Nice video . I've been looking at those GPS locators so I could find mine after it got lost so could claim it on the DJI Refresh. I just don't like the fact that most of them are bundled with the SIM card and you get another montly payment on your credit card. I would prefer to choose the SIM I want to use. That's why I haven't purchased one. Those little things are sturdy and probably would last a crash if attached tightly enough to the Mavic. It would then send the real location and not the last on air in this kind of situation. After looking at this video I'm starting to reconsider buying one...

How unfortunate. I've found some great Mavic campfires on @droneeasy

fansebe7d662 Posted at 2017-4-10 04:47
Thanks for taking the time to help others learn from your mistake. Question I'm new to mavic, Does DJi have the option of RTH auto if it reaches a percent of battery left and if so If im flying under tree and it triggers to RTH will it go up to altitude and crash to the umbrella type tree.  Another question on cliffs like that you should have had an updraft more than a head wind no?   Thank you

Bit off topic, but in a nutshell, yes, the auto-RTH feature will kick in when it decides it's only got enough battery left to get back to the home point based on its current location and distance from you. And it will indeed rise up to the RTH altitude before heading back.
Bottom line: it has plenty of incredibly clever routines and procedures but it can't accomdate every scenario...
Ian

fansebe7d662 Posted at 2017-4-10 04:47
Thanks for taking the time to help others learn from your mistake. Question I'm new to mavic, Does DJi have the option of RTH auto if it reaches a percent of battery left and if so If im flying under tree and it triggers to RTH will it go up to altitude and crash to the umbrella type tree.  Another question on cliffs like that you should have had an updraft more than a head wind no?   Thank you

Once it's decided that it only has enough power left to return home, it'll give you a warning with a 10-second countdown. If you don't cancel it after 10 seconds, it'll start to go up to the RTH altitude then fly home.

Jason Lane Posted at 2017-4-7 05:58
I'm pretty sure it still kills the motors after holding down the left stick. I usually keep Landing Protection disabled, and hand catch my Mavic for about 99% of my landings. All I do is hold the left stick down for a few seconds while holding the Mavic, and the motors shut down.

Jason Lane, 100% agree! I always do the same trick myself

Great post. Good lessons learned. Sorry for your loss.

Sorry for your loss and thanks a lot for the video.

I've never thought a video of losing one's drone can be so dramatic that i watched it as if i was watching a film.

probably because i crashed my drone several times and your video really brought back that nervousness

2 things to share:

1. I always check out the little radar/map on lower left corner while flying my mavic home. actually there is green line linking mavic's position and where you are. as long as you confirm that mavic is fly along the green line (see to the red arrow), it's heading the right direction. I always do that because i personally have some issues in trusting the RTH function. one advantage of manually flying home is that the drone does not have to climb up to the pre-set height and then return home, I can always fly my mavic a 100% straight line from where it is to my position, regardless its vertical or horizontal position.

2. maybe you can fly your new mavic over where you've lost the old one. considering the wind that day, you can look for the old one a bit east to its last coordinates.


wish you safe and pleasant flight in the future.

Thanks for posting your video - Very sorry for your loss. We can all always learn something no matter how long we have been flying.

I'd like to add a little something that doesn't seem to have been mentioned by any of the other replies - I have been flying for a few years starting out with a Phantom 2 Vision and one feature I still use today on my Mavic when I'm a bit disorientated or I just need it back quick because the battery is getting low is to flick it into HOMELOCK mode and just pull back on the right stick and it just comes straight back to its takeoff point (it doesn't matter which direction the craft is pointing, it will just come back to its take off home point). You can still yaw round a full 360 degrees to point the camera in any direction you want to check for obstacles in your way. It doesn't rise up to your RTH set height, it just stays at the height you were at when you selected HOMELOCK, you can go up and down using the left stick as normal.

