Mavic Fly-Away

Bivalve · Jan 12, 2017

I think we will not agree. Later

spiderpig · Jan 12, 2017

Well, no matter if they makes laws, regulations, guidelines, or coffee - they have been fining drone operators for quite a bit of money:
The FAA Gave Us a List of Every Drone Pilot Who Has Ever Been Fined

Granted most of these people were stupid to fly over sporting events...but still - they had to pay real money.

f3honda4me · Jan 12, 2017

Bivalve said:
Again. The. FAA. Does. Not. Make. Law. They operate with regulations. This works because they have the power to take away your right to fly. They can't throw you in jail. They can't even haul you into court. They can do this because they are the only regulatory body that controls the national airspace. And the regulation is that you fly below 400 feet.

I noticed that you blew off my other point, which is that it is reprehensible to needlessly put people's lives at risk by flying over 400 feet. Just don't do it. It really is that easy. Why are you arguing this?

Because there are cases where one can fly safely above 400 feet. And I just linked the regulation. You do realize that regulations have to be published into US code for all to see, right? They have a process they must follow. I linked the regulations that came from that process.

f3honda4me · Jan 12, 2017

spiderpig said:
Well, no matter if they makes laws, regulations, guidelines, or coffee - they have been fining drone operators for quite a bit of money:
The FAA Gave Us a List of Every Drone Pilot Who Has Ever Been Fined

Granted most of these people were stupid to fly over sporting events...but still - they had to pay real money.

Yes because they broke the regulations or laws. In most cases violation of non class G rated airspace, violating section 336, rule 4 or 5, or damaging property.

Carlos de Castro · Jan 12, 2017

Man, I lost a phantom 3 pro 1,500 feet out in Port Chester, NY in June. I didn't have strong winds, but neighborhood looks similar to yours. Ever since then, I only fly in open areas, mainly over water and in parks. Flying next to buildings is just asking for trouble.

Sent from my iPad using MavicPilots

JordieShapiro · Jan 13, 2017

sportfisher23 said:
Jordie -
Where you at in Crooklyn? I am in Bay Ridge. I try to get some sunrise / sunset pix when I am able. My street is fairly quiet at sunrise time. I basically go straight up to about 200 - 300 feet and click away to the East or the West.

Hey VSK,
The drone went down in crown heights (1096 Atlantic Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11238) The area is industrial, and active with auto machanics and truck deliveries. It's tricky to find a nearby street desolate enough to launch undetected. But sunrise is a good idea.

DJI UPDATE:
Hi Jordie,
We really appreciate your choosing DJI. We would love to have you continue using our product, so we would like to provide you a 15% discount coupon for a Mavic Pro drone body (with a battery, gimbal camera, a set of propellers, worth 799$).
To accept this offer, please reply to my email for example “I accept the offer.”
Should you have more questions, please feel free to let me know.

It's unclear to me from this message whether 799 is the pre or post discounted price. I'm going to make one respectful attempt to edge the discount up ever so slightly... I feel like I've heard of a 30% discount offered in these cases. But I could be wrong.

Incidentally, I do have insurance through my local drone shop. If my mavic body turns up, I can get it replaced

NCC1701 · Jan 13, 2017

I've just gone through this entire thread and the one thing that bothers me and no-one seems to have picked up on is how this thing flew until the battery was completely exhasted and it became a brick. AFIK there is an auto land facility where at a critical level of battery it will descend to auto land and without intervention land where it is - be that over oceans, highways or whatever.
I am concerned that this feature did not appear to work and surprised that no-one has mentioned it.......

maikm · Jan 13, 2017

NCC1701 said:
I've just gone through this entire thread and the one thing that bothers me and no-one seems to have picked up on is how this thing flew until the battery was completely exhasted and it became a brick. AFIK there is an auto land facility where at a critical level of battery it will descend to auto land and without intervention land where it is - be that over oceans, highways or whatever.
I am concerned that this feature did not appear to work and surprised that no-one has mentioned it.......

