Not a Good Friday for my Mavic

[Gerry65]

Glad to hear about your save and very nice orderly maneuvers to recover it. I fly over water a lot so this thread caught my attention. I hadn't heard about Getterback so I'll look into that. I've never been confused about throttle up and down but, after reading this thread, I hope I don't start thinking too much about it haha.

 

[oferlaor]

This can happen, I wouldn't beat myself up about it.

Had a similar situation with a phantom3 pro that was deep in murky waters for 30 minutes.

First thing to do is eject the battery asap and get rid of it (battery with water exposure is dangerous. There are battery disposal places).

The issue with rice is that it takes too long to suck out all the water. What i did in my case was open up the drone and immerse it with pure alchohol as much as possible. That includes motors, electronics, gimble and camera. What that does is prevents the water from eroding and prevents electrical shorts while evaporating the moisture that is there. Two days after the occurrence, the drone was fully functional and started flying normally again.

 

[rydfree]

No confusion rydfree. Just drone incompetence. But, if you want to understand my reaction, sit in the Captain's seat of any real (not RC) fixed wing aircraft, and pull back on the control that you are holding in your left hand. If it doesn't climb immediately... well, you get the idea. (interestingly though, a first officer might be better suited for drone flying)

You can change the stick arrangements within the app if you want left stick elevator and aileron and right stick throttle as in a commercial airliner . I have had the controls of a real fixed wing once or twice and the throttle was on the left and aileron/elevator was in my right hand . An old T6 Texan

 

[sekine12]

Thanks for sharing your experience, always good to learn from others when they learn the hard way for us. Very much appreciated.

 

[MAVA4]

Thanks All. The Getterback is on order. As to the suggestions to change the stick modes, I'll stay with the standard stick modes, but won't be an idiot next time. Will be VERY careful when I engage sport mode (and then, only at high altitude).

The return instructions say to include the drone, gimbal, battery and camera, but not the RC. Then later is says NOT to return the battery if it went in the water. (LiPos are unpredictable this way)

For those thinking about whether to purchase the DJI Care Refresh for $99, its a no brainer. It just saved me $822.

$99 DJI Refresh
+ $79 first refresh replacement
$178

Vs. $800-1000 to buy a new Mavic.

I love this drone. Its one of the most amazing pieces of technology I've ever seen. (I own a Tesla P85D, and fly a Boeing 777, so I have some experience with technology)

Can't wait to get the replacement, and will be more careful next time. Thanks to all on the forum for your suggestions!

Woah. That's a BIG airplane!
Just remember to pull back to climb in the Boeing....

 

[Av8rshane]

I still make that same mistake on occasion. Too many years of pull back houses get small, push forward houses get bigger.