so many sad posts lately

[Scubadiver1944]

Know thy limits and follow the rules.

A golden rule in scuba diving. Should be the same with drone flying.

Sometimes, I can't help but compare drone flying to scuba diving. Lots of parallelisms here.

Couldn't have put it better myself, the main difference in scuba diving is that if you make a big mistake you might die! Flying a drone, not so much.

 

[shaneb50]

I have to agree with everyone here as well
Before flying a new drone. It’s important to
Get to know the drone by watching videos or reading up on it. I too unfortunately have had crashes.etc. But I did a lot of reading and watching videos on how to fly and all.

 

[KingRat]

I am genuinely saddened ,by the number of posts ,that start with my drone flew away ,or my drone crashed etc
and when our resident experts have delved into the logs ,most of the time it is pilot error that is the cause of the issue
the drones we fly have very complex systems ,that allow them to fly the way they do ,and it does not take much, to cause problems ,if some thought as to what needs to be set up correctly before take off is not considered,and then once in flight, what things need to be considered ,to have a successful outcome
I know how upset I would be if my drones got damaged or lost ,so I have made it my mission to find out as much as I can about what keeps my drones safe and sound

I know you thought I was being obtuse when I first started, but I spent about 3 months doing nothing but trying to learn how the thing worked before I even turned it on.... it isn't easy to understand everything and I think many people have less patience than is required to learn the intracacies and can't wait to fly. I think it was about 4 months before I had my first tentative flight from when I got my drone. It was another month before I took any pictures.... that approach is unusual I know, but I cannot afford to throw £500 away, let alone cause damage which I am sure the drone insurance would find a way of wriggling out of paying.

 

[old man mavic]

@KingRat ,there is nothing wrong in being careful,and taking your time to learn about your drone ,in fact if more people adopted that approach then there would be less posts to sadden me
because the drones we fly ,can and will cause injury or damage if misused ,it is important to have at least a basic knowledge of how and why they fly and the dangers if things go wrong ,if I had my way i would make it a rule to obtain your flyer ID and operator ID before you could purchase a drone over a certain weight

 

[DanMan32]

I still haven't done waypoints on my M2 and I've had it for 2 years. I get concerned that if I don't program waypoints in real time like you have to do with the P3, I'll have it fly into an obstacle. Maps don't show you altitudes of obstacles that might be in the way after all and not all obstacles can be detected by OA.

 

[lookout]

Automation is a bug
Automation is a feature

 

[Ken no Barbie]

I too have learned so very much here and between that and the experience of flying both Platinum and A2 out here in the western slope where I have no buildings and not much interference, I have also learned when NOT to fly. Was just in Madison Wisconsin one block from the Capital for work. Election week so I thought I would bring my A2 to film the riots and or evidence (JOKE) that may occur. Thankfully nothing happened and it was quiet but I was not experienced in unlocking any locked zones nor flying from the rooftop bar. So i didn't and kept my A2 quiet. My work partner asked me if I flew it while there and I said No, I was afraid lol. No experience from the area and around buildings etc. I'll gain that experience but this time was not it. Small steps and one at a time.
Cheers all,

 

[Ken no Barbie]

While these incidents seem that way they seem to be a necessary part of learning.
Who here has never crashed? Celebrate it as the normal path that we must all walk at one time or another.
He is now moving on the path.
Until you moment of doubt and pain comes you don't really listen to all the advice, so we humans need a bit of pain to learn.

I have felt the pain and have the scars to remind me. I still laugh at how I cut my leg up and down and sliced my thumb learning about low levels above the ground, low light and the sensors capability. LEARNED, or is that SCHOOLED

 

[Winston Bull]

Let’s have a show of hands: how many people here REread their ops manuals? When I was working for my CFI I was stunned to learn that a good pilot would not only read the FAR annually but also the POH for the plane. I do not do well with technical reading but took it to heart and realized the value of this. The POH might not change much but re-familiarization is simply a good thing: the FAR’s change in minuscule but important ways every year; currency and proficiency depend on knowing those changes.

I have noticed that the manuals for our drones tend to change but even if they do not, I still often learn something new each time if I am not careful.....

(I confess that I also have a sense of “I can’t believe I own something this cool“ each time I read the manual....)