It was mentioned that from the logs you can see that the critial level automatic landing was indeed initiated, but he kept pushing up the throttle against it. The user manual says: When the Critical low battery level warning is triggered and the aircraft begins to land automatically, push the left stick upward to make the aircraft hover at its current altitude, giving you an opportunity to navigate to a more appropriate landing location.

sportfisher23 · Jan 13, 2017

Hi Jordie,

I actually looked at Google Maps / Earth and saw the area based on the sharp angled blocks north of Atlantic Ave.
It is busy over there. The Mavic is so discrete. I would launch and walk along almost under it staying close and looking and panning w/ enough altitude and a little zoom or take some pics along the way. really hard to scope out all that urban terrain. It could slip between 2 really close buildings. And, the dark grey color really works for hiding.
I lost a white 200QX seemingly right behind my house. (of course in the snow). Made friends with all the neighbors. No luck. Everyone was nice.
It could have landed in snow and gotten plowed away.

vsk

RIchard Host · Jan 14, 2017

Firstly, I'm interested in what happened at entry 8119 (15m 13.5s) in the logs. The Mavic was returning home in RTH mode and everything looked pretty normal, though the flight was slower than I would expect. Then, when the battery level hit 20%, the Mavic abruptly changed direction 180 degrees and flew in the opposite direction - both the X and Y directions reversed. If this was user error, I'm keen to know what was done wrong. Apologies if the question is naive - I'm new at this.

Secondly, an interesting point is that home is within 5 statute miles of Newark Liberty International Airport. Given the starting height was on top of a building and the drone was at times flying 460 feet above that in a restricted zone (so maybe more than 500 feet), was there a conflict between RTH (which incidentally didn't come down to 30m as programmed) and DJI's programmed no-go airport envelopes? Just asking.

PropPilot · Jan 14, 2017

11m 4s Go Home 16satellites 392.1ft 1.7mph 2,818.2ft 46% 11.317V 3.772V 3.772V 3.772V 0V Not Allowed to Switch Aircraft Mode. If needed, enable it in Main Controller Settings.
11m 6.8s Go Home 16satellites 392.4ft 1.8mph 2,825.0ft 46% 11.343V 3.781V 3.781V 3.781V 0V Not Allowed to Switch Aircraft Mode. If needed, enable it in Main Controller Settings.
12m 8.9s Go Home 16satellites 391.1ft 4.4mph 2,413.9ft 40% 11.358V 3.786V 3.786V 3.786V 0V Not Allowed to Switch Aircraft Mode. If needed, enable it in Main Controller Settings.
14m 34.5s P-GPS 17satellites 393.0ft 3.4mph 2,064.0ft 24% 11.322V 3.774V 3.774V 3.774V 0V The remaining battery is only enough for RTH. Return home now.

Is this telemetry coming from the DAT file or the TXT file ?

cobra46 · Jan 15, 2017

Bivalve said:
The FAA controls ALL airspace in the USA. That is to say, airspace is under federal control, not state control. Drones are allowed to fly as high as 400 feet above ground level in class G airspace(away from airports). This is because aviation has a minimum altitude of 500 feet, except in congested areas(towns, cities) where it is 1,000 feet.

All that having been said, some pilots have waivers to fly lower for pipeline and power line inspection. Drone operators should respect this, and stay away from these areas. And of course, aircraft come down at airports. Please, please do not fly drones near airports. Please.

This is not true. Check out 14 CFR part 91.119.

91.119 Minimum safe altitudes: General.
Except when necessary for takeoff or landing, no person may operate an aircraft below the following altitudes:

(a) Anywhere. An altitude allowing, if a power unit fails, an emergency landing without undue hazard to persons or property on the surface.

(b) Over congested areas. Over any congested area of a city, town, or settlement, or over any open air assembly of persons, an altitude of 1,000 feet above the highest obstacle within a horizontal radius of 2,000 feet of the aircraft.

(c) Over other than congested areas. An altitude of 500 feet above the surface, except over open water or sparsely populated areas. In those cases, the aircraft may not be operated closer than 500 feet to any person, vessel, vehicle, or structure.

(d) Helicopters, powered parachutes, and weight-shift-control aircraft. If the operation is conducted without hazard to persons or property on the surface—

(1) A helicopter may be operated at less than the minimums prescribed in paragraph (b) or (c) of this section, provided each person operating the helicopter complies with any routes or altitudes specifically prescribed for helicopters by the FAA; and

(2) A powered parachute or weight-shift-control aircraft may be operated at less than the minimums prescribed in paragraph (c) of this section.

