Long story of my lost Mavic in the Mountains

[bowens44]

The Story of the Lost Mavic | Tony Yang

I learned a lot of lessons during this adventure, made sure I went home after and studied more on the limits and settings of the Mavic.

The Story of the Lost Mavic | Tony Yang

I learned a lot of lessons during this adventure, made sure I went home after and studied more on the limits and settings of the Mavic.

Wow! Thanks for sharing......

 

[SprayingMango]

This seems like an awfully suspicious and well documented “story” .... something just doesn’t seem right.

 

[slimcobra]

Awesome story and great page! I seem to see this same type of scenario over and over again. The wind is pushing the Mavic away and no one is using the return to home. Why do you think that is?

 

[Marko9219]

Captivating write-up. Way to hold our interest! Do you have any prior experience writing? Glad you got the bird back in one piece.
In any incident, with any outcome, there are lessons for others to learn, so thanks for taking the time to do such a great job of sharing your experience.

 

[Marko9219]

This seems like an awfully suspicious and well documented “story” .... something just doesn’t seem right.

Seriously? To suspect fraud as you are implying, one needs to first assume a motive. Where would there be ANY POSSIBLE MOTIVE to post this experience in an obscure little drone forum, frequented by a tiny fraction of a single percent of people who are on the web daily? Boy...Talk about inappropriate skepticism!

 

[knsaber]

Wow, the most meticulously documented Mavic crash, ever! Almost as if planned.

This must become a meme for all RTFM drone crashes:

View attachment 25881

I agree, this should be posted after every accident from pilot error

 

[knsaber]

Dude... could you have tried to fly it down to that clear spot in the videos right below the gentler area that you did the emergency shut off?

Maybe if you tried, and left the motors running, it could have made it through the tree canopy.

You had the refresh package so anything damaged would have been replaced

I tried flying to that clear patch but like I mentioned in the blog, my Max Distance was left on and I couldn't get any closer. I know it was a noob mistake.

 

[knsaber]

Excellent story. That's just a few minutes from where I live (I'm just West of Asheville).

A few tips (which you may have already figured out):

A) Flip into SPORT mode to get more PUNCH to penetrate wind
B) Always ALWAYS be planning for that What If... pick your landing area out as soon as you leave the one you take off from
C) Check the settings before you fly

Thanks for sharing this story.

Allen

If I had really given up, I would've posted all the photos, directions, and coordinates of the lost drone to anyone willing to retrieve it for me.

 

[knsaber]

Awesome story and great page! I seem to see this same type of scenario over and over again. The wind is pushing the Mavic away and no one is using the return to home. Why do you think that is?

I did try RTH with no luck. I don't see how it can solve the problem of the wind pushing faster than the drone's speed limit, with or without sport mode.

 

[BigAl07]

I did try RTH with no luck. I don't see how it can solve the problem of the wind pushing faster than the drone's speed limit, with or without sport mode.

You'd be surprised what happens when you go into SPORT mode and give her some Gitty Up N Go.

Also it's safe to note that wind can be dramatically different at different heights. A few dozens of feet lower (or higher) could have made a world of difference (good or bad LOL).

Coming from a GLIDER background I learned many moons ago to try every option at hand when it comes to busting into a strong headwind. Sometimes you can't win (lost a couple of nice gliders this way) but more often than not you find a spot where you can get ahead of the wind and back to Terra Firma safe n sound.

 

[knsaber]

You'd be surprised what happens when you go into SPORT mode and give her some Gitty Up N Go.

Also it's safe to note that wind can be dramatically different at different heights. A few dozens of feet lower (or higher) could have made a world of difference (good or bad LOL).

Coming from a GLIDER background I learned many moons ago to try every option at hand when it comes to busting into a strong headwind. Sometimes you can't win (lost a couple of nice gliders this way) but more often than not you find a spot where you can get ahead of the wind and back to Terra Firma safe n sound.