If you dont have map access it doesn't matter because you don't need to see its position. If the craft does slow down because of low sun affecting the forward vision positioning sensors you can just yaw it around to face away from the sun and it will still come back to you, But you will need to yaw back around from time to time to make sure that you are not going to fly straight into something.

Your problems really started when you hadn't realised that you had flown past yourself for quite a long way, if you had of selected HOMELOCK it would have come directly back to you and your later problems wouldn't have occurred.

I learn't the hard way too, but was lucky about a craft taking off again after it had been landed after loss of signal from my transmitter. I am lucky to have a small open area in front of my house where I practice flying. Early days I had been out flying and on my second nearly full battery it started to rain, so I landed and stopped the rotors, but didn't switch off either the drone or my transmitter. I took everything inside my house and thought I needed to run the battery down because I was going away for a few days and didn't want to leave the battery with nearly a full charge, so put the drone on my dining table and started the motors and left the idling to run down the battery. All was fine for about 10 mins, I went and made a coffee and then without thinking I just turned off my transmitter thinking I didn't need to run the transmitter battery down unnecessarily.

Course you know what is coming next - the drone still had a GPS lock even inside my house and decided when I turned the transmitter off that it needed to return home to 15m away outside where it originally took off from and took off from the dinning table. Very fortunately for me I was close enough and dived and grabbed it by its legs before it hit the ceiling. Obviously it was fighting me still trying to return home, but the transmitter was in reach and I turned it back on again with my other hand, toggled the GPS/Atti switch to cancel the RTH and did a CSC to stop the motors.

I was quite shaken up afterwards and realised I had been a very lucky boy. Funnily enough I haven't done it again!

Have a practice using HOMELOCK, it can be you new best friend next to the RTH feature.

Jimney Posted at 2017-4-14 09:01
Thanks for posting your video - Very sorry for your loss. We can all always learn something no matter how long we have been flying.

I'd like to add a little something that doesn't seem to have been mentioned by any of the other replies - I have been flying for a few years starting out with a Phantom 2 Vision and one feature I still use today on my Mavic when I'm a bit disorientated or I just need it back quick because the battery is getting low is to flick it into HOMELOCK mode and just pull back on the right stick and it just comes straight back to its takeoff point (it doesn't matter which direction the craft is pointing, it will just come back to its take off home point). You can still yaw round a full 360 degrees to point the camera in any direction you want to check for obstacles in your way. It doesn't rise up to your RTH set height, it just stays at the height you were at when you selected HOMELOCK, you can go up and down using the left stick as normal.

Also a very helpfull and crazy story!
Thanks to all of you for sharing them.

Great share.  Sorry for your lost drone ...something we all fear.  Hey at least you have a second controller now...  so not necessarily a full 1k loss.

I feel your pain, I lost my first Phantom 4 when it was introduced because I did not understand completely its new autonomous features.  Cool video though and educational.

Jimney Posted at 2017-4-14 09:01
Thanks for posting your video - Very sorry for your loss. We can all always learn something no matter how long we have been flying.

I'd like to add a little something that doesn't seem to have been mentioned by any of the other replies - I have been flying for a few years starting out with a Phantom 2 Vision and one feature I still use today on my Mavic when I'm a bit disorientated or I just need it back quick because the battery is getting low is to flick it into HOMELOCK mode and just pull back on the right stick and it just comes straight back to its takeoff point (it doesn't matter which direction the craft is pointing, it will just come back to its take off home point). You can still yaw round a full 360 degrees to point the camera in any direction you want to check for obstacles in your way. It doesn't rise up to your RTH set height, it just stays at the height you were at when you selected HOMELOCK, you can go up and down using the left stick as normal.

That's really useful thanks.  I'm sorry to say I'm smiling at the thought of you clinging on to your drone as it tries to carve a hole on your ceiling to get home....
RTH can have unexpected consequences if you forget about it!!!!

