Hello! I'm planning to fly on a construction site, it's inside a warehouse with steel beams overhead and on the walls. is this safe for the Mavic 3 to do this flight? Do I need to calibrate the drone inside the warehouse or do it before I go inside? do I start the flight inside or do I start it outside and fly inside?

Any interior warehouse filming I do, I put some prop guards on.

Polished concrete floors can cause the VPS to get incorrect data and my send the drone off in an uncontrolled direction, which you can counter - just be wary that this might happen.

Do not calibrate the drone indoors. There is so much ferrous material around you that you will likely give the drone a bad calibration. If the drone is correctly calibrated and flies normally outdoors and then asks you to calibrate once you're indoors, it's because you've set the drone up near something interfering with the compass. Find a better spot or take off from your hand.

is this safe for the Mavic 3 to do this flight?
That depends.
What's the roof and external cladding of the warehouse?
If metal, you'll have no GPS inside.
If the lighting is insufficient or the floor is unsuitable for VPS, you'll have no horizontal position holding and the drone will drift and have no brakes.
Are you safe flying like that?
Have you done that before and gained experience or would it be your first time flying like that?
Without GPS you'll also have height restrictions.


Do I need to calibrate the drone inside the warehouse or do it before I go inside?
You never need to recalibrate the compass before a flight, no matter where it is.
Compass calibration is 100% about the drone and 0% about where you fly it.

do I start the flight inside or do I start it outside and fly inside?
Where you start won't make any difference once the drone enters a GPS-denied environment.

Update. That flight was a no go. The roof was metal and I didn't get any GPS signal (0) inside the warehouse. I'm fairly new to drone flying and took some lessons from this experience! Thanks for the advice!

yakuzadrone Posted at 11-29 10:21
Update. That flight was a no go. The roof was metal and I didn't get any GPS signal (0) inside the warehouse. I'm fairly new to drone flying and took some lessons from this experience! Thanks for the advice!

A wise choice if you're not happy or feel confident enough. You might have avoided injury or damage.

These days there aren't any consumer drones which allow for Atti flying. If you know anyone who has a Phantom drone, these can be flown with the GPS off and it's critical experience that all drone ops should have.

If the lighting and floor situation were adequate for the VPS, the drone will have flown just as you would normally expect. However, it doesn't take much for it to lose VPS and then your drone is a flying ice hockey puck.

Ultimately, practice practice practice and try to push your training beyond just flying outdoors. It's so important that you know how the drone behaves in unusual environments.

CloudVisual Posted at 11-29 11:41
A wise choice if you're not happy or feel confident enough. You might have avoided injury or damage.

These days there aren't any consumer drones which allow for Atti flying. If you know anyone who has a Phantom drone, these can be flown with the GPS off and it's critical experience that all drone ops should have.

Avata allows for full manual flying it would be the perfect choice for this type of filming.

hallmark007 Posted at 11-29 12:36
Avata allows for full manual flying it would be the perfect choice for this type of filming.

True, I forgot about the FPV ones. Not really my thing.

If OP learns to fly in manual then he's covered for all eventualities...!

hallmark007 Posted at 11-29 12:36
Avata allows for full manual flying it would be the perfect choice for this type of filming.

Full manual is nothing like Atti Mode and is completely irrelevant to the situation the OP asked about.
It definitely wouldn't be perfect for what the OP is asking about.

Labroides Posted at 11-30 02:16
Full manual is nothing like Atti Mode and is completely irrelevant to the situation the OP asked about.
It definitely wouldn't be perfect for what the OP is asking about.

You’re becoming the biggest troll clown on this forum.

First the OP never mentioned Atti mode and my reply was not to him. But you once again put your Bozo feet in first. You have no Idea whats best for what the OP wants to do, I think people around here are pretty sick of you trying to tell them what they should or shouldn’t  be doing.

Full manual indoors with a drone designed for close up flying,  indoors and outdoors, full cage protection, is not a better idea than flying a mavic 3, what a clown you really are.

Its just as well we have other members on this forum that aren’t continually forcing their jaundiced badly researched ignorant views on others. Go troll someone else you clown…..

hallmark007 Posted at 11-30 06:59
You’re becoming the biggest troll clown on this forum.

First the OP never mentioned Atti mode and my reply was not to him. But you once again put your Bozo feet in first. You have no Idea whats best for what the OP wants to do, I think people around here are pretty sick of you trying to tell them what they should or shouldn’t  be doing.

The point made in his post is completely valid here though. FPV drone like avata in full manual mode is a completely different animal than anything you would encounter on mavic 3, including atti mode, and would not at all be ideal for this filming project. If left in normal mode then avata would be very suited for indoor filming of a site like this. I would never recommend full manual of an fpv drone indoors in a space like this. It would just be crash city.

yakuzadrone Posted at 11-29 10:21
Update. That flight was a no go. The roof was metal and I didn't get any GPS signal (0) inside the warehouse. I'm fairly new to drone flying and took some lessons from this experience! Thanks for the advice!

You will likely never get gps if you have a roof or canopy over head. When flying indoors like this you are likely always going to be flying in full atti mode. If you are really new, as you seem to suggest here, then just keep it slow and practice makes perfect. Just know that in atti mode the drone has no ability to manage its own location in space, and can drift around. It relies entirely on your inputs to keep position. If there is enough light you may still get benefits of vision positioning which can help sometimes, but can also just get in the way as well, as the drone will be seeing obstacles everywhere in tighter indoor spaces. Just practice and learn how the drone behaves in these scenarios and you can pull it off. Nothing beats practice.

hallmark007 Posted at 11-30 06:59
You’re becoming the biggest troll clown on this forum.

