Mavic bit me like a bat out of hell...guess it was my fault

[JLane]

Hi, I'm going to Cabo on Sat and plan on using my MP to film the whales. Did you have issue calibrating the compass because of the metal on the boat? Thanks

I think most people would advise you not to calibrate the compass on the boat. It's quite possible that if there's a lot of metal on the boat, the app might warn you of interference. However, calibrating at that point would only server to mis-calibrate the compass by compensating for the interference. Once the Mavic was up in the air and away from the interference, the compass would then be off due to the mis-calibration.

Here's what I would do: Do a test flight on dry land in the area you plan to fly, making sure there's nothing around to cause interference. If the app doesn't give you a compass warning, and if the Mavic flies fine as you test all the flight controls, then it should fly fine out over the water.

You really shouldn't need to calibrate the compass unless the app tells you to, and if you're sure it's not a false warning due to nearby interference. If you're worried that you'll need to calibrate due to distance traveled, I can tell you that I recently traveled from Sydney, Australia to Manila, Philippines (8 hour flight) and didn't have to calibrate my compass. My Mavic flies perfectly fine.

 

[Col@Medlow]

Forward OA won't cause the Mavic to try to move backwards or away from the obstacle; the Mavic just tries to stop if it senses an object in front of it. The full power you're talking about is when the Mavic senses an object below it, but the incident the OP is talking about happened during takeoff with VPS disabled. Downward OA and Landing Precision would have played no part in it.

I've never hand launched or caught from a boat, although in situations when needing to hand catch I always:
1. Lower the Mavic to the vertical height of my fully extended R Hand
2. Press the icon for:
Visual Navigation setting (top of screen) > Advanced > disable -Landing Sensor. (Just remember to turn this setting back on again before shutting down the battery).

By doing this you can safely grip the body of the Mavic at the C of Gravity with fore finger and thumb (RH), and away from and below the spinning props, while throttling down the left stick (LH). No resistance and motor acceleration; motors just stop as for a normal surface landing.

As a safety professional, I would say that Landing at the rear of a rocking boat with unstable surfaces and footing (depends on the size of the boat) imposes many safety risks (not to mention changing wind / weather, collisions and losing the Mavic over the side). Therefore other controls would need to be added such as:
1. Stop the boat engine and wait until motion has ceased (no brainer but maybe not possible)[emoji1360]
2. Fly the Mavic over the back of the boat from the rear.[emoji672][emoji675] - make sure that RT Me has been enabled or manoeuvre into position manually.
3. Clear the deck of people[emoji731], equipment, obstructions and other hazards - maybe swap this point with point [emoji638][emoji615]️
4. Wear PPE such as a cut resistant nitrile glove, on catching hand (mentioned earlier), and safety glasses or goggles [emoji41]to protect eyes, if it all goes pear shaped in the event of a high swell.
5. Apply the procedure in the first paragraph above. I believe the operator should be in control of the Mavic at all times!

This may seem to be a lot of trouble for some people but we only get one shot at this manoeuvre, plus only 2 eyes and one Mavic.
Please add to the above controls as required and don't attempt flying off a [emoji571] if you are not confident or your gut feeling tells you not to. As they say "if you think it's unsafe, it probably is".


Sent from my iPad using MavicPilots

 

[rydfree]

Forward OA won't cause the Mavic to try to move backwards or away from the obstacle; the Mavic just tries to stop if it senses an object in front of it. .

Backup upon obstacle detection can be turned on in the main menu for active Track .

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[TBird]

I think most people would advise you not to calibrate the compass on the boat. It's quite possible that if there's a lot of metal on the boat, the app might warn you of interference. However, calibrating at that point would only server to mis-calibrate the compass by compensating for the interference. Once the Mavic was up in the air and away from the interference, the compass would then be off due to the mis-calibration.

Here's what I would do: Do a test flight on dry land in the area you plan to fly, making sure there's nothing around to cause interference. If the app doesn't give you a compass warning, and if the Mavic flies fine as you test all the flight controls, then it should fly fine out over the water.

You really shouldn't need to calibrate the compass unless the app tells you to, and if you're sure it's not a false warning due to nearby interference. If you're worried that you'll need to calibrate due to distance traveled, I can tell you that I recently traveled from Sydney, Australia to Manila, Philippines (8 hour flight) and didn't have to calibrate my compass. My Mavic flies perfectly fine.

Thanks for advice

 

[JLane]

Backup upon obstacle detection can be turned on in the main menu for active Track

Yeah, you can enable Backward Flying for Active Track, but that wouldn't have applied in this situation.

 

[gdsmchewy]

You were in a small boat with those jumping about? Forget the thumb I’d be in a ship

 

[Lake_Flyer]

The one and only reason the MP was fighting you and tried to take off full power was because LANDING PROTECTION was ON.
Switch that off and never back on again! Once you do that, it will land in your hand without any problem. No need to switch off VPS. It might be wise to switch off the forward sensors however.
I usually switch off all sensors when I fly from a boat. The last thing I want is the MP making its own decisions during such operations.

I never understood the reason for Landing Protection. With hand catching it is actually dangerous like you experienced.

 

[Pipes101]

You might as well throw that skin away [emoji15][emoji1465]‍