Mavic 3 Cine Chicago Gone!

[EasyV]

I’ve just watched the initial video after he had the flyaway. Can’t say I would have done anything different. Sympathy for him.

Not sure I would fly where and from where he did (sounds like along the river on the river walk), but it sounds like a lot of people take off and fly from there. I would be too scared of RFI and potential GPS signal issues.

Would like to find out the bottom line here, if for no other reason than to learn what not to do.

 

[wco81]

I don't think he did have it
Oh he did have it, just that it's US $1189 !
Better than US$5000 though.

Insurance?

Most homeowners insurance would cover the drone as personal property coverage.

But if he's making money with the drone, he'd need some kind of commercial insurance?

Or at least write it off on next year's taxes?

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Insurance?

Most homeowners insurance would cover the drone as personal property coverage.

But if he's making money with the drone, he'd need some kind of commercial insurance?

Or at least write it off on next year's taxes?

That’s in reference to Care Refresh fee.
I saw another YouTube vid of the OPs complaining about the Refresh fee, $1189 and figured he didn’t take it up
Then noted in another video he did say he had done.
That’s great for him, but still a lot to have to fork out again.
But is that still going to cover an aircraft loss without a ‘body’ ???

 

[bkushner]

That’s in reference to Care Refresh fee.
I saw another YouTube vid of the OPs complaining about the Refresh fee, $1189 and figured he didn’t take it up
Then noted in another video he did say he had done.
That’s great for him, but still a lot to have to fork out again.
But is that still going to cover an aircraft loss without a ‘body’ ???

Isn't the flyaway fee more then the normal refresh? Also your log has to show the fly away right?

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Isn't the flyaway fee more then the normal refresh? Also your log has to show the fly away right?

Wasn't fully sure about the 'flyaway' part of DJI Care Refresh, is that what they call Care Refresh + (Plus) ??
No, just had a look, that's the extended 2nd year, also now offers extended std warranty, I guess handy if equipment failure causes a crash / loss.

Yes, looks like the fees are (of course) much higher than the normal recovered drone fee, but the OP doesn't mention what the $1189 fee was, just that was for the Cine edition ? Or was it for a flyaway fee ?
If it is just for the Cine additional cost, I'd hate to think what the flyaway Cine fee is.

DJI offered the OP 15% discount on new, so not sure why the OP isn't talking about just using Care Refresh.

I'd say yes, a flyaway would need to be seen in a flight log, and it should be clear in that.

Used to be you could take out the Care Refresh 2nd year anytime I think (I've never had refresh), but could be now you have to choose 1 or 2 years when you buy initially ?

The flyaway cover seems to be included, it is just an additional (much more additional) fee over a recovered drone fee.

 

[rinconmike]

Isn't the flyaway fee more then the normal refresh? Also your log has to show the fly away right?

From DJI store, the Mavic 3 DJI Care 2 year is $399 and the Cine is $599. The fly away deductible is $739 of the Mavic 3 and $1,189 for the Cine.

Buy DJI Care Refresh 2-Year Plan (DJI Mavic 3) - DJI Store

Buy DJI Care Refresh 2-Year Plan (DJI Mavic 3 Cine) - DJI Store

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

From DJI store, the Mavic 3 DJI Care 2 year is $399 and the Cine is $599. The fly away deductible is $739 of the Mavic 3 and $1,189 for the Cine.

Buy DJI Care Refresh 2-Year Plan (DJI Mavic 3) - DJI Store

Buy DJI Care Refresh 2-Year Plan (DJI Mavic 3 Cine) - DJI Store

Love how we can't view the US DJI site (or other countries), always diverts to the Aussie page . . .
I guess their site will do the same in all locations.

For interest, to see what "Aussie' tax we pay here, some comparos . . .

Here's our Care Refresh prices, at least they lay out all the extras clearly on this page . . .

1 year plan M3 AU$349 (US$248)
1st replacement AU$229 (US$163)
2nd replacement AU$289 (US$205)
Flyaway AU$1039 (US$739)

Now 2 year direct comparo to US$ above . . .

2 year plan M3 AU$559 (US$398 almost the same)
1st replacement AU$229 (US$163)
2nd replacement AU$289 (US$205)
3rd replacement AU$319 (US$227)
Flyaway AU$1039 (US$739 (same !)

2 year plan M3 Cine AU$889 (US$632 slightly more here)
1st replacement AU$349 (US$248)
2nd replacement AU$449 (US$319)
3rd replacement AU$499 (US$355)
Flyaway AU$1699 (US$1209 slightly more here)

So we pay about same for basic / flymore M3, and a little more for buying Care Refresh 2 year Cine and the flyaway fee.
Not sure about the replacement fees, but they seem reasonable to me . . . also great to see a 3rd replacement in the 2 year plan option !!

 

[Starz]

Isn't the flyaway fee more then the normal refresh? Also your log has to show the fly away right?

Based on what is here in this thread to read, logs will probably show an error on the part of the pilot.
Just my guess.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Based on what is here in this thread to read, logs will probably show an error on the part of the pilot.
Just my guess.

Still covered by Care Refresh though, right ?
All be it at the rather painful flyaway fee.

That's the good thing about Care Refresh, crash it for whatever reason, as long as the body was recovered it didn't matter if it was an accident, or blatant lack of knowledge / care in a flight.

