Too many crashes

[m0j0]

BTW I do not consider a pilots inability to fly in ATTI mode a fly away.

That was about 60% of the problems

 

[m0j0]

Mavic Pro - Never had a single issue. I did put one in the water flying to low but 100% a dumb idea on my part. Funny thing is camera touched the water .. RTH initiated. I think it must have disconnected but it initiated RTH. I was able to regain control and land it anyway. Camera done... but yeah learned something that day. Don't take unnecessary risks. LOL that is actually on the part 107 test.. HAHA freebie guys

 

[DanMan32]

I too have real doubt about how many non-pilot error induced crashes there really are. Yes the can be compass errors on the ground but they have always gone away as soon as I get airborne. I always hand catch to avoid issues with landing on ground that exhibit compass issues.

I am perfectly comfortable flying in ATTI mode as I flew Rc Helicopters for years before the advent of stability control systems.

Has there been documented cases of fly always that did not involve some form of pilot error?

Not a good idea to fly with compass errors, even if they go away after being airborne. You could end up with bad compass bias where the AC thinks the compass is correct but it really isn't.

 

[James Shipp III]

Maybe I was being a little hypercritical as to the reason for posting ... as my whole livelihood and previous hobbies have had a lot to do with hand-eye coordination and more or less just down right common sense ... I am. Professional Custom Cabinet maker ... building kitchens , vanities , libraries , entertainment centers , furniture ... etc etc , for the last 33 years ... (47 my age ) ... still have all fingers ... drag raced a 7 second , 175 mph dragster for 6 years .... raced semi pro motocross in my early teens ....and have always been a gamer .... guess these things have helped me along the way with attributes that have kept me for the most part safe with my drone operation .... also I live in an area that is surrounded by nothing but water and a lot of my flying is done around these environments .... I don't wanna tank a 1500 drone ... But it is just a bit troubling to see so much about crashes .... was just wondering if it's inevitable by design ... or just a bunch of flukes

 

[James Shipp III]

Well of course it is inevitable by design! Whether it be our fault or that of the electrical of mechanical components of the craft itself, you will crash your drone. The question is not will it happen but when will it happen. Every time you go out to fly my friend it is a crap shoot. Granted a good pre-check schedule and careful planning can mitigate and lessen the chances of a crash but fly the craft long enough and sooner or later something either of your control or out of your control will bring the quad down. It's just the nature of this hobby we've chosen. If you've every had to return your quad and it was covered under warranty then you have also received from DJI someone else's crashed and repaired drone. Refurbished they call it. DJI recycles drones this way and makes a lot of profit at our expense doing business this way. If my drone crashes due to a battery falling out during flight only 3 days after it's purchased and I can not be compensated with a new, not refurbished, but new drone, that is not fair to me. Yes it is delineated in the warranty policy and I agreed to that but it still is not fair somehow. If that refurbished quad that I received crashes again on it's first flight out, and is again covered under warranty because this time there was a faulty circuit board found on the quad, and I again am sent a refurbished unit ( someone else's crashed unit) again I submit this just does not rest well with me. This was my actual experience. I still have that P4Pv2 but can never trust it. This design flaw in the phantom line is well documented. Other lines like the mavic 2 Pro have been better. But for sure all of these things are mass produced and subject to fail just as we ourselves will fail them. Again the question remains WHEN?

 

[hermitdog]

I crashed my Mavic 2 Zoom in October - and it was entirely MY FAULT:
https://mavicpilots.com/threads/how-i-lost-my-mavic-2-zoom.50498/

Since then I also crashed a Mavic Pro using a Litchi Waypoint mission. Since I had set the altitude at 100 feet, and since there were no trees that tall in that area, I'm more careful when I fly Litchi missions now. Here's one I flew this week - altitude set at 150 feet (38 waypoints):
https://vimeo.com/306443380

 

[FoxhallGH]

Agree 100% with pilot's responsibility and knowing about your Mavic and what makes it tick - But - one thing that I think causes a lot of problems leading to pilot-error-crashes, is all the 'cheesy-make-it-look-easy' advertising put out by Drone manufacturers [DJI included] that just implies that you buy your Drone and off you go flying like an instant Top-Gun flying genius!

