Mavic lost while trying circling around a building

[erkme73]

Unfortunately one more of the classic "fly bethind something where it's guaranteed transmission can't reach and without having set RTH height properly to clear said obstacle once it tries to fly back straight over it"... Wonder how many of those have been reported by now? Seems there's 1-2 a week on here.

^^^THIS^^^ And quite frankly since the last couple of updates (app or firmware, I don't know) my signal strength has gone to pot at just 1500' unobstructed. I never used to get that, and on every flight I'm prompted at least once or twice to RTH due to lost signal. At just 150' I'm getting gitching and skipped frames that I never saw at 3000'. I posted a poll over here and it would appear I'm not the only one to notice.

If DJI has done something to cause a reduction in connection strength - whether intentionally or through a bug - its a concern, and would show as an increase in forced RTH's that ordinarily wouldn't have happened. This doesn't excuse having the RTH altitude set lower than the obstruction, but still - something odd is happening that is causing a marked reduction in stability and range.

 

[Blucenturion]

What nuance were you referring to?

To my point. Dank.

 

[erkme73]

To play off of @msinger's calculations, here's a representation using a 100m path from the last reported location to the home point. I'm guessing it's stuck in one of the spires and won't be found until they do the next rehab.






SO close. Just a few feet to the right, and you probably would have never known how close it was. Was für ein verdammten scheiß.

 

[Blucenturion]

To play off of @msinger's calculations, here's a representation using a 100m path from the last reported location to the home point. I'm guessing it's stuck in one of the spires and won't be found until they do the next rehab.

View attachment 8858

View attachment 8859


SO close. Just a few feet to the right, and you probably would have never known how close it was. Was für ein verdammten scheiß.

Wait! Da Heck is that rectangular structure clinging to the left side of the spire? Is that a refurb capsule?

 

[erkme73]

Wait! Da Heck is that rectangular structure clinging to the left side of the spire? Is that a refurb capsule?

Im guessing when Google snapped these photos there was some kind of refurb going on. Probably scaffolding covered with material to keep workers from dropping things on the people below.

 

[mstevens]

Is that a refurb capsule?

Drone-catcher.

 

[Mike_in_Letcombe]

RTH altitude was set to 100 meters, see screenshot no 1. And in the final moments, the MP was flying at 385 feet (if the cathedral is 160 meters high, there was no direct line of vision from the launch point) and the signal was weak, as seen on screenshot 2.

So, after losing the connection, the MP must have started RTH, going to 100 meters, collided with the cathedral and fell.

View attachment 8851 View attachment 8852

So, by the grace of God, you were lucky you didn't hit someone. Spain have almost banned drones, as have Canada this week. Do you really think this helps our cause with a paranoid public?

 

[Edjes]

RTH altitude was set to 100 meters, see screenshot no 1. And in the final moments, the MP was flying at 385 feet (if the cathedral is 160 meters high, there was no direct line of vision from the launch point) and the signal was weak, as seen on screenshot 2.

So, after losing the connection, the MP must have started RTH, going to 100 meters, collided with the cathedral and fell.

View attachment 8851 View attachment 8852

Feel sorry for your loss, and what a close call scratching the dome .
Thanks for sharing your story and make us lessons to be learned!

Off topic questions:
What program or website is used in the quote for analysing? Very nice to like at this this way.
What program is used to make the sliced dome?
Thanks!!

 

[misskimo]

So, by the grace of God, you were lucky you didn't hit someone. Spain have almost banned drones, as have Canada this week. Do you really think this helps our cause with a paranoid public?

Mike. Are you the forum police now

 

[Strafe1]

Mike. Are you the forum police now

He has been for a while. He is sometimes right with his info, like in this post. But all he does is post rules and regulations and admonishments. And his facts (especially regarding the US) are usually dead wrong.

 

[wcsilva]

So, by the grace of God, you were lucky you didn't hit someone. Spain have almost banned drones, as have Canada this week. Do you really think this helps our cause with a paranoid public?

The drone owner is @Darthcryder. I was just trying to analyze what happened on his flight.

 

[wcsilva]

Feel sorry for your loss, and what a close call scratching the dome .
Thanks for sharing your story and make us lessons to be learned!

Off topic questions:
What program or website is used in the quote for analysing? Very nice to like at this this way.
What program is used to make the sliced dome?
Thanks!!

The drone owner is @Darthcryder. I was just trying to analyze what happened on his flight.

I also liked the way it was designed the way back over the Google map!

