Lessons from an idiot about flying indoors

Andrew F · Dec 26, 2016

Dronebow said:
No. Tripod mode works with fine with no GPS but it may need Opti.

Works great with just opti. Just make sure there is lots of light and a floor with significant variations.

Theones · Dec 26, 2016

Me too have stupid experience flying indoor, I just want to test using manual controller with two stick down toward the middle and activated manual take off, I press left stick gently up and MP hovering and slowly drift to the right to my wall and cut the wall like cutting the grass but I force to catch it with my hand below and auto sensor below start to kick in and the rotor spin very fast....and fortunately I catch it fast and press left stick all the way down and turn of the rotors, I was shock well lesson have been learn @_@

Brianna · Jan 1, 2017

I learned the same lesson about drifting without enough light ... drifted right into the wall before I could get it to land. I broke 3 props. I picked up some awesome blade guards from ebay, very well made. I ran the Mavic right into to my stove several times and they just bounce it away. I feel a lot safer flying with them attached in the house now. They pop on and off very easily.

guest23 · Jan 1, 2017

Brianna said:
I learned the same lesson about drifting without enough light ... drifted right into the wall before I could get it to land. I broke 3 props. I picked up some awesome blade guards from ebay, very well made. I ran the Mavic right into to my stove several times and they just bounce it away. I feel a lot safer flying with them attached in the house now. They pop on and off very easily. View attachment 3365

Brianna
Let me know how the mavic behave w those. Wanted to pick a set - but no feedback on Amazon.

Thx

Sent from my iPad using MavicPilots

StGr · Jan 1, 2017

I also crashed inside but my problem was it was night time and lighting was insufficient for sensors. The mavic raised flew backwards into a plant and stopped. No damage but... all good now. I know better. I also felt like a fool. Safe flying folks.

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Brice LeCarre · Jan 1, 2017

Ok I admit it. After getting the Mavic, I fired it up inside and took off at about a couple feet. Started yawing slowly and the poor thing drifted into a corner and crashed. The bird was fine, my ego not so much.

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Robbyg · Jan 1, 2017

To the OP, I am so sorry to hear that you cut your fingers. As a long time now retired RC pilot I have seen the result of a few cuts with wooden and plastic props. About half the YouTube video's I have watched on the Mavic have me cringing because the people are very very close to them and don't even seem to think of the possibility that something could happen and the could drone fly straight into their face.

I was wondering how badly did the Mavic cut your fingers, did it require stitches?

Dronebow · Jan 2, 2017

Robbyg said:
To the OP, I am so sorry to hear that you cut your fingers. As a long time now retired RC pilot I have seen the result of a few cuts with wooden and plastic props. About half the YouTube video's I have watched on the Mavic have me cringing because the people are very very close to them and don't even seem to think of the possibility that something could happen and the could drone fly straight into their face.

I was wondering how badly did the Mavic cut your fingers, did it require stitches?

Considering what I did by actually thrusting my fingers into the blades, I would say I got lucky that it didn't need stitches. I think the fact that the blades fold is the reason why. Had this been my old P3A, I think I would have been at the hospital.

You bring up an interesting point though. I think the Mavic has made folks stupid. Like myself, I never ever would have fired up my Phantom in the house. I never would have flown it under tree branches or under a bridge or anything like that. I was very careful and the only mishap I ever had was clipping a few leaves on a tree that I got too close to accidentally. But with the Mavic I see myself doing things I never would have before. Maybe it's out of stupidity or trusting the equipment too much. But I am seeing this a lot for some reason.

Brianna · Jan 2, 2017

Diogenes Martinez said:
Brianna
Let me know how the mavic behave w those. Wanted to pick a set - but no feedback on Amazon.

Thx

Sent from my iPad using MavicPilots

Hi, I haven't really noticed any flight difference inside or outside flying. I'm sure it must be reducing flight time, but I haven't noticed it at all.
They do work really great, clip on very securely. I would recommend them, I feel much safer flying now.

J-Dub · Jan 3, 2017

Brice LeCarre said:
Ok I admit it. After getting the Mavic, I fired it up inside and took off at about a couple feet. Started yawing slowly and the poor thing drifted into a corner and crashed. The bird was fine, my ego not so much.

Sent from my iPad using MavicPilots

So when it Drifts, there is no way to control it, sticks are useless?

Brice LeCarre · Jan 3, 2017

J-Dub said:
So when it Drifts, there is no way to control it, sticks are useless?

