Lost controls of Mavic Air while mid air

[kidroc]

^^^
This!

When I got my Mavic last year, I spent several days going through 4 batteries each day just doing test flights above my own property. As I became more and more accustomed to controlling the drone, only then did I raise it to higher altitudes.

If I'm thinking about flying at any location where wind might be a factor, I always check the UAV Forecast App on my iPhone. By selecting the Wind Profile tab, the wind velocity at various altitudes can be seen:

UAV Forecast isn't perfect, and wind velocity can change very quickly without much notice at ground level, but the more information a pilot has the better.

Mark

But it sure Does give you a decent amount of info.. lol

 

[Splashy]

Until you have built up a number of flight hours and got to know your drone you should fly as if you have no insurance. So you have $1000 of drone and if you mess it up then you will lose it, no refunds, no second chances. This should affect where you fly. Choose a wide open area with no water and preferably no trees. Get to know your drone, fly it backwards and forwards, try doing a figure of eight and that means using left and right at the same time as yaw. Practise sending it out and then bringing it back in and landing it.
Until you know your drone then there are far too many things to go wrong. It may not be your fault if you have an accident but at least if you are over land then you can try various options. Switch to Sports mode if the wind is too high, descend to where the wind is less, practise spinning the drone with yaw and then bringing it right back to you. using both visual and indications from your phone which will show you the direction in which it is pointing.
Your flight plan was ambitious for an experienced pilot and should never be attempted by someone still getting used to your drone.

 

[W2EJ]

^^^
This!

When I got my Mavic last year, I spent several days going through 4 batteries each day just doing test flights above my own property. As I became more and more accustomed to controlling the drone, only then did I raise it to higher altitudes.

If I'm thinking about flying at any location where wind might be a factor, I always check the UAV Forecast App on my iPhone. By selecting the Wind Profile tab, the wind velocity at various altitudes can be seen:

UAV Forecast isn't perfect, and wind velocity can change very quickly without much notice at ground level, but the more information a pilot has the better.

Mark

I've been using that app for a year, and I never noticed the Wind Profile part. I always use Conditions and Forecast. Thank you!

 

[Rockisy]

I got a disconnect once also during my early days of flying MA. AC was about 20 meters right above me. It lowered itself and hovered about 2 meters above water, I was at lake side. Luckily, I tried to turn off the RC and turned it back on, and the connection was restored. Since then I researched the forum, changed to FCC mode and never had disconnect issue anymore.

What is FCC mode and what does it do? I haven’t heard of it before

 

[aokusman]

I've been using that app for a year, and I never noticed the Wind Profile part. I always use Conditions and Forecast. Thank you!

Wind profile is very important. Sometimes I only fly at 100 ft altitude because the winds are gusting to high at 200ft etc. I use gust as my guide.

 

[Captain Sully]

I had my MA for 2 months flew it almost everyday in all sorts of conditions, no wind mild wind & pretty strong winds & the drone flew just perfect. Obviously uses battery faster in windy conditions but once you’ve got some experience & understand how your drone works re RTH, auto landing etc you should be able to trust the systems built in, fly sensibly & not have your $1000 drone go swimming all by itself.. Mine did, in similar circumstances to yours (and 100’s of others if u read online) & DJI will do jack diddly squat to help you. They will say high wind is flying the drone contrary to recommendations & therefore it boils down to pilot error. They know about RTH failures with Mavic Air but will not play ball when push comes to shove.

Good luck mate, but I think you’re joining the list.

 

[Photo Booth]

I had my MA for 2 months flew it almost everyday in all sorts of conditions, no wind mild wind & pretty strong winds & the drone flew just perfect. Obviously uses battery faster in windy conditions but once you’ve got some experience & understand how your drone works re RTH, auto landing etc you should be able to trust the systems built in, fly sensibly & not have your $1000 drone go swimming all by itself.. Mine did, in similar circumstances to yours (and 100’s of others if u read online) & DJI will do jack diddly squat to help you. They will say high wind is flying the drone contrary to recommendations & therefore it boils down to pilot error. They know about RTH failures with Mavic Air but will not play ball when push comes to shove.

