My Zoom flew away

[apeel]

Amazing analysis by sar104! I hope the OP will come back and let us all know if he is able to locate and retrieve his drone based on sar104's analysis. So cool!

 

[Wyldwings]

Wow, that is AWESOME!!!! Thanks soooooo much!!! I'm heading out right now to see if I can find it. I sort of drew a straight line in my head from my take off to the last transmission and then searched beyond that, but in more or less a straight line. I didn't put together the veer to the right that you graph shows. THANKS AGAIN and I will report back.

 

[JAW]

Is it common for batteries to be ejected on sometihng like the zoom? .........

There have been mishaps reported were the fault points toward an ejected battery. But it certainly is not common. When you consider the number of Mavic 2 drones out there and the number of incidents where the battery separates, the percentage is quite small.

 

[m80116]

If the battery retaining mechanism is defective, prone to failure or simply tricky to use they should be constrained to a safety recall. it's not right for a drone to drop from the skies.

 

[sar104]

Wow, that is AWESOME!!!! Thanks soooooo much!!! I'm heading out right now to see if I can find it. I sort of drew a straight line in my head from my take off to the last transmission and then searched beyond that, but in more or less a straight line. I didn't put together the veer to the right that you graph shows. THANKS AGAIN and I will report back.

Just to clarify - that's a 3-D view showing the descent trajectory, and so it didn't veer to the right. Here's another view if that helps:

 

[Thomas B]

If the battery retaining mechanism is defective, prone to failure or simply tricky to use they should be constrained to a safety recall. it's not right for a drone to drop from the skies.

It’s not. Plus on current software the drone will warn and not launch if both clips are not secure.

 

[chriscuk]

It’s not. Plus on current software the drone will warn and not launch if both clips are not secure.

This is what I mentioned before. I was amazed that it warned me before takeoff that the battery wasn't secure. The drone started up fine and would have flown but the message was kinda hard to ignore with a big red ! next to it.

I looked at the battery and it was fine. I pushed the battery and it clunked down.

 

[Wyldwings]

I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I FOUND IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

EXACTLY WHERE SAR104 SAID IT WOULD BE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Not just close, but RIGHT WHERE HE SAID IT WOULD BE. She's got a couple broken legs but at least I have the carcass I can send back to DJI and hopefully get a replacement/repair under the Refresh program.

THANKS A MILLION SAR104 . . . bona fide genius!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Thomas B]

Great news!

 

[Deleted member 93449]

Thanks fantastic! I would have never thought you could have controlled braking that was fast enough to dislodge the battery. I usually don't fly in sport mode but I will definitely keep that in mind if I ever get daring enough to do it.

 

[GregE]

Battery is missing in the pic. Were you able to locate it???

Should be near the first yellow pin

 

[jpzend125]

That is so great! Congrats.

 

[JAW]

Great news! I’m sure Refresh will take care of you.

 

[sar104]

I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I FOUND IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

EXACTLY WHERE SAR104 SAID IT WOULD BE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Not just close, but RIGHT WHERE HE SAID IT WOULD BE. She's got a couple broken legs but at least I have the carcass I can send back to DJI and hopefully get a replacement/repair under the Refresh program.

THANKS A MILLION SAR104 . . . bona fide genius!!!!!!!!!!!

Glad to hear that you found it. I really enjoy the way that simple physics is so universally applicable.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I FOUND IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

EXACTLY WHERE SAR104 SAID IT WOULD BE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Not just close, but RIGHT WHERE HE SAID IT WOULD BE.

How good is that !
Awesome news.
I think if there is ever a MavicPilots convention, SAR104 will not need to buy ANY drinks for the duration, and probably a few meals, lol.

Is it common for batteries to be ejected on sometihng like the zoom?

There are quite a few threads of late regarding the M2 range and swollen batteries.
It seems to happen on charging, when the battery is warming, and this too can likely happen when in flight.
The clips probably pop when enough swelling occurs, the velcro strap should help in such a case, but is a bandaid solution.
I do feel from what I've read there is an issue with M2 batteries.

I think other drones can be susceptible to this too, especially as the batteries age and become less efficient.

 

[bonmot]

Wow. This is amazing.

 

[sar104]

Battery is missing in the pic. Were you able to locate it???

Should be near the first yellow pin

Unlikely to be back there, even if it fully ejected, because it was moving at the same speed as the aircraft. From the location of the aircraft I'd guess that it remained with it during the descent, otherwise the aerodynamic drag model would have had the wrong mass.

 

[Thomas B]

.....
There are quite a few threads of late regarding the M2 range and swollen batteries.
It seems to happen on charging, when the battery is warming, and this too can likely happen when in flight.
The clips probably pop when enough swelling occurs, the velcro strap should help in such a case, but is a bandaid solution.
I do feel from what I've read there is an issue with M2 batteries.

I think other drones can be susceptible to this too, especially as the batteries age and become less efficient.

I have 10 batteries for my M2P. I have had one exhibit slight swelling... I routinely check every battery for same after flight, after charging, and before installing into the drone.
Even doing that I have had one of the batteries which was charged an hour before fail and swell in flight. This occurred when my CS and the battery indicated full charge on TO, but within 20 seconds I got a low battery alert and was just able to get the drone back to TO point. On inspection there was slight swelling. I charged the battery again when I got home and the swelling seemed resolved. Got the same result again after charging (no swelling at this time) and then flying in my back yard... just hovering. I recommend retiring any swollen battery from flight.
Regarding flight times, I have noted that the new batteries give 25-26 min flight time before low battery warning at 20%, but after a dozen or so the time declines to 22-23 min. Not sure why, but they all have done this and depleting them to below 10% has not improved this.
Of note all the batteries have at least 200 full flights.

 

[sar104]

I have 10 batteries for my M2P. I have had one exhibit slight swelling... I routinely check every battery for same after flight, after charging, and before installing into the drone.
Even doing that I have had one of the batteries which was charged an hour before fail and swell in flight. This occurred when my CS and the battery indicated full charge on TO, but within 20 seconds I got a low battery alert and was just able to get the drone back to TO point. On inspection there was slight swelling. I charged the battery again when I got home and the swelling seemed resolved. Got the same result again after charging (no swelling at this time) and then flying in my back yard... just hovering. I recommend retiring any swollen battery from flight.
Regarding flight times, I have noted that the new batteries give 25-26 min flight time before low battery warning at 20%, but after a dozen or so the time declines to 22-23 min. Not sure why, but they all have done this and depleting them to below 10% has not improved this.
Of note all the batteries have at least 200 full flights.

That's a lot of batteries.

 

[Thomas B]

That's a lot of batteries.

Yea, but I often hike for miles to get to a rural AZ location... rather lug the batteries than miss a distant shot.