I would not say that. The controller was not calibrated. it works fine now.

lakong · Jan 3, 2017

I had an accident last night hovering indoors but not sure how it was my fault. I took off and was just hovering. I wanted to show some friends how the selfies worked. It was in a large open room with no walls nearby. I realized that the SD card was full so I went to format it. I hit OK after it was formatted, never touched the sticks and out of nowhere the Mavic shot straight to the right - about 20 feet into the wall. Luckily it somehow wedged between a standup speaker and the wall so it appears that only the blades were damaged. Lesson learned but still, a bit discouraging.

Regarding the blades, 2 of the blades were chipped and I have replacements for them, but one is a little scratched but seems okay. Do you think it's okay to fly if the blade just shows a little scratches but the shape is still intact? I ordered a few more blades directly from DJI today. Any idea how long it takes to ship and if there are local distributors that have them in stock or perhaps there are good alternatives that companies are making.

- LA

stratos · Jan 3, 2017

my Maiden flight was indoors.... well I didnt crash but was pissing my pants as it didnt want to land due to sensing obstacles... scary. so I learned a lesson NEVER FLY INDOORS.

Brice LeCarre · Jan 4, 2017

lakong said:
I had an accident last night hovering indoors but not sure how it was my fault. I took off and was just hovering. I wanted to show some friends how the selfies worked. It was in a large open room with no walls nearby. I realized that the SD card was full so I went to format it. I hit OK after it was formatted, never touched the sticks and out of nowhere the Mavic shot straight to the right - about 20 feet into the wall. Luckily it somehow wedged between a standup speaker and the wall so it appears that only the blades were damaged. Lesson learned but still, a bit discouraging.

Regarding the blades, 2 of the blades were chipped and I have replacements for them, but one is a little scratched but seems okay. Do you think it's okay to fly if the blade just shows a little scratches but the shape is still intact? I ordered a few more blades directly from DJI today. Any idea how long it takes to ship and if there are local distributors that have them in stock or perhaps there are good alternatives that companies are making.

- LA

IMHO, I think a scratch is fine as long as there is no gauging. For nicks it is a judgement call. If it is no more than a fingernail thickness or two I keep the blade and no more than two nicks per blade. Bottom line. If you are worry, change the blade. They are cheap enough.

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J-Dub · Jan 4, 2017

Props: I've seen videos where they cut the prop in half and it still was able to fly and hover. A lot of battery and motor over-work, but it did work.

lakong · Jan 4, 2017

Thanks, I ordered a few more sets. BTW, does anyone know what might have gone wrong? I 100% never touched the sticks, there were no walls within 10 feet on any side and the drone took off directly right and went 20-30 feet into the wall with no input. I get it that we should not fly inside, but this seemed extreme. If we do fly indoors and turn off all obstacle avoidance would we be fine? Of course we still would need to control it like any other drone indoors (I'm pretty good at flying these things) but what I'm concerned about is the drone doing its own thing.

J-Dub · Jan 4, 2017

lakong said:
Thanks, I ordered a few more sets. BTW, does anyone know what might have gone wrong? I 100% never touched the sticks, there were no walls within 10 feet on any side and the drone took off directly right and went 20-30 feet into the wall with no input. I get it that we should not fly inside, but this seemed extreme. If we do fly indoors and turn off all obstacle avoidance would we be fine? Of course we still would need to control it like any other drone indoors (I'm pretty good at flying these things) but what I'm concerned about is the drone doing its own thing.

I guess someone will have to test it inside with all sensors off....$omebody

Brice LeCarre · Jan 4, 2017

J-Dub said:
Props: I've seen videos where they cut the prop in half and it still was able to fly and hover. A lot of battery and motor over-work, but it did work.

You are right. but when a blade shatters in flight, bad things can happen. Besides, the Mavic might recover, the Inspire not so much.

Robbyg · Jan 4, 2017

Using even slightly damaged blades is a really bad idea.
The Aircraft may seem to be flying stable but it is experiencing lots of vibrations from the imbalanced prop. This will lead to the Motor bearings and any other weak points around that motor eventually giving out. I suggest even with new props that you check their balance using a Prop balance wheel and sand the prop a little until you get perfect balance. Doing this will improve your video and still images and make your drone last a lot longer.

Rob

Theones · Jan 7, 2017

J-Dub said:
I guess someone will have to test it inside with all sensors off....$omebody

I have try that using sport mode in indoor area in my garage all sensor off in sport mode, MP hover but a little not stable little move slightly to left or right and more responsive, I can move it to narrow space with precise stick movement but still very high risk crash into the wall