Went flying and Mavic Pro returned with…

[sar104]

As a retired helicopter pilot, I have seen the St. Elmo's Fire (Google it) from the carbon fiber blades, even in the absence of a storm, and more spectacular in the charged air near a storm. And it can and does affect the blades. I'm betting this was an electrical event. It is amazing what mother nature can do when you least expect it.

I agree it looks electrical - I just can't figure out how it happened. Conductive components, such as carbon fiber, behave differently from dielectric materials such as regular plastics, so I'm not surprised that you've seen effects on blades.

 

[sar104]

Enlighten us!

It's possibly not as exciting as it sounds. Composite materials are used extensively to stop or slow down fast projectiles and explosively driven fragments, and so there has been a lot of research in that area. The material response is important in experimental shock wave and detonation physics, which is what I do.

 

[Ol' Sparky]

That definitely looks like burn marks to me so given that you made it back otherwise in one piece I'd suggest some 2 part epoxy to cover the hole and strengthen the leg followed by getting yourself a lotto ticket using the date of strike as your numbers.

Why? Wouldn't that throw off the weight and balance? Not to mention it would look like a two bit jury-rigged repair. Just get a new one for 20 bux.

 

[EricJT]

I remember a lightning strike when I was a kid near Albany, NY. Was on the NYS Thruway on way home from a concert with my brother. I was looking out the window at the side of the road bored when there was a huge bright flash and crack...it hit like 100' from the side of the car in a parking lot. Scared the heck out of me. LOL.

About 20 years ago I was working in my home office which shares a wall with the family room. A storm was approaching and I peripherally caught a flash followed by a thunder clap in what seemed to be less than a second.

It was so loud, I found I had instinctively dropped to the floor from my chair. Long story short, the lightning had struck the chimney in the family room about 10 feet from me. It blew a hole in the brick chimney stack above the roofline and also jumped to the electrical house wiring.....repairs were in excess of $20k CAD, fortunately covered by my homeowners insurance.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Why? Wouldn't that throw off the weight and balance? Not to mention it would look like a two bit jury-rigged repair. Just get a new one for 20 bux.

Wouldn't be an issue for weight & balance, people put those big strobes on one arm and the prop revs easily cope with stability.
Would be a battle scar to remember, and talking point with other pilots you may meet.
Sure, can easily replace, and if there is any sort of movement that shows the whole leg might be suspect, or if one didn't like the scarred look, replacement is a good move.

 

[SkyeHigh]

A bullet ‘may’ melt plastic but it won’t carbonise it as it appears to have done here. This is more conducive to a sudden high current electrical discharge.

It may also be the exit point if lightning is the cause. It would be interesting to know if there were any marks on the propeller mount or motor spindle if that were the first point of contact.

 

[Trackerputnam]

It's possibly not as exciting as it sounds. Composite materials are used extensively to stop or slow down fast projectiles and explosively driven fragments, and so there has been a lot of research in that area. The material response is important in experimental shock wave and detonation physics, which is what I do.

Thank you for help keeping our troops safe!

 

[Badgersurfer]

I dont have a clue, but this is the second one posted this week that is similar to this and in the exact same spot.
I will watch the thread to see what comes up.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly your Mavic Pro in the Rain.

Was the second one flying with lightning present?

 

[Outrunner]

I was on an RAF Nimrod transiting across the US from Brunswick to Whidbey Island Naval Air stations. We got hit going over the Rockies, a loud crack and flash as the St Elmo's Fire went through the plane. 2 minutes later I get a call from the 1st pilot, "I've lost my compasses. I popup to see him and he shows me. Take a look at the standby magnetic compass and it reading the incorrect heading. We do a 360 turn, the compass only moved 20 degrees, The navigators both complained about their equipment too.

On landing, there are multiple strikes to the air to air refuelling probe and the metal frame of the cockpit windows. The radome has a 3 foot hole in it with the scanner taking more strikes. Working the way back, the lightning conductor strips had vapourised, the front ESM pod covers that the ESM radar was mounted to were missing. On top of the tail, the 'canoe' had the rear section missing and at the very back the MAD boom cover was missing.

