RTH & flight techniques

[John Mcc]

Does the Mavic Mini fly the same speed left to right as forward & reverse?


When I launch, I place the drone facing away from me, when I do a RTH does the drone fly backwards to me or come in head first?


Will RTH work regardless of my orientation of my position relative to the drone front as it returns?


The last time I landed manually I stepped over the landing pad and turned around so that left was left etc. in other words the drone was flying toward me head first.
Other wise I found it confusing i.e. left / right.

FYI; I am still a 'digital' pilot, i.e.. one stick at a time as opposed to, for example, analog flying whereby I fly could fly up & right or left at the same time.

Pretty much have my whole foot in the water now.

John

 

[EyesWideShut]

Does the Mavic Mini fly the same speed left to right as forward & reverse?


When I launch, I place the drone facing away from me, when I do a RTH does the drone fly backwards to me or come in head first?


Will RTH work regardless of my orientation of my position relative to the drone front as it returns?


The last time I landed manually I stepped over the landing pad and turned around so that left was left etc. in other words the drone was flying toward me head first.
Other wise I found it confusing i.e. left / right.

FYI; I am still a 'digital' pilot, i.e.. one stick at a time as opposed to, for example, analog flying whereby I fly could fly up & right or left at the same time.

Pretty much have my whole foot in the water now.

John

In doing a RTH the mini will rise and turn it's orientation to home and then fly home but you can use the sticks to override (orientation, altitude, speed) when still returning.

For more info there are lots of videos in this forum and on YouTube and in the pdf Mini User Manual.

Here's one RTH video

Mavic Mini Return to Home Tutorial (RTH)

I've seen a lot of discussion about the Return to Home (RTH) feature of the Mavic Mini, so I decided to put together a tutorial about it. There are some important safety tips I discuss that I haven't seen discussed in any other videos. Let me know if you think I've missed anything important.

mavicpilots.com

 

[old man mavic]

no matter which way the drone is pointing,when you press the RTH it will turn to face you and fly back till it is above the home point,then it will turn till it is facing in the direction it was when it took of,as it comes down you can cancel the RTH and then turn they drone till it is facing away from you and then land manually,it is easier to control when it is facing away from you, but you need to practice flying with the camera towards you so your get it ingrained in your head, as it makes flying it much easier,a good way to do this is fly squares with it facing you to get used to the controls being reversed after, a while you will do it with out thinking,then to master using two sticks at once try flying figure of eights its great fun

 

[ff22]

no matter which way the drone is pointing,when you press the RTH it will turn to face you and fly back till it is above the home point,then it will turn till it is facing in the direction it was when it took of,as it comes down you can cancel the RTH and then turn they drone till it is facing away from you and then land manually,it is easier to control when it is facing away from you, but you need to practice flying with the camera towards you so your get it ingrained in your head, as it makes flying it much easier,a good way to do this is fly squares with it facing you to get used to the controls being reversed after, a while you will do it with out thinking,then to master using two sticks at once try flying figure of eights its great fun

I am already left-right challenged and I think it too late to fix it (your age!!) and that is still my issue with the drone controlling it when facing me or, I guess, facing ah, er, ahem, oh, LEFT! (g)

 

[old man mavic]

I am already left-right challenged and I think it too late to fix it (your age!!) and that is still my issue with the drone controlling it when facing me or, I guess, facing ah, er, ahem, oh, LEFT! (g)

you can fly squares with just the right stick if you want,try it with the camera facing you and you will soon get what they call muscle memory and will be able to do it without thinking ,you can also fly forwards just using the right stick by pushing it away from you and at the same time moving it gently left or right till the drone turns and flies forwards at the same time,

 

[ff22]

you can fly squares with just the right stick if you want,try it with the camera facing you and you will soon get what they call muscle memory and will be able to do it without thinking ,you can also fly forwards just using the right stick by pushing it away from you and at the same time moving it gently left or right till the drone turns and flies forwards at the same time,

MAYBE. When you said "fly squares with just the right stick" I had to stop and figure out which hand that was. Seriously, I have to think about which is left (I'm a lefty) and then decide the other is "right." No snap decisions from this guy. (g)

My other problem is that I live in Seattle. We can only fly from out own lot and I have to drive about 30 miles to an open soccer (football) area to fly. My lot is very constrained by fruit trees, shrubs and a house. There is a "hidden" eight foot apple almost directly in front of the landing pad. (The one I pruned with the Zoom is the flowering one to the right.)

 

[old man mavic]

MAYBE. When you said "fly squares with just the right stick" I had to stop and figure out which hand that was. Seriously, I have to think about which is left (I'm a lefty) and then decide the other is "right." No snap decisions from this guy. (g)

My other problem is that I live in Seattle. We can only fly from out own lot and I have to drive about 30 miles to an open soccer (football) area to fly. My lot is very constrained by fruit trees, shrubs and a house. There is a "hidden" eight foot apple almost directly in front of the landing pad. (The one I pruned with the Zoom is the flowering one to the right.)

