Is their a faster decent available?

Bikemonster · Dec 25, 2016

My descending was always with about medium forward pitch on the right stick. Don't like coming straight down with drones (wobbling and possible vortex whatever and from my experience flying RC helicopters).
I agree with the people that feel the Mavic descends slow no matter what you do.
Sometimes with low battery you want to get down from "altitude" right now.

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Loz · Dec 25, 2016

Andrew F said:
Anyone interested in the science can read this or other similar explanations. Trust me, slow is better than the wobble of Death! Haha.

What Is Vortex Ring State And Why Should You Care?

This will only happen if you descend straight down with no other lateral or forward/backward movement, it's more apparent in collective pitch heli's and if you do nothing about it it can indeed lead to a crash, changing swash direction will prevent it though.
As the Mavic RC's collective stick returns to centre it would push out of this vortex ring state pretty quickly unless you leave it until the last 20ft of altitude I would say!

Snoweman · Dec 25, 2016

IcySparks said:
My new kick is 30' above the farm with my $30 VR Glasses.

Was just curious as my RTH test took it up to 200' and seemed to take an eternity to come down.

Just curious as to why you set your RTH altitude to 200'?

longrange · Dec 25, 2016

My RTH is set to 200 feet as well. I have a 150 foot tall power line cut not far away so not taking any chances. I also live on a farm and have 100 foot trees on the hill across the road. Taking no chances with them either.

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Andrew F · Dec 26, 2016

longrange said:
My RTH is set to 200 feet as well. I have a 150 foot tall power line cut not far away so not taking any chances. I also live on a farm and have 100 foot trees on the hill across the road. Taking no chances with them either.

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Mines always at 120 or above. Fir trees around here. Too high takes a bit too long. Too low might take forever! Haha.

Helo · Dec 27, 2016

A few things to clear up here. You are flying a Quad-copter not a Helicopter there are differences.

Quad's do no have collective pitch it relies on changing speed in each blade to maintain attitude. When you lose power in a helicopter you must come to flat pitch immediately or you will lose rotor rpm rapidly and you will drop like a rock. That rpm is used to slow your decent by you applying pitch just prior to landing, trouble is you only get on shot at it.

You cannot auto rotate a quad for two reasons one, no control over the pitch in the blades and second no directional control even if you could. If you have enough props (5 or more) you may be able to overcome the loss of one motor but not on a quad. (this is where someone takes a blade off and tries to fly, not saying it can't be done but was it fun?)

The RC helo post about coming straight down and getting shake (can happen with quad also) is a result of descending or trying to hover beyond ground effect in dirty air caused by your own rotor(s) down wash. Under_powered helicopters can get into what is called settling with power. You get out of it by applying forward cyclic and hope you have enough altitude.

The Mavic being incredibly stable may be able to restart in flight and right itself. I only hope the person who tries it has a working camera and the card survives.

Loz · Dec 27, 2016

Helo said:
A few things to clear up here. You are flying a Quad-copter not a Helicopter there are differences.

Quad's do no have collective pitch it relies on changing speed in each blade to maintain attitude. When you lose power in a helicopter you must come to flat pitch immediately or you will lose rotor rpm rapidly and you will drop like a rock. That rpm is used to slow your decent by you applying pitch just prior to landing, trouble is you only get on shot at it.

You cannot auto rotate a quad for two reasons one, no control over the pitch in the blades and second no directional control even if you could. If you have enough props (5 or more) you may be able to overcome the loss of one motor but not on a quad. (this is where someone takes a blade off and tries to fly, not saying it can't be done but was it fun?)

The RC helo post about coming straight down and getting shake (can happen with quad also) is a result of descending or trying to hover beyond ground effect in dirty air caused by your own rotor(s) down wash. Under_powered helicopters can get into what is called settling with power. You get out of it by applying forward cyclic and hope you have enough altitude.

The Mavic being incredibly stable may be able to restart in flight and right itself. I only hope the person who tries it has a working camera and the card survives.

Hello helo

Did anyone say you could auto rotate a fixed pitch quad?

I don't understand what your trying to clear up as everything you have said has already been established!

Do you fly collective pitch Heli's? If you do and you lose power you don't want flat pitch on your blades you want negative to maximise the uplift before you land.

