Taken by the Wind... Bye Bye Mavic

[Michael Ainsworth]

Not really unless they were stuck with something as all the props have the ability to unfold as the motors spin up.
This happened so quick they didn't all have the chance to unfold. The Drone was out of control and moving due to no Lock.
Complete operator error.
If you are going to try this on a moving platform at least do a hand launch. Better chance of survival.

 

[JeffM46]

Many accidents are the result of more than one mistake adding up to a disaster. It's hard to tell about the prop, but taking off from a large metal boat would cause compass errors and taking off from a moving object which would make a stationary GPS lock become relative motion. Those are two mighty big mistakes.

 

[UAFuzz]

00:01

Once upon a time I launched a phantom 3 with a broken rear prop. Just one of the tips. I wanted to see if I could compensate for the reduced lift in the rear by giving it forward throttle. Needless to say the behavior/results were pretty much the same as in this video.

...Of course I was on solid ground, not a moving boat. The phantom was no worse for wear.

 

[UAFuzz]

Not really unless they were stuck with something as all the props have the ability to unfold as the motors spin up.
This happened so quick they didn't all have the chance to unfold. The Drone was out of control and moving due to no Lock.
Complete operator error.
If you are going to try this on a moving platform at least do a hand launch. Better chance of survival.

I realize that unfolded or mostly unfolded props align correctly as they spin up. And I'm definitely no physics expert, far from it, but I don't know if a fully folded prop is able to unfold on spin up as each blade needs to unfold in a separate directions. It seems like the spin could unfold one blade while keeping the other folded in.

I'm sure it could be explained one way or the other using fancy science words like inertia, angular acceleration, torque, etc. But I'm totally not that guy.

EDIT: I just tried I spin up with only one prop on but completely folded. It unfolded perfectly. So I stand corrected. But I'm still not going to launch with folded props.

 

[SeaComms]

I see this as the Mavic did have full GPS lock upon takeoff, that was the problem..

It took off and immediately detected it was moving sideways by GPS and tried to correct itself to be stationary relative to the ground. Of course the boat is moving and so was the Mavic at the time of launch and all it tried to do was remain stationary to the ground in a hover like its programmed to do.

 

[Gimme the copperheads Dom]

I hate to admit that I regularly start and land from my car roof and thought nothing about it up to now! Auto Landing is usually precise and at worst about a foot off. It just seemed to be practical since the ground is usually very dusty and sandy. I thought the metal object reference in the manual referred to flying past metal objects and to compass calibration. I calibrate the compass far away from the car. In future I might opt for some kind of portable landing pad...!