When you think about it, anything other than a failure in equipment (covered by warranty if proven) could be considered pilot error, but then there is a timespan when you first get a drone where you can be either really quick to learn and lucky, vs a simple mistake and crash / loss.

 

[Rchawks]

OP is generating a lot of subject matter for not being present a single time since posting. I would like to add I always enjoy the side comments of members here, it increases the learning curve, but it would be nice to hear from the gentleman to see if it was found or not or what data he might provide.

 

[Starz]

Still covered by Care Refresh though, right ?
All be it at the rather painful flyaway fee.

That's the good thing about Care Refresh, crash it for whatever reason, as long as the body was recovered it didn't matter if it was an accident, or blatant lack of knowledge / care in a flight.

When you think about it, anything other than a failure in equipment (covered by warranty if proven) could be considered pilot error, but then there is a timespan when you first get a drone where you can be either really quick to learn and lucky, vs a simple mistake and crash / loss.

I’m not familiar with DJI refresh programs, so I’m note the expert there.
Cheaper from my perspective to deal with St.Farm and I haven’t gone that route for several years.
I just try not to put myself in situations that are a risk. Pushing the envelope tends to not have good results.

 

[timinator]

OP is generating a lot of subject matter for not being present a single time since posting. I would like to add I always enjoy the side comments of members here, it increases the learning curve, but it would be nice to hear from the gentleman to see if it was found or not or what data he might provide.

The cynical side of me thinks that while he didn't lose the M3 deliberately, he may see this based on the number of videos he has posted as an opportunity to drive traffic to his YouTube channel.

If he really wanted help finding the M3, he would have been back, posting logs and soliciting help from the fabulous community and skilled members here that have helped so many find missing aircraft in the past.

 

[TRogan42]

Thanks for letting me down DJI having 500gigs of the best Chicago pro res footage I ever captured and becoming unresponsive and breaking total connection to my app and flying away on me and recording an inaccurate home point….$5k gone and priceless footage for a client! SO bummed on DJI right now.

With such a amaizing battery and flight time, it probobly returned to Milwaukee.



/

 

[dirkclod]

I don't think that the OP came here looking for help.

I agree. He hasn’t been back on since he started the thread .
4 pages . Must be caught up with the holiday ya think

 

[ianwood]

As much as I sympathise that such an expensive drone is lost, an experienced pilot should expect these sort of things if you fly in an area like he did. Below is his video of where he was flying before it lost signal. He should post the log.

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Not quite. With the right knowledge and preparation, flying in an urban environment is just as uneventful as flying anywhere else. I fly in urban environments like this all the time. I don't recommend it if you don't know how to do it safely. But it is not clear if the OP has that experience or not so let's reserve judgement.

I agree. He hasn’t been back on since he started the thread .
4 pages . Must be caught up with the holiday ya think

Good to see some familiar names from the early PhantomPilots days. I have been flying Inspire 2, heavy lifters and FPV cine setups but bought four Mavics in the past three months, so here I am!

OP, you should rejoin the convo. Can you confirm you used the standard M3 controller and not the smart controller that comes with the M3C? Did I read that right? Also, you really should post your logs. If you really think something malfunctioned, we could probably help identify it.

 

[CactusJackSlade]

Without the flight logs his story to me is extremely suspect. He has not shown any proof of his story as of yet. He came here looking for support and vanished, as someone already stated he did not come here to help, but to complain.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Without the flight logs his story to me is extremely suspect. He has not shown any proof of his story as of yet. He came here looking for support and vanished, as someone already stated he did not come here to help, but to complain.

It'd be really nice if the logs were made available, to help the OP and others learn.

The OP had been a member here for a couple of years, looking at his avatar window info, and 274 messages, so he's not just flown in to complain.

He may be out scouring roof tops, parks, scuba diving the waterway, etc having a look, but it would have been good to get some insight into maybe the best place to look if possible.
The analysis here is first rate, with many success stories finding lost drones.

 

[sar104]

Not quite. With the right knowledge and preparation, flying in an urban environment is just as uneventful as flying anywhere else. I fly in urban environments like this all the time. I don't recommend it if you don't know how to do it safely. But it is not clear if the OP has that experience or not so let's reserve judgement.



Good to see some familiar names from the early PhantomPilots days. I have been flying Inspire 2, heavy lifters and FPV cine setups but bought four Mavics in the past three months, so here I am!

OP, you should rejoin the convo. Can you confirm you used the standard M3 controller and not the smart controller that comes with the M3C? Did I read that right? Also, you really should post your logs. If you really think something malfunctioned, we could probably help identify it.

Well there's a name from the distant past. Welcome back.

 

[Mavy710]

Besides dji refresh, for commercial purposes, I would have search for other companies that also ensure drones. Some even cover fly away. But shoot, ngl, I'd be heart broken. I currently crashed my dji fpv into lake Ontario when my start/stop motors buttons was accidently pressed. Plummeted into the water, couldn't start motors mid flight. Sending back to dji

 

[Yeunglings]

Not sure how well it would work with a camera drone, since you're flying very far away and the search area is much bigger. But, with AirTags the network is much larger than the bluetooth network Tiles are on, so who knows. Worth a shot since they're so cheap and light.

Technically it's still just bluetooth tracking like Tile but proprietary to Apple products using their find my phone feature whereas Tile is OS agnostic but requires the phones nearby to have the Tile app or there to be certain Ring and Echo devices in range and connected to Amazon Sidewalk