The. Big. Error.

[EyeSky]

Nothing technical here, just a warning story from a numbskull Aussie.


I forgot to press "record".

I went to video an abandoned loran station. I had been thinking about it for a while, and had planned the route I wanted to fly. I did my preflight and everything was good, so I took off. Well, about 2/3s of the way through the route, I realized that I had not hit the record button. As I wanted the video to start at a certain place, I went into sport mode and flew back. After returning, I lined the MP up, hit the record button, and flew the route over again. The MP was crying about the battery being low, by the time I landed, but I got the video I wanted and, hopefully, burnt the "hit the record button" phrase into my memory.

 

[DiggerNZ]

Nothing technical here, just a warning story from a numbskull Aussie.

We're coming to to the end of a 10 week journey through New Zealand. It is an incredible country, and after 27 trips to the Shaky Isles, I can safely say there's few other countries like it.

Forward to yesterday. We visited Cathedral Cove (any Chronicles of Narnia fans out there?). I've been using my Mavic Pro for about 4 months now. Hundreds of flights and some pretty amazing 4k footage of, well, everywhere in New Zealand. I even received permission to fly in a "no-fly" zone last Wednesday and got some outstanding footage.

Back to yesterday (Thursday 5th April). We landed at Cathedral Cove around 4pm. The crowds were starting to thin. I had a few practice flights in the actual cavern, but waited for people to leave. At last around 5pm the cavern was empty, the sun had gone down hence the lighting was even. I steadied myself (on battery #3), and flew a perfect line, starting outside the cave, right through to the other side. Nailed it. Lighting. Crowds. Flying.
I then nailed a flight back through the cavern in the reverse direction. 100%. We then started trudging back up the 40 minute steep walk to the parking lot. Returned back to the motel. Dinner. Time to empty the net and check out the day's footage...

I forgot to press "record".

People, you can be a world champion drone pilot, a Superbowl winner, an NBA MVP or even the president/prime minister, but if you forget to press the record button, you're a dill.

This is the second time this has happened on this trip. Hopefully my lesson is learned. The most important part of videography with a drone is pressing the record button.

Apart from that, all is good. Thankfully I still have enough gray matter to remember a special day in a special part of the world.

Thanks sharing your story and saying nice things about our country as well. I live here and after reading how much of NZ you have filmed it makes me realise I need to get a lot more with my Mavic.
My first job I did was with my Inspire2. I had a couple guys on the site I was at and they watched from a distance as I went about doing my thing. I did the job and landed. Went through the motion of viewing my footage and as I passed them I stopped and said, I will have to come back when it’s not so grey and overcast because it just isn’t doing your site justice. They were really happy I was treating it very seriously. Truth is, I had left my memory card at home on the floor so couldn’t record at all!
Lesson learned and a lucky recovery.
We all make mistakes mate lol.

 

[DSGDSG]

I feel your pain. I spent 18 hours total on a brutal climb up an active volcano. The winds had calmed as if just for me and I flew. Got incredible footage from what I could see on my screen and some unique perspective above the clouds. When I went to take the footage off the card, the card corrupted itself and I was able to get absolutely nothing. I was heartbroken.

 

[Gunglejim]

OMG!!!! I would be heartbroken as well. All that effort and nothing to show for it. I feel a sacrifice to the volcano gods coming up.

 

[Ozimax]

I feel your pain. I spent 18 hours total on a brutal climb up an active volcano. The winds had calmed as if just for me and I flew. Got incredible footage from what I could see on my screen and some unique perspective above the clouds. When I went to take the footage off the card, the card corrupted itself and I was able to get absolutely nothing. I was heartbroken.

Aaarrrgggh. That is pain indeed.

 

[tracer bullet]

Sure. I do know rule no 1 is "hit the record button." !!! In all seriousness, I'm no expert but I find that practice runs help, and doing them SLOWLY at first. The biggest problem most probably is the wind, which can come from anywhere when you're in a confined space. I think I have flown through gaps around 4-5 feet wide, but as I said, I'm no expert (or even intermediate) but practice makes perfect.

Right, I get the practice part. I have read elsewhere that int he right situation GPS signal can be lost and the drone will try to RTH, hitting whatever it is flying through.

I may have misunderstood that as well. What I'm hearing here though is that you didn't do anything special. Interesting. Thanks!

 

[Chris998]

Sure. I was in Tairua, and wanted to film from Paku Summit. It was just across the river from the unmanned airstrip. I always refer to the following site to find out where I can fly, and also to send off a flight plan if need be.

New Zealand Maps for Planning Drone Flights | airshare NZ hub for drones and UAVs

In this instance, the map brought up the relevant phone number for ATC in that area, which turned out to be Coromandel Council. I simply called the number, spoke to the lady and she gave me verbal permission to fly from the peak, as long as I stayed under the height of said peak.

Hope this helps.

Thank you! Does help indeed.

 

[assamfishhead]

Hi All, just wondering if there is a hack of some kind to sort out this question I have...on the Mavic Pro, when it does a Dronie (or any other Quick Shot mode), the recording starts when you press GO however, when the shot had finished it route, the recording stops automatically. Is there away to continue recording? Apologies in advance if the answer is obvious to some of you. Greetings from Wellington New Zealand!