Cheers,
Ian

sorry to hear that mate but knowing people who fly RC for over 20 years tells you something - its not a question IF you panic/crash/dumb thumb it - the questions actually is When ... the small print however says: it will happen, beginner or pro ...

Great video Ian. I am thinking of purchasing my first drone but live in Harrow, NW London - how difficult is it to find places to fly legally in the U.K.?

r4nd0m Posted at 2017-4-15 02:40
sorry to hear that mate but knowing people who fly RC for over 20 years tells you something - its not a question IF you panic/crash/dumb thumb it - the questions actually is When ... the small print however says: it will happen, beginner or pro ...

Yep. You're spot on.  When something unexpected happens and you cannot work out why or how to correct it, the panic kicks in and the mistakes just stack up and compound....
Ian

Mrhiteshpatel Posted at 2017-4-15 22:18
Great video Ian. I am thinking of purchasing my first drone but live in Harrow, NW London - how difficult is it to find places to fly legally in the U.K.?

Try the excellent 'Drone Assist' app for UK flying; run by the National Air Traffic Control it clearly tells you where you can and can't fly....
http://dronesafe.uk/drone-assist/

Thanks Ian, attached is what I see - I am confused by the shading as the colours are not clear.... is the light pink (where I am located) a prohibited area?

Click on the four bars and dots down on the rhs.
A menu drops down explaining the colours used.

You are inside the ATZ , but not inside the No fly zone.

Best to contact the ATC and inform them of your intentions, flight plans etc!

Or move outside the zones.

Thanks, so if I go to a park outside of the zones then I fly as long as I stick to the 50m rule and line of sight? So many considerations....

Has anyone been able to test this and see what happens?  Was it a case of the drone motors had not stopped before RC was lost?

I'm a new owner & found this to be a very cautionary tale. Could this all have been avoided by maintaining line of sight operation?

How to lose in TWO EASY STEPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!  :
#1. Buy Mavic
#2. Fly Mavic

If you held the stick down for 3 seconds whilst it being on the ground shouldn't it just shut the motors off? Also something you could have done (idk if theres a flaw in this) is once you landed it you wait for the mavic's battery to die. Then it couldn't possibly RTH and you would still be able to retrieve it? I may have made a mistake here but I think this could've worked assuming no one would take it.

Luka M Posted at 2017-4-21 22:13
If you held the stick down for 3 seconds whilst it being on the ground shouldn't it just shut the motors off? Also something you could have done (idk if theres a flaw in this) is once you landed it you wait for the mavic's battery to die. Then it couldn't possibly RTH and you would still be able to retrieve it? I may have made a mistake here but I think this could've worked assuming no one would take it.

Yes, but from what I've worked out, despite the mavic being on the ground, it never got the full 3 seconds of down command as I was already jogging back to the car and it would have lost signal as soon as I wa away form the cliff top edge.... And as I had Landing Protection swtiched off (as I usually hand catch landing), it didn't auto shut off.....  
This whole tale is a stack of mistakes lined up in a perfect row.....

fansdcac56c4 Posted at 2017-4-10 05:13
Nice video . I've been looking at those GPS locators so I could find mine after it got lost so could claim it on the DJI Refresh. I just don't like the fact that most of them are bundled with the SIM card and you get another montly payment on your credit card. I would prefer to choose the SIM I want to use. That's why I haven't purchased one. Those little things are sturdy and probably would last a crash if attached tightly enough to the Mavic. It would then send the real location and not the last on air in this kind of situation. After looking at this video I'm starting to reconsider buying one...

I've got a Loc8tor fitted to mine now. Not Bluetooth and not Cellphone SIM reliant either....

http://loc8tor.co.uk/shop/

Wellsi Posted at 2017-4-22 12:18
Yes, but from what I've worked out, despite the mavic being on the ground, it never got the full 3 seconds of down command as I was already jogging back to the car and it would have lost signal as soon as I wa away form the cliff top edge.... And as I had Landing Protection swtiched off (as I usually hand catch landing), it didn't auto shut off.....  
This whole tale is a stack of mistakes lined up in a perfect row.....

