Saving battery by shuting off engines midflight

Plawa · Apr 20, 2018

c'mon guys, don't be naysayers, let him test it...

AnzacJack · Apr 20, 2018

Maybe need some form of releasable drogue chute to stabilise and get it falling the right side up.

cheolk · Apr 20, 2018

good, DJI will sell another drone

lolo780 · Apr 20, 2018

Inverted at full power it will barely go 20m/s down. In free fall the Mavic will flat spin upright or inverted creating quite a bit of drag.

BIGDAVE · Apr 20, 2018

trelliz said:
Hello! I was wondering if you could save battery by switching the engines off at an altitude of 2.5km, wait for the drone to fall to 500m and then turn the engines on again.
Is it feasible?

the power you MIGHT save would be sucked right back when it strains to regain its stability. so JUST FLY IT.

darren6270 · Apr 20, 2018

Aren't you glad to be alive reading threads like this. We've all got too much time on our hands lol

colinfowler · Apr 20, 2018

trelliz said:
I wonder how often do mavic pros break when they fall on the grass with the engines off

all of them, from 2.5km altitude

Zonian · Apr 20, 2018

Wow...just wow.

Gray_seagull · Apr 20, 2018

trelliz said:
Hello! I was wondering if you could save battery by switching the engines off at an altitude of 2.5km, wait for the drone to fall to 500m and then turn the engines on again.
Is it feasible?

If anybody can tell me how to reach an altitude of 2.5km with current firmware and dji go4 app then I would do it

trelliz · Apr 20, 2018

anzacjack said:
Maybe need some form of releasable drogue chute to stabilise and get it falling the right side up.

Haha I thought of that too actually! Too bad its not very practical for everyday use.

Qoncussion · Apr 20, 2018

I'll just leave this here...

OldBlueHeron · Apr 20, 2018

They really are just selling drones to anyone...

sar104 · Apr 20, 2018

lolo780 said:
Inverted at full power it will barely go 20m/s down. In free fall the Mavic will flat spin upright or inverted creating quite a bit of drag.

The aerodynamic drag coefficient implied by the pitch / horizontal speed relationship (in particular 40 mph @ 35°) suggests that without props the Mavic terminal velocity would be a little under 50 mph (22 m/s), but that's with the props driving, not dragging. With unpowered props creating additional drag, I'd be surprised if the terminal velocity were much over 40 mph (18 m/s), which is consistent with the limited data from recorded events of freefall after motor stop.

motopokep · Apr 20, 2018

Mavic wasn't meant for this type of maneuver, just like your commercial passenger airliner is not meant to do maneuvers like an fighter plane can. This type of maneuver works well with racing drones. I've done it a few times, a free falling drone is not a pretty picture, it tumbles, spins violently and it's unpredictable in which direction it will go once the props start spinning again. It's not good for the gimbal either, it will probably damage it. Buy a cheap $100 entry level racing drone from Banggood and do this all day. Mavic is a cruiser, not a sportbike.

Tofino · Apr 20, 2018

How so, that an object that has no aerodynamic wings or any surfaces can somehow free fall back down to earth, remain upright, and not tumble in any direction, then turn facing the correct orientation that if you turn the motors back on, will land safely. There is only 1 thing that comes to mind, if you drop it upside down, will land on its legs. That's a cat.

Simmo · Apr 20, 2018

I used to throw my dji Flamewheel 450 up in the air by one arm and fire it up and fly away before it hit the ground. Thats what the flight controller sensors are for.

MavicCF · Apr 20, 2018

Simmo said:
I used to throw my dji Flamewheel 450 up in the air by one arm and fire it up and fly away before it hit the ground. Thats what the flight controller sensors are for.

Ahh that brings back memories from the good old days of playing Frisbee with my 250 racer!

WIMMPYIII · Apr 20, 2018

If you can fly this high you modded the firmware and you have sport+ mode you can downstick to the point that your props are barely idling and id drops freakishly fast compared to stock.

Dunczyk · Apr 21, 2018

trelliz said:
Hello! I was wondering if you could save battery by switching the engines off at an altitude of 2.5km, wait for the drone to fall to 500m and then turn the engines on again.
Is it feasible?

Russia...state of mind