My first experience with a serious Drone (a cheap DJI clone), went well on the training field 'till I pressed the RTH button. The Drone started to come back (from only about 15 metres away and 20 metres up), then just turned tail and shot off toward the trees. Due to my lack of experience I was slow to realise the Drone had spun and in pulling back to try and reverse its rampage, I just crashed it into the tree harder! Took a week, a very long ladder and trimming a lot of foliage out of the way to get it back. All the glamorous advertising didn't give any hint that I'd need to train to a high level in basic flight skills, just in case the basic features being advertised didn't work.

 

[Olderguyjim]

I have been flying RC helicopters for decades. When I started out I was trained by/practiced my *** off under the supervision of more experienced RC heli pilots. My concern since the Phantom one (I still own mine) has been that as easy are drones are to fly the operators don't have to fly hours of practice maneuvers just to feel comfortable flying it.
The lack of properly learned muscle memory means mistakes are more likely when situations arise that require instant control inputs and split second decisions.

I'm the first to admit flying boxes and figure 8s can get old so I think the best thing you can do to improve your drone flying skills is to practice flying a drone without a GPS.
Buy a Blade Inductrix (Tiny Whoop) or something similar, they are cheap, hard to break, hard to fly (relatively speaking) and a ton of fun. They are tiny so you can fly them in your house.
I own a couple drones that do not have GPS including an inductrix and try to fly them often to keep my skills sharp.

Have I crashed RC copters/drones?.. you bet I have. And I can tell you what I did wrong in every case to cause the crash, including the one time I had a component fail.

There are many things that can cause a drone to crash, including a poor pre-flight inspection, or the unlikely component failure (might have been caught in the pre-flight). all I'm saying is that like small manned aircraft (I'm an airplane pilot as well) the number one cause of a crash is pilot error.

my $0.02

It’s called taking responsibility.

 

[drakkor]

I have been flying RC helicopters for decades. When I started out I was trained by/practiced my *** off under the supervision of more experienced RC heli pilots. My concern since the Phantom one (I still own mine) has been that as easy are drones are to fly the operators don't have to fly hours of practice maneuvers just to feel comfortable flying it.
The lack of properly learned muscle memory means mistakes are more likely when situations arise that require instant control inputs and split second decisions.

I'm the first to admit flying boxes and figure 8s can get old so I think the best thing you can do to improve your drone flying skills is to practice flying a drone without a GPS.
Buy a Blade Inductrix (Tiny Whoop) or something similar, they are cheap, hard to break, hard to fly (relatively speaking) and a ton of fun. They are tiny so you can fly them in your house.
I own a couple drones that do not have GPS including an inductrix and try to fly them often to keep my skills sharp.

Have I crashed RC copters/drones?.. you bet I have. And I can tell you what I did wrong in every case to cause the crash, including the one time I had a component fail.

There are many things that can cause a drone to crash, including a poor pre-flight inspection, or the unlikely component failure (might have been caught in the pre-flight). all I'm saying is that like small manned aircraft (I'm an airplane pilot as well) the number one cause of a crash is pilot error.

my $0.02

I have and fly those tiny whoop as well, and they are awesome to teach you how to handle a quad. I always advise my friends who want to jump right to Mavic without any RC experience to buy a cheap $20 quad toy and practice on it before to try fly (and potentially crash) their new expensive Mavic

 

[TheRock]

I can tell you my only real crash came from pilot error. I think there have been some good tips in this post. Just handle the drone like it is a real plane and be safe and aware of what you are doing and don't go overboard on tricks and altitude. React to the feedback you get from the app. Many people ignore warnings.

 

[wjtvet]

I have been flying RC helicopters for decades. When I started out I was trained by/practiced my *** off under the supervision of more experienced RC heli pilots. My concern since the Phantom one (I still own mine) has been that as easy are drones are to fly the operators don't have to fly hours of practice maneuvers just to feel comfortable flying it.
The lack of properly learned muscle memory means mistakes are more likely when situations arise that require instant control inputs and split second decisions.

