Ways to prevent crashing?

[S.H]

Hello, I recently crashed my Mini 2 into a tree and now I'm on my last DJI care repair. Any ways to maybe prevent some crashing? Especially in things like flying around buildings, or places where crashing is most common, any anti-crashing practices that people usually do?

 

[FLDave]

Your eyes are your best defense to prevent crashing into things. Make sure you know exactly where your drone is at all times and your are fully aware of surrounding obstacles. It's all part of VLOS situation awareness. Understanding how the drone reacts automatically to obstacles is also important.

 

[S.H]

Your eyes are your best defense to prevent crashing into things. Make sure you know exactly where your drone is at all times and your are fully aware of surrounding obstacles. It's all part of VLOS situation awareness. Understanding how the drone reacts automatically to obstacles is also important.

thanks

 

[old man mavic]

firstly welcome to the forum
there is nothing other than practicing drone control ,that will prevent you from crashing,you need to find a large open area away from the dreaded trees and power lines ,and just fly squares both with the camera facing away from you and also with it facing you so that you get confident knowing which way the drone is going to go for a given stick input on the RC
then you can progress to flying figure of eights using more than one stick movement at the same time
although these manoeuvres may seem repetitive and boring ,they will over time greatly improve your chances of staying crash free
also you need to be aware of your surroundings at all times ,flying these drones may seem very easy ,but by the same token ,crashing them can be just as easy as you have found out

 

[SmilingOgre]

Is that picture worth a grand? If not, don’t go there.
Are your sticks second nature? If not, practice more.
Can you see your drone? If not walk over to it so you can.
Yaw the drone first and use your camera to find a clear path and fly only forward, slowly.
Survey the area. Identify an area with a clear path upward to return to an altitude above the canopy.
Hover is your friend to buy time to make a solid plan.

 

[MA2 317]

A visual observer will help keep an eye on the aircraft while you concentrate on getting "the shot".

This also allows you to scan the telemetry on the screen to ensure you're in the green while getting the shot.

It's tough to do it by yourself if constantly looking up at the drone, down at the screen, back up at the drone, etc.


The VO can't be distracted and should concentrate on your drone during the flight and alert you if your flight is in jeopardy.

Fly safe.

 

[S.H]

A visual observer will help keep an eye on the aircraft while you concentrate on getting "the shot".

This also allows you to scan the telemetry on the screen to ensure you're in the green while getting the shot.

It's tough to do it by yourself if constantly looking up at the drone, down at the screen, back up at the drone, etc.


The VO can't be distracted and should concentrate on your drone during the flight and alert you if your flight is in jeopardy.

Fly safe.

What if you don't have a visual observer? (I usually fly by myself, concentrated on the sticks.)

 

[MA2 317]

What if you don't have a visual observer? (I usually fly by myself, concentrated on the sticks.)

I fly by myself most of the times too.

I know some of the drones have a range of over five miles, but that doesn't mean you should do it, not saying you do, but VLOS is the safest.

Do test runs and gradually get better if doing it alone.

.

 

[rwilliam99]

As someone who has crashed twice, and wanting to learn from those mistakes to prevent it from happening again, my advice would be as follows:

• Practice flying in "safe" areas - getting muscle memory for flying will help in emergency situations - so you don't freak out and do things that will more likely crash your drone. Some of this flying might seem boring, but it really does help. You need to fly regularly too in order to maintain this muscle memory.
• Read and re-read the manual - and then read it again
• Never, under any circumstances fly until you get the "the home point has been updated" message as well as having the GPS count turn white.
• Trees and power lines are not your friend - be VERY wary of both. Trees have a bad habit of reaching out and grabbing your drone (I kid, but limbs, especially those with no leaves are really hard to see at a distance).
• Don't fly in tight spaces until you have a lot of practice and experience at tightly controlling your drone.
• The mini 2 does not have obstacle avoidance, but if you do get a drone with OA, do not rely on it to keep you out of trouble - it is not perfect.

 

[3rdof5]

Besides all the great advice mentioned already, two things to consider BEFORE flying is where your aircraft will be if something goes sideways. If you are flying in tight quarters you should set the "Loss of RC signal" to hover only. You don't want it climbing to the default RTH altitude if it has obstacles above it. If it just hovers you can walk to it and regain control.
Second, make sure you set the RTH altitude high enough to clear any obstacles where you happen to flying.
Always always always considering the RTH actions before taking off.

 

[rwilliam99]

Is that picture worth a grand? If not, don’t go there.
Are your sticks second nature? If not, practice more.
Can you see your drone? If not walk over to it so you can.
Yaw the drone first and use your camera to find a clear path and fly only forward, slowly.
Survey the area. Identify an area with a clear path upward to return to an altitude above the canopy.
Hover is your friend to buy time to make a solid plan.

This made me think of another one - "never fly sideways" (or backwards if you don't have OA) - when you are farther away the camera is a reasonable way to find a good path forward. Flying only forwards and slowly is excellent advice, IMO

 

[Meta4]

Hello, I recently crashed my Mini 2 into a tree and now I'm on my last DJI care repair. Any ways to maybe prevent some crashing? Especially in things like flying around buildings, or places where crashing is most common, any anti-crashing practices that people usually do?

The simple and obvious first rule would be to avoid flying anywhere near trees, building and other obstacles.
It's very hard to get into trouble when there's nothing to hit.
Fly somewhere safe ... like out at sea.

 

[rwilliam99]

Another thought popped into my head - exactly WHY did you crash into a tree? Did you make a bad turn? Was it pilot error? Or did the drone do something weird? It sounds like you are saying it is pilot error? If so, to me the only antidote for that is more experience and avoiding areas that are "dangerous".

 

[Sky Pics]

All of my maneuvering is done above 200 feet, takeoff is straight up until I reach a safe height.

I fly in a city, generally alone, where there are many obstacles that can potentially take me out at a lower altitude. Great thing about the dashboard is it displays height and distance, two things I'm always aware of (amongst others) as you may have guessed from the above.

Cheers!

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

Fly with your brain engaged.
I tree'ed a Mavic 2 zoom because mine wasn't, it did something unexpected, drifted over the roof towards the chimney, and I panicked. If I had commanded climb ( the sensible thing to have done ) it would have been fine. Instead I commanded a 'knee-jerk' full speed horizontal response ..... straight into the tree's open arms branches. The result ..... several hours of DIY repair .... though I enjoyed doing those repairs.

 

[S.H]

Another thought popped into my head - exactly WHY did you crash into a tree? Did you make a bad turn? Was it pilot error? Or did the drone do something weird? It sounds like you are saying it is pilot error? If so, to me the only antidote for that is more experience and avoiding areas that are "dangerous".

I was trying to get back to the takeoff point, and there was a tree in the way. I tried to kinda move past it, but failed.

 

[rwilliam99]

I was trying to get back to the takeoff point, and there was a tree in the way. I tried to kinda move past it, but failed.

Were you flying sideways or backwards?

I don't even want to admit how stupid my first crash was.......

 

[old man mavic]

I was trying to get back to the takeoff point, and there was a tree in the way. I tried to kinda move past it, but failed.

so what happened to gaining some altitude ,to fly over the tree ,

 

[S.H]

so what happened to gaining some altitude ,to fly over the tree ,

I also thought that, but I guess i was too stupid and dumb to think about that in that scenario.

 

[S.H]

Were you flying sideways or backwards?

I don't even want to admit how stupid my first crash was.......

Forwards, I was not paying attention so I stupidly crashed it. My first crash was trying to parallax a mountain, then losing focus and crashing into another mountain.