Anyway this is all beside the point here what we are trying to establish is if we can stop the motors on the Mavic to descend quickly then re start them before hitting earth! I certainly think it's within the capabilities of the MP but is it possible in the software? Would it sense its falling out the sky and go into a critical state?

Helo · Dec 27, 2016

Loz said:
Hello helo

Did anyone say you could auto rotate a fixed pitch quad?

I don't understand what your trying to clear up as everything you have said has already been established!

Do you fly collective pitch Heli's? If you do and you lose power you don't want flat pitch on your blades you want negative to maximise the uplift before you land.

Anyway this is all beside the point here what we are trying to establish is if we can stop the motors on the Mavic to descend quickly then re start them before hitting earth! I certainly think it's within the capabilities of the MP but is it possible in the software? Would it sense its falling out the sky and go into a critical state?

Sorry, there were many other comments in the thread and some bordered on the subject of autorotation, just trying to clear things up, sorry if I offended anyone.

I assume you meant you want negative pitch on the way down to maximize the rotor rpm so when you pull positive pitch just before landing, you have more stored energy to slow your decent. Just so you know I have over 10,000 hours in helicopters so I'm not just blowing smoke, that said I missed the negative pitch thing as not many actual helicopters are capable of it.

I was at an air show years ago with a Flight for Life helicopter and some people were there with their RC planes and a several helicopters. They invited me to give it a try so after they put some learning sticks on the skids I did. Hats off to people that are proficient in flying these as they are a handful. The hardest thing for me was the fact that when you fly an RC the horizon is set and the aircraft moves and its just the opposite when you are in the aircraft.

PS have in-laws in Waymoth

Loz · Dec 27, 2016

Helo said:
Sorry, there were many other comments in the thread and some bordered on the subject of autorotation, just trying to clear things up, sorry if I offended anyone.

I assume you meant you want negative pitch on the way down to maximize the rotor rpm so when you pull positive pitch just before landing, you have more stored energy to slow your decent. Just so you know I have over 10,000 hours in helicopters so I'm not just blowing smoke, that said I missed the negative pitch thing as not many actual helicopters are capable of it.

I was at an air show years ago with a Flight for Life helicopter and some people were there with their RC planes and a several helicopters. They invited me to give it a try so after they put some learning sticks on the skids I did. Hats off to people that are proficient in flying these as they are a handful. The hardest thing for me was the fact that when you fly an RC the horizon is set and the aircraft moves and its just the opposite when you are in the aircraft.

PS have in-laws in Waymoth

I read your post about you having over 10,000 hours then realised you probably meant full size! That's a lot of flight time quite an achievement, I've never been in a helicopter but would very much like to passenger or maybe fly a lesson one day who knows!

I've been flying RC collective pitch for just over a year now and am no where near a pro 3D pilot but can hold an inverted hover and do barrel rolls which is fun to do.. autorotation I've pulled off once just about as I had a pinion come loose during a flight but it's very different from RC to full size, I doubt with full size you would use negative as by the time the rotors have stopped your probably well out of altitude!

Weymouth right? Nice place by the sea

LakeTravis · Dec 27, 2016

Helo said:
Sorry, there were many other comments in the thread and some bordered on the subject of autorotation, just trying to clear things up, sorry if I offended anyone.

I assume you meant you want negative pitch on the way down to maximize the rotor rpm so when you pull positive pitch just before landing, you have more stored energy to slow your decent. Just so you know I have over 10,000 hours in helicopters so I'm not just blowing smoke, that said I missed the negative pitch thing as not many actual helicopters are capable of it.

I was at an air show years ago with a Flight for Life helicopter and some people were there with their RC planes and a several helicopters. They invited me to give it a try so after they put some learning sticks on the skids I did. Hats off to people that are proficient in flying these as they are a handful. The hardest thing for me was the fact that when you fly an RC the horizon is set and the aircraft moves and its just the opposite when you are in the aircraft.

PS have in-laws in Waymoth

We all know helicopters don't fly!! They beat the air into submission... at least that's what my buds in the air cav in Vietnam used to say

SteveCA · Dec 28, 2016

**** all this autorotation talk makes me want to dust off my trex 600 for some adrenaline action

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Helo · Dec 28, 2016

LakeTravis said:
We all know helicopters don't fly!! They beat the air into submission... at least that's what my buds in the air cav in Vietnam used to say

But the real truth is that there are not enough moving parts on a fixed wing aircraft to make them safe!!

