AlansDronePics
First Officer
Flight distance : 823163 ft
Guernsey
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wgray105 Posted at 3-24 04:36
I had flown it a long way away and the battery was getting low. So, I headed it back toward me at high speed in sport mode. Well, it wasn't headed exactly toward me but rather off to the side by quite a wide margin. I was on a flat hill and the drone was off in a direction much below me. So, the drone was only about 10 feet above my level. Off to the side were some large gravel piles much higher than where I was standing. Being in sport mode, the collision avoidance system was inoperable. The drone crashed into one of the gravel piles and damaged the camera lens. Otherwise it appears OK, but I haven't checked it out yet. Its still dark here. Below me were some large vinyards. I though that was where the drone went down and spent the day looking there. Somehow I became convinced that the red arrow on the screen was the launch point, not the present location of the drone. I'm still learing how to use this thing. I should have pressed the "come home" button rather than try to fly it home myself. But I knew it would first go at least 100 feet higher before coming home and I was afraid there wasn't enough battery left. Finally, I decided the red arrow on the screen must be the present location of the drone and thought I knew what had happened. The "apparent" location was in a place I knew I could find by flashlight in the dark. So, I went out about midnight last night after recharging the battery in my cell phone so I could follow my progress toward the red arrow. Sure enough, there the drone lay on the side of the gravel pile.
Thanks for the tale of woe, better than just that you lost/found the machine.
A couple of tips to remember, next time you fly and have a low battery.
Sports mode will return the drone faster, but it uses more power overall than the optimum speed which you will find in the specification regarding flight duration. For the Mavic Pro, it is slightly less than full speed in standard mode. This assumes any headwind is less than max standard speed, or you will have to use sports mode.
The time left on your battery is calculated by the drone in relation to how far away it is and assumes you will fly back at optimum speed and in a direct, straight line, not sports mode. HOWEVER, it is unable to account for a headwind or a non-direct route home, so you must allow for that yourself. The wise flyer never flies back into the wind without a very safe reserve of power. When power is very low, there is no guarantee that the drone won't suddenly drop from the sky.
It is always a wise move to rise gently up, vertically, at takeoff, to the max altitude you expect to reach and hover for a moment. watch the lateral movement readout on the device and decide if the wind is too strong. Wind is always much faster the higher you go. If the drone is being swept away, the readout will show movement when it should be stable, bring it down. As I expect you realise, you wont have far to fly the drone back if things are bad.
Another tip to save power on a dicey return is to quickly get below any headwind wind and continue in a gentle decent towards home. Like a plane coming into land.
Hope these thoughts help you. |
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