On Vacation... need help...Mavic Air

[Shon]

I almost felt like I was going to have a “Fly Away” today... looking for help or suggestions.
So... I went out to fly my drone at “Seven Magic Mountains” near Vegas. It is off the highway on a dirt road, middle of the desert... no flight restrictions, 17 Sats connected, I check the map... direction of drone lines up with map, compass calibrated, light breeze, 85 degree temps outside, etc. Perfect conditions as much as I am aware of.

Upon launching the drone ( hand launch) the drone immediately starts to land. Full up on left stick causes the drone to hover. After a few second the drone starts to shoot up. I ease off left stick to full neutral position. The drone continues to climb.
Bottom line, drone won’t hold altitude. Wants to ascend and descend +\- 6 feet. When drone start to shoot up in the sky ( from an altitude of 30 feet) again... full down on stick just makes it hover. After a few seconds drone start to land on its own. Drone was drifting slightly, not too much, DJI 4 App showed full GPS connection.. no warning notices.

I land the drone and try to recalibrate compass... same issue. There is no noticeable problem with the props, but the drone had been in storage for a while with the “Stealth props” maybe they are bent?

I install fresh OEM props. I try again and the drone flies fine. After ensuring that I’m not having control issues, I fly it around, take some dronies’s etc, but I burned up about 50% of my battery trying to problem solve so I get very little footage. No problem, I have three more batteries.

When I install my second battery and take off, the drone starts showing the same stability problems it was showing before.
After attempting to problem solve, I realize this is not going to be my day to fly and I give up.

Any idea what might be causing this issue? Would recalibration of the IMU help? I have ALWAYS had slight issues with the stability of this drone ( drifting, etc) but they have been relatively minor.
I wish I could post the flight logs, but I will have to wait until I get home to do that.
In the meantime just wondering if anyone else has any suggestions relates to problem solving?

At this point I think I will try to recalibrate the IMU, and try a completely different flying location tomorrow.

 

[InvisibleName]

I think you know what you need to do, post your flight data so the experts can take a look.

 

[timinator]

Clean all sensors and launch from a flat surface for a test flight.

 

[Capt KO]

Don't forget to recalibrate the RC sticks while you're at it.

 

[Shon]

Update... so I recalibrated the IMU. Sensors were all clear. Didn’t bother recalibrating the sticks as they appeared normal.

I went to a different place to fly today. Had zero issues. The drone flew fine, in and out of various flight modes, etc. I have no idea why it was acting so crazy the other day. I’m glad I didn’t try to push things and keep flying due to being on vacation and wanting to get the shot. Better to let it live to see another day.

IMU recalibration seemed to do the trick.

 

[Capt KO]

Update... so I recalibrated the IMU. Sensors were all clear. Didn’t bother recalibrating the sticks as they appeared normal.

I went to a different place to fly today. Had zero issues. The drone flew fine, in and out of various flight modes, etc. I have no idea why it was acting so crazy the other day. I’m glad I didn’t try to push things and keep flying due to being on vacation and wanting to get the shot. Better to let it live to see another day.

IMU recalibration seemed to do the trick.

Don't know what normal sticks look like but if you have (in future) abnormal response or drift in hover, recalibrate the sticks. ?

 

[itsneedtokno]

My MA2 did a similar thing the other day. So strange.

It was as if the drone was sleepy.

As soon as it took off I knew something was amiss, full up left, hand out, landed. Check props, OEM so nothing to worry about there. Take off again, still kinda sleepy, full up left, it wakes up and has a flawless 6 minute flight (just to capture a pano).

Still weirded out by it

 

[Dakarenduro]

post a log if you want to know what caused the 'weirded out' scenario, otherwise this is all speculation....

 

[itsneedtokno]

post a log if you want to know what caused the 'weirded out' scenario, otherwise this is all speculation....

I would, but I only recent switched off the auto upload to DJI servers option. Also, it's been almost a week and about 10 hours of flight... Maybe next time

 

[sar104]

I would, but I only recent switched off the auto upload to DJI servers option. Also, it's been almost a week and about 10 hours of flight... Maybe next time

Auto-upload doesn't delete the txt logs - just the DAT files.

 

[itsneedtokno]

Auto-upload doesn't delete the txt logs - just the DAT files.

How far back will the logs go?

And would they show elevation vs vertical thrust input?

I seem to have issues with maintaining elevation when close to the ground, moving forward in sport mode.

 

[sar104]

How far back will the logs go?

And would they show elevation vs vertical thrust input?

I seem to have issues with maintaining elevation when close to the ground, moving forward in sport mode.

The txt logs include sensor fusion height, but not raw sensor data. I'm not sure what you mean by "vertical thrust input".

Flying in sport mode often leads to some vertical drift, which is much more noticeable when close to the ground.

 

[itsneedtokno]

The txt logs include sensor fusion height, but not raw sensor data. I'm not sure what you mean by "vertical thrust input".

Flying in sport mode often leads to some vertical drift, which is much more noticeable when close to the ground.

By vertical thrust input, I meant upward elevation command. Like, "ascend birdy!" lol

(I don't know the proper terminology for the above, so clarification would be wonderful)




Here's that log. At the very beginning the drone was very "lethargic".

 

[Skywalker]

Something was buried in the location where you took off.