Questions for those who've taken Mavics on vacation/holiday

[MrFrosty]

In the next few weeks i'll be taking a weeks break skiing in the French Alps and aim to take the Mavic to play around with (following local rules of course) and being new to drones i'm not completely sure how frequently i'll using the drone also i don't want to have not packed something useful or worse vital

my packing list so far is this

• Mavic Pro + RC + standard charger
• 2x Batteries
• dust/contact covers for batteries (for flight)
• LIPO bags for batteries (for flight)
• 2x Micro SD cards (16GB + 32GB)
• 2x sets of spare props (accidents do happen!)
• hard shell cases for drone and RC
• backpack (as i'll be skiing, also i can load all this lot as carry on luggage)
• touch gloves (as it'll be cold)
• short lightening cable
• iPad mini 4 + cable + case + charger+ SD card adapter for file backup

so on to the questions,
Have i missed anything? (i know ND filters will be useful, i plan to order v soon)
Are two batteries enough? how many charges do people roughly get through on a days shoot? i'll only be able to recharge at night.
Is it good practice to change the SD card on every flight? therefore more batteries means more SD cards.
As with some camera gear, does the Mavic need gradual temperature acclimatisation (from v cold outdoors to indoors for e.g) to stop lens fogging.

 

[cobra46]

You can get about 40 minutes of 4k30 video on the card that came with the Mavic. So you should be good for two batteries worth of flying.

Don't forget that the batteries in your ipad, RC and Mavic won't perform as well as they do in warmer weather. I've seen accounts of the batteries going from all is good to I'm landing right now in a very short time. Others seem to do fine in the cold weather so I'm not sure what to believe. It is worth check on for yourself.

Make sure to post some video when you return.

 

[sdharris]

Good idea on the gloves, I flew the Mavic late last year in very cold temperatures and without gloves it was starting to get painful and I realised I was pushing the wrong sticks due to the cold ;-)

What are you planning on taking off and landing on, will you be able to find a dry solid surface? You could consider a landing pad.

I would get the ND filters for bright days with snow over other things on your list. Hard shell case will just add weight and have to admit in this day and age I am not convinced about lipo bags but totally get it.

I think swapping the SD card can lead to lost cards, in the old days you used to carry multiple as they corrupted easily and professional photographers swapped often. But nowadays less so. Take a spare in case you run out of space but otherwise I would leave it in and download to a laptop each evening. SD cards are easy to lose, the Mavic less so.

 

[frankiez]

Did u find out if there are any restrictions to flying your drone in France? I am going to Germany in May and was told I need to have liability insurance to fly. I don't know where to get it since I will only be there for 2 weeks.

Sent from my SHIELD Tablet K1 using MavicPilots mobile app

 

[KiterTodd]

Great post @MrFrosty . I leave Friday on my first trip with the Mavic and have some of the same questions and anxiety in traveling for the first time with a drone. I'm staying in the states, though.

I did buy some LiPo bags as well. Doesn't sound like they are required by TSA, but sounds like a good idea. I also did my last flights this weekend (prior to the trip) and have all the batteries discharged below 50%.

I'll also add that, as @sdharris suggested, I bought a landing pad that I intend to bring. It's light and packs up small. I figured that will allow me to easily take-off/land in the snow and also give the mavic homepoint image something to identify in a sea of white. (snow trip as well) I got this one. You can search on Amazon as several vendors sell the exact same one for varying prices. The one I linked is the cheapest I found with prime shipping. If you will have a car, you can also just grab a floor mat out of it.

Why are you using the battery terminal covers? Just an abundance of caution? Was wondering if there is a reason I should dig these out of their original packing boxes where mine currently reside, cast aside never intended to be used again...

 

[voongnz]

Also don't forget to recalibrate the compass at the location when travelling more than 100 miles from the point of your current calibration.

 

[KiterTodd]

Also don't forget to recalibrate the compass at the location when travelling more than 100 miles from the point of the current calibration.

Oooooh, that's a good one.

Do we do this even if the Mavic doesn't ask for it? My Mavic has never popped up a note telling me to calibrate. Even after initial receipt, from I guess China. ? I did hit the calibrate button once and go through the dance when I was first looking through the menus, though.

 

[voongnz]

Oooooh, that's a good one.

Do we do this even if the Mavic doesn't ask for it? My Mavic has never popped up a note telling me to calibrate. Even after initial receipt, from I guess China. ? I did hit the calibrate button once and go through the dance when I was first looking through the menus, though.

I think it's just good practice since there has been reported cases of swirling uncontrolled flights shortly after take off in far away locations from their usual area of flights. Here's a thread of calibration... Compass Calibration Guide

And here's an example... 6:45 mark https://www.google.co.nz/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Amer9ZGjNn4&ved=0ahUKEwjPvs_OsPzRAhXGjpQKHbvgAUwQwqsBCBowAA&usg=AFQjCNELm22R9MAfg6VghfQuxRBeKyndMw&sig2=6x_7h4VyHDT1Bx2gk3kdFA