I do video for a car dealership and sometimes due to rain I have to do my work inside a very large warehouse - ceilings are 30 feet high and it's pretty open. I'm pretty new to the drone world and the Mavic Air is my first one. Is it possible to safely fly this thing in the warehouse? I never need to it to get above 12-15 feet and it would always be within 50 feet of me and in tripod mode 99% of the time. All this talk of GPS, ATTI mode, RTH nightmares, etc make me very hesitant to do this. If the drone will just stay in tripod mode and follow my inputs, I know I'd be fine. It's if it decides to freak out that scares me.

I do have the Refresh from DJI. I'm just trying to understand how the drone behaves based on the environment it's in. I exclusively use tripod mode when filming or photographing and keep it less than 40-50 feet from the controller at all times, in perfect line of sight. As long as the drone doesn't decide to RTH and take over control from me, it seems it'd be pretty safe....  


Would like to hear from DJI on this too.

Appreciate any advice!
Thanks
James

Sounds totally fine for that large of a space. If you are feeling nervous about it, to a test run when nobody is around. People fly in much smaller rooms without issue.

I flew my Mavic Pro inside a convention center and it went well.  Tripod Mode is good.  Just stay away from objects

I personally wouldn't risk it -- too many sad stories where people lost GPS momentarily and then couldn't control their drones safely. Frankly, I think most of the problems are due to a lack of experience, so if you are new to flying, I'd stick with flying outside until you get more hours under your belt.

Have you thought about getting a  micro drone to practice with that doesnt have GPS?

When i started flying FPV i used a Blade Inductrix Mini FPV to practice indoors rather than crash my QAV-R,lot let expensive than a repair bill and its easy to practice while its raining!

Or even have a look at the DJI Tello.

If you're experienced, keep it in tripod mode and keep a close eye on it you should be just fine.

I do video for a car dealership and sometimes due to rain I have to do my work inside a very large warehouse - ceilings are 30 feet high and it's pretty open. I'm pretty new to the drone world and the Mavic Air is my first one.

Setting aside risk to drone.  There is potential of drone hitting something of value inside large warehouse.  Like say an expensive car or possibly car salesman or actor?

Suggest following others advice, gets some flight time under you belt first.  Then try fling in warehouse when nothing of value is at risk.
If you start using drone outside for videoing as part of business, make sure you have proper Drone license.

The major concern for flying indoors corresponds to the possibility of your drone disconnecting from the RC and initiating the 3 second failsafe RTH feature. The Mavic Pro has a setting to disable RTH, but the Spark doesn't provide this option, and so even though you're still very close to the drone, interference indoors and without GPS could make the drone less or totally unresponsive where it could possibly drift into an object/wall or enter RTH and rise into the ceiling?

I am building a 275000 sq ft warehouse with columns every 50’ and ceiling heights ranging from 28 to 32 feet and had no trouble at all flying inside it. I do have obstacle avoidance enabled and use tripod and cinematic modes for more control.

Thanks for all the input.  Was hoping for a clear consensus but it looks more 50/50 to me.  I probably will not risk it at this time.

Ya'll are scaring this guy.  The warehouse is huge!  He has an Air, disable RTH, put RTH alt. to zero or current altitude.,  go in by yourself, do some flying get used to it, buy prop guards and have some fun.  Sounds like a great place to fly in.  I purposely flew my drone indoors with the prop guards on and started bouncing off things to see how the craft reacts so you know what to expect and how to control it.  You also have collision avoidance!!  Guarantee after you get used to it and not filming, that tripod mode will off!!!  Post some vids!!  275000 sq. ft.!!!  Get on it!  The Air is going to be perfect for that!  Bolton

Not to mention licensing...…….. you know, Part 107.

Does 107 apply??  You work for the company, not yourself!

Tridiver Posted at 2018-5-18 19:40
Does 107 apply??  You work for the company, not yourself!

yes part 107 still applies.   it's a commercial flight. the rules don't care who you work for.

Hi, it is recommended to choose an outdoor open area where the GPS is good and no magnetic interference to fly the drone, especially when you are new to flying, please read the user manual more than once, refer to the tutorial video below to make a preflight checklist before flying. Take care and fly safely, thanks!

Tridiver Posted at 2018-5-18 19:40
Does 107 apply??  You work for the company, not yourself!

Whether you work for a company or work for yourself you still are the drone's Pilot.

Think about it this way.
Whether a Pilot flies for his own business Seat of Pants Air, or flies for Lost Bags R Us Airlines, both have to be licensed.

Have to agree get some more flight hours before attempting indoor flights and maybe invest in some prop guards for the AC should you really need to do the shoot.

Tridiver Posted at 2018-5-18 19:24
Ya'll are scaring this guy.  The warehouse is huge!  He has an Air, disable RTH, put RTH alt. to zero or current altitude.,  go in by yourself, do some flying get used to it, buy prop guards and have some fun.  Sounds like a great place to fly in.  I purposely flew my drone indoors with the prop guards on and started bouncing off things to see how the craft reacts so you know what to expect and how to control it.  You also have collision avoidance!!  Guarantee after you get used to it and not filming, that tripod mode will off!!!  Post some vids!!  275000 sq. ft.!!!  Get on it!  The Air is going to be perfect for that!  Bolton

This shots were one of my first with the Air. Some of them were recorded at HD, others at 2.7K.
I edited them in the iPad at low res and in youtube they look pretty blurry.
I need to learn how to use a real video editor and work at the native resolution...
In any case take a look at some of the inside shots you were curious about.

nice!!  Don't see any problems that you encountered!!

Tridiver Posted at 2018-5-20 05:00
nice!!  Don't see any problems that you encountered!!

Tks.
James, the initiator of this thread was the one with the concerns, not me.

True, I just wanted everyone to read it for themselves.  good place for a little race course.

I have learned that DGI will suggest that you not fly indoors for safety reasons. Indoors you obviously have no GPS and there are obstacles.

Me? I fly my Air indoors at least once a week if not more for practice. I actually find it safer because there is no wind, no birds, no magnetic interference (though you may have some depending on where you fly), access to high speed Internet if I have to do an unplanned firmware update, and no issues with flight restrictions. Here are my tips for you:

• You will need a modicum of pilot skills and experience, so don't attempt this if you're brand new to flying.
• Before your actual shoot, do some practice runs indoors to work out any issues.
• Definitely put your prop guards on - just in case.
• Definitely set your drone to hover in place rather than return to home on lost signal.
• I disable obstacle avoidance because it triggers too easily indoors, though in a big enough space you might be fine with leaving it on.
• Remember that upon take off, your drone may ascend to a height that is higher than your ceiling, so be on those sticks to bring it down in that case.
• Realize how much stopping distance you need - and if you're flying cinematic mode (or equivalent) it will take longer to stop.
• Be especially careful if there are people in your path.
• Watch out for ceiling lights and fans and other structures sticking down from the ceiling.
  

Here's my "Three things to do with your drone when it's raining" video. If there was only one thing you wanted to practice indoors, I suggest flying figure eights. Again, DGI suggests you not do this for safety reasons.