I'm the first to admit flying boxes and figure 8s can get old so I think the best thing you can do to improve your drone flying skills is to practice flying a drone without a GPS.
Buy a Blade Inductrix (Tiny Whoop) or something similar, they are cheap, hard to break, hard to fly (relatively speaking) and a ton of fun. They are tiny so you can fly them in your house.
I own a couple drones that do not have GPS including an inductrix and try to fly them often to keep my skills sharp.

Have I crashed RC copters/drones?.. you bet I have. And I can tell you what I did wrong in every case to cause the crash, including the one time I had a component fail.

There are many things that can cause a drone to crash, including a poor pre-flight inspection, or the unlikely component failure (might have been caught in the pre-flight). all I'm saying is that like small manned aircraft (I'm an airplane pilot as well) the number one cause of a crash is pilot error.

my $0.02

This may have been asked before .... besides personal guidance form a pro, where are good sources for instruction, practice and training?

Thanks!
Bill
Newbie to drone flying

 

[Meta4]

Haven't flown in several months due too fear of losing it. Several erratic flights where lost connections and visual only to be saved at the last minute when re-connected have left me VERY concerned about stability of my Mavic. These were flights in country with no interference and plenty of satellites and maybe 900 to 1200 feet away... but Mavic went rogue.

Mavic went rogue = I don't understand the cause of the incident.
These are mechanical devices. They don't "go rogue".
When they appear to be performing in a way you don't expect or understand, there is always a reason.
Modern DJI drones have a flight data recorder function that helps to solve many flight mysteries.

If you want to learn the cause of your incidents and be able to avoid similar occurrences ..
Go to DJI Flight Log Viewer - Phantom Help
Follow the instructions there to upload your flight record from your phone or tablet.
Come back and post a link to the report it provides (in a new thread) and someone might be able to analyse it and give you an understanding of the cause of the incident.

 

[SteveCA]

I've seen a number of crashes caused by equipment failure, but I don't recall many flyaway cases that were not pilot error. Right now I can only think of one.

Was the one incident a fly away or a crash? All this talk about fly always give our hobby a very bad name. most non droners assume that the thing can take off and crash into a person’ plane, car or worst all by itself. I’ve never had my drones do anything I didn’t initiate, except for one time while landing on cement that must have had rebar in it. The left stick fully down after landing did not shut down the motor the drone drifted right. I caught it, put it back up in the air and hand caught it

 

[sar104]

Was the one incident a fly away or a crash? All this talk about fly always give our hobby a very bad name. most non droners assume that the thing can take off and crash into a person’ plane, car or worst all by itself. I’ve never had my drones do anything I didn’t initiate, except for one time while landing on cement that must have had rebar in it. The left stick fully down after landing did not shut down the motor the drone drifted right. I caught it, put it back up in the air and hand caught it

It was a flyaway. It looked like IMU failure.

 

[Pontoon-pilot]

Mavic went rogue = I don't understand the cause of the incident.
These are mechanical devices. They don't "go rogue".
When they appear to be performing in a way you don't expect or understand, there is always a reason.

Mechanical devices go rogue all the time. As in "fail", but it is rare.
Nearly 20 years of flying RC airplanes and helis (way before these things were stabilized via e-gyro and had GPS)I firmly believe that crashes are caused by 95% pilot error & 5% mechanical error. If a motor goes out, plastic propeller gives out any electrical part including battery fails- The drone/craft is coming down.
If it has moving part...it can and will break.

#1 problem: these new drones are too easy to fly. Namely, very stable in the air. 4 propeller square, stabilized with the body (center of gravity) hanging below, + it will hover with hands off the sticks for 20+ minutes.
#2 you can send these off to distance without being able or need to see it.
#3 long flight times. You can get them far away without knowing what it takes to get it back, example countering headwind.
#4 no experience necessary.

