Mavic Pro Flyaway

[Jonnylakewood]

I would be sicked if I imposed myself on a stranger by dropping my drone in his lap. And I can't imagine the feeling of not knowing what kind of damage and injury I may have caused. I am angry that there are those of you who do not properly calculate the risk before creating your next adventure.
I can understand turning to the forum for help in locating your crash site. There are smart people here, who can help you figure things out.
Please think; be careful where you fly and how you fly. For some of us, this isn't just a passing hobby.

 

[Hollow Dog]

Do you mean the fact that it did not return back to the home point? If so, yes, wind was a factor for sure. Had you known it was that windy, you should have manually started flying back to the home point much earlier (or considered flying at a much lower altitude).

msinger: A master of calm, insitefull, to the point super helpful posts.
This is quite the indictment of the obvious pilot error.

 

[sar104]

NO ALTITUDE limit under Section 336? I am a newbie, but I thought the limit was 400' as set by a "nationwide community based organization," blah, blah, etc. With the only such organization in the US being the AMA. Can I get a little clarity here? I found the FAA reference to the generic organization, but it is vague at best. Is it to be accepted that for practical (legal) purposes in the US that the AMA is in fact that body, and therefore the max legal altitude for hobby ops is 400'? References would be appreciated if anyone knows where to find the details.

I have worn my little googling digits out searching and reading on this, and I sure think this is the intention of the FAA regs. I can't find any other "community-based set of safety guidelines and within the programming of a nationwide community-based organization." Seems clear cut to me. Am I missing something?

The AMA, by most accounts, is the relevant organization in the US, but their Model Aircraft Safety Code actually only briefly mentions altitude, and does not impose a limit:

A.2.(c) Not fly higher than approximately 400 feet above ground level within three (3) miles of an airport without notifying the airport operator.​

 

[787steve]

I would be sicked if I imposed myself on a stranger by dropping my drone in his lap. And I can't imagine the feeling of not knowing what kind of damage and injury I may have caused. I am angry that there are those of you who do not properly calculate the risk before creating your next adventure.
I can understand turning to the forum for help in locating your crash site. There are smart people here, who can help you figure things out.
Please think; be careful where you fly and how you fly. For some of us, this isn't just a passing hobby.

You would also likely be more sickened if they sued you for damages! Especially when your flight logs showed a history of disregard for the FAA regs. Like you, I am shocked and dismayed the considerable disregard for safety and legality that I read on these pages. If someone really wants to give Drone ops a bad rep, all they have to do is come on this site and quote some of the posts. Sad.

 

[Hollow Dog]

Lost my Mavic Pro this evening in the Berkeley, California Hills.

I successfully started up the Mavic, locked on to 20+ Satelites and had a fully charged battery and ensured home point was properly set.

It was a little windy, but I got about 11 minutes of flying before it wanted to return home. After 12 minutes, it auto returned home but never made it close to me. I flew about 12,500 feet out and when it auto returned it only made it about 1500 feet before switching to critical low battery and then it landed in a residential neighborhood Quite far from my home point.

I attempted to use “find my drone” but could not see it. I imagine it got stuck in some trees or landed on someone’s roof.

"I successfully started up the Mavic, locked on to 20+ Satelites"
After this false statement I question anything else posted by droneguy91.
Im sure he is just exited but relaying this incorrect information puts all information from droneguy91 in question.

 

[CZ-SP01]

We've all been there in one way or another with our close call flights but most of us got our Mavic home safely often by the skin of our teeth. My heart goes out to him. It was a brave post subjecting oneself to hindsight ridicule and some of you were pretty harsh - shame on you.. The reason I read these is to educate myself to prevent a similar accident. I would strongly recommend the State Farm Insurance for only $60 to all Mavic Pro fliers. I have the DJI Care Plan but it's not as good as the State Farm Insurance and considerably more expensive (you must have a home or auto polity to get it). I've been flying my Mavic Pro for a year and knock on wood have had no major incidents but many close calls.

correction. you do not need a home or auto policy to get a PAP from State Farm. The only policy I have with state farm is the PAP.

 

[CZ-SP01]

State farm insurance seems to be sporatic, for instance, here in Ontario, Canada the local agent said- A drone, You mean like a plane? We don't insure planes

Its covered under the personal articles policy PAP with state farm. I have it in Louisiana for 60 bucks a year without any deductible.