View attachment 100971

i can see your problem,that location would not be suitable for what i was proposing ,sorry you do need a large football sized tree free area to do what i was saying
from where you are in you garden any sort of flying is going to be fraught with issues due to the great drone enemy (trees)

 

[EyesWideShut]

I am already left-right challenged and I think it too late to fix it (your age!!) and that is still my issue with the drone controlling it when facing me or, I guess, facing ah, er, ahem, oh, LEFT! (g)

One option in an emergency to avoid an obstacle when the drone is flying towards you and not having to try to figure out left from right, is to push the stick in the direction of the danger. You just have to remember when flying nose away from you, the normal way, the stick goes away from danger. When flying the opposite way (nose towards you), the stick also goes the opposite way, this time towards danger.

Hopefully in an emergency that "away from danger" reaction is enough to give you time to recover and figure things out.

 

[Meta4]

My lot is very constrained by fruit trees, shrubs and a house. There is a "hidden" eight foot apple almost directly in front of the landing pad.

Your backyard is far from ideal as a flying site.
Way too many obstacles, much too close.
It's very hard to get into trouble if you fly somewhere with nothing to hit.

 

[ff22]

i can see your problem,that location would not be suitable for what i was proposing ,sorry you do need a large football sized tree free area to do what i was saying
from where you are in you garden any sort of flying is going to be fraught with issues due to the great drone enemy (trees)

You barely even see the ten pin oak trees lining the street (g) Just beginning to leaf out. I will have to check and see if the park I've used is even open - many are closed.

I Zoomed my Zoom around the yard but did hit the larger apple tree, spun to the ground up-side-down and mowed the lawn. It survived that and a crash into a window. The yard is more appropriate for the mini - just a bit more appropriate.

 

[John Mcc]

In doing a RTH the mini will rise and turn it's orientation to home and then fly home but you can use the sticks to override (orientation, altitude, speed) when still returning.

For more info there are lots of videos in this forum and on YouTube and in the pdf Mini User Manual.

Here's one RTH video

Mavic Mini Return to Home Tutorial (RTH)

I've seen a lot of discussion about the Return to Home (RTH) feature of the Mavic Mini, so I decided to put together a tutorial about it. There are some important safety tips I discuss that I haven't seen discussed in any other videos. Let me know if you think I've missed anything important.

mavicpilots.com

Thank you for the RTH link, it was a big help

 

[John Mcc]

no matter which way the drone is pointing,when you press the RTH it will turn to face you and fly back till it is above the home point,then it will turn till it is facing in the direction it was when it took of,as it comes down you can cancel the RTH and then turn they drone till it is facing away from you and then land manually,it is easier to control when it is facing away from you, but you need to practice flying with the camera towards you so your get it ingrained in your head, as it makes flying it much easier,a good way to do this is fly squares with it facing you to get used to the controls being reversed after, a while you will do it with out thinking,then to master using two sticks at once try flying figure of eights its great fun

I will pay more attention to the drone heading when it lands.
On my last RTH it came down and landed facing me ...it took off facing away.
As soon as I trim the landing I discover if left is left or not unless the drone is down enough to see for my self, in which case I can just turn the drone or face the other direction my self.

Tnx reply , so far so good.

John

 

[John Mcc]

In doing a RTH the mini will rise and turn it's orientation to home and then fly home but you can use the sticks to override (orientation, altitude, speed) when still returning.

For more info there are lots of videos in this forum and on YouTube and in the pdf Mini User Manual.

Here's one RTH video

Mavic Mini Return to Home Tutorial (RTH)

I've seen a lot of discussion about the Return to Home (RTH) feature of the Mavic Mini, so I decided to put together a tutorial about it. There are some important safety tips I discuss that I haven't seen discussed in any other videos. Let me know if you think I've missed anything important.

mavicpilots.com

The vid helped a lot...tnx

John

 

[John Mcc]

I am already left-right challenged and I think it too late to fix it (your age!!) and that is still my issue with the drone controlling it when facing me or, I guess, facing ah, er, ahem, oh, LEFT! (g)

Ok, tnx for the reply.
Practice , practice ,

John

 

[John Mcc]

you can fly squares with just the right stick if you want,try it with the camera facing you and you will soon get what they call muscle memory and will be able to do it without thinking ,you can also fly forwards just using the right stick by pushing it away from you and at the same time moving it gently left or right till the drone turns and flies forwards at the same time,

 

[John Mcc]

Ok I will try to fly the square as well as multi stick controlling

John

 

[rwilliam99]

Another vote for the "fly the square" suggestion. I have practiced it a bit, but it does help get you more comfortable with flying your drone in different orientations. I start by facing the camera away from me (the easiest way), fly some squares clockwise, then rotate it 90 degrees and fly the square and repeat for each side and then repeat flying counterclockwise. Keep doing that over and over and you start to get a sense of what orientation your drone is in and it does get a bit easier. I still make mistakes from time to time, but it really is one of the best things I've found to help get experience actually flying your drone (not relying on the GPS, etc).