Good luck mate, but I think you’re joining the list.

"flew it almost everyday in all sorts of conditions, no wind mild wind & pretty strong winds"

Knowingly in "pretty strong winds" = pretty poor decision

You got lucky a few times and then got pissed because of your own poor decision. If you were feeling "pretty strong winds" at ground level the wind velocity could possibly be EXTREMELY strong at just 100 or 200 feet above ground level. The higher you go, the stronger the winds might be.

You might understand how your drone works but you apparently didn't understand that the typical consumer Mavic drone can NOT fly into a 40 mph headwind and make any forward progress (RTH or otherwise). Period. If you were feeling 20 mph winds at the surface the winds could have been 40 or even 60 mph just a few hundred feet above you.

The good news is that you are a teacher for others that read this thread. Don't fly in "pretty strong winds".

Mark

 

[calmar81]

"flew it almost everyday in all sorts of conditions, no wind mild wind & pretty strong winds"

Knowingly in "pretty strong winds" = pretty poor decision

You got lucky a few times and then got pissed because of your own poor decision. If you were feeling "pretty strong winds" at ground level the wind velocity could possibly be EXTREMELY strong at just 100 or 200 feet above ground level. The higher you go, the stronger the winds might be.

You might understand how your drone works but you apparently didn't understand that the typical consumer Mavic drone can NOT fly into a 40 mph headwind and make any forward progress (RTH or otherwise). Period. If you were feeling 20 mph winds at the surface the winds could have been 40 or even 60 mph just a few hundred feet above you.

The good news is that you are a teacher for others that read this thread. Don't fly in "pretty strong winds".

Mark

... I would like to add „with a pretty small drone“.

Because just since I have my M2P, I realize, how limited the MA‘s flight performance is. But that’s okay for its small size of propellers, motors etc. But you just have to pay more attention to wind and weather

 

[Photo Booth]

... I would like to add „with a pretty small drone“.

Because just since I have my M2P, I realize, how limited the MA‘s flight performance is. But that’s okay for its small size of propellers, motors etc. But you just have to pay more attention to wind and weather

Good point!

Mark

 

[Captain Sully]

... I would like to add „with a pretty small drone“.

Because just since I have my M2P, I realize, how limited the MA‘s flight performance is. But that’s okay for its small size of propellers, motors etc. But you just have to pay more attention to wind and weather

"flew it almost everyday in all sorts of conditions, no wind mild wind & pretty strong winds"

Knowingly in "pretty strong winds" = pretty poor decision

You got lucky a few times and then got pissed because of your own poor decision. If you were feeling "pretty strong winds" at ground level the wind velocity could possibly be EXTREMELY strong at just 100 or 200 feet above ground level. The higher you go, the stronger the winds might be.

You might understand how your drone works but you apparently didn't understand that the typical consumer Mavic drone can NOT fly into a 40 mph headwind and make any forward progress (RTH or otherwise). Period. If you were feeling 20 mph winds at the surface the winds could have been 40 or even 60 mph just a few hundred feet above you.

The good news is that you are a teacher for others that read this thread. Don't fly in "pretty strong winds".

Mark

Ok Mark.

Flying into 40mph headwinds so 65kmh with a small drone, think you might’ve jumped straight into assumption mode there. The ocean was flat as a pond & conditions were perfect on this day, thanks I am aware wind speed & direction change with altitude but not 30-40kmh in 300feet on a calm day.

If every time the warnings flashed up saying “strong winds fly with caution” you packed it away & went inside you’d never bloody fly.

I guess we’re not all perfect like you mate, even drones made in China by DJI aren’t all perfect, that’s the point, **** does go wrong in all types of consumer products, especially with early models, just deal with it better that’s my point.

 

[JDawg]

Air does fine in the wind.

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[Meta4]

Ok Mark.

Flying into 40mph headwinds so 65kmh with a small drone, think you might’ve jumped straight into assumption mode there. The ocean was flat as a pond & conditions were perfect on this day, thanks I am aware wind speed & direction change with altitude but not 30-40kmh in 300feet on a calm day.

If every time the warnings flashed up saying “strong winds fly with caution” you packed it away & went inside you’d never bloody fly.

