Mavic Air clipped tree!

[Stap71]

Today my Mavic Air.... as I was getting ready to land (away from where I launched it) and about 5 foot off ground. hit 20% battery and it decided to return to home automatically. I had my RTH altitude set at 50m and the thing shot straight up. Before I could cancel the return it Clipped the very edge or “outer” very small branches/leaves of a tree. It freaked out started to fall and then literally did a back flip and righted itself. At this time I was able to cancel the RTH and land. Besides green smudges on a couple props i literally can’t see any damage to it. Not even a Knick or scratch on anything including props. Cleaned it up from chopped leaves and gave it a thorough Inspection.... popped another battery in it and did another 5-6 minute flight... it flew fine and all props were tracking perfect. My question is .... should I be worried about possible issues due to clipping the tree?

 

[Thomas B]

Today my Mavic Air.... as I was getting ready to land (away from where I launched it) and about 5 foot off ground. hit 20% battery and it decided to return to home automatically. I had my RTH altitude set at 50m and the thing shot straight up. Before I could cancel the return it Clipped the very edge or “outer” very small branches/leaves of a tree. It freaked out started to fall and then literally did a back flip and righted itself. At this time I was able to cancel the RTH and land. Besides green smudges on a couple props i literally can’t see any damage to it. Not even a Knick or scratch on anything including props. Cleaned it up from chopped leaves and gave it a thorough Inspection.... popped another battery in it and did another 5-6 minute flight... it flew fine and all props were tracking perfect. My question is .... should I be worried about possible issues due to clipping the tree?

Doubt it since no crash or significant contact on the tree. That said, only by testing all your bird’s functions in an open field will you be certain.

 

[Bigbird48]

I did the same thing a while back, but I went up and down into the tree 5 or 6 times before I got control and landed. Flew fine after I cleaned it up and changed the props, its a tough little bird.I think the video is here someplace.

Mavic Crashes & Other Unfortunate Events

Hi all, I'm doing a research and would like to know how many of you have pictures of your crashed Mavics. Thanks in advance!

mavicpilots.com

crash starts about 1:50

 

[Mavic Mac]

I did the same thing a while back, but I went up and down into the tree 5 or 6 times before I got control and landed. Flew fine after I cleaned it up and changed the props, its a tough little bird.I think the video is here someplace.

Mavic Crashes & Other Unfortunate Events

Hi all, I'm doing a research and would like to know how many of you have pictures of your crashed Mavics. Thanks in advance!

mavicpilots.com

crash starts about 1:50

FYI - Video is marked PRIVATE and won't allow viewing

 

[Mrmund]

Remove your props and very carefully check the little tabs that secure them for cracks.
Just in case...

 

[Skywalker]

Remove your props and very carefully check the little tabs that secure them for cracks.
Just in case...

Ooo...good tip!

 

[Dakarenduro]

i'd change props, $20 is insurance over a cracked prop causing a full failure and more expensive repair.

 

[Dakarenduro]

and glad you recovered without any further problems. good rule of thumb is to always review RTH settings before each flight, it shouldn't be something you just set one time and forget about.

 

[InvisibleName]

i'd change props, $20 is insurance over a cracked prop causing a full failure and more expensive repair.

Can't agree more!

 

[DanMan32]

and glad you recovered without any further problems. good rule of thumb is to always review RTH settings before each flight, it shouldn't be something you just set one time and forget about.

In this case it might not have mattered. Just bad timing where low battery RTH occured while happening to be under an obstacle. Any other place and RTH would be fine.
One does have 10 seconds to cancel low battery RTH.

 

[MavicFlyer]

Today my Mavic Air.... as I was getting ready to land (away from where I launched it) and about 5 foot off ground. hit 20% battery and it decided to return to home automatically. I had my RTH altitude set at 50m and the thing shot straight up. Before I could cancel the return it Clipped the very edge or “outer” very small branches/leaves of a tree. It freaked out started to fall and then literally did a back flip and righted itself. At this time I was able to cancel the RTH and land. Besides green smudges on a couple props i literally can’t see any damage to it. Not even a Knick or scratch on anything including props. Cleaned it up from chopped leaves and gave it a thorough Inspection.... popped another battery in it and did another 5-6 minute flight... it flew fine and all props were tracking perfect. My question is .... should I be worried about possible issues due to clipping the tree?

I had a similar experience with my MA. After the tree branch encounter, I took the props off and inspected them, especially the tabs on the props, the leading and trailing edges, and all was OK, so I put the props back on, and gave it an exterior cleanup...that was several flying hours ago, and I've had no problems. I had an earlier encounter not long after I got my MA, and the result was the same, except that the leading edges of the front props had nicks, so I replaced them.

Obviously, you want to be careful, but experience has shown that this drone is quite durable. The folding arms are a good design which absorbs energy when the drone crashes into something. Also, having snap-on items like landing gear extensions and prop guards that come off in a crash, helps by absorbing additional energy.