WHY ARE SO MANY PROBLEMS BEING REPORTED?

Watash48 · Dec 4, 2019

Just looking at all the problems being reported with DJI drones, why would anyone want to jump in and feel the pain?

Mossiback · Dec 4, 2019

There is a lot more pleasure than pain. People are quick to criticize but slow to praise.

Mavic Mac · Dec 4, 2019

Maybe you hear more about DJI drone problems here than any other drone because this is a Mavic forum ?

PhantomFandom · Dec 4, 2019

Watash48 said:
Just looking at all the problems being reported with DJI drones, why would anyone want to jump in and feel the pain?

What frame of reference are you using to ascertain that there are so many problems being reported?

Most reported crashes are due to pilot error. This has been seen over and over on these forums.
Of course people will post their issues here. That's what forums are all about. So you have a skewed view of the overall pilot community. For every issue there are likely hundreds of pilots that have never had an issue. They just don't post every time they have a perfect flight. Personally I own (or have owned) dozens of DJI drones and have never had a crash or incident of any type.
All manufacturers have their fair share of legitimate lemons right out of the box. These are electro-mechanical devices and it happens, even with the best QA processes in place. It's just as true for drones as it is for cell phones, automobiles, or coffee makers.

So if you are interested in flying drones then you stick with it, learn as much as you can and try your best to fly safely. If you think it's too much pain, then find another hobby.

Johnmcl7 · Dec 4, 2019

It's the nature of forums that people will come here to post problems because they want solution but many people who are happy with their drones will not post here. A few years ago I put a deposit on a car but when I started reading up on the manufacturer forums I was seriously considering cancelling the purchase and losing my deposit because there were so many people consistently having the same major problems that clearly I would be highly likely to have at least one of them. I went ahead with the purchase and owned the car for many years without any of the issues I was expecting nor any major problems. It's difficult not to be persuaded when seeing so many problems even though I know it's always the case that they'll be unbalanced towards problems.

I think drones can be worse for this as there's a lot of scope for user error but people will post a topic 'Uncontrollable flyaway' suggesting it's the drone that was at fault and there was nothing they could do to stop it but in many cases it's pilot error and the problem could have been avoided which isn't reflected in the topic.

I've had a Mavic Pro 1 and Mavic Pro 2 since their respective launches and I've not had any major issues with either, I've been extremely pleased with both of them.

Skywatcher2001 · Dec 4, 2019

It's also an numbers game:

If Yuneec has 100,000 drones out in the market with only 10% problems reported; that's 10,000 problems.
If DJI has 10,000,000 drones out in the market with only 10% problems reported; that's 1,000,000 problems.

The ratio of reported problems between the two are EXACTLY the same.

Florida Drone Supply · Dec 4, 2019

Very good point @Skywatcher2001

Also, I always like to use the analogy–the news doesn't report on the 44,000+ flights that land safely each and every day, you only hear about the very few problematic ones.

Skywatcher2001 · Dec 4, 2019

Another excellent point (and analogy) Florida Drone Supply . . .

RadioFlyerMan · Dec 4, 2019

Watash48 said:
Just looking at all the problems being reported with DJI drones, why would anyone want to jump in and feel the pain?

I get your drift. However, you are seeing a bias similar to gambling. With gambling, you only hear the good not the bad. With drone problems, you only see the bad, not the good... nobody complains about success. Imagine if every one of the 100,000 members of this forum who had a successful flight today posted it. You might come back with a different perspective. Also, if you look at all the problems pilots report on this forum, I'll bet that is a very small fraction of the total number of drones out there.

All drones are basically flying computers. And any electronic device can experience failure. One has to accept the risk of catastrophic failure as a fact of flying drones, just like accepting the risk of being one of 40,000 people killed in auto accidents when you drive to your flying site. I've flown almost 1000 flights with my MPP, and each time I take off, I accept that this one could be my last... I could lose it all. If someone is not comfortable with that, then I guess it is the wrong hobby/business for them.

AeroMoPho · Dec 4, 2019

I believe DJI simply has the best drones, overall and have a large array of choices. And it seems to me that most DJI owners do NOT seem to have major or frequent problems with their DJI drones. That is why i bought one recently, despite having read and heard various nightmare stories over last 18 months or so (which originally kept me away). Now that I have owned my first DJI drone (M2P) for 7 weeks (it is my 4th drone i have owned), I personally have had way more pain than pleasure. But my worst issues have not been with the physical drone or controller. After much investigation and much communication with DJI and other pilots I believe DJI def. has some serious problems with its poorly-designed and buggy FlySafe system. But the system is so huge and seems to mostly work okay in most places for most pilots. But it clearly has some very frustrating and serious problems with its execution in certain areas and there are bugs and contradictions for certain areas within the system.

In general, both professional and recreational drone pilots in USA already have to deal with the well-intended but very-imperfect FAA statutes and rules. The bulk of the foundation of drone law re. the FAA airspace system currently in place in USA was created prior to the existence of drones and clearly needs to be modernized in order to accommodate the new reality of drone tech. DJI's big mistake, IMHO, was that instead of working with the FAA to improve and evolve the safety and applicability of the current authoritative FAA airspace and safety laws/rules, DJI created another new incongruous, equally-dysfunctional system (known as FlySafe) that is equally bad, if not worse. So now all DJI pilots have to deal with not just one, but 2 well-intended yet dysfunctional safety systems.

That said, I believe the DJI pilot's experience seems to be VERY dependent on WHERE they are flying. You can have 2 pilots with the same equipment, both with properly-working equipment and one pilot can be virtually grounded , repeatedly having problems (my experience, in general) and another pilot in a different area can have nothing but smooth sailing.

