it all helps or at least might help should anything go pear shaped. I did read your thread about your crash so I will have a slightly different perspective on Reynisfjara when we rock up there.

cardplayer71 · Mar 2, 2017

Pedro said:
I'm in the UK..

Thanks again for the information, it all helps or at least might help should anything go pear shaped. I did read your thread about your crash so I will have a slightly different perspective on Reynisfjara when we rock up there.

Be very careful there in general. That beach kills people pretty much yearly with "sneaker waves", which are rogue waves that come randomly and wash people out to sea. The undertow at that beach is massive, and there is a steep dropoff just a few short meters from the shore, due to the way the volcanic rock was laid down. There is a sign just outside of the parking area as you approach the beach, but nobody seems to pay attention to it. There are discussions around putting security guards or rangers there.

Photos: Just days after the Reynisfjara beach death tourists still disregard warning signs
Death At Reynisfjara - The Reykjavik Grapevine

It's beautiful, but the beach is not a safe place to stand, nor to lose your life for a photo opportunity. The drone sure comes in handy there!

Note: The same is true of many of the beaches in that area.

Pedro · Mar 2, 2017

I know, I read all about that but thanks for the heads up, we'll be standing well back from the sea!

Pedro · Mar 12, 2017

Well, better safe than sorry, am taking two Mavics just in case the unmentionable should happen!

Pedro · Mar 24, 2017

Just back, what an incredible place.. So much to say (and edit), just a small taster for now..

cardplayer71 · Mar 24, 2017

Pedro said:
Just back, what an incredible place.. So much to say (and edit), just a small taster for now..

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Wow! Amazing! What a great way to take us to Iceland with you. Thanks for sharing. I look forward to seeing the rest!

How was the weather for you? Did you get to see the sights you wanted?

Bullet3scape · Apr 24, 2017

Fantastic footage. Do you calibrate your compass each location before flight?

Pedro · Apr 24, 2017

Thanks.. No, I calibrated it once before the first flight as the green bars were longer than at home, apart from that she flew like a dream, no issues whatsoever.

There are a few more videos now:

Pedro · Apr 24, 2017

cardplayer71 said:
Wow! Amazing! What a great way to take us to Iceland with you. Thanks for sharing. I look forward to seeing the rest!

How was the weather for you? Did you get to see the sights you wanted?

So sorry I missed your reply mate.. We had the best time, the weather was glorious sunshine for 3 days, overcast one day and lashing it down on the other. The only place we couldn't get to was Haifoss which was the one that I was most looking forward to. Next time..