I think in the long run being a novice pilot, with limited batteries, it was safer to go down into an open field with road access than try to scale up a mountain cliff near the treeline and possibly lose the drone in an inaccessible part of the forest forever. I am so glad I landed near a parking lot. I'm surprised to hear from someone that descending takes more battery than ascending?

 

[BigAl07]

I'm surprised to hear from someone that descending takes more battery than ascending?

As was I LOL.

That was the FIRST time I've ever heard that and I completely disagree. To descend the motors slow down (allowing descent). Actually when we are doing some longer flights we start descending to go easy on the batteries along the way. I can't say how much it helps but descending doesn't take more power/battery than ascending.

 

[Marko9219]

I think in the long run being a novice pilot, with limited batteries, it was safer to go down into an open field with road access than try to scale up a mountain cliff near the treeline and possibly lose the drone in an inaccessible part of the forest forever. I am so glad I landed near a parking lot. I'm surprised to hear from someone that descending takes more battery than ascending?

Who ever said that just doesn't have a firm grasp of the laws of gravity, right?How can slowing the rpm of a prop. down to let gravity bring us down EVER use more battery (Assuming we don't have variable pitch props. Which we obviously don't.)

 

[BigAl07]

Who ever said that just doesn't have a firm grasp of the laws of gravity, right?How can slowing the rpm of a prop. down to let gravity bring us down EVER use more battery (Assuming we don't have variable pitch props. Which we obviously don't.)

Very True. It came from someone who posted a comment on the actual story itself:

DISCO
NOVEMBER 29, 2017 AT 11:57 AM

Great story, but your mistake was not being familiar with every single setting and procedure before taking it out to it’s extremes. Great recovery tho, you realized you were screwed early enough to have time to think.

One thing to always be aware of on long distance flights is the direction of the wind. Always go out against the wind, and glide back with it. And remember that descending is pretty slow and uses more battery than ascending.

WRONG!! LoL

 

[whiskeylover]

I *think* I get what they're talking about. I've observed the rate of descent to be much lower than ascent (it comes down at a much slower speed than it climbs up.) So that is probably why more battery is used up while coming down.

Not sure though. I'm not a aerodynamics engineer.

 

[Xtreme Drone Pilot]

Just did a quick 500m up/down: up 8% at 7m/s, down 4% at 6m/s.

 

[Mavic_Pete]

You should get a State Farm PAP and you would have saved yourself 4 days, a ton of hours, gas, money spent on things like walkie talkies, slingshots, and balloons... and probably much more. If I ever crash my Mavic and its in a spot like that I'm leaving it there and making my claim.

 

[knsaber]

You should get a State Farm PAP and you would have saved yourself 4 days, a ton of hours, gas, money spent on things like walkie talkies, slingshots, and balloons... and probably much more. If I ever crash my Mavic and its in a spot like that I'm leaving it there and making my claim.

But where’s the fun in that?

Seriously though I considered making a claim through my State Farm Photography business insurance, but I figured the deductible and premium raise may not have been worth it. Granted I didn’t call them to get all the details but I think I just really wanted to know I could rescue it. I’ll have to do my homework now to see if I should consider that in the future.

 

[SprayingMango]

Seriously? To suspect fraud as you are implying, one needs to first assume a motive. Where would there be ANY POSSIBLE MOTIVE to post this experience in an obscure little drone forum, frequented by a tiny fraction of a single percent of people who are on the web daily? Boy...Talk about inappropriate skepticism!

Yes seriously. This guy is driving traffic to his sight...with a completely curated and scripted story. It’s pretty obvious this was done just for clicks.

 

[whiskeylover]

Yes seriously. This guy is driving traffic to his sight...with a completely curated and scripted story. It’s pretty obvious this was done just for clicks.

Mission succeeded. He got an additional 200 views. He's on his way laughing to the bank.

(sarcasm, in case it wasn't clear from my post)