I ordered the Mavic three days after release and got it (combo 1300USD) late Nov. I flew it about twice a week and feel perfect! Terrible thing happend yesterday when I was in New Jewsy and shooting the Manhaton sunset. The drone leave me at 20+mph but when it is in RTH, it was anti-wind so the speed is just 3mph and it could not make it home before battery out. It automatically landed on Manhaton side and I found this later today....   SOOOOOOOOOOO SAD!!!!!!!!!!!!

Not sure if DJI care will cover this..... So sad................

steven0706 Posted at 2016-12-30 14:40
Not sure if DJI care will cover this..... So sad................

its more like we hope he bought DJI care, cause he would get a new one.... at least you found it tho

When you started to fly it back, what was the battery % at?

I'm sorry for your crash, If the wind was keeping it from returning home the wind would be much stronger than the 3mph that you said it was on the ground.
What is your email, I will look at your flight. Make sure to sync your flight records.
What altitude were you flying at and what was your distance.
You should always take off and head into the wind if you fly far, that way it will come home easier as it's going with the wind and you won't have any problem getting back.

steven0706 Posted at 2016-12-30 14:40
Not sure if DJI care will cover this..... So sad................

Yes, DJI Care Refresh would cover this.

DJI-Ken Posted at 2016-12-30 15:27
Yes, DJI Care Refresh would cover this.

Hi Ken, Thanks for your reply and I just sent a detailed email to support@dji.com and update all my available log. My email address is: Changyu.lin2011@gmail.com which is associated with my Dji account. Thank you and happy new year!

lildevilx Posted at 2016-12-30 15:03
its more like we hope he bought DJI care, cause he would get a new one.... at least you found it tho

When you started to fly it back, what was the battery % at?

I do not recall exactly how much battery I got, probably around 30~40%? But I am sure there was still some green bar left when I triger the RTH.

DJI-Ken Posted at 2016-12-30 15:23
I'm sorry for your crash, If the wind was keeping it from returning home the wind would be much stronger than the 3mph that you said it was on the ground.
What is your email, I will look at your flight. Make sure to sync your flight records.
What altitude were you flying at and what was your distance.

Hi Ken, I mean the drone is moving at 3mph and I think because it is against the wind, but I have no idea how strong the wind is, not so bad on the ground though.

Yeah, agree. It'll be much safer if wind speed is considered. Just wonder why DJI engineers haven't done that.

steven0706 Posted at 2016-12-30 18:38
Hi Ken, Thanks for your reply and I just sent a detailed email to  and update all my available log. My email address is:  which is associated with my Dji account. Thank you and happy new year!

Your flight records must not be synced, the last flight I see is 12/26 and there was no crash.
it was a flight of you following the Mavic around the block.

steven0706 Posted at 2016-12-30 18:44
Hi Ken, I mean the drone is moving at 3mph and I think because it is against the wind, but I have no idea how strong the wind is, not so bad on the ground though.

If you are at a high altitude, the winds can be pretty strong.

DJI-Ken Posted at 2016-12-30 22:31
Your flight records must not be synced, the last flight I see is 12/26 and there was no crash.
it was a flight of you following the Mavic around the block.

Hi Ken, I already sync both of my ip6 plus and note 5 log as instruction. Is there anything else that I can do? I sent the email to support@dji.com, but no response yet.

DJI-Ken Posted at 2016-12-30 22:32
If you are at a high altitude, the winds can be pretty strong.

Yes, it was at 400 feet, but I assumed that RTH algorithm should take this into account.

LoveJ Posted at 2016-12-30 19:27
Yeah, agree. It'll be much safer if wind speed is considered. Just wonder why DJI engineers haven't done that.

Yeah~ this is very important issue and it is very hard to for the operator on the ground tell the wind speed.

why does everybody rely on the drone to do their job for them?

Did you try switching to sport mode to get the drone close to home ?

steven0706 Posted at 2016-12-31 10:54
Yes, it was at 400 feet, but I assumed that RTH algorithm should take this into account.

Given I live in a very windy part of the country, ever since I got drones, I have also become weatherman.

I have too many close calls where my drones had a hard time coming back due to wind.  It's not algorithm, you just can't beat physics.    When the drone can only do 30mph and the wind is 30mph, you are basically in a stand still against the wind.

Now, whenever I send a drone up, if it goes in any direction quicker than usual, I make sure it come back in reasonable speed as well.   Base on that, I may reduce the range I planned or keep more charges when I do RTH.

Sad for your losses.

Anthony566 Posted at 2016-12-31 15:44
Did you try switching to sport mode to get the drone close to home ?

No I did not, I assumed that the sport mode will kill the battery even faster?

StanKC Posted at 2016-12-31 16:05
Given I live in a very windy part of the country, ever since I got drones, I have also become weatherman.

I have too many close calls where my drones had a hard time coming back due to wind.  It's not algorithm, you just can't beat physics.    When the drone can only do 30mph and the wind is 30mph, you are basically in a stand still against the wind.

Yeah, I learn the lesson now. I just suggest that the algorithm should notice an earlier RTH if against the wind.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

All pilots have to become weathermen to survive.  In fact, it is part of flight training!

AG0N-Gary Posted at 2016-12-31 17:31
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

All pilots have to become weathermen to survive.  In fact, it is part of flight training!

Yes! I agree now.
Happy new year!

steven0706 Posted at 2016-12-31 17:28
Yeah, I learn the lesson now. I just suggest that the algorithm should notice an