Ways to prevent crashing?

[Trackerputnam]

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?

 

[Trackerputnam]

Go slow! Speed kills!

 

[Starz]

Altitude is your buddy. And he has never let me down.

 

[KB9Radio]

Figure out the maximum wind level you can safely fly in and then make sure sure you fly only when winds are well below that point. Make sure you wait for a good gps lock and the home point is recorded on takeoff. Set up your return to home at an altitude that will clear all the things it may encounter flying back. Don't ignore on screen prompts. Fly VLOS and remember if you need to just let off the sticks and the drone will stop and hover. Don't fly under or behind things that can block gps signals. As stable as dji drones are, it's easily possible to fly these without crashing if you pay attention to details.

 

[rwilliam99]

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.

I totally feel your pain...... After my second crash I've tried REALLY, REALLY hard to make sure I am better prepared going forward. I opted not to fly last weekend due to wind and tight quarters.

I've learned a lot reading this site and it is hopefully making me a better pilot.

 

[S.H]

I totally feel your pain...... After my second crash I've tried REALLY, REALLY hard to make sure I am better prepared going forward. I opted not to fly last weekend due to wind and tight quarters.

I've learned a lot reading this site and it is hopefully making me a better pilot.

Yeah, I lost that drone in a mountain and grieved for a whole week, but thank god I had DJI care.

 

[Dbez1]

As noted above, height is your friend. If you’re going to fly low, limit yourself to areas like open fields without people, trees, and wires until you get your skills up. Also, there should be a switch when you tap on the three dots and probably under “safety”, where you can disable sideways flight. Then if you keep your camera parallel with the ground, the only way to unknowingly screw up is by flying backwards. Finally, you might want to limit your aerial photography to stills until you get some flying experience as video can be more of a distraction. You listed your location as “A”, if you’re in the USA, be sure to take the TRUST exam, it’s free and you can’t fail it but you learn some important things.

 

[S.H]

As noted above, height is your friend. If you’re going to fly low, limit yourself to areas like open fields without people, trees, and wires until you get your skills up. Also, there should be a switch when you tap on the three dots and probably under “safety”, where you can disable sideways flight. Then if you keep your camera parallel with the ground, the only way to unknowingly screw up is by flying backwards. Finally, you might want to limit your aerial photography to stills until you get some flying experience as video can be more of a distraction. You listed your location as “A”, if you’re in the USA, be sure to take the TRUST exam, it’s free and you can’t fail it but you learn some important things.

I don't think the MINI2 has the disable sideways flight function, be sure to correct me if i am wrong.

 

[old man mavic]

@S.H that feature is not available on the Mini 2, its only if the drone has APAS and is only for use in Bypass mode,the reason it is on the mini 3 pro ,is because it does not have sideways facing sensors ,so if you are flying in narrow areas in Bypass mode, it prevents the drone from inadvertently being moved sideways ,with a stick input from the RC ,but the drone will still move sideways as it fly's if the sensors detect an obstacle in front of ,or behind it ,if it decides that it cant go over it ,also as i found out today in bypass mode through a narrow tree lined area to get to a gate ,as i reached a point where there were obstacles all around the drone ,above and to each side ,and the gate in front ,it refused to move forwards ,until i turned obstacle avoidance off completely, then i was able to fly it out into the open space beyond manually

 

[S.H]

@S.H that feature is not available on the Mini 2, its only if the drone has APAS and is only for use in Bypass mode,the reason it is on the mini 3 pro ,is because it does not have sideways facing sensors ,so if you are flying in narrow areas in Bypass mode, it prevents the drone from inadvertently being moved sideways ,with a stick input from the RC ,but the drone will still move sideways as it fly's if the sensors detect an obstacle in front of ,or behind it ,if it decides that it cant go over it ,also as i found out today in bypass mode through a narrow tree lined area to get to a gate ,as i reached a point where there were obstacles all around the drone ,above and to each side ,and the gate in front ,it refused to move forwards ,until i turned obstacle avoidance off completely, then i was able to fly it out into the open space beyond manually

Does that mean I should upgrade to something like a mavic with good OA?

