MP just 'blew' away yesterday.

[mavic6611]

I use the Hover app myself and I also have an anemometer, I just watched a YouTube video where the guy was testing how far he could fly and took it to just under 400 feet where he almost immediately started getting warnings about Gimble shake and wind and continued to fly even when he was getting low signal warnings to the point where it lost connection and returned to home but then he bitching about the strong winds at 393 feet pushing it sideways and I’m thinking now that it reconnected why aren’t you bringing it to a lower altitude

This is exactly why all these people are smashing there aircrafts. Putting a machine in the air comes with big responsibility.

 

[Cheech Wizard]

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

Sport Mode saved my drone one windy day. I shouldn't have been flying in that wind to begin with. You can't really tell the wind speed at 200-400 feet compared to your position. If Sport Mode isn't worker tilt the gimbal all the way down and find a place to land fast.

 

[Cheech Wizard]

This is exactly why all these people are smashing there aircrafts. Putting a machine in the air comes with big responsibility.

Right on! The Mavic is pretty fool proof if you just do a preflight check, recalibrate the compass, make sure your props are secure, don't fly in heavy wind or rain... etc. Unfortunately the drone is not No Common Sense proof.

 

[Cheech Wizard]

Right on! The Mavic is pretty fool proof if you just do a preflight check, recalibrate the compass, make sure your props are secure, don't fly in heavy wind or rain... etc. Unfortunately the drone is not No Common Sense proof.

Also, there is a sexy voice and beeps to tell you to at least look at the remote to see whats going on. There is one thread on this forum about turing off the "Annoying Beeping Sounds"... why would anyone do that?

 

[Cheech Wizard]

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

It is a bit harder to control in wind because it is so light.

 

[Aerofoil]

In the BMFA magazine last year there was a cautionary tale about a pilot flying a drone ok till he climbed upto 100 feet or so where the wind speed was double the ground speed and far exceeded the forward speed ability of his drone which disappeared downwind, it was found on a full size glider field and a search returned it to its owner a scary incident considering where it ended up and it taught me a valuable lesson as i hadn't considered there would be that high a difference in wind speed at 100ft.

Like the guys said already check the specialist apps, BBC is only ground speed

And yes you have to enable sport mode in the app and each time the app updates you should check the app again

 

[Mike_in_Letcombe]

Here’s an example that shows the issue with wind. Stood on the ground, there’s a brisk breeze around me but nothing my Mavic couldn’t handle. But going up....this is using UAV Forecast

 

[HWCM]

Right on! The Mavic is pretty fool proof if you just do a preflight check, recalibrate the compass, make sure your props are secure, don't fly in heavy wind or rain... etc. Unfortunately the drone is not No Common Sense proof.

Do not re-calibrate the compass!!!

 

[ChrisW]

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

If you are struggling whilst heading into wind then apply sports mode, get down low where wind speeds are less and battle directly head on into wind. If you zig-zag across the wind the Mavik will just have to cover a greater distance overall and may drain your battery power.

 

[kakao]

If one press RTH and then flick the Sport mode switch, is Mavic gonna increase its speed as oppose to P mode, thanks.

 

[hammick]

If one press RTH and then flick the Sport mode switch, is Mavic gonna increase its speed as oppose to P mode, thanks.

I think so but RTH in sport mode is not full power. If you find yourself fighting wind best to bring it back manually in sport mode.

 

[mavic6611]

Right on! The Mavic is pretty fool proof if you just do a preflight check, recalibrate the compass, make sure your props are secure, don't fly in heavy wind or rain... etc. Unfortunately the drone is not No Common Sense proof.

No truer word said.. I couldn't agree more.

 

[Simmo]

If one press RTH and then flick the Sport mode switch, is Mavic gonna increase its speed as oppose to P mode, thanks.

Nah, shouldn't you switch to S then RTH? If you do it your way, wont switching to S cancel the RTH????

 

[kakao]

Nah, shouldn't you switch to S then RTH? If you do it your way, wont switching to S cancel the RTH????

.. thus my question, will test and let you know.

