Scary flight today

[A.O.]

Ok, still a rookie here, 6-12 flights so far MA2, iphone7, until now everything has gone as planned except a couple times when the buzzards got too curious and I just landed and quit flying.

But today... After reading the discussion on what to start first AC or RC I started the RC first, I normally start the AC first. So I fired up the RC and of course without the AC on it starts beeping, no big deal I knew that would happen. Then I turned on the AC (batts in both were full) but the RC kept beeping, said something about trying to find AC...Hmmmm??? Turned the app on and off a couple times and it finally seemed ok, said home point was re-established so I was good to go.
Flew it like normal, auto take off then hover about 20-30 feet of the ground to get its bearings and off I go. Across my pond over to the field on the other side like I've done before.. all of a sudden I get the low charge warning on my phone, I let it hover, went to control and turned on the charge phone feature then continued flying. just flying around looking at stuff and all of a sudden my phone went to the home screen!!! AHHHHH whats going on??? Played with the phone got the Fly app back up, but just for a few seconds and it went to home screen again, did this a couple times and now I am CONCERNED!! At this point hoping the controller was still hooked up to the drone I hit RTH (my first emergency RTH). Phone was still in home screen but RTH seemed to be working as the drone was heading my way... YAY!! I watched it stop overhead to start its landing and noticed it was a little off target, not much maybe 5 feet or so, not a huge deal as it would just land in the grass instead of the concrete. Still no FLY app on the screen but I hit the button on controller face to stop RTH about 10 feet off the ground and it worked.. at that point I used my sticks to maneuver it into correct position and landed!!!

Yeowza!!! what the heck happened and how do I prevent this in the future?

At end of flight controller had full battery, AC had 3 lights or 75% battery, and phone had 17% battery

Probably nothing to you guys, but I've been flying all of about 2 weeks and it sure gave me pause. BUT... safe return and at that point I packed it up and came in.

 

[Tony McDrone]

What device are you using? Android or iOS? I think it’s possible that the low battery on your phone may have caused the phone to shut down all non-essential functions. Have you charged your phone fully and taken another flight?

You’ll most certainly want to know the cause of it to prevent it from happening again. Stick around...the pros are on their way!

 

[old man mavic]

@A.O. from reading your post it was the phone that was the issue you should always start off with all your devices fully charged ,AC RC and screen device, a lot of phones will go into a low power mode when the battery gets low ,to help keep the phone working for as long as possible

 

[A.O.]

What device are you using? Android or iOS? I think it’s possible that the low battery on your phone may have caused the phone to shut down all non-essential functions. Have you charged your phone fully and taken another flight?

You’ll most certainly want to know the cause of it to prevent it from happening again. Stick around...the pros are on their way!

I have an iphone 7 (edited original post to add this) and was thinking the same thing. Have not charged the phone and tried again, tomorrow probably, dark is creeping in , and I wanted a few responses first anyway. Thanks!

 

[Tony McDrone]

I have an iphone 7 and was thinking the same thing. Have not charged the phone and tried again, tomorrow probably, dark is creeping in , and I wanted a few responses first anyway. Thanks!

Keep us posted. It could help others who are having the same or similar issues.

 

[Chrislaf]

Not sure what phone you are flying with but closing/quitting all unnecessary apps other than Fly may help. When you have an app crash you usually still have full control of the drone, just no camera feed or telemetry - everything else should work (like RTH as you discovered). We’re you within VLOS (Visual Line Of Sight)? This is one of the pluses for maintaining VLOS - you can see your drone and can turn around and come back.

Chris

 

[DanMan32]

The RC won't put out more charge than the phone uses to run the app. USB standards require a host, the RC in this case be able to deliver at least 500mA. Thats been a problem particularly for the smaller remotes as the phones take advantage of that, even though it's a slow charge.

IOS provides an API that apps can use to turn off charging, but Androids don't.

I suspect app kept stopping because phone battery was low and app was consuming more power than the iOS was comfortable at that charge level.

Even without the app, RC will still have control as long as the RC/AC can reach each other.
An exception was found when one's Apple completely crashed and seemed to lock out the RC sticks. The RC itself still had a link though. Pulling out the USB would probably have cleared the stuck controls

It can take a minute after power on for the AC to fully boot up and establish a link.

 

[A.O.]

@A.O. from reading your post it was the phone that was the issue you should always start off with all your devices fully charged ,AC RC and screen device, a lot of phones will go into a low power mode when the battery gets low ,to help keep the phone working for as long as possible

I'm sure this is the case and definitely my fault. I didn't realize the phone was that low and thought the "phone charging" would save me. Another lesson learned without paying a high price!
I am glad that the controller and drone were still connected for me to hit the RTH, but I guess if they weren't the RTH would be automatic, correct?

 

[old man mavic]

if there is a loss of signal between the RC and drone because the RC has stopped transmitting then the drone will after a set time do a RTH, you can check this out by flying 50ft out and then switching off the RC ,at that distance the drone will just land ,it is something that i think needs to be tried just once, so you know what to expect ,it is a bit unnerving to do ,but after having tried it then its reassuring to know it works,and yes i have tried it

 

[A.O.]

Not sure what phone you are flying with but closing/quitting all unnecessary apps other than Fly may help. When you have an app crash you usually still have full control of the drone, just no camera feed or telemetry - everything else should work (like RTH as you discovered). We’re you within VLOS (Visual Line Of Sight)? This is one of the pluses for maintaining VLOS - you can see your drone and can turn around and come back.

Chris

iphone 7 (edited original post to add) , all other apps were closed. I was within marginal VLOS, yes I could see the drone but it was going behind some tree tops here and there. However even with VLOS without the phone screen I could not tell its orientation and didn't want to fly it the wrong way. AND as a complete rookie I DID NOT know if I had any control of the drone without screen, hence my quick thinking and hitting the RTH button and hoping. If I had been thinking earlier I wouldn't have been flying with a low phone battery!