 

[SteveCA]

Here is a suggestion to avoid losing your bird due to rth altitude set too low. Set it for 500m. Before the drone police gets too riled up, here is the reason. Upon signal loss, the drone will elevate as high as necessary so that you will regain signal. At that point you can simply pull down on your left stick to stop the drone from climbing any higher. With regained signal you can evaluate your flying error and fly home without losing the drone. The drone will never need to elevate to the maximum height because you will regain signal as soon as line of sight is reestablished. This avoids the need to constantly reset your RT H altitude. And as we know, often times people forget to consider that before a flight.

 

[Edjes]

Here is a suggestion to avoid losing your bird due to rth altitude set too low. Set it for 500m. Before the drone police gets too riled up, here is the reason. Upon signal loss, the drone will elevate as high as necessary so that you will regain signal. At that point you can simply pull down on your left stick to stop the drone from climbing any higher. With regained signal you can evaluate your flying error and fly home without losing the drone. The drone will never need to elevate to the maximum height because you will regain signal as soon as line of sight is reestablished. This avoids the need to constantly reset your RT H altitude. And as we know, often times people forget to consider that before a flight.

Except that if the loss is of an other origin, like controller failure or interference, your bird will be putting all of its battery power in getting this high and possibly doesn't have enough battery to return safely at your feet. Just keep on planning en thinking before each flight.

 

[Andrew F]

It most likely crashed and landed here:

View attachment 8832

Wow.

 

[Andrew F]

Here is a suggestion to avoid losing your bird due to rth altitude set too low. Set it for 500m. Before the drone police gets too riled up, here is the reason. Upon signal loss, the drone will elevate as high as necessary so that you will regain signal. At that point you can simply pull down on your left stick to stop the drone from climbing any higher. With regained signal you can evaluate your flying error and fly home without losing the drone. The drone will never need to elevate to the maximum height because you will regain signal as soon as line of sight is reestablished. This avoids the need to constantly reset your RT H altitude. And as we know, often times people forget to consider that before a flight.

I'm not a fan of this suggestion. That's way too high and will suck the battery dry. Best to actually know where you are flying and the obstacles around you. Mostly, don't fly behind large obstacles and you won't need a high RTH elevation.

 

[SRJ_Mavic_PRO]

Wow!! And Wow!! It's one thing to fly like that and give a hobby with 100 black eyes another one but to post what you did sheesh.......

 

[erkme73]

Wow!! And Wow!! It's one thing to fly like that and give a hobby with 100 black eyes another one but to post what you did sheesh.......

Feel better? The guy did something dumb. Unless you have a time machine, what is done, is done. The only positive thing is to LEARN from the mistake. And if the next guy who did something reckless, careless, or black-eye-causing were to take your advice, they'd move right along and never share - thereby denying the rest of us the opportunity to learn from their loss.

It's posts like these that make me realize why I like animals more than people.

 

[Mike_in_Letcombe]

He has been for a while. He is sometimes right with his info, like in this post. But all he does is post rules and regulations and admonishments. And his facts (especially regarding the US) are usually dead wrong.

I am passionate about our 'hobby'. I don't always abide strictly to the law but, if I digress, I make sure no one is put at risk and I can't cause harm. Do I fly beyond LOS out over the sea? Yes. Do I take it out beyond LOS over open countryside? Hands up. Do I go above 120 metres? No - there are pilots of light aircraft up there that I could get in their way and cause a GREAT deal of damage. Do I use common sense? Yes - as I want to promote this hobby and do so at every opportunity. Do I only post 'rules, regulations and admonishments'? No - take a look at how many 'helpful' votes I've got. As for me being 'dead wrong' on the facts - we'll see. You're right - they're guidelines, based on common sense. But as so many are determined to ignore common sense, to ignore guidelines, to endanger others, then the 'authorities' will crack down. As they have in numerous countries already - Canada are just the latest. And in that case, I fully expect the US to follow suit - as hundreds of idiots are giving them ammunition against us. And if the US go that route, the UK will as well. I'm not so much against the idiots flying outside the rules, just the fact that they want to publish evidence online of their stupidity and ignorance. Don't blame me when you find we're allowed to only fly within 100 metres, 25 metres height and no cameras. Blame the people you're defending.

 

[erkme73]

I just wish every time the drone police show up, instead of feeling the uncontrollable urge to attack, they would do something like this instead: "I feel this was in appropriate. Please follow THIS LINK to a thread I created to debate the reasons why." Instead, every thread where someone has a self-inflicted screw-up, the thread gets hijacked and turns into a "guideline vs. law", or "you will kill our hobby" brow-beating.