Opinions for M2P Owner

[mcsenerd]

Howdy folks. Just looking for some opinions from MM owners now that they’ve had a chance to tootle around with it for a little while.

I have a M2P that is my main/daily driver for the most part. I love flying it and I’ve never regretted having it once, but I try to be a responsible pilot and I don’t really push it to its limits. That being said, I still don’t take it on business trips with me due to size. I’d like to have a more “travel” friendly drone for those types of occasions (and I travel...or did, prior to COVID-19 at a minimum every other week). So, I plopped down a few Benjamins to back the ZeroZero Robotics Hover 2 over on kickstarter over a year ago. Well, I finally got tired of the absolutely insane delays on that thing and cancelled my pledge. Of course, the MM was released during that time and it got me thinking if perhaps it’d do for me.

So, long post short... Do any of you all use the MM in this sort of way? Sort of like a travel zoom would be to your full frame monster? If so, are you happy with the decision? Anything you’d do differently? Is/are there must have accessories that make living with the MM in this manner better?

TIA

 

[rehkram]

It's been windy here in the S. Adirondacks for several days now and I've therefore voluntarily grounded my MM. I've pushed the limits of it and have learned not to put it up in winds gusting over ~12 mph. Technically it could handle 18 mph gusts and make some headway but it has to work hard, and my stress levels rise with the wind speed and accompanying increases in motor- and prop noise. I took that as a sign and limit takeoffs in gusting winds over 12 mph

So yes, it's nice to travel with but not so good if you're in a place for a short time that offers great visuals but the wind happens to be blowing. I'd want something with a bigger weather envelope to guarantee a greater percentage of flight time.

The wind limitation is obviously going to reduce flying opportunities more in the winter season.

Given all this, I've found the UAV Forecast app's Wind Profile feature indispensable for understanding the winds at altitude and never take off without looking at it.

Lest I've given the impression that I'm bashing the MM I certainly am not. It's a great camera drone when flown within its limits. I will someday get a drone with more 'boots' but will still fly the mini. It's been great for me.

 

[Starz]

When you say “travel”, driving or flying?

 

[mcsenerd]

When you say “travel”, driving or flying?

Unfortunately, at least these days, it means flying.And I’m not a high roller, so I'm usually back in stowage with the rest of the scrum. LOL

 

[mcsenerd]

Thanks Rehkram. That’s exactly the type of experience opinions I’m looking for, and I don’t think you’re bashing at all. There’s nothing at all wrong with acknowledging the limitations of a device. It doesn’t mean that it doesn’t perform perfectly well within its limits. That’s the sort of stuff that I’d like to be able to do. On the occasion when I do have some free time when I’m gone, I do like to go places such as local beaches, nature parks, etc and there have been occasional times when I wished I’d had my bird with me. But, as you say, conditions are always a factor and take for example at the beach...one thing you can almost guarantee is that you’re going to deal with potentially some pretty hefty winds.

 

[Gkinghrn]

I agree that the biggest drawback in the mm is the inability to deal with winds - I too tend to limit my flights to less than 15mph wind speed at most and alsways do a test 'return' in the direction i intend to send it in to check it can indeed return befire sending it 500 metres away over the sea.

I have my MM and controller in 2 individual carriers which lets me stow it easily in hand baggage (putting them in 1 larger bag i find isnt very flexible when packing.

If you can ut u with the wind issue then I'd say it is your go to drone for travel - the quality of footage is excellent from it.

Bearing in mind the Air 2 is coming out soon though and is smaller (I understand 3cm smaller Length x Breadth ) than the current air you may wish to wait and see if that is an option for you - it could handle the wind speeds.

I confess I am now seriosuly considering it in addition to the mm though as the wind speed issue with the mm is a challenge for me as I live right on the coast on top of a cliff! It's always windy here ..

Lovely drone though and price wise it's great.

 

[rehkram]

Exactly. There's a trade-off, portability achieved through low inertial mass vs. the percentage of time flyable. As I learn more about controlling the MM up here I'm spending more time flying in sport mode, finding it able push through moderate gusts better with the significant extra momentum, which evens-out the flight profile. Plus it's a lot of fun carving smooth turns in slight winds, shooting through gaps in tree lines etc.

Fortunately for me I know the area very well, it's my farm. Just hope I know the MM well enough by now to not attempt to thread any more unthreadable needles. I've crashed a few times, all my own fault. The low inertial mass really helps in a crash IMO, unless you go full bore into a tree trunk or something, obviously. While it's light enough to tend to bounce off things, one or more of the thin prop blades invariably get damaged. I've hit thin tree branches twice, both times it barrel-rolled in mid air on the way down, recovered on its own and sat there hovering. I wince when I watch the footage.

So, to answer your other question, must have accessory #1 would be keeping plenty of spare prop blades handy.