This was new for me . . . . a "Flying Nest" . . .

[BigAl07]

Last week I was flying for a client to capture their property on the very tip top of a very high mountain (High for our standards). We were flying a pair of Mavic Pro Platinums and this particular flight was our primary unit labeled 001.

Our ground elevation was just a pinch over 5000' and we were indeed on the very tip top of the mountain. I ascended from a large launch pad straight up into the clear sky. As I was hitting around 300'AGL I got a Motor Overload Error and it said something like "Fly with caution". I noticed no other problems and I assume (there is my mistake) it was just the cold temps causing a faulty sensor issue. I decided to not climb any higher and leveled off and grabbed the needed pictures for the client. He asked me to maneuver slightly south to capture a local landmark in the picture and as I was flying to the mark I once again got the Motor Overload error and subsequent warning to fly with caution. Again I grabbed the required images and headed back while descending. As I was approximately 100'AGL I was maneuvering around to line up for my landing and again got the Motor Overload warning. Now I'm thinking something just doesn't seem right. As I'm within about 10' of the aircraft I see what looks like a Rat/Bird nest wrapped around one of the rear motors. At some point, AFTER take off as it was clean and clear of debris and I launched from a CLEAN launchpad, I impacted some flying "debris" that became entangled on the motor. Fortunately it wasn't enough to cause a failure but it did cause enough reduction in RPM's to trigger some onboard warnings (which I quickly dismissed by mistake LOL).

Apparently this "nest" was suspended in the air and somehow I flew into it or through it. I cleaned the debris and gave the whole aircraft a thorough inspect and "feel test" and everything appeared fine. Later that day we made many more flights with no errors or problems.

Has anyone else ever ran into similar items suspended in the updraft while flying high in the air?

 

[Thomas B]

Last week I was flying for a client to capture their property on the very tip top of a very high mountain (High for our standards). We were flying a pair of Mavic Pro Platinums and this particular flight was our primary unit labeled 001.

Our ground elevation was just a pinch over 5000' and we were indeed on the very tip top of the mountain. I ascended from a large launch pad straight up into the clear sky. As I was hitting around 300'AGL I got a Motor Overload Error and it said something like "Fly with caution". I noticed no other problems and I assume (there is my mistake) it was just the cold temps causing a faulty sensor issue. I decided to not climb any higher and leveled off and grabbed the needed pictures for the client. He asked me to maneuver slightly south to capture a local landmark in the picture and as I was flying to the mark I once again got the Motor Overload error and subsequent warning to fly with caution. Again I grabbed the required images and headed back while descending. As I was approximately 100'AGL I was maneuvering around to line up for my landing and again got the Motor Overload warning. Now I'm thinking something just doesn't seem right. As I'm within about 10' of the aircraft I see what looks like a Rat/Bird nest wrapped around one of the rear motors. At some point, AFTER take off as it was clean and clear of debris and I launched from a CLEAN launchpad, I impacted some flying "debris" that became entangled on the motor. Fortunately it wasn't enough to cause a failure but it did cause enough reduction in RPM's to trigger some onboard warnings (which I quickly dismissed by mistake LOL).

Apparently this "nest" was suspended in the air and somehow I flew into it or through it. I cleaned the debris and gave the whole aircraft a thorough inspect and "feel test" and everything appeared fine. Later that day we made many more flights with no errors or problems.

Has anyone else ever ran into similar items suspended in the updraft while flying high in the air?

Wow! Never had anything like this. Was it a windy location?

 

[PhantomFandom]

Wow that is scary. I have never flown into any debris like that and hope I never do. Glad you managed to get it back on the ground without incident. It does go to show that a warning should never be overlooked. If the flight controller is reporting that something is wrong, then something is.

 

[Skywatcher2001]

WOW! Never heard of that at all. I am interested though. I have heard of migrating species of birds that do carry/move parts of their nests (maybe dropped it when they heard the props)? I can only guess. At 5000' elevation I can't imagine anything other than BIG birds up there . . . that is a head scratcher. I definitely will be following this one.

 

[BigAl07]

Wow! Never had anything like this. Was it a windy location?

Yes it was windy for sure. At one point there was some falling ice crystals (the trees were covered in ice it was pretty) that were being lifted up into the sunlight and it looked like glitter flying upwards for just a moment.

I imagine the updraft may have loosened some type of nesting material and carried it aloft and I was at the wrong place at the wrong time. At least it makes for an interesting story LOL.

 

[old man mavic]

a great story and a very lucky escape (see what i did there" escape") could have ended very differently,glad you escaped to fly another day and the MPP was ok

 

[Cymruflyer]

While flying in my open cockpit plane several years ago, I flew past several large leaves from a corn field, the type of leaves that are wrapped around drying corn or on a tall corn stalk. The ones I past by were the large brown dried up types of leaves. They were obviously lifted up by a thermal and were between 4 and 5,000ft as I recall. I was quite surprised to see them. So things do get taken aloft by thermals. There are many different types of thermals as well. Some start at a point and just lift off, and some break away from the ground and go gently bumping along the ground until they finally build enough heat and break off from the ground. Therefore, they could gather up all sorts of debris as they move along the ground, and carry it aloft.

 

[Smokieflies]

I have almost flown into branches at the top of trees, but never anything floating in the air. Although I have seen trash bags, boxes, plastic lids, etc flying through the air. On days that windy I simply do not fly. Probably could, but I just do not want to risk my drone. But it sounds like you had a paying client, so that makes the difference. For now, I am flying only for fun.

 

[BigAl07]

I have almost flown into branches at the top of trees, but never anything floating in the air. Although I have seen trash bags, boxes, plastic lids, etc flying through the air. On days that windy I simply do not fly. Probably could, but I just do not want to risk my drone. But it sounds like you had a paying client, so that makes the difference. For now, I am flying only for fun.

A paying client, long travel, and a short window of opportunity due to the clients travel plans. Yep that's how we roll LOL

 

[Smokieflies]

I probably get more daring once I get my 107c, studying with a couple of friends. Not that I have any clients yet, but just in case.

 

[Cymruflyer]

I have almost flown into branches at the top of trees, but never anything floating in the air. Although I have seen trash bags, boxes, plastic lids, etc flying through the air. On days that windy I simply do not fly. Probably could, but I just do not want to risk my drone. But it sounds like you had a paying client, so that makes the difference. For now, I am flying only for fun.

It is not just windy days that cause materials to be lifted into the air, on a hot day or even a cool day with bright sun heating the ground in windless conditions, a thermal can build and pop off the ground and it can pull up debris from the ground with it. You are speaking of windy days and wind swirling around lifting debris, but remember that it can happen on calm hot days as well.

 

[AnzacJack]

backin the 80s I was part of the Roulettes, the RAAF aerobatic team. One afternoon while practicing some formation flying one of our birds hit a rat. Yep a rat at around 1000ft. it ended up splatterd and wedged between the intake and fuselage.
It mut have been in one of the other aircraft and got blown out, or decided to jump for it