MP just 'blew' away yesterday.

[RattleHunter]

I have been flying for over a year 130+ flights (thankfully with no real problems).
It was a bit windy yesterday but I hadn't flown since before Christmas so eager to get out again.
The grass was a bit wet so I thought I would take off from a bench but it had a metal frame and I got a compass error.
So decided to hand launch - compass error went as soon as I picked it up - all went well and I flew down wind about 50m but when I turned I got a high wind warning and the MP just kept blowing away down wind. It would turn and descend but it wouldn't fly forward at all.
It blew over a stream and into a private field. I just put it down into the long grass before it went too far.
Managed to find it and it seemed fine.
Walked back to original start point and took off normally - it flew perfectly for 10mins. It could easily fly against the wind and make 5m/s
I have replayed the flight on the DJI go app and it shows me applying full forward but the unit travelling backward.
I am really concerned to know what happened or what I did wrong as I often fly over water and in many places this would have been a total loss.
How do find out?

 

[EricSB]

Do you think you could have flown sideways or backwards towards you? I would say the issue is because of the compass not calibrating. Also if your home point was recorded, did you try the RTH option?

 

[Anthony]

Was it flying into the sun on its way back to you ?? Did you switch it into sports mode ??

Can you load the flight log so we can take a look ??

Load your flight log here and then post a link to it back here.

DJI Flight Log Viewer

 

[Kilrah]

Wind was stronger at just that moment... seems you forgot about sport mode.

 

[4wd]

If obstacle avoidance was on, your forward speed is considerably reduced.
You can fly faster backwards or use sport mode which disables OA anyway.

 

[mavic6611]

I have been flying for over a year 130+ flights (thankfully with no real problems).
It was a bit windy yesterday but I hadn't flown since before Christmas so eager to get out again.
The grass was a bit wet so I thought I would take off from a bench but it had a metal frame and I got a compass error.
So decided to hand launch - compass error went as soon as I picked it up - all went well and I flew down wind about 50m but when I turned I got a high wind warning and the MP just kept blowing away down wind. It would turn and descend but it wouldn't fly forward at all.
It blew over a stream and into a private field. I just put it down into the long grass before it went too far.
Managed to find it and it seemed fine.
Walked back to original start point and took off normally - it flew perfectly for 10mins. It could easily fly against the wind and make 5m/s
I have replayed the flight on the DJI go app and it shows me applying full forward but the unit travelling backward.
I am really concerned to know what happened or what I did wrong as I often fly over water and in many places this would have been a total loss.
How do find out?

What was your altitude?

 

[RattleHunter]

Log here - DJI Flight Log Viewer - PhantomHelp.com
No I didn't try RTH and I didn't try sport mode - I should have, I have read about both of them on here. Looking at the replay it had started to make forward progress but by that stage I was panicking, trying to get it down (I was concerned it might start ignoring my down command) and I was trying to work out a transit so I would know where to look for it as I have read of people not finding MP's where they think they have come down. When it came to it the map on the controller was perfect.

VPS altitude on logs goes to 0 after 9.8s - returns about 1:22. And yes it would have been pointing at the low sun although there were a few clouds - not sure exactly what the conditions were.

 

[Anthony]

Do you use the UAV Forcast app at all ? If not I would download it and set it up its very helpful for wind and flying conditions.

Looking at you log you Mavic was indeed fighting the wind and when you start to drop your hight you can see the Mavic pick up speed ( switching to sports mode here would have got you back home ) one thing to remember is the higher you fly often the stronger the winds and as you drop below 100 feet your mavic picks up speed so this does support that the wind speed was just a bit higher than you were expecting maybe. But we'll done for landing it as many people would have kept fighting and gotten into more trouble

Practice makes perfect

 

[RattleHunter]

I knew it was a little windy - I've flown in windy conditions before and it flew fine afterwards - the wind hadn't changed. Not had an issue with sun light before but it would and did rotate so can't imagine that sunlight would have been the cause. For a significant period of time (I think whilst the VPS was N/A in the flight log) it made NO attempt to fly forward despite full forward stick and just sailed down wind. It happened very quickly and if I had had more down wind land (and less water) I might have reacted better.