 

[A.O.]

if there is a loss of signal between the RC and drone because the RC has stopped transmitting then the drone will after a set time do a RTH, you can check this out by flying 50ft out and then switching off the RC ,at that distance the drone will just land ,it is something that i think needs to be tried just once, so you know what to expect ,it is a bit unnerving to do ,but after having tried it then its reassuring to know it works,and yes i have tried it

OH MAN... talk about something scary to try!!!! BUT, next time I am out in my hayfield I will try it, like you say it will give me a little reassurance that it does work... hopefully!?

 

[Brockrock]

So I fired up the RC and of course without the AC on it starts beeping, no big deal I knew that would happen.

That is not true. The RC will beep upon startup if the control sticks are not centered, or if it thinks they are not. This is a somewhat common issue with the Mavic Air 2 controller. If this happens again, turn the RC off and move both sticks all around, and then turn it back on. If this does not stop the beeping, it’s time for an RC calibration.

 

[A.O.]

Keep us posted. It could help others who are having the same or similar issues.

Like I said, I will fly again tomorrow (with full phone battery!!) and I will report back here and let you know how it went!

 

[A.O.]

That is not true. The RC will beep upon startup if the control sticks are not centered, or if it thinks they are not. This is a somewhat common issue with the Mavic Air 2 controller. If this happens again, turn the RC off and move both sticks all around, and then turn it back on. If this does not stop the beeping, it’s time for an RC calibration.

Ok, will do and thanks!

 

[Brockrock]

Ok, will do and thanks!

You bet!

 

[A.O.]

I want to thank all of you that replied (and those that will later when they see this) for helping with this. It never dawned on me that the phone would shut off the fly app when low on battery. I also thought that "charge phone" feature would do more, I wont rely on it again. It is also good to know that the AC and RC will still work together without the app. Being new I did not think that they would and without the viewing screen I could not tell if RC inputs were working. I'm thinking I need something which will give me a better indication of AC orientation at distance. My thought is lights on the front (I've seen some of you have them on the front arms) then I would at least know when the AC was facing me... more research to follow.

Again thanks everyone and a another couple lessons learned without paying a high price for it! So I'll chalk this up as another successful flight

 

[old man mavic]

@A.O. the main thing to remember with the RTH function is to make sure that your set height is enough to avoid contact with the tallest trees or any electric pylons that might cross your area i have mine set to 40m which will clear most trees and power lines where i live ,if you need to get a rough idea of tree height then make sure the gimbal is level fly towards the tallest tree and then climb till the top of the tree appears then add 25ft that way you have a margin of error,i should add that for this to be of help you need to take off fairly close to the tree ,so you get a fairly accurate reading in the app of your height, the reason for not setting the RTH height to high is because the winds can be stronger the higher you go, of course if there are no tall obstacles any where you are flying then you can set the RTH height lower,get into the habit of checking the RTH setting as part of your pre flight checks

 

[Chrislaf]

You might want to experiment some more with your iPhone 7, but well within VLOS. I used the Fly app for a brief time when I had a Mavic Mini (I returned it) with my iPhone XR and it crashed on me during flight. I have never had this happen with DJI GO, DJI GO 4, or Litchi and rarely with a variety of other 3rd party apps I use. I am not sure but I seem to remember reading that the Fly app requires a more current phone. Although the iPhone 7 and my XR are compatible, maybe it is taxing these older phones more than the newer ones causing an app crash.
One other thing, do you keep your iPhone 7 updated to the latest iOS? This may help. I always keep my devices including my drones updated to the latest software/firmware.

Chris

 

[lookout]

The RC won't put out more charge than the phone uses to run the app. USB standards require a host, the RC in this case be able to deliver at least 500mA. Thats been a problem particularly for the smaller remotes as the phones take advantage of that, even though it's a slow charge.

IOS provides an API that apps can use to turn off charging, but Androids don't.

I suspect app kept stopping because phone battery was low and app was consuming more power than the iOS was comfortable at that charge level.

Even without the app, RC will still have control as long as the RC/AC can reach each other.
An exception was found when one's Apple completely crashed and seemed to lock out the RC sticks. The RC itself still had a link though. Pulling out the USB would probably have cleared the stuck controls

It can take a minute after power on for the AC to fully boot up and establish a link.

Wonder if he had flipped the wifi/RC switch.

Anyhow, Androids do have a battery charging stop function if its' rooted. Third party app will turn charging function on and off. The Apples are little choosy about whether they want to be charged or not.

 

[A.O.]

@A.O. the main thing to remember with the RTH function is to make sure that your set height is enough to avoid contact with the tallest trees or any electric pylons that might cross your area i have mine set to 40m which will clear most trees and power lines where i live ,if you need to get a rough idea of tree height then make sure the gimbal is level fly towards the tallest tree and then climb till the top of the tree appears then add 25ft that way you have a margin of error,i should add that for this to be of help you need to take off fairly close to the tree ,so you get a fairly accurate reading in the app of your height, the reason for not setting the RTH height to high is because the winds can be stronger the higher you go, of course if there are no tall obstacles any where you are flying then you can set the RTH height lower,get into the habit of checking the RTH setting as part of your pre flight checks

Thanks, the RTH settings are one of the things on my check list thanks. I have it set at 150 feet, I have a few trees nearing that 80-90 ft mark, but I also have a pretty good elevation change in my ground which will also effect that (another scary story) ((2) Another learning experience | DJI Mavic Drone Forum (mavicpilots.com)). so I think I have a pretty good margin of error. Didn't think of the wind up higher but right now I'm only flying in near perfect weather!