LakeTravis · Dec 28, 2016

But I can fly a fixed wing aircraft in relative comfort and quiet from New York to LA MUCH faster than a rotorcraft with FAR less fuel. As far as safety is concerned, every GOOD and proficient private pilot frequently practice emergency procedures including an engine out (no we don't shut it off). Assuming prop windmilling, flaps up, and no wind. In terms of time in the air, that ends up being about a minute of glide per 700' ft of altitude. I usually maintain somewhere between 8,000' and 10,000' AGL (yes, I have oxygen for higher altitudes) which gives more than enough time to find a good spot to put it down softly. In fact, years ago, when I was still a smoker, I would actually have time for a cigarette before getting to the level of a few hundred feet and terminating the procedure. I've aborted a take off and done an emergency landing following a bird strike one time, but in more than forty years and 10,000+ hours, never had an engine fail. Friends have, and they landed quite safely in a farmer's field and did little-to-no damage to the aircraft.

F6Rider · Dec 28, 2016

IcySparks said:
Was just curious as my RTH test took it up to 200' and seemed to take an eternity to come down.

RTH will pause at the set height above home point, then descend slowly, you could descend faster on manual, making sure to also use some forward or lateral stick to prevent a loss of control from descending too fast into your own prop wash.

F6Rider · Dec 28, 2016

LakeTravis said:
But I can fly a fixed wing aircraft in relative comfort and quiet from New York to LA MUCH faster than a rotorcraft with FAR less fuel. As far as safety is concerned, every GOOD and proficient private pilot frequently practice emergency procedures including an engine out (no we don't shut it off). Assuming prop windmilling, flaps up, and no wind. In terms of time in the air, that ends up being about a minute of glide per 700' ft of altitude. I usually maintain somewhere between 8,000' and 10,000' AGL (yes, I have oxygen for higher altitudes) which gives more than enough time to find a good spot to put it down softly. In fact, years ago, when I was still a smoker, I would actually have time for a cigarette before getting to the level of a few hundred feet and terminating the procedure. I've aborted a take off and done an emergency landing following a bird strike one time, but in more than forty years and 10,000+ hours, never had an engine fail. Friends have, and they landed quite safely in a farmer's field and did little-to-no damage to the aircraft.

Different strokes and all that, I bet you never found a small hole in the canopy and did a vertical descent to land your fixed wing

I have done non-standards in a UH1-H where we just turn off the fuel boosters and do an auto-rotation in to the field, kind of exciting actually, that last flair out has to be pretty much right on. Only damage is to the skid shoes, which the A/C crew chief will replace.

LakeTravis · Dec 28, 2016

F6Rider said:
Different strokes and all that, I bet you never found a small hole in the canopy and did a vertical descent to land your fixed wing I have done non-standards in a UH1-H where we just turn off the fuel boosters and do an auto-rotation in to the field, kind of exciting actually, that last flair out has to be pretty much right on. Only damage is to the skid shoes, which the A/C crew chief will replace.

Agreed, it all depends on your application.... I like to travel from Austin to Phoenix, Santa Fe or Aspen and wherever a whim takes me... or even for the proverbial $100 Hamburger.... Not sure if you've ever seen the book, but it is fun for GA pilots.... Fixed wing is just more practical for me.

Applecorps · Dec 31, 2016

longrange said:
Yes there is. For anyone that wants to fly at 1600 feet. Make sure u r in a open field. For a quick decent. Hold both sticks down and toward the middle. Your drone will be down shortly.

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32ft/sec/sec without wind drag . . should be fast enough.

m0j0 · Dec 31, 2016

LakeTravis said:
, and assuming you live in the US, other than the fact that you're breaking the law, ]

Drone Police Police Statement of Fact: flying at 401 feet in the US is not against the law.

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newschoolskier · Dec 31, 2016

Hi! I'm experiencing the same problem, since descending took so long I couldn't follow the paraglider today, have a look at the video.
Yes i was in Sport Mode... guess I should make the Mavic heavier

Hope in the future the sink rate will be faster!

Happy new year to everyone

PropPilot · Dec 31, 2016

longrange said:
Yes there is. For anyone that wants to fly at 1600 feet. Make sure u r in a open field. For a quick decent. Hold both sticks down and toward the middle. Your drone will be down shortly.

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LOL - someone will try it