Depending on where you are, a part 61 pilot may legally fly a full scale plane at 15' off the surface.

ferraript · Jan 15, 2017

RIchard Host said:
I'm interested in what happened at entry 8119 (15m 13.5s) in the logs. The Mavic was returning home in RTH mode and everything looked pretty normal, though the flight was slower than I would expect. Then, when the battery level hit 20%, the Mavic abruptly changed direction 180 degrees and flew in the opposite direction - both the X and Y directions reversed

Mavic changed direction, but, only direction of travel, not the aircraft itself - yaw value was at ~ 273° and didn't change
and explanation was said - it's all about the wind - some parts of the flight the wind was slower, so Mavic was actually returning to home, but unfortunately, most of the flight the wind was so fast, that Mavic wasn't able to fight it and it was blown into opposite direction (to the east)

JordieShapiro · Jan 17, 2017

Just wanted to attach the final notes to this story:
I was able to do a fly-over yesterday that did not reveal the mavic's resting place. It was still very helpful psychologically to become confident that the drone isn't retrievable and it's time to move on. Where it landed will remain a mystery. The final recorded moment had the drone still high in the air, but I couldn't imagine it sailed more then 100 feet beyond where it indicated on the map. It's gone. Here is the bright side.
I contacted my home insurance (liberty mutual) and although I never indicated to them that I had a drone, they said they would help (I pay $500, they pay the rest. The full replacement price, with new battery and props and DJI discount is $680)
I contacted my drone insurer CPS, and although they state on their website that the insurance is terminated when the drone is lost, they said they'd allow the new replacement drone onto the old plan at no cost. So that's cool.

So, how do I feel about a $500 mistake? It seems like that's the proper punishment for a number of bad behaviors that got me here. I spent a lot of time thinking about how I could have saved this thing from strong winds...
(if you're reading this, and new, please take note)
I could have lowered my altitude (biggest D'uh)
I could have switch to sport mode to fight the wind
I could have brought my drone down before the battery drained for a better chance of finding it
I could have been recording until the final moments, for a better understanding of where it landed.
I (perhaps) could have added a bluetooth tracker to it, that might have helped solve the mystery.

and now those thoughts are imbedded inside me. I'll be a more careful pilot going forward.
Thanks for all the advice, and for following!

sportfisher23 · Jan 17, 2017

Hi Jordie,

One of my preflight checks and heavy use features is Sport Mode. I use it to get to the point I want to go to, and use P mode for being more precise if it's calmer out.

vsk

waverider969 · Jan 17, 2017

I bought my Trackimo to stick on my bird as soon as it arrives. And a TILE too for close range rescue.

RIchard Host · Jan 17, 2017

JordieShapiro said:
Just wanted to attach the final notes to this story:
I was able to do a fly-over yesterday that did not reveal the mavic's resting place. It was still very helpful psychologically to become confident that the drone isn't retrievable and it's time to move on. Where it landed will remain a mystery. The final recorded moment had the drone still high in the air, but I couldn't imagine it sailed more then 100 feet beyond where it indicated on the map. It's gone. Here is the bright side.
I contacted my home insurance (liberty mutual) and although I never indicated to them that I had a drone, they said they would help (I pay $500, they pay the rest. The full replacement price, with new battery and props and DJI discount is $680)
I contacted my drone insurer CPS, and although they state on their website that the insurance is terminated when the drone is lost, they said they'd allow the new replacement drone onto the old plan at no cost. So that's cool.

So, how do I feel about a $500 mistake? It seems like that's the proper punishment for a number of bad behaviors that got me here. I spent a lot of time thinking about how I could have saved this thing from strong winds...
(if you're reading this, and new, please take note)
I could have lowered my altitude (biggest D'uh)
I could have switch to sport mode to fight the wind
I could have brought my drone down before the battery drained for a better chance of finding it
I could have been recording until the final moments, for a better understanding of where it landed.
I (perhaps) could have added a bluetooth tracker to it, that might have helped solve the mystery.

and now those thoughts are imbedded inside me. I'll be a more careful pilot going forward.
Thanks for all the advice, and for following!

Thanks. Good learnings for is all.

Sieg · Jan 18, 2017

Jordie,

Tough learning experience, though I must say you handled it well on the forum. Hopefully your new Mavic gives you many hours of enjoyment. Thumbswayup