Instead of the airshow, I spent 5 days fixing the compasses, degaussing the cockpit and doing a compass swing, which involved having the plane towed in circles taking readings at cardinal points, then at every 30 degrees it took 11 hours before we were happy.

 

[br14nh]

Someone said the antenna is in the leg? RF creates an electromagnetic field with the higher voltage appearing at the 'open circuit' end of the antenna element - A known phenomenon in radio transmission at high altitude - i.e. low air pressure - is corona discharge. Given the electrically charged air around the flight path I'm wondering whether conditions were just right at the point this happened to result in a discharge that resulted in the damage shown.....

 

[PTBperegrine]

Interesting to note the difference in the response on this forum vs the response on Facebook to the same post. Majority of the folks who replied on Facebook were convinced that someone had been shooting at the drone with everything from a small caliber rifle to buckshot. Much more intelligence in this group than on Facebook.

That's not hard! ?

 

[jangjr]

It might be interesting to see the logs for any sudden changes from the accelerometers. There’s nothing in the Mavic Pro front legs for an internal electrical fault (other than the PCB antenna) to cause that. Unlike the Mavic 2 Pro the LEDs are mounted in the base of the motor housing.

Please check carefully because the antenna is located on the leg of the drone

 

[360 Guy]

St. Elmo's fire is a weather phenomenon in which luminous plasma is created by a corona discharge from a rod-like object such as a mast, spire, chimney, or animal horn[1] in an atmospheric electric field. The intensity of the effect, a blue or violet glow around the object, often accompanied by a hissing or buzzing sound, is proportional to the strength of the electric field and therefore noticeable primarily during thunderstorms or volcanic eruptions.

St. Elmo's fire is named after St. Erasmus of Formia (also known as St. Elmo), the patron saint of sailors. The phenomenon, which can warn of an imminent lightning strike,[2] was regarded by sailors with awe and sometimes considered to be a good omen.[3][4]

 

[SkyeHigh]

Please check carefully because the antenna is located on the leg of the drone

Yes, as already stated.

 

[Sjkieffer]

Bullet

 

[projectarjun]

Aren't replacement parts getting increasingly difficult to find for the Mavic Pro 1?

 

[SkyeHigh]

Batteries are hard to find but still plenty of parts available, legs included.

 

[19Mike57]

Ok, although this is does not look as much like a object strike as the other one, a while back, I still vote pellet of some kind. .22 maybe. The velocity of the projectile would melt some plastic before breaking the plastic. I have hit big raptors, rather they hit me, and no damage to my mavic. I have hit three humming birds and no damage. Just clean the blood. But I have hit coins with my .22. It will sometimes break the coin but I have seen the coin look like it melted some. Hitting something flying is hard but it can bet done.

Do you have an angry neighbor?

There is a well known saying; If you hear the sound of hoofbeats, think "Horses", not "Zebras". (unless you live in Africa) The man was flying in a thunderstorm, heard a clap of thunder nearby, and subsequently finds a burnt area on his drone. I sincerely doubt that a .22 bullet would cause a "burn" on the plastic leg of the drone. The velocity of a .22 is not great enough and also the .22 is typically lead or possibly copper clad lead, not something that causes a "burned" area. I vote lightning. It's the obvious choice.

 

[Donnie Frank]

So I wanted to catch an incoming storm with my Mavic Pro. After landing I noticed a burnt chunk taken out of the right front leg. The flight was a quick 7 minute flight for a panorama. While returning a rather close sharp rumble of thunder meant the flight was over. Visible lightning in the distance, but I understand that means nothing. What are your thoughts on this damage? New landing legs are inbound. No battery issues and she still flies well.

I say "battle scars." Freakin' kewl in my book. If they continue to support weight, I'd leave it.

D

 

[Blue Cord Drones]

Good morning, Check out my post and pics(Exposed wire, Antenna?) Exposed wire, Antenna?​

same thing happen to me. someone suggested that the rear prop had something to do with the burn? It made sense to me, I just chalked it up as user error, 99.9 % Historically USER ERROR on my part. But now I don't know. BCD​