First the OP never mentioned Atti mode and my reply was not to him. But you once again put your Bozo feet in first. You have no Idea whats best for what the OP wants to do, I think people around here are pretty sick of you trying to tell them what they should or shouldn’t  be doing.

Again you've proved that apart from being an idiot, you are also a very unpleasant one.
You dish out equal amounts of misinformation and insults.

Tornado12 Posted at 11-30 08:34
The point made in his post is completely valid here though. FPV drone like avata in full manual mode is a completely different animal than anything you would encounter on mavic 3, including atti mode, and would not at all be ideal for this filming project. If left in normal mode then avata would be very suited for indoor filming of a site like this. I would never recommend full manual of an fpv drone indoors in a space like this. It would just be crash city.

Where do you think FPV racing takes place ? DJI Avata is not your usual FPV and can be flown very safely indoors . The OP said himself the job was a no go with Mavic 3. Believe me there are many FPV drones used for indoor flying and pilots that do a really good job. A lot better than any DJI standard prosumer drones .

Labroides Posted at 11-30 09:24
Again you've proved that apart from being an idiot, you are also a very unpleasant one.
You dish out equal amounts of misinformation and insults.

Go away troll you know nothing and saying FPV drone cannot fly indoors better than Mavic 3 is just about your level.

hallmark007 Posted at 11-30 09:30
Where do you think FPV racing takes place ? DJI Avata is not your usual FPV and can be flown very safely indoors . The OP said himself the job was a no go with Mavic 3. Believe me there are many FPV drones used for indoor flying and pilots that do a really good job. A lot better than any DJI standard prosumer drones .

https://youtu.be/4In29a3SaCU

No I agree on that regarding avata, you are missing the issue. The whole issue is FULL MANUAL mode on fpv. Avata is really incredible in tight spaces and indoors, but NOT in full manual. Not sure if you ever flew fpv in full manual but the drones will not just hover in place if you don't have any input on the sticks, they will literally fall out of the air. You have to control its elevation as well its directional space. Flying indoors in this mode especially for someone who is new like the OP would be very challenging. The video would be very jerky, up and down, and he would be crashing constantly. In normal mode, where avata behaves like a normal drone and hovers in place, yes it is really well suited for indoors.

Tornado12 Posted at 11-30 10:13
No I agree on that regarding avata, you are missing the issue. The whole issue is FULL MANUAL mode on fpv. Avata is really incredible in tight spaces and indoors, but NOT in full manual. Not sure if you ever flew fpv in full manual but the drones will not just hover in place if you don't have any input on the sticks, they will literally fall out of the air. You have to control its elevation as well its directional space. Flying indoors in this mode especially for someone who is new like the OP would be very challenging. The video would be very jerky, up and down, and he would be crashing constantly. In normal mode, where avata behaves like a normal drone and hovers in place, yes it is really well suited for indoors.

I have an Avata and I do realize its not easy to fly full manual, but I do know from other friends that fly FPV that with practice and the right craft an camera that full manual is not beyond anyone indoors. If you had read my posts they were not directed to the OP but were just a suggestion on the value of using the right drone for the right job. Having used the avata with joystick and without GPS its incredibly easy to fly in very tight spaces indoors. A lot easier than any standard DJI drone.

Tornado12 Posted at 11-30 08:42
You will likely never get gps if you have a roof or canopy over head. When flying indoors like this you are likely always going to be flying in full atti mode. If you are really new, as you seem to suggest here, then just keep it slow and practice makes perfect. Just know that in atti mode the drone has no ability to manage its own location in space, and can drift around. It relies entirely on your inputs to keep position. If there is enough light you may still get benefits of vision positioning which can help sometimes, but can also just get in the way as well, as the drone will be seeing obstacles everywhere in tighter indoor spaces. Just practice and learn how the drone behaves in these scenarios and you can pull it off. Nothing beats practice.

Is there a way to get the Mavic 3 in atti mode? So I can practices the flight behavior in a safe environment and not inside. will the drone even takeoff without GPS Signal?   

yakuzadrone Posted at 11-30 12:15
Is there a way to get the Mavic 3 in atti mode? So I can practices the flight behavior in a safe environment and not inside. will the drone even takeoff without GPS Signal?

DJI hasn't made a drone with switchable Atti Mode for several years now.
But yours will take off without GPS.

yakuzadrone Posted at 11-30 12:15
Is there a way to get the Mavic 3 in atti mode? So I can practices the flight behavior in a safe environment and not inside. will the drone even takeoff without GPS Signal?

Do you know anyone who owns a DJI Phantom drone? These have an atti mode switch and a very simple way to practice. If you get into difficulty, just switch modes and you're back with a GPS mode like you're used to.

yakuzadrone Posted at 11-30 12:15
Is there a way to get the Mavic 3 in atti mode? So I can practices the flight behavior in a safe environment and not inside. will the drone even takeoff without GPS Signal?

The only real way you can force atti mode is to fly in a place where GPS will be blocked. So, in a large indoor environment or under a canopy of some kind. There is no way that I am aware of to disable the GPS manually, short of some drastic measure.

Tornado12 Posted at 12-1 09:41
The only real way you can force atti mode is to fly in a place where GPS will be blocked. So, in a large indoor environment or under a canopy of some kind. There is no way that I am aware of to disable the GPS manually, short of some drastic measure.

Except you can't achieve Atti mode doing it this way.

The Vision Positioning System will take over and hold the drone as if it were in GPS mode.

Tornado12 Posted at 12-1 09:41
The only real way you can force atti mode is to fly in a place where GPS will be blocked. So, in a large indoor environment or under a canopy of some kind. There is no way that I am aware of to disable the GPS manually, short of some drastic measure.

Just put your hand over the craft on the spot above your GPS  receiver and GPS will go away , so you could try artificially cover this spot I’ve seen some do it with tin foil. It will restrict the height you can fly by default.