I’ve noticed of late some crashes amongst new Mavic Mini users, many of the crashes and fly away’s seem to occur at take off or shortly after take off, so I have posted below a very short preflight exercise before taking to the sky, I have been using this preparation before flying since I began flying, it’s a pretty simple process takes very little time , but will give you some confidence of knowing as your craft flys that you have reasonably checked that GPS, COMPASS & IMU are working well.

There are other preflight checks you should make and I will post my checklist later, but for now try checks below and you will find that they are efficient and quick and will not delay your departure to long .           

1/ start AC leave until you receive enough gps lock , 11 is a good number .

2/ if you get Compass interference turn off AC and move to another location,

without interference, if you still get warning preform calibration at safe location .

Raise AC to height of 8ft

Hover for 20 seconds

Fly forward 2ft

Backward 2ft

Left 2ft

Right 2ft

Up 2ft

Down 2ft

Yaw left

Yaw right

Each time returning to hover position

If you have a good horizontal each time, you will then know you have good GPS good IMU and good Compass, and your ready to fly.

This exercise takes less than 2 minutes and is worthwhile doing before every flight,

One thing to remember is left stick pull down 100% if anything is not right, this is the quickest way to land your craft safely, and left down is easy to remember .

Link to my full preflight checklist

https://forum.dji.com/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=152011

Hello and good day hallmark007. Thank you for reaching out and for sharing these amazing Preflight Exercise For DJI  Mavic Mini Users. This thread will be a very big help to all our valued DJI co pilots on how to prepare properly for a flight. Thank you for your valued support. .

Hallmark, thanks for sharing this very important information for new users but also as a reminder for us who have been around for a while and tend to take shortcuts.  You are 100% right that if these simple steps are followed the amount of crashes and fly aways will be greatly reduced.  Best time to find out if you have an issue is hovering 6' above the ground.  Very reassuring to know that GPS, COMPASS & IMU are working well before departing take off location.  

I printed off a copy of your post and put it in my grandson's Mavic Mini case as a reminder.  He is a new flier and I'm trying to teach him right from the start.  He followed your instructions to a T and took less than 2 minutes to finish this pre-flight.  Of course, he also made sure he had a full battery in the AC and RC and also 100% charge on his iPad Mini.  

Hopefully others will follow your sage pre-flight advice and will keep them from experiencing a bad crash or fly-away.

Words to live by

Especially the sat lock!

Really good.
I'm a newbie and have been taking all precautions... to the point nobody want to come with me because is boring for them to see me "wait for sat locks" calibrations etc. lol
I think becoming familiar with APP, the drones flying capability, behavior with winds, and your skills is something to master before attempting more risky maneuvers or shots.
This simple check list should be a must for all pilots.
Thanks for sharing!

DJI Stephen Posted at 12-8 10:05
Hello and good day hallmark007. Thank you for reaching out and for sharing these amazing Preflight Exercise For DJI  Mavic Mini Users. This thread will be a very big help to all our valued DJI co pilots on how to prepare properly for a flight. Thank you for your valued support.  .

Thank you dji Stephen .

Thanks for this.  I'm a total newbie at this, so this is helpful.

I've had the mini for a few days, and have now made a number of flights indoors, mostly in our building at work.  This has been good for getting a feel for the controls, maneuvering, controlling the camera and gimbal, and learning the app, etc.  But it's been totally lacking in teaching me how to fly based on compass and GPS, or even how to calibrate and set things up.

The weather here is frequently windy, and that's been true since I got the mini and it appears it will continue to be for at least the next week or more.  And when I say windy, I mean 40+mph with higher gusts.  So outdoor flying may be out of the question for some time.

So in the meantime, I'd love to read up and see some good instructional videos to get me educated on how to set things up, calibrate everything, etc.

I wonder if, along with this pre-flight checklist, anyone has any links to good tutorials for us new folks to study?

This is valuable in this forum because as you've said, there are a LOT of new flyers here because the mini is obviously going to be very popular with us beginners.

Thanks!

Sigmo Posted at 12-8 12:06
Thanks for this.  I'm a total newbie at this, so this is helpful.