It is important on these boards to NOT project our own personal experiences upon everyone else too strongly because much of the FlySafe issues are often not related to equipment or pilot, but are often just related to where the pilot is flying. But with as many problems as i have had in my first 6 weeks of ownership and as terrible as it has been for me, i do believe that most pilots are having way less issues and seem to be not experiencing too many problems. This gives me some hope, as i move forward and try to deal with the problems i have had. But it is pretty understandable (to me) as to why some pilots stay away and why others "jump ship" and swear off the DJI ecosystem. I certainly have sympathy for them.

RadioFlyerMan · Dec 4, 2019

AeroMoPho said:
I believe DJI simply has the best drones, overall and have a large array of choices. And it seems to me that most DJI owners do NOT seem to have major or frequent problems with their DJI drones. That is why i bought one recently, despite having read and heard various nightmare stories over last 18 months or so (which originally kept me away). Now that I have owned my first DJI drone (M2P) for 7 weeks (it is my 4th drone i have owned), I personally have had way more pain than pleasure. But my worst issues have not been with the physical drone or controller. After much investigation and much communication with DJI and other pilots I believe DJI def. has some serious problems with its poorly-designed and buggy FlySafe system. But the system is so huge and seems to mostly work okay in most places for most pilots. But it clearly has some very frustrating and serious problems with its execution in certain areas and there are bugs and contradictions for certain areas within the system.

In general, both professional and recreational drone pilots in USA already have to deal with the well-intended but very-imperfect FAA statutes and rules. The bulk of the foundation of drone law re. the FAA airspace system currently in place in USA was created prior to the existence of drones and clearly needs to be modernized in order to accommodate the new reality of drone tech. DJI's big mistake, IMHO, was that instead of working with the FAA to improve and evolve the safety and applicability of the current authoritative FAA airspace and safety laws/rules, DJI created another new incongruous, equally-dysfunctional system (known as FlySafe) that is equally bad, if not worse. So now all DJI pilots have to deal with not just one, but 2 well-intended yet dysfunctional safety systems.

That said, I believe the DJI pilot's experience seems to be VERY dependent on WHERE they are flying. You can have 2 pilots with the same equipment, both with properly-working equipment and one pilot can be virtually grounded , repeatedly having problems (my experience, in general) and another pilot in a different area can have nothing but smooth sailing.

It is important on these boards to NOT project our own personal experiences upon everyone else too strongly because much of the FlySafe issues are often not related to equipment or pilot, but are often just related to where the pilot is flying. But with as many problems as i have had in my first 6 weeks of ownership and as terrible as it has been for me, i do believe that most pilots are having way less issues and seem to be not experiencing too many problems. This gives me some hope, as i move forward and try to deal with the problems i have had. But it is pretty understandable (to me) as to why some pilots stay away and why others "jump ship" and swear off the DJI ecosystem. I certainly have sympathy with them

Agreed

Oconnb910 · Dec 5, 2019

I guess I'm not sure I get this whole thing because I love DJI drones

Oconnb910 · Dec 5, 2019

I am thinking somebody just needed a hug.

pmshop · Dec 5, 2019

Oconnb910 said:
I guess I'm not sure I get this whole thing because I love DJI drones

I do too...when they work:

Warranty Issues

How many times have you sent in your Mavic Air on warranty issues since you had it? I have no idea why I collected lens covers but here is my collection between 2 Mavic Air since March 23, 2019 7 9 if you count the two DOA batteries on receipt of each Mavic Air.

mavicpilots.com

But when they do work, they are awesome!

Mavic Mac · Dec 5, 2019

Oconnb910 said:
I am thinking somebody just needed a hug.

? - There ya go !!

allenface · Dec 5, 2019

PhantomFandom said:
What frame of reference are you using to ascertain that there are so many problems being reported?

Most reported crashes are due to pilot error. This has been seen over and over on these forums.

Of course people will post their issues here. That's what forums are all about. So you have a skewed view of the overall pilot community. For every issue there are likely hundreds of pilots that have never had an issue. They just don't post every time they have a perfect flight. Personally I own (or have owned) dozens of DJI drones and have never had a crash or incident of any type.

All manufacturers have their fair share of legitimate lemons right out of the box. These are electro-mechanical devices and it happens, even with the best QA processes in place. It's just as true for drones as it is for cell phones, automobiles, or coffee makers.

So if you are interested in flying drones then you stick with it, learn as much as you can and try your best to fly safely. If you think it's too much pain, then find another hobby.

This is truth. I’m on some professional video forums and there are complaints galore but this is how we learn. Not one comment that I’ve read indicated DJI made crappy products or that Mavic’s are plagued with problems. As was just noted, most drone issues are operator error. I know with me that’s the case. Complaints about issues not matter what, actually help forum dwellers. It lets us know we are not the only DA’s on the planet and we learn by other peoples mistakes. I can’t help but think forums like this are monitored by corporate and they take operational issues to heart and make improvements.

Watash48 · Dec 5, 2019

Thanks for the Hug Guys... I get your point.

Paul Schulze · Dec 5, 2019

Maybe, for the sake of doubters and potential DJI owners, we should start a thread for pilots who have had a great flying experience for the month. I say a monthly report because anything less than that would crash the server.

Watash48 · Dec 5, 2019

Paul Schulze said:
Maybe, for the sake of doubters and potential DJI owners, we should start a thread for pilots who have had a great flying experience for the month. I say a monthly report because anything less than that would crash the server.

This is an excellent idea. Thank you for sharing.