Impossible to Launch Mavic 2 from balloon (hot air) 1700m

Will Falcon · Sep 13, 2019

I was doing skydiving and didn't get any chance to launch my mavic 2 (pro and zoom) to film my jump and the sunrise environment... so sad.
So, why is that?
Could you explain please

Thomas B · Sep 13, 2019

Will Falcon said:
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I was doing skydiving and didn't get any chance to launch my mavic 2 (pro and zoom) to film my jump and the sunrise environment... so sad.
So, why is that?
Could you explain please

Need more details for a good answer. Maybe others will chime in.
Where was the drone?
The video is only 21 seconds. So time may have been a factor.
Ferrous metals in the ballon burner and basket may have interfered, or even some of your jump rig if you had the controller.
What flight mode were you in?

Starz · Sep 13, 2019

Burner components are typically stainless steel, so that may not have been an issue. Can’t remember what the tanks are made out of. Like anything that flys,(or blown around in the wind)weight is always a factor, so doubtful any steel. Maybe the wind blown folks will chime in.
Possibly an altitude issue?

Phantomrain.org · Sep 13, 2019

Will Falcon said:
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I was doing skydiving and didn't get any chance to launch my mavic 2 (pro and zoom) to film my jump and the sunrise environment... so sad.
So, why is that?
Could you explain please

1700 meters over 5000 ft , might have shut down once realized is that possible.

Thomas B · Sep 13, 2019

Starz said:
Burner components are typically stainless steel, so that may not have been an issue. Can’t remember what the tanks are made out of. Like anything that flys,(or blown around in the wind)weight is always a factor, so doubtful any steel. Maybe the wind blown folks will chime in.
Possibly an altitude issue?

Possible, but the drone probably would have had to have been on when you took the ballon up. Are the baskets reinforced?
Doubt altitude as I can take off from the desert floor, or from the top of a 1500’ cinder cone or a 5000’ mountain and the drone registers take off point as zero altitude. I use this trick to get to the top of mountains.

Starz · Sep 13, 2019

The drone on at balloon launch was my thought.

sar104 · Sep 13, 2019

Starz said:
The drone on at balloon launch was my thought.

Thomas B said:
Possible, but the drone probably would have had to have been on when you took the ballon up. Are the baskets reinforced?
Doubt altitude as I can take off from the desert floor, or from the top of a 1500’ cinder cone or a 5000’ mountain and the drone registers take off point as zero altitude. I use this trick to get to the top of mountains.

The altitude variable is reset on motor start, not power up.

Thomas B · Sep 13, 2019

sar104 said:
The altitude variable is reset on motor start, not power up.

Good point @sar104
Thoughts?

sar104 · Sep 14, 2019

Thomas B said:
Good point @sar104
Thoughts?

With almost exactly zero information about what actually happened, none at all.

Will Falcon · Sep 14, 2019

sar104 said:
With almost exactly zero information about what actually happened, none at all.

How can I check the logs?

4wd · Sep 14, 2019

Can you launch normally from a platform moving laterally, it would likely not be able to set home point.
If GPS is unavailable you'd be OK but not if there was conflicting sensor info.

Will Falcon · Sep 14, 2019

4wd said:
Can you launch normally from a platform moving laterally, it would likely not be able to set home point.
If GPS is unavailable you'd be OK but not if there was conflicting sensor info.

The warnings were uncommon, so I didn’t remember excactly what they said, something “can not initialize smth”, too much information in extreme situation and in a too tight space.
It was not a compass or a gimbal or etc... How to check the logs?

Kilrah · Sep 14, 2019

Aircraft has to stand reasonably still or it won't start motors. If you're rocking in the basket or not being steady enough when holding in the hand it might be too much for it.

But it's probably better that way. Unless you have your Mavic modified to give you ATTI mode and know what you're doing it would be VERY sketchy to start it there, it'll uncontrollably fly out of your hands with all the power it has as soon as the motors are started, and you'd better be on the correct side of the basket, well clear of it and with no vertical speed if you don't want rotating cutters into you and the balloon.
Without ATTI it'll also be almost impossible to safely land in the basket again, and you probably won't have enough flight time/range to go land it somewhere appropriate on the ground.

Very "advanced" move that requires full comprehension of how the thing works. Lots of people have had bad experiences on boats, this is even more difficult since there is less space, the balloon moves up/down in addition to horizontally, and damaging the much more fragile balloon due to a messup can have much more serious consequences.