1) If anyone would ask me today, what is the best advice before sending off a drone would be to buy or use free flight simulators; practice until you don't crash. (realflight sim has helis drones and RC airplanes)This has saved me tons of $$ in heli parts.
2) understand how to properly setup the aircraft (remote), know the rules, don't rush it- do a pre-flight check. A good example why- the remote controller's battery (4AA) got discharged, was replaced with new set. In the setting 1 servo got reversed. The RC airplane crashed.
I am a newbie to drones, just got mine a week ago. Flying it is easy, learning the settings for the camera and flight parameters is the challenge.

 

[SteveCA]

Mechanical devices go rogue all the time. As in "fail", but it is rare.
Nearly 20 years of flying RC airplanes and helis (way before these things were stabilized via e-gyro and had GPS)I firmly believe that crashes are caused by 95% pilot error & 5% mechanical error. If a motor goes out, plastic propeller gives out any electrical part including battery fails- The drone/craft is coming down.
If it has moving part...it can and will break.

#1 problem: these new drones are too easy to fly. Namely, very stable in the air. 4 propeller square, stabilized with the body (center of gravity) hanging below, + it will hover with hands off the sticks for 20+ minutes.
#2 you can send these off to distance without being able or need to see it.
#3 long flight times. You can get them far away without knowing what it takes to get it back, example countering headwind.
#4 no experience necessary.

1) If anyone would ask me today, what is the best advice before sending off a drone would be to buy or use free flight simulators; practice until you don't crash. (realflight sim has helis drones and RC airplanes)This has saved me tons of $$ in heli parts.
2) understand how to properly setup the aircraft (remote), know the rules, don't rush it- do a pre-flight check. A good example why- the remote controller's battery (4AA) got discharged, was replaced with new set. In the setting 1 servo got reversed. The RC airplane crashed.
I am a newbie to drones, just got mine a week ago. Flying it is easy, learning the settings for the camera and flight parameters is the challenge.

My sentiments exactly! Trouble with these drones is that there is little to check compared to our RC Helis. I used to check linkage/ servo movements etc before flying, but other than tight props and gps status, there is little else to check.

Camera settings and flight parameters are easily learned compared to the precise muscle memory required to fly non stabilized Helis of old. Just ask as there are plenty of folks here to help, including myself for camera settings anyways.

 

[pbj_dk]

I crashed the first 3 drones, I owned. Multiple times until they smashed totally in a rubble of plastic and electronics! They were deliberately purchased very cheap and with no flying aid for that purpose. As a photographer, I wanted to see, if I could incorporate drone photography, but I didn't want to spend a huge amount, if it wasn't a thing for me. So I flew the crap out of them, smashing them all over the place (a safe place!) learning how to fly drones.
I got hooked and first bought a Youneec Breeze and later the M2P. Both have NEVER crashed, but I think that's because I learned to fly the cheap un-aided ones (and crashed) BEFORE I invested in a real Photo drone.
Conclusion as to why people smash their new expensive drones: Despite all their smart flying aid, RTH, OAS and other sensors, they are not smarter then the idiot piloting them ;-)

 

[Steve Murray]

How DO you crash a Mavic Pro, if you have your eyes open?

 

[W2EJ]

I've flown my Mavic 2 Pro about thirty times without a crash. It's really a great machine. I don't consider myself a very good pilot yet, but I am improving, and this technology is fantastic.

 

[Droneflyer]

I’ve had two mavic platinum pros crash on me so far and thank God they were covered under warranty .You may think these things are very dependable they are not . Once again you may think that they’re dependable they are not . They’re not perfect ,if yours hasn’t come down and crashed it’ll come down and crash. I have had 2 spiraled out of control and come down and crash . In a Clear open area .
For whatever reason electrical / Circuit board problem or rotor problem etc. I don’t know there should be some sort of diagnostics thing to plug into it prior to flight takeoff like you do in a car that finds the errors . Hopefully before it becomes a crash .
On top of that they’re overpriced .
My two cents.

 

[old man mavic]

I've flown my Mavic 2 Pro about thirty times without a crash. It's really a great machine. I don't consider myself a very good pilot yet, but I am improving, and this technology is fantastic.

There is one thing I have noticed all the posts saying that they have had no problems with there mavics are of a certain age similar to me funny thing is I have had no issues with mine perhaps us oldies take more time to read the instructions