I guess we’re not all perfect like you mate, even drones made in China by DJI aren’t all perfect, that’s the point, **** does go wrong in all types of consumer products, especially with early models, just deal with it better that’s my point.

View attachment 57241

That means nothing without actual data from the drone.
If you want to be taken seriously, you have to back up your comments with data. You could even learn what really happened.
RTH is very reliable.
I'm not aware of the RTH problem you allude to.

 

[Photo Booth]

Air does fine in the wind.

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Beginning of the video... per the dude in the video... wind was 25 mph with gusts to 30 mph. So, what you should have stated: Air does fine in wind at or below about 30 mph.

As I recall, I mentioned 40 mph above.

Mark

 

[Photo Booth]

Ok Mark.

Flying into 40mph headwinds so 65kmh with a small drone, think you might’ve jumped straight into assumption mode there. The ocean was flat as a pond & conditions were perfect on this day, thanks I am aware wind speed & direction change with altitude but not 30-40kmh in 300feet on a calm day.

If every time the warnings flashed up saying “strong winds fly with caution” you packed it away & went inside you’d never bloody fly.

I guess we’re not all perfect like you mate, even drones made in China by DJI aren’t all perfect, that’s the point, **** does go wrong in all types of consumer products, especially with early models, just deal with it better that’s my point.

View attachment 57241

Your surface winds chart proves nothing. And you are wrong about large changes in wind velocity a few hundred feet up. Since I check the UAV Forecast app pretty regularly, I can assure you that multiple times it has shown around 15 mph gusts at the surface yet shown around 30 mph gusts at 250 ft and around 45 mph gusts 500 feet. It doesn't happen everyday, but it DOES happen.

And I never said I was perfect. Nobody is perfect. What I'm saying is I'm not stupid.

Mark

 

[Mavic_Dan]

Words of advice when you get your next drone - practice several flights in an open field in calm weather. Get the hang of drone behavior when you hit RTH and practice practice practice before doing any flying over water or at the beach because the wind behaves differently over bodies of water and at the shoreline.

Sorry to hear about your loss.

I am a new MA owner too and I totally agree with what @vanderzyde0 mentioned. I was overwhelmed by the amount of features in that little bird, so I took some time to understand by flying over wide open fields for a few days before I even got the confidence to fly it near a beach. Even then, I wasn't confident to venture out to the sea as I realized the winds were much stronger than I thought.

Still learning something new every time I bring it out for a flight. Warning messages popping up usually freaks me out and I realized I have to stay calm and decide what to do next. When you panic, disorientation sets in...

Anyway, hope you hear good news from DJI.

Happy New Year!

 

[JDawg]

Beginning of the video... per the dude in the video... wind was 25 mph with gusts to 30 mph. So, what you should have stated: Air does fine in wind at or below about 30 mph.

As I recall, I mentioned 40 mph above.

Mark

I don't recall addressing you with my post. Flying a Mavic in winds over 30mph is not a good idea, regardless of the model.

... I would like to add „with a pretty small drone“.

Because just since I have my M2P, I realize, how limited the MA‘s flight performance is. But that’s okay for its small size of propellers, motors etc. But you just have to pay more attention to wind and weather

 

[Photo Booth]

Flying a Mavic in winds over 30mph is not a good idea, regardless of the model.

Now THAT is what you should have included with the YouTube video you linked instead of just "Air does fine in the wind".

Mark

 

[JDawg]

Now THAT is what you should have included with the YouTube video you linked instead of just "Air does fine in the wind".

Mark

Again I was not addressing you. Worry about your own posts.

 

[Photo Booth]

Again I was not addressing you. Worry about your own posts.

This isn't a private topic. This topic is open to every registered member. Permission isn't needed or required in order to reply to ANY post in the topic. If you don't want people responding to what you post then you shouldn't be posting in a public forum.

Mark

 

[JDawg]

This isn't a private topic. This topic is open to every registered member. Permission isn't needed or required in order to reply to ANY post in the topic. If you don't want people responding to what you post then you shouldn't be posting in a public forum.

Mark

What don't you understand boy, worry about your own posts.