 

[GTMonster]

RTH + Sports... My experience is to RTH so that the Mavic faces the home point, enter sports mode, push the throttle stick forward to increase the RTH speed, being in Sports mode will not do this alone. Lower the altitude of the Mavic to get lower wind speeds closer to the ground. If flying near hills cliffs, use them as a wind shield. Failing that, and something that I have been fortunate not to have to do... land and collect.

 

[Simmo]

Thanks GTM, so you confirm that hitting RTH first, then switch to SPORT, does not cancel previous operations, and should the home point been set correctly at the outset....the drone will come home???? Faster, overcoming possible headwind an all that stuff...

 

[GTMonster]

It worked just fine last time I needed it RTH faster. It was returning to home, but only about 15kph due to head wind and I'm inpatient... from experience, the RTH does not cancel unless you specifically requested to be cancelled.

Of course, you need to have flight modes enabled so that the switch functions on the first place.

 

[787steve]

I am sorry for your problem. From someone who has been flying for several decades, let me give a little advice. If an accident board was investigating this as in an airplane loss, the first thing they would have noted was that you knew conditions weren't optimal but as you hadn't flown since Christmas, you WERE EAGER TO GET OUT. In the service we used to talk about "gethomeitis" , or command pressure, or a myriad of other things that even highly trained, highly experienced pilots would sometimes fall prey to. It is very hard to do, but keep in touch with your gut feelings. Even in daily life, we often have accidents and immediately think "Why did I do that?" Because when we took the action, we knew instinctively that we were pushing the limits. It could be something as simple as dropping a load we were carrying when tried to make it in one trip instead of two.

Safety inspectors have found that most accidents are not due to one factor. They are normally at the end of a chain of events. They know that if that chain was broken at any point, the accident could have been avoided. That is why we have so many rules (Which many of the more inexperienced here, think are ridiculous). They are trying to keep chains from forming. Your eagerness did not necessarily cause the accident, but it kept you from using your better judgement which would have avoided it.

When I went to flight school in Pensacola, FL, there was a plaque for sale in the base exchange. It was a very excellent expression of the facts. It is attached below.
You weren't stupid. You fell into a trap which has captured many an aviator over the years.

Now, learn from your mistakes and fly on.
FLY SAFE AND HAVE FUN

 

[HighlandsVideo]

I've found that the forward stick on my MP is quite variable depending on the signal strength. When there is anything like houses or stands of trees or even large distances between me an the drone, the stick full forward merely creeps even in the absence of wind. As soon as I clear the buildings or trees or creep closer, the exact same stick position is suddenly plenty fast. Mind you I have not tried using sport mode yet as it has not been a big problem for me.

I suspect that might be among the issues when trying to return against the wind. If you fly or get blown far enough downwind, you may be reducing the signal strength and if you drop altitude you may be compounding the loss of signal strength. The larger drones mentioned likely have more thrust than the Mavic as they are a good bit heavier. Just a thought.

 

[SharkBait]

I am sorry for your problem. From someone who has been flying for several decades, let me give a little advice. If an accident board was investigating this as in an airplane loss, the first thing they would have noted was that you knew conditions weren't optimal but as you hadn't flown since Christmas, you WERE EAGER TO GET OUT. In the service we used to talk about "gethomeitis" , or command pressure, or a myriad of other things that even highly trained, highly experienced pilots would sometimes fall prey to. It is very hard to do, but keep in touch with your gut feelings. Even in daily life, we often have accidents and immediately think "Why did I do that?" Because when we took the action, we knew instinctively that we were pushing the limits. It could be something as simple as dropping a load we were carrying when tried to make it in one trip instead of two.

Safety inspectors have found that most accidents are not due to one factor. They are normally at the end of a chain of events. They know that if that chain was broken at any point, the accident could have been avoided. That is why we have so many rules (Which many of the more inexperienced here, think are ridiculous). They are trying to keep chains from forming. Your eagerness did not necessarily cause the accident, but it kept you from using your better judgement which would have avoided it.

When I went to flight school in Pensacola, FL, there was a plaque for sale in the base exchange. It was a very excellent expression of the facts. It is attached below.
You weren't stupid. You fell into a trap which has captured many an aviator over the years.

Now, learn from your mistakes and fly on.
FLY SAFE AND HAVE FUN

This was beautifully written and couldn’t of been anymore spot on. Thank you.