Yeh definitely quite a few confusing things that happened in this flight, mistakes and unlucky timing, good lesson for everyone. If you were to let the battery run out though like I said that would have worked correct?

TakeFlite Posted at 2017-4-22 16:14
Yeh definitely quite a few confusing things that happened in this flight, mistakes and unlucky timing, good lesson for everyone. If you were to let the battery run out though like I said that would have worked correct?

Difficult to know what's best... I would not have wantd a spinning flashing Mavic on the ground unattended... I thought it had switched off and that would have been the best plan;  full shut down, then it goes nowhere......  

Ian - Almost a year later and i learned from you. As a new Mavic owner here in Texas i thank you for doing the post mortem video. And many thanks for the flyover of the memorial as that is a fantastic view.
Cheers, Peter

I like that he was honest and did not try to blame DJI for his mistake but took it on the chin and learned from it (as did a lot of people).

I often see messages from people who do something dumb, like flying in high wind or ignoring compass errors and then whine and try to blame DJI for their own stupidity and demand a replacement.

From my r/c days; If you can't afford to crash it then you can't afford to fly it.

* Hex *

Falcon16 Posted at 2018-2-4 15:05
Ian - Almost a year later and i learned from you. As a new Mavic owner here in Texas i thank you for doing the post mortem video. And many thanks for the flyover of the memorial as that is a fantastic view.
Cheers, Peter

Wow... a year old post resurrected....!  Glad it's still helping!  Surprised the video is still being watched as much as it is but I guess anyone that learns not to panic and use RTH is someone helped out....  Cheers, Ian


http://www.youtube.com/ianinlondon

Wellsi Posted at 2018-2-4 23:31
Wow... a year old post resurrected....!  Glad it's still helping!  Surprised the video is still being watched as much as it is but I guess anyone that learns not to panic and use RTH is someone helped out....  Cheers, Ian

Over a year Ian & your post still gets a lot of attention, Tell me, Did you ever go over to Mavic pilots & post your logs for someone like msinger to diagnose?
He has been responsible for  locating more lost Phantoms/Mavics than anyone who flies a drone!
I;d love to see his summary of a second by second replay of that final flight & exactly what your bird did.
Hell Ian, what if the logs show the firmware had a glitch & was responsible for your loss.
Don't laugh, i;ve seen logs submitted to DJI that resulted in the pilot getting either a great discount on another bird or total replacement!
What have you got to loose?

fans987d278a Posted at 2018-2-5 16:25
Over a year Ian & your post still gets a lot of attention, Tell me, Did you ever go over to Mavic pilots & post your logs for someone like msinger to diagnose?
He has been responsible for  locating more lost Phantoms/Mavics than anyone who flies a drone!
I;d love to see his summary of a second by second replay of that final flight & exactly what your bird did.

The trouble was that the logs stopped abruptly when I ran away from the cliff edge, then very breifly resumed for a few seconds as the drone regained its 160 metre / 500 ft ascent to get back up to the RTH altitude as I was driving away, before it lost contact again. So all we could establish was that it took off again after landing in the park (because in my panic I didn't check the motors were shut down, and they obviously weren't!), and then its last known position right up against the cliffs;
I mapped that location on Google Maps and Google Earth and used the rock formations to identify precisely where its last known position was when I went back to search for it.  But you saw the video and how gnarly and overgrown and steep the cliffs were...  It took me over half an hour to break through less than 30 metres of undergrowth....  It was my fault that I'd turned off 'landing protection' due to me hand-catching; that action also killed the auto-shutdown when it sensed it was on the ground.   So I couldn't blame DJI's software....
Any other terrain; any other situation where the remote didn't lose contact... any other day... But hey, I learned so much from that analysis and it puts a smile on my face that I still get positive comments on that video.  

Cheers!
Ian