so many sad posts lately

[Captain Lou]

With me, fear of crashing was the deterrent for me taking things slow and easy in the beginning... also the money invested in this hobby ...
my first drone was the AR Drone by Parrot that used a WiFi connection to my new iPhone 4 in 2010 that I promptly flew in to the side of my house !! (If you can call it flying ?)
In comparison with my M2P it’s like comparing a wind up balsa wood plane to a F14 !
my first flight with my M2 it was a short up , around and down flight that caused sweaty palms ! I was so nervous about crashing it ! When I saw how much of a difference between the two experiences I was relieved to see the progress made ... I’m still cautious flying and I make sure to do a preflight every time I fly ... I’m sure many take the technology for granted and sometimes get in trouble!

 

[BarrieW]

I agree with one of the comments above, it’s surprising from some posts how many have obviously ' not read the manual before they launch,then wonder why disaster strikes!

 

[Dave Maine]

The history of aviation is an interesting parallel. Over the last 120 years, the entire field has accumulated knowledge, improved systems, created extensive documentation, training, and regulations, and required licensing of pilots.

The result is one of the safest transportation modes. With drones, our systems are state of the art. All of the other aspects are back in the 1920s.

 

[Johnmcl7]

Would be interesting to see a list of which aircraft are presenting the most problems. My guess would lean towards the less expensive product being higher on the list.

I went through the forum section here and noted the model and cause in each thread then summarised them, pilot error is by far and away the most common cause and it's reasonably consistent across all the Mavic models.

While it is frustrating to see so many drones lost through pilot error the flip side of that and one of the main reasons I did this work was that if you are careful with your drone, you are unlikely to lose it. The percentages are against the total number of posts in the crash/accident forum not the total Mavic ownership so the chance of failure is far lower than it looks here since Mavics without any issues are not counted.

 

[LongRifle]

With me, fear of crashing was the deterrent for me taking things slow and easy in the beginning... also the money invested in this hobby ...
my first drone was the AR Drone by Parrot that used a WiFi connection to my new iPhone 4 in 2010 that I promptly flew in to the side of my house !! (If you can call it flying ?)
In comparison with my M2P it’s like comparing a wind up balsa wood plane to a F14 !
my first flight with my M2 it was a short up , around and down flight that caused sweaty palms ! I was so nervous about crashing it ! When I saw how much of a difference between the two experiences I was relieved to see the progress made ... I’m still cautious flying and I make sure to do a preflight every time I fly ... I’m sure many take the technology for granted and sometimes get in trouble!

My first drone was a Parrot AR 2.0. I did all kinds of daredevil flying with it including barrel rolls for six months before it flew away because I didn't have enough understanding of its limitations. That was a relatively inexpensive lesson I learned that together with all the stuff I've learned from this forum over the years have helped me fly my DJI drones 1,200 miles and counting with absolutely no crashes. I've even learned how to handle them in the extremely rare cases they have slipped into ATTI mode because of what I've learned here. I fly my Mavics with the understanding that one day they won't return unless I ground them all now, but what fun would that be?

 

[Texbow]

Would be interesting to see a list of which aircraft are presenting the most problems. My guess would lean towards the less expensive product being higher on the list.

No doubt. On this forum and others including Facebook groups the Mavic Mini crashes are dominate. I'm not surprised. Low cost entry, easy to put into the air, many view as a toy, many fliers who do not take the regulations seriously.

 

[TTP]

Crashing your drone is one thing, but losing it is something else entirely.

As I see it, flying over land and not caring about VLOS, is probably the biggest reason for a lost drone.

By always having the drone in VLOS, you can save it if you make a mistake, or there is a technical error that causes it to crash.

Flying over water without pontoons, is to give the fish hard-to-digest food.

After about 2000 flights, handling begins to sit in the spinal cord, but I expect a few thousand more flights before I feel that I master the technology comfortably.

No wonder commercial pilots need up to 8 years of experience before they can drive the big carts.

 

[BruceBotti]

I thank this forum for me not getting into trouble. Plus the fact that I had to wait over a week for my Mini to arrive. The wait allowed me to go through this forum and countless YouTube videos. By the time it arrived I felt that I could fly it with no problems. I have a huge 200+ acre open field behind my house so I felt "safe". Fortunately, being a cautious person, I set my max alt to 120 feet and max distance to 650 feet. I also launched it into the wind. After taking off, I was so mesmerized by the camera view that I reached my max distance really quick. This probably saved me. Who knows how far I would have gotten before realizing where my Mini was. Like Clint Eastwood said in the Dirty Harry movies, "A man's got to know his limitations".

So, I would like to thank this forum for helping to educate me and operate within my limitations. I have gradually worked my max distance up to 1,250 feet.

Bruce

 

[Manty]

I got 8000 hours in the Royal Air Force. We still read all the checks out during each trip. Pre take off, after take off and top of the climb then all reversed during recovery. Not a bad thing to have a check list for whatever drone you have. I do a pre-flight check and an after take before I let it go!

 

[DronePylot]

As I see it, flying over land and not caring about VLOS, is probably the biggest reason for a lost drone.

By always having the drone in VLOS, you can save it if you make a mistake, or there is a technical error that causes it to crash.