What made the VPS go N/A ?

Thanks for the UVA app advice.

 

[msinger]

What made the VPS go N/A ?

The Mavic was too high for the downward sensors to detect the ground.

 

[MichiganMavic]

I keep reading about the MP having issues with fighting the wind.... is the Mavic more susceptible to wind than the Phantom or the Inspire ? I’ve been flying my P3P, P4, and Inspire for several years in high winds with no problems. I bought a Mavic on 12/22, but weather here has been terrible to fly anything [emoji17]. I thought the Mavic was comparable to the other Birds wind wise, no? How fast you think the wind was that day? Would flying diagonally back help out in this situation, sorta like what sailboats do?
Thx

 

[zero1981]

Had a similar instance the other afternoon late was flying west into the sun no problem but when I turned around all of a sudden it just stopped and I got a obstacle avoidance warning even though I was at 350ft. After about a minute of fighting it I remembered sport mode and flew it to the house

 

[RattleHunter]

BBC said the gusts were 21 mph - it wasn't that bad. I have flown at the top of a hill once where it was much windier and the MP although it danced about a bit was able to 'hold station' and make slow progress against the wind.

I will try and remember the sport mode thing if it ever happens again.

 

[black_magic100]

Do you use the UAV Forcast app at all ? If not I would download it and set it up its very helpful for wind and flying conditions.

Looking at you log you Mavic was indeed fighting the wind and when you start to drop your hight you can see the Mavic pick up speed ( switching to sports mode here would have got you back home ) one thing to remember is the higher you fly often the stronger the winds and as you drop below 100 feet your mavic picks up speed so this does support that the wind speed was just a bit higher than you were expecting maybe. But we'll done for landing it as many people would have kept fighting and gotten into more trouble

Practice makes perfect

Is that the best app in your opinion to use? I have a google bookmark on my phones home screen of a standard weather site, but it isn't optimized for mobile

 

[mavic6611]

I knew it was a little windy - I've flown in windy conditions before and it flew fine afterwards - the wind hadn't changed. Not had an issue with sun light before but it would and did rotate so can't imagine that sunlight would have been the cause. For a significant period of time (I think whilst the VPS was N/A in the flight log) it made NO attempt to fly forward despite full forward stick and just sailed down wind. It happened very quickly and if I had had more down wind land (and less water) I might have reacted better.

What made the VPS go N/A ?

Thanks for the UVA app advice.

There can be double the wind speed even at an extra 100ft.
Like Anthony said, download UAV forecast. That will save you any future trouble. Having an Anemometer in your arsenal is always a good idea too.

 

[Anthony]

Is that the best app in your opinion to use? I have a google bookmark on my phones home screen of a standard weather site, but it isn't optimized for mobile

Yes I would say it is ... I find it very useful

 

[black_magic100]

Yes I would say it is ... I find it very useful

Turns out the bookmark I was referring to is actually UAV forecasts webpage lol. Didn't realize they also have an app.. On top of that I found out MavicPilots has an app as well.. So many apps!

 

[Anthony]

Turns out the bookmark I was referring to is actually UAV forecasts webpage lol. Didn't realize they also have an app.. On top of that I found out MavicPilots has an app as well.. So many apps!

Oh you have well and truly clicked the learn something new every day box

I try and do that but generally fail miserabley

 

[Youser]

I've also had loss of control recently due to wind. Full throttle and it wouldn't move forward, kept drifting to one side. Thing that confused me was that when I pressed RTH, it moved in the direction I was trying to move it in.

 

[Bogey]

Ive read many times that sport mode can “sometimes” get you out of trouble. I know the switch is on the side of the controller, but can I simply switch it to sport mode or do I have to change something in my settings too?

Seems like in the heat of the moment (sudden problem) that having to navigate the menu\settings and not being able to keep your eye on the MP would not be good.

LOL,how far off the mark am I?