Also a good idea to review—consider updating—my pre-flight checklist every so often.

After well over a measly 325 flights only one “crash” wherein I barely pruned an oak tree because I was too lazy to move ten steps to adjust perspective. Drone survived far better than my pride and I deserved the knowledge I earned....

 

[bobk]

I am genuinely saddened ,by the number of posts ,that start with my drone flew away ,or my drone crashed etc
and when our resident experts have delved into the logs ,most of the time it is pilot error that is the cause of the issue
the drones we fly have very complex systems ,that allow them to fly the way they do ,and it does not take much, to cause problems ,if some thought as to what needs to be set up correctly before take off is not considered,and then once in flight, what things need to be considered ,to have a successful outcome
I know how upset I would be if my drones got damaged or lost ,so I have made it my mission to find out as much as I can about what keeps my drones safe and sound

I have been seeing those same posts since 2014 and the Vision Plus and P2 and P3's. Some things never change..
The new Drone IS READY to fly out of box.
It is the NEW operator that is not ready to fly more often than not,
I know I bought new props after my first P2 flight back then.

 

[ICEMANMAZ]

I am still newish only on my 2nd Drone. I am one of those people who open the box and skim the instructions then think wished I had read it after things go wrong. For some reason I decided to empty the box put everything on charge then read the instructions properly. I also watch a load of YouTube videos for tips. Today I make sure I have good GPS have RTH set every flight then push it a bit when happy all is good.

 

[Tony Weller]

Always was an expensive hobby but gone are the days of crash-it-repair-it for a lot of UAV users. Despite the marketing they are not toys.
I even check the props now in the pre flight check.
It's the closest I will ever get to flying and I love the technology and needs education and responsibility.

As ever we don't get to hear the good stories

 

[QLD-pilot]

Don't really understand this thread. Not many or any examples of what can go wrong (I don't read the forum much, came here from a link in an email). I've had my MA2 for a couple of months, logged about 10 flights, rural area, never go more than 400m away, max height 150m (no aircraft fly around here). Very wary of flying low around obstacles. No crashes, no accidents. A few wind warnings. My phone never seems to be able to get the machine's location right (the little indicator of direction at the bottom of the screen in the app is always just a red box).

What would be useful is a list of mishaps in short paragraph form, to get newbies aware of the pitfalls, eg:

Case One
======
Operator inadvertently flew beyond the communications range of drone. Drone lost.

Case Two
======
Operator flew drone into tree. Drone a write-off.

etc.

 

[old man mavic]

@QLD-pilot hi fellow flier i started this thread for that very purpose to educate pilots to the pitfalls of drone ownership, over the two years i have been a member of this forum ,myself and many many others have done our best to give advice to new fliers i hope that if only one person takes some knowledge from this thread then it will have been worth posting it
i would much rather see loads of posts where people have had a positive ,and rewarding outcome from their drone flying as I and many others have

 

[Johnmcl7]

Don't really understand this thread. Not many or any examples of what can go wrong (I don't read the forum much, came here from a link in an email). I've had my MA2 for a couple of months, logged about 10 flights, rural area, never go more than 400m away, max height 150m (no aircraft fly around here). Very wary of flying low around obstacles. No crashes, no accidents. A few wind warnings. My phone never seems to be able to get the machine's location right (the little indicator of direction at the bottom of the screen in the app is always just a red box).

What would be useful is a list of mishaps in short paragraph form, to get newbies aware of the pitfalls, eg:

Case One
======
Operator inadvertently flew beyond the communications range of drone. Drone lost.

Case Two
======
Operator flew drone into tree. Drone a write-off.

etc.

I spent some time earlier in the year and went through every thread noting a single line of what the cause of the crash was and then summarised the data which I've attached. Most of the crashes due to pilot error have a small variety of causes many of which can be easily avoided but while this overly summarises the data I do think it's well worth owners of a drone to read up on that specific model to be aware of not just potential general issues but quirks or issues specific to that model. Although many of the crashes can be summed up in one line there can be a lot more to what happened leading up to the crash which is valuable information to avoid making the same mistake.

