In sport mode, I have my ascend/descend speed set to 10 m/s. I can ascend with that speed which is genuinely impressive (well done).

However, when I'm 119 metres in the air (so downwards it should be fine) and trying to descend fully, the Air 3 reaches about 7,5 to 8,0 m/s.
Is this a regulatory or environmental thing? I'm in Europe. Tested it a few times, in no-wind and little-wind conditions

Hi,

Max speed down depends on baro height, and mayby with forward speed (did not check that).

See my chart of an AIR3, sport mode, with some fwd speed  : full UP and DOWN stick and check vertical speed.
(ascend with 10 m/s, descend starts with 10 m/s, but will slow down getting closer to the ground)

cheers
JJB   [ Charts by FRAP ; the 'best' software for data and visual flightlog analysis (www.jjbfrap.eu) ]

JJB* Posted at 3-17 04:26
Hi,

Max speed down depends on baro height, and mayby with forward speed (did not check that).

Cool statistics!

> Max speed down depends on baro height

I suspected as much. A consistent 8 m/s is still plenty fast. Thanks!

Hi, QSmally. Thank you for reaching out. Please confirm whether the maximum ascent speed setting in the Gain & Expo Tuning is set to 10M/S. If not, please set it to 10M/S. If it has already been set to 10M/S, we will need the flight control data for analysis. Kindly follow the steps below:

1) Connect the drone to the PC, and launch DJI Assistant 2 (Consumer Drones Series) which can be downloaded under “Download” on the DJI Avata product page on the official website.
Download link: https://www.dji.com/ca/downloads/products/air-3
2) Click “DJI Avata”, choose ""Log Export"", and then click ""Save to local"". Select the saved path and wait until the download is complete.
3) After downloading, click “Open in the folder”, and the aircraft flight control data can be found in the folder “EXPORT_FILE_xxx”. Note that there is no need to modify the folder name.

DJI Gamora Posted at 3-18 04:06
Hi, QSmally. Thank you for reaching out. Please confirm with whether the maximum ascent speed setting in the Gain & Expo Tuning is set to 10M/S. If not, please set it to 10M/S. If it has already been set to 10M/S, we will need the flight control data for analysis. Kindly follow the steps below:

1) Connect the drone to the PC, launch DJI Assistant 2 (Consumer Drones Series) that can be downloaded under “Download” of the DJI Avata product page in the official website.

Hi Gamora, it's ok! There are probably no faults and I don't want to waste your time. The UI doesn't show that it (probably) hits 10 m/s for a split second before maxing out its speed like JJB pointed out

QSmally Posted at 3-19 06:59
Hi Gamora, it's ok! There are probably no faults and I don't want to waste your time. The UI doesn't show that it (probably) hits 10 m/s for a split second before maxing out its speed like JJB pointed out

Thanks for the reply, QSmally. We understand and respect your decision. Should you need further assistance, please don't hesitate to reach us again here at DJI Forum. Have a safe flight always!

I have the same problem on my Air 3.

JJB* Posted at 3-17 04:26
Hi,

Max speed down depends on baro height, and mayby with forward speed (did not check that).

No, it must not be that way. It begins to slow down on 70 meters.

I noticed that the Air 3 does consistently reach 10 m/s descending speed *when moving horizontally with it*. I suppose for air dissipation it provides more stability to go faster in certain air pressures, so moving forwards and descending is super quick compared to only descending

An interesting test might be to, in  a suitable area, give it full down stick and hold it there long enough to reach a stable 10m/s then release the throttle. Then check the log to see how much height was lost before the drone stopped falling.