 

[old man mavic]

@S.H not necessarily ,although OA is not foolproof ,it does allow the drone protection from collisions with obstacles ,and in bypass mode it does its best to avoid an impact by flying around or over something in its path, of course its all relative to the speed of the drone and the actual obstacle it encounters ,fine twigs and branches on trees and electrical power lines ,being particularly challenging ,and unless you use the auto follow me modes a lot ,its not really a necessity ,learning good drone control and being aware of your surroundings ,is a much better way of avoiding contact with obstacles

 

[S.H]

@S.H not necessarily ,although OA is not foolproof ,it does allow the drone protection from collisions with obstacles ,and in bypass mode it does its best to avoid an impact by flying around or over something in its path, of course its all relative to the speed of the drone and the actual obstacle it encounters ,fine twigs and branches on trees and electrical power lines ,being particularly challenging ,and unless you use the auto follow me modes a lot ,its not really a necessity ,learning good drone control and being aware of your surroundings ,is a much better way of avoiding contact with obstacles

Let's say I do get a drone with OA, what drone do you recommend for good obstacle avoidance, camera, and flight time?

 

[Spikes Mavic]

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

What does "OA" mean ?.

 

[Spikes Mavic]

got it Obstacle Avoidance , yes !

 

[old man mavic]

@S.H based purely on your question in post #32 above, then if price, and if in the USA with a part 107 it would have to be one of the drones from the Mavic 3 stable
if you are in the UK it would have to be a Mini 3 pro because of the ease of flying it with less restrictions

 

[S.H]

@S.H based purely on your question in post #32 above, then if price, and if in the USA with a part 107 it would have to be one of the drones from the Mavic 3 stable
if you are in the UK it would have to be a Mini 3 pro because of the ease of flying it with less restrictions

What is the Part 107 for? What mavic do you recommend? A mavic 3 pro or a classic for videos?

 

[Dbez1]

Part 107 is essentially a certification that allows you to fly commercially (or anything other than flying for fun).

 

[S.H]

Part 107 is essentially a certification that allows you to fly commercially (or anything other than flying for fun).

ah thanks

 

[tlyons]

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?

I am an engineer, can't help myself from viewing the whole world as a problem to debug.

Remember each crash and write down why you crashed. Figure out what you could have done differently to avoid that particular crash and make that a new practice. Write it down. Read your notes before you launch.

For example, these are mine:
1. Flew into a tree on manual RTH
-start home sooner with more battery so you don't feel rushed to get back. when in doubt, stop for a moment and think about what you should do next.
-always climb above the tree line until you have VLOS when you're returning (it usually much easier to spot against the sky rather than trees)
-put a strobe on your drone to improve visibility
2. Flew into a tree on auto RTH
-make it a practice to always check the RTH height before taking off. Make it 50ft higher than you think you need.
-as soon as you think you should be able to see the drone, stop and hover until you do or figure why you're looking in the wrong direction
3. Too aggressive to get the perfect shot.
-stop it. (at least that's what I tell myself.)
-get a cage and use it for dicey flying
4. Got disoriented and pushed controls the exact wrong way (I still do this)
-Build your skills. Get a cage and fly at lower speed near and around obstacles when you're safe from bystanders; under gazebos, through fence gates, down tree lined paths, etc Only do this places you can easily retrieve your drone. I didn't get any better, but I became more philosophically accepting of the certainty of destroying my drone.
-get a cheap small indoor drone and fly it around the house until build up your muscle memory.
-every time you go flying, spend 3-5 minutes just flying back and forth immediately in front of yourself to get your head in the game. then land, swap batteries and take off again.

But those are why I would crash. Your list will likely be different.
Good luck!

 

[TobyCWood]

Ok… I’ll confess it to the world… 3 days ago my new mini 2 SE went into a tree.
Im a newbie, but everyday I get in 3 batteries worth of stick time and I’m slowly getting better and better at really tricky multiple stick moves. How I let the tree get it? I was practicing orbits with the camera facing inward. So I was flying sideways and rotating yaw. Getting those orbits perfectly circular is tricky and the orbit expanded while I looked at the screen rather than the drone. I didn’t even get to see which tree got it. I ran home and got my 30’ long expanding pole I use for the house, but I could not find my drone! Ah! I tried to stop panicking then thought to look at the map, then saw the find my drone button. It starts beeping. It’s in a different tree! After wrestling with the pole and the tree it fell out of the tree unharmed. Lesson learned? Not too sure about that, for sure looking at the screen rather than the drone is the challenge.