Mavic Air Christmas Crash

dougiefresh27 · Dec 26, 2019

With unusually warm temps near 50 F I ventured out for a 4 mile hike in the Mines of Spain park in Dubuque, Iowa with my Mavic Air “Predator” Drone. My goal was to turn off the sensors and fly through some small holes as I have seen some pretty awesome videos on Youtube. I know now that I am not awesome. My first attempt went well then had 2 consecutive crashes. Lack of GPS in a barn for stability and my fear and absolute Choking in the situation caused my crashes. Lost a set of Master Air Screw Stealth 2 but the craft is ok thank goodness. Good learning experience. Just thought I’d share. Here is the full video I made. Go to time index 4:07 & 4:35 to see the crashes. All video and music created and produced by me. Six tracks of ukulele and ovation guitar.

lannes · Dec 26, 2019

Do you fly with the grid and center point on, these may help with direction flying through gaps and tight places

Duggy · Dec 26, 2019

dougiefresh27 said:
With unusually warm temps near 50 F I ventured out for a 4 mile hike in the Mines of Spain park in Dubuque, Iowa with my Mavic Air “Predator” Drone. My goal was to turn off the sensors and fly through some small holes as I have seen some pretty awesome videos on Youtube. I know now that I am not awesome. My first attempt went well then had 2 consecutive crashes. Lack of GPS in a barn for stability and my fear and absolute Choking in the situation caused my crashes. Lost a set of Master Air Screw Stealth 2 but the craft is ok thank goodness. Good learning experience. Just thought I’d share. Here is the full video I made. Go to time index 4:07 & 4:35 to see the crashes. All video and music created and produced by me. Six tracks of ukulele and ovation guitar.

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Thanks for posting, a good example to us new pilots that even someone with obvious experience, things can always go wrong. Glad the drone survived to fly again!

brettbrandon · Dec 26, 2019

I have been working on flying fpv through gaps and such. The slower you are moving when you try to fly through a gap, the harder it is going to be as you will encounter some drift. As slow as you were going you were also getting some prop wash pushing you around. If you have some speed, you will be through before prop wash can affect your path.
I would not give up as you may not be awesome now, but I don't think the youtubers were awesome when they started either...

I would suggest starting with larger gaps and get comfortable with those with some speed and over time use smaller gaps. I found little toy drones and simulators to be VERY helpful in developing the muscle memory for quick reactions. Practice flying in ATTI mode also keeps you from a panic when gps is lost.

Hang in there and happy flying.

dougiefresh27 · Dec 26, 2019

That is a very good idea. Thanks.

dougiefresh27 · Dec 26, 2019

lannes said:
Do you fly with the grid and center point on, these may help with direction flying through gaps and tight places

Grids no. I just figured out how to turn the sensors off
That looks like a good idea to try. Thanks

kwolfskill · Dec 27, 2019

Only had my Mavic Air for a couple of months, and still a complete newbie flying it, so take my question in that context.

When learning to fly in tight places like that, why not use the prop guards? Wouldn't they have prevented the crashes, or at least made them less sever and saved the props? At this point, I always fly with the prop guards on.

dougiefresh27 · Dec 27, 2019

kwolfskill said:
Only had my Mavic Air for a couple of months, and still a complete newbie flying it, so take my question in that context.

When learning to fly in tight places like that, why not use the prop guards? Wouldn't they have prevented the crashes, or at least made them less sever and saved the props? At this point, I always fly with the prop guards on.

I don't have any prop guards and for me that would do 2 things. It would make the craft wider and also reduce the fear factor for me. It's kind of like climbing with a rope and harness or risking it all. Just a personal choice.

hiflyer201 · Dec 27, 2019

I appreciate your efforts and nice job scoring...but...does the old saying ..Don't stick your nose into places it doesn't belong ..come to mind? Just kidding..DJI simulator has a barn you can fly through but it's easier on the sim. than real life.
I like the advice from Iannes and Brett

lannes · Dec 27, 2019

The Mavic Air also has "Tripod" mode which you can try

dougiefresh27 · Dec 28, 2019

hiflyer201 said:
I appreciate your efforts and nice job scoring...but...does the old saying ..Don't stick your nose into places it doesn't belong ..come to mind? Just kidding..DJI simulator has a barn you can fly through but it's easier on the sim. than real life.
I like the advice from Iannes and Brett

Cant learn to run without a few trips along the way