New Mavic Air owner here. (my first drone!)

[mijac]

Hello!
Lurker for some time here, as I had planned to buy Mavic Pro a year ago, but never made my mind totally. It would have been my first drone and I was quite scared of how fragile it looked (specially gimbal). The lack of rear sensors was also a concern, as many crash reports here stated they would have been useful.
But... now Mavic Air is out and I think it gives me more confidence on flying drones, so I purchased one. So... dont expect me to compare to anything, but just the opinion of a new "mavic pilot".
So far I have just been getting familiar with everything included in the "Fly More Combo", the DJI Go 4 app, and the drone itself. I wont have time to try to fly it until next weekend.

About the experience so far... I am surprised of the really small form factor of the Mavic Air. For its size, it packs an amazing amount of technology, both hardware and software. One of the concerns I have is how hot it gets when it is on and "not flying". The fan(s) kick in and I am not sure if it is a good idea to have the drone turned on without the extra ventilation of flying.

I will keep all of you updated (or bored) about my progress with the new "toy". I live in Iceland, so if everything goes well, expect some breathtaking videos!

 

[Simmo]

Hehe sounds like a bit of an oxymoron, with things getting hot in Iceland!!!
Mate I see no issues, however apparently, if you are playing around in simulator or doing firmware changes (note the refrain from saying upgrade...) people have put an external fan on the Mavic, just to move some air around.
One guy came up with a great idea, which was one of those laptop cooling fan thing....just sit the Mavic on top!!

 

[Splats]

Just a thought, but you could idle the motors. I did this on a table top the other day to drain a battery for postage and it was amazing how much air (and paperwork) it moved around in the room.

 

[Simmo]

Just a thought, but you could idle the motors. I did this on a table top the other day to drain a battery for postage and it was amazing how much air (and paperwork) it moved around in the room.

Errrm no..... new user....props on...indoor....Mavic...sensors....GPS....RTH..... autonomous this and that.....errm NO!!!

 

[Splats]

Errrm no..... new user....props on...indoor....Mavic...sensors....GPS....RTH..... autonomous this and that.....errm NO!!!

Can you not spin up the motors on the Mavic like on my Spark without going to take-off RPM? On the Spark you do this by pulling both sticks down and out to the corners.

 

[Simmo]

Yes Splats, you can. No worries! Recommended, no...
Hey not my AC or furniture!

 

[mijac]

Oh, my motors were OFF all the time. Still, the thing gets hot (maybe by living in Iceland my definition of "hot" is different than yours ) Of course I would never try to fly it indoors. For the drone safety and my own, as if I damage any of the expensive design furniture or decoration my gf would kick my ***.

 

[msinger]

I've heard of people burning up components on Phantom 3s when keeping them running for long periods of time while installing firmware or running the flight simulator in DJI GO. That problem seemed to have gone away since the release of drones after the Phantom 3. Perhaps DJI GO improved the ventilation? Not sure.

While I don't think it's necessary, you could certainly point a small fan at your Mavic Air while it's running for long periods of time indoors.

 

[joejaxvic123]

Can't wait for some videos of Iceland!

 

[Anthony Viscomi]

Welcome and enjoy your Air. I haven't had a chance to fly mine yet.

 

[BluePixel]

Hi mijac!
Not sure how to private message you. Sorry, newbie here.
Been spending most of my time in the Spark section considering to get one. Now i am really interested i MAir as my first. Hopefully soon.
I am married and have to run this through accounting dept.
We are planning vacation to Europe in mid October. Flying via Icelandair with layover in Reykjavic. There is opportunity to extend layover to about 22 or 46 hours without paying extra for tickets.
If i rent a car, what should we do? Where are the best photography opportunities? Is there a chance for Northern Lights?
Thanks,
S.

 

[mijac]

Hi mijac!
Not sure how to private message you. Sorry, newbie here.
Been spending most of my time in the Spark section considering to get one. Now i am really interested i MAir as my first. Hopefully soon.
I am married and have to run this through accounting dept.
We are planning vacation to Europe in mid October. Flying via Icelandair with layover in Reykjavic. There is opportunity to extend layover to about 22 or 46 hours without paying extra for tickets.
If i rent a car, what should we do? Where are the best photography opportunities? Is there a chance for Northern Lights?
Thanks,
S.

I have started a "Conversation" with you. Seems to be the private communications here

 

[scott rand]

It is my dream to go to Iceland to create some amazing footage. Norway is another place I’d love to visit to take some great drone footage.

Welcome to the Mavic family !

 

[joejaxvic123]

Need some vityas of the 'fire monster' cave. I watched Expedition Unknown when he went to it, crazy cool.

 

[MILH0U5E]

Another new DJI and drone user here...

What's the recommendation for RC device? Nexus 7, Ipad Mini 4, Android phone? I've researched it a bit, but nothing really concrete.

What's better? Wifi only or something with data thru a carrier?

Thanks for the tips.

 

[msinger]

What's the recommendation for RC device?

You can find a list of recommended and commonly used phones and tables here.

What's better? Wifi only or something with data thru a carrier?

If you want to use any of the features that require an Internet connection while flying (none of which are required to fly), you'll need a mobile device with cellular data. Or you could set up a hot spot on a mobile phone and connect to that to share the Internet access.

If you'd like to use the Follow Me flight mode or be able to manually reset the home point to your current location after taking off, then you'll need to use a mobile device that contains a GPS receiver. That means you'll either need an Android device or the cellular model of any Apple device. If using an Apple device, the GPS receiver will still work even if the cellular service has not been activated.