The Mavic Pro was my first drone and although I'd spent time reading the manual and online information I was still wary of flying it so I spent some time reading through crashes and problems to understand what went wrong and how to avoid or deal with it. I haven't ever crashed it or the Mavic 2 Pro I bought since and there have been times I've run into problems but I knew exactly what was going wrong and what to do.

 

[Barbara]

I still haven't done waypoints on my M2 and I've had it for 2 years. I get concerned that if I don't program waypoints in real time like you have to do with the P3, I'll have it fly into an obstacle. Maps don't show you altitudes of obstacles that might be in the way after all and not all obstacles can be detected by OA.

I understand the concern about elevations when doing waypoints on my PC. What I do is export the track into Google Earth Pro, then I can get a profile of the flight path. That works for ground elevation, but doesn't give you vegetation and buildings. Satellite view helps, but isn't perfect. I just keep my flight path well clear of any obstacles I can see.

In any case, I don't generally use Waypoints. I just tried it a few times with my Spark.

 

[KingRat]

Let’s have a show of hands: how many people here REread their ops manuals? When I was working for my CFI I was stunned to learn that a good pilot would not only read the FAR annually but also the POH for the plane. I do not do well with technical reading but took it to heart and realized the value of this. The POH might not change much but re-familiarization is simply a good thing: the FAR’s change in minuscule but important ways every year; currency and proficiency depend on knowing those changes.

I have noticed that the manuals for our drones tend to change but even if they do not, I still often learn something new each time if I am not careful.....

(I confess that I also have a sense of “I can’t believe I own something this cool“ each time I read the manual....)

Also a good idea to review—consider updating—my pre-flight checklist every so often.

After well over a measly 325 flights only one “crash” wherein I barely pruned an oak tree because I was too lazy to move ten steps to adjust perspective. Drone survived far better than my pride and I deserved the knowledge I earned....

Sorry, more ignorance surfacing. What do your acronyms stand for please?
CFI - will be some fancy flying certificate not applicable to Great Britain I would expect.

POH?
FAR?

 

[Len750]

Know thy limits and follow the rules.

A golden rule in scuba diving. Should be the same with drone flying.

Sometimes, I can't help but compare drone flying to scuba diving. Lots of parallelisms here.

So true. I used to scuba a bit more some years back. Make a mistake in SCUBA, you die. Make a mistake with a drone ... you're out a few hundred bucks.

 

[TS_Thomas02]

I am genuinely saddened ,by the number of posts ,that start with my drone flew away ,or my drone crashed etc
and when our resident experts have delved into the logs ,most of the time it is pilot error that is the cause of the issue
the drones we fly have very complex systems ,that allow them to fly the way they do ,and it does not take much, to cause problems ,if some thought as to what needs to be set up correctly before take off is not considered,and then once in flight, what things need to be considered ,to have a successful outcome
I know how upset I would be if my drones got damaged or lost ,so I have made it my mission to find out as much as I can about what keeps my drones safe and sound

I too feel saddened by these stories. I spent several days going over YouTube videos about flying DJI drones before I finally decided to give it a flight. Even then, it was a quick trip in the yard, ran both batteries down midway on my Mini and went back to the videos and this forum. As my comfort level increased, I do confess that I felt somewhat emboldened to try longer distances, often times over trees, water or other things that weren't landing suitable. Nevertheless, I've learned about things like apps that check GPS coverage, dealing with wind, limitations of RTH, the importance of calibration and so forth. I do believe that the risk of losing the vehicle can be greatly mitigated with a proper emphasis on best practices that I won't bother to review here. There's a risk every time you command a takeoff and it doesn't end until you land and have stopped props. The barriers to entry in the business of flying a sUAS is not high. So we have many with a cavalier approach who make me cringe. Approach it with due diligence and this can be an absolutely captivating endeavor.

 

[Gagey52]

I love the drama on this forum. I enjoy the comedic responses, I admire the the artistic work of the members, something that I can’t do, and I admire the assistance given by those members who analyse the flight data after a crash.
Most of all it helps me to be a better pilot. How many times have I read a thread and thought ‘ I didn’t know that’ and make a mental note to check something out next time I fly.
Sad or not, keep it coming, we are all better of with knowledge and learnings that we receive through this forum.
Have a good day :]