I've had the mini for a few days, and have now made a number of flights indoors, mostly in our building at work.  This has been good for getting a feel for the controls, maneuvering, controlling the camera and gimbal, and learning the app, etc.  But it's been totally lacking in teaching me how to fly based on compass and GPS, or even how to calibrate and set things up.

Thank you, try watching some of this guys video, I’m sure he won’t mind me saying he keeps it pretty simple, you will also be able to contact him as he pops into this forum from time to time. He has many more videos on his YT channel.

DowntownRDB Posted at 12-8 10:13
Hallmark, thanks for sharing this very important information for new users but also as a reminder for us who have been around for a while and tend to take shortcuts.  You are 100% right that if these simple steps are followed the amount of crashes and fly aways will be greatly reduced.  Best time to find out if you have an issue is hovering 6' above the ground.  Very reassuring to know that GPS, COMPASS & IMU are working well before departing take off location.  

I printed off a copy of your post and put it in my grandson's Mavic Mini case as a reminder.  He is a new flier and I'm trying to teach him right from the start.  He followed your instructions to a T and took less than 2 minutes to finish this pre-flight.  Of course, he also made sure he had a full battery in the AC and RC and also 100% charge on his iPad Mini.  

Thank you DowntownRDB.

hallmark007 Posted at 12-8 11:40
Thank you dji Stephen .

You are very much welcome hallmark007. Again thank you for all your contributions and for your valued support. Have a safe and a happy flying always. .

hallmark007 Posted at 12-8 12:21
Thank you, try watching some of this guys video, I’m sure he won’t mind me saying he keeps it pretty simple, you will also be able to contact him as he pops into this forum from time to time. He has many more videos on his YT channel.

https://youtu.be/C6I3XoXJGIw

Just don't put this one on full screen!  Lol!  Thanks for sharing, always happy to try to help or answer any questions if I can.  

KlooGee Posted at 12-8 16:34
Just don't put this one on full screen!  Lol!  Thanks for sharing, always happy to try to help or answer any questions if I can.

Excellent advice !  

thx for the tips

Nice tips!

I think it is also important especially for people who have flown old style RC for years that switch on procedure is opposite to the old Style. ie with a DJI Drone it is

1) Switch on Drone..... Wait a few seconds
2) Switch on remote control ……. Wait a few seconds
3) Switch on Screen/Launch App/Connect Screen to Remote Control

Wait for all to connect and be 'stable' and enough satellites found then off you go and fly

InspektorGadjet Posted at 12-8 10:56
Really good.
I'm a newbie and have been taking all precautions... to the point nobody want to come with me because is boring for them to see me "wait for sat locks" calibrations etc. lol
I think becoming familiar with APP, the drones flying capability, behavior with winds, and your skills is something to master before attempting more risky maneuvers or shots.

Your welcome .

Thanks. Very useful for newbies like me.

Bigplumbs Posted at 12-8 23:56
I think it is also important especially for people who have flown old style RC for years that switch on procedure is opposite to the old Style. ie with a DJI Drone it is

1) Switch on Drone..... Wait a few seconds

Is it important to do it in that order? Why?

I

Bigplumbs Posted at 12-8 23:56
I think it is also important especially for people who have flown old style RC for years that switch on procedure is opposite to the old Style. ie with a DJI Drone it is

1) Switch on Drone..... Wait a few seconds

How to start out with old style?

dvr Posted at 12-9 05:42
Is it important to do it in that order? Why?

I

Well obviously you have to do 1 & 2 first the rest can be done whichever you choose but don’t leave anything out .

Good advice. Gives you sense of "all is ready to go". Thanks for the reminder.

Bigplumbs Posted at 12-8 23:56
I think it is also important especially for people who have flown old style RC for years that switch on procedure is opposite to the old Style. ie with a DJI Drone it is

1) Switch on Drone..... Wait a few seconds

I’ve been flying drones for a long time and advice was always switch on RC first then craft and the reason for it if you switch on craft first and something happened and it suddenly took to the air at least you’d have a remote to control it.
And likewise closing down first craft then remote .

Maybe I’m not as old as I thought .

Bigplumbs Posted at 12-8 23:56
I think it is also important especially for people who have flown old style RC for years that switch on procedure is opposite to the old Style. ie with a DJI Drone it is

1) Switch on Drone..... Wait a few seconds

Way you outlined is way I have had least amount of trouble.

Switching on drone first gives it extra time to find GPS satellites.  
When I have switched on CrystalSky Ultra first, going into DJI App, on a few occasions Cs-Ub has gotten lost.  Which may not be an issue with SmartPhone or SmartTablet.

It has always been RC first App second and then craft in that order and simply reverse the order when shutting down, although I’m not 100% sure of the reason or all the reasons for this, I do know that shutting down RC first on a Phantom 3 you were in danger of initiating a Rth and maybe this was a similar reason for starting up, I think things may have changed. But I like using the instruction of ,


Start up
Turn on RC
Turn on App
Turn on Craft
Reverse this when shutting down .

I believe this is the same in my preflight checklist link above in my OP .

Really good advise Hallmark007. This is how I do when I fly myself. Hopefully this will help a lot of others too.

JodyB Posted at 12-9 11:36
Really good advise Hallmark007. This is how I do when I fly myself. Hopefully this will help a lot of others too.

It’s pretty effective and simple , once you get into the habit it’s very safe and easy to do.

kiminx Posted at 12-8 19:43
thx for the tips

Your welcome ....

arkchan Posted at 12-8 21:22
Nice tips!

Your welcome .

Wish I would have read up more when I got my first two drones, I had a P2 that flew away on me with my GoPro 6 mounted to it. I still have never found it nor has anyone picked it up and bothered to call my phone number that was written on it. It's gone. I'll make sure that I do better with my MM, good check list. I will end up making a little pre-flight card based on your information that you provided.
thank you!

SgtHoffman Posted at 12-10 10:40
Wish I would have read up more when I got my first two drones, I had a P2 that flew away on me with my GoPro 6 mounted to it. I still have never found it nor has anyone picked it up and bothered to call my phone number that was written on it. It's gone. I'll make sure that I do better with my MM, good check list. I will end up making a little pre-flight card based on your information that you provided.
thank you!

We all fall of the horse it’s how we react when we get back up on it that counts .

Thanks for the info.

ernie_e Posted at 12-14 12:33
Thanks for the info.

No problem your welcome.

Hallmark007, DJI needs to include Post 1 in the next revision of the Mavi Mini User Manual.  This is a must read, especially for newbies and a great reminder for those who have many hours flying.

DowntownRDB Posted at 12-29 05:42
Hallmark007, DJI needs to include Post 1 in the next revision of the Mavi Mini User Manual.  This is a must read, especially for newbies and a great reminder for those who have many hours flying.

Well it’s something I still use on every flight it has served me well .

Thanks to your original posting some time ago it has served me and my grandson well.  He follows the checklist each time and is becoming very proficient at flying the MM.  Using the list he noticed a slight issue in yawing left and right so he landed and recalibrated the Galaxy S10+ compass.  Afterwards, he went back through the checklist again and had a successful 23 minute flight.  He is still over-panning a bit on his videos but learning each time as he goes.  

Thank you bro!

hallmark007 Posted at 12-9 07:56
I’ve been flying drones for a long time and advice was always switch on RC first then craft and the reason for it if you switch on craft first and something happened and it suddenly took to the air at least you’d have a remote to control it.
And likewise closing down first craft then remote .

That is the way I was always taught, RC first, AC second, and the reasoning for it.

DowntownRDB Posted at 12-29 06:29
Thanks to your original posting some time ago it has served me and my grandson well.  He follows the checklist each time and is becoming very proficient at flying the MM.  Using the list he noticed a slight issue in yawing left and right so he landed and recalibrated the Galaxy S10+ compass.  Afterwards, he went back through the checklist again and had a successful 23 minute flight.  He is still over-panning a bit on his videos but learning each time as he goes.

We’re all learning as we go and hopefully having fun as well.

verry helpfull