 

[okw]

The AMA, by most accounts, is the relevant organization in the US, but their Model Aircraft Safety Code actually only briefly mentions altitude, and does not impose a limit:

A.2.(c) Not fly higher than approximately 400 feet above ground level within three (3) miles of an airport without notifying the airport operator.​

Exactly. This is not an across the board "never fly higher than 400 feet" limit.

 

[sar104]

Exactly. This is not an across the board "never fly higher than 400 feet" limit.

Agreed. For recreational flying it's left more to the common sense of the pilot. There are places where above 400 ft may be quite safe, while other places, such as near airports, 400 ft is going to be too high for safety.

 

[Felix MB]

Lost my Mavic Pro this evening in the Berkeley, California Hills.

I successfully started up the Mavic, locked on to 20+ Satelites and had a fully charged battery and ensured home point was properly set.

It was a little windy, but I got about 11 minutes of flying before it wanted to return home. After 12 minutes, it auto returned home but never made it close to me. I flew about 12,500 feet out and when it auto returned it only made it about 1500 feet before switching to critical low battery and then it landed in a residential neighborhood Quite far from my home point.

I attempted to use “find my drone” but could not see it. I imagine it got stuck in some trees or landed on someone’s roof.

Similar thing happened to me the wind was to strong it auto landed but I found it one kilometer away you can track location on the app to where it lands , this is no fly away ,,,

 

[Alice]

I am new to all this. But does no one put their phone number under the battery?
Seems a basic to me. Or am I missing something?

If you lose your drone in a built up area and it had a contact number written on/in it...?

 

[msinger]

If you lose your drone in a built up area and it had a contact number written on/in it...?

If you want your drone to be returned, then, yes, that would be a great idea.

 

[Bachi]

I am new to all this. But does no one put their phone number under the battery?
Seems a basic to me. Or am I missing something?

If you lose your drone in a built up area and it had a contact number written on/in it...?

I put my name and phone number outside the main body of the drone, so it is visible even if I change the battery

 

[drakkor]

I am new to all this. But does no one put their phone number under the battery?
Seems a basic to me. Or am I missing something?

If you lose your drone in a built up area and it had a contact number written on/in it...?

I have only my phone number displayed under one of the drone's arm, so it's visible even without removing the battery. It also said "call for reward" just to "motivate" more the person who found the drone to call me.

 

[PhoebeSnow]

correction. you do not need a home or auto policy to get a PAP from State Farm. The only policy I have with state farm is the PAP.

It depends on the agent. Our State Farm Agent jumped on drone policies selling a whole bunch early on only to get taken for an expensive ride. He now only accepts local clients with home/auto policies after a whole bunch of claims from out of state callers of people he did not know and now does not trust.

 

[Mavic626]

So you flew at night, up 3x higher than 400 feet, over a densely populated residential neighborhood and didn't plan on having enough battery to get home. Im sorry sir but if that made the news, you would have not only lost your drone but made us lose them as well. Next thing you know DJI will limit the distance to 500 feet out so we do not go past line of sight. If you are going to fly that far out, do it over a place were the only thing that can get damaged is the mavic, not other peoples property or god forbid possibly hitting someone. This is the kind of things that give drones a bad name.

 

[dbyantis]

Guys- serious about ‘line of sight
’? The mavic is unseeable at about 500’ distant. It’s advertised range is approx 4 miles. Why buy a mavic if you don’t intend to fly out of sight? Just buy a spark then. I don’t condone recklessly flying out too far, and if video is your goal, I always try to get as close as possible to my target to maximize loiter time. But don’t fly out of sight? Just buy a $20 toy drone and fly around your living room [emoji849]

So you don't lose it?

 

[JohnnyD913]

So I usually fly mine to about 55 percent battery left then head back. If I’m 1,000 feet away or 15,000 feet away at that time great, but at least I know I have a good chance of bringing my bird home or at least close. How can u figure if u used 70% battery going then how is 30% going to get u home?

 

[kidroc]

This story makes me sick..Total disregard of safety I have flown out of sight too. but never at that height and never ever over anyone or anything other than grass or water...

 

[Just_nick]

I am new to all this. But does no one put their phone number under the battery?
Seems a basic to me. Or am I missing something?

If you lose your drone in a built up area and it had a contact number written on/in it...?

You are operating under the assumption that people have understand how the drone operates and know how to remove the battery, which is wrong. It seems basic until you realize the core of your entire argument is flawed. if you want them to call you, you need to have the contact information visibly displayed where you can see it, because most people are not going to just start removing batteries and such. They may not even realize how to do it, or may be afraid of damaging it.