I believe the low bar to entry, into the skies, leads to ignorance being behind many crashes, or losses, as mentioned earlier in this thread. Ignorance by lack of experience can be addressed by one lifting the bar to entry, for themselves.

Neither of these statements made regarding VLOS are valid, and I feel the second one is so misleading as to be potentially dangerous. It is simply not true, and reads perfectly as a wrong answer on a multiple choice test question.

I appreciate your two thousand flights, and your spine, but light discussion is better to keep its lane when the subject matter is so technical.

I have an unintentional knack for offending, and I hope I have mostly avoided that here. Forgive me if I haven't.

 

[TTP]

Hi DronePylot

No problem, we all have our own perception of things, so everyone becomes blessed in their faith.

You are absolutely right in much of what you say, but I do not really understand some of what you are referring to.

Misunderstandings due to different mother tongues perhaps.

With us, you are not allowed to fly BVLOS without a special permit.

 

[kendrex]

I do tend to fault DJI for not including the Full 60-70 page manuals, as inadequate as they may be, in the box with the drone.... instead of posting them online only and not providing the URL prominently and with strong cautions. The QuickStart guides by their nature are absent most of the important info.

I agree. When I bought an Apple 2e in 1981 it came with a number of books on how to operate it. Now everything is online and frankly, I have a hard time reading off of a screen. Printing them out would cost a small fortune for overpriced ink.

 

[Deleted member 114292]

I agree. When I bought an Apple 2e in 1981 it came with a number of books on how to operate it. Now everything is online and frankly, I have a hard time reading off of a screen. Printing them out would cost a small fortune for overpriced ink.

It just a "Sign of the times". Almost no product includes (or has available) a manual that is complete enough to fully use the product. What surprises me is that no one has written one. e.g. "Mastering the Mavic Mini"
It seems these days so many just want to watch a video. I'll take a real manual any day of the week.
Also so many misleading youtube videos.

 

[Barbara]

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 believe there are many "Lazy" pilots out there. Manuals are too much trouble. They need instant gratification. They rely on the systems built into our drones and have no idea how they work. When something fails, or they change to a mode that turns off certain systems, they have no idea how to respond or how to fly the aircraft without those systems. For me, making mistakes is not part of learning. That may come from my days flying fixed wing aircraft.

I have similar complaints/thoughts about the "driver assists" put into new cars these days. They make for lazy drivers who are more concerned with what music they are listening to than driving the car. Give me a stick shift and a windy road.

 

[Bobvt]

I think in some ways, the fact that these systems can be so easy to fly, this itself can create some problems. It’s kind of ironic really. And in fact, the majority of the incidents that you mention would attest to this. They are weather related, lack of systems knowledge related, or both. It’s been rightly said before that there should be no ‘quick start guide’, and there should not. It tells you just enough to limp the bird off the ground and then the problems begin.

I like flying the mavic 2 to learning to ski on the then new shaped or parabolic skis when they came out.The skis automatically made you a better skier but beyond your initial experience level,you really needed to learn the how tos, before you got yourself in trouble,the same goes for the mavic 2, very easy and stable with GPS but trees and the rules you need to understand.Mavic 2 is a great little machine.

 

[MavicAir2Marc]

I do tend to fault DJI for not including the Full 60-70 page manuals, as inadequate as they may be, in the box with the drone.... instead of posting them online only and not providing the URL prominently and with strong cautions. The QuickStart guides by their nature are absent most of the important info.

But then they get to sell you another drone.

 

[Phantomrain.org]

This reminds me of by best friend how after months of asking me how to day trade the stock market I gave in.
I set up a work station next to mine , I told him today even though you can trade , dont , Just watch me trade and sit back and enjoy the coffee and the show. But he was excited, new toy and all, and the next thing i hear is I think im in a trade how do i get out , lol His first and last trade - $4000 on amazon taking 100 shares on margin within 2 minutes.

Moral : You cannot stop excitement .

 

[old man mavic]

@Phantomrain.org , a reasonable analogy there Coal but the only person who lost out was your friend
when it comes to putting something up in the air like a drone, then if things go south then its not just the person flying the drone that suffers, but people and property underneath it if it comes crashing down on top of them , i am sure that many many people that come on this forum do take every reasonable precaution to try and mitigate the chances of this from happening as best they can

 

[EricJT]

I have similar complaints/thoughts about the "driver assists" put into new cars these days. They make for lazy drivers who are more concerned with what music they are listening to than driving the car. Give me a stick shift and a windy road.

I think "driver assists" do add to a safer and more pleasing driving experience, BUT only if you have read the owner's manual beforehand.

Also, recognizing they are indeed "assists" and not an autonomous system to displace you, the responsible driver.

 

[Barbara]

I think "driver assists" do add to a safer and more pleasing driving experience, BUT only if you have read the owner's manual beforehand.

Also, recognizing they are indeed "assists" and not an autonomous system to displace you, the responsible driver.

I agree with what you're saying, underlining your second statement.

Personally I enjoy driving, feeling in control and aware of my surroundings (outside the vehicle). likely one of the reasons I love motorcycling. And to slightly revise my last statement from my previous post, Give me a windy road and my Magna.