Yep, had my first crash with a drone 1 week old. I say my first crash as this may not be the last one.  I try to be careful but you know the old saying..."sh## happens". Caught a tree branch and it sent her to the ground.  Did crack the left front arm just beside the round part of the motor mount.  Did not completely sever the arm but wouldn't or probably couldn't fly it in that condition.  

So, JB Weld to the rescue.  Let it set over night, held into place with a couple of rubber bands and did a test flight this morning.  It flew as intended!   I did order a left front arm yesterday though but will keep it as a spare now as the existing arm is now more than likely stronger than it originally was in the damaged spot.  So why change it , right?

On the positive side?  I LOVE this drone.  Does what I need it to do (aside from missing trees) and am getting some awesome shots and videos.  Still learning about what it can do but from what I've done....excellent!

Nice DIY repair.  Don't you just love JB Weld?  I replaced the front arm/motor on my old guard Mini twice.  Not hard to do but have to have steady hands.  Plenty of YT videos to walk you through it if needed.  

By the way I'm sure a Mod will be along to say they don't recommend DIY repairs.  But you got to do what you got to do.

The arm was broken about 3/4's of the way through so alignment etc. was still there.  I'm quite sure I will replace it shortly with the new arm (yes, I've watched a few videos on the repair) but now I don't have to be in a rush.

I love JB Weld!  Done properly it's a great "tool" for what I call permanent repairs ;)

Hello there simnut. I am sorry for the trouble this has caused and for sharing these interesting information and these video with us. If you feel that your DJI drone is not preforming well on your future flights due to the previous crash. I would recommend to contact our DJI support team at  https://www.dji.com/support for further assistance and for us to be able to check the said drone thoroughly. Thank you and fly safe always.

DJI Stephen Posted at 6-12 21:08
Hello there simnut. I am sorry for the trouble this has caused and for sharing these interesting information and these video with us. If you feel that your DJI drone is not preforming well on your future flights due to the previous crash. I would recommend to contact our DJI support team at  https://www.dji.com/support for further assistance and for us to be able to check the said drone thoroughly. Thank you and fly safe always.

It is working exactly as it did when I first got it.  Holds an exact hover, in the house...in the wind.  RTH is bang on and so on.  I had it perform emergency stops with the drone in sport mode using the pause button, zero issues on the strain on that arm.  It's probably stronger at the repairs area than anywhere else now.

The only thing...I can't have too many crashes.  The weight of the JB Weld will put it over the 249g threshold

First crash is always the hardest. I had crashed my Mini a month after I got it into my roof thinking I was in Cine mode but was actually in Sport mode. Then it fell and hit my outdoor fridge then the granite on the barbecue and then finally the concrete but thankfully not a single crack! But then a week later I accidentally went full speed into the side of my house and completely severed the camera from the drone. But my hardest drone crash was when I crash my 4,000 dollar Mavic 3 into the side of my house in sport mode without obstacle avoidance on, but thankfully it was barely even a foot of the ground and the drone doesn’t even have a single scuff and flys perfectly!

simnut Posted at 6-12 21:45
It is working exactly as it did when I first got it.  Holds an exact hover, in the house...in the wind.  RTH is bang on and so on.  I had it perform emergency stops with the drone in sport mode using the pause button, zero issues on the strain on that arm.  It's probably stronger at the repairs area than anywhere else now.

The only thing...I can't have too many crashes.  The weight of the JB Weld will put it over the 249g threshold

Hi there simnut. Thank you for the reply and for these information that you have given. Have a safe and a happy flying always.

Oh Boy . knock on wood FOR ME no crashes or mishaps yet!. flight time 17  hours , 158 miles in 61 days on my mini2  Indeed I agree with you its a awesome drone, steady as a rock, good thinking on the JB weld, great stuff!

My tip is to fly the mini2 100 feet higher above your highest obstacle  and keep it within a 6 mile or 10k radius of  the home-point and you'll never have any problems of crashing. My biggest worry is someone  shooting it down or a bird strike. we have a lot red-tail hawks here.

This is screen grab of a flight in the Appalachian mountains with pilot telemetry with in a 6 miles radius   

best viewed in 1920 x1080

https://photos.google.com/share/ ... E5xVUsycHozb0RkTkFB

I was flying amongst our garden..the rhodos and flower bushes etc.  I gotta get a bit more practice in before I do that more often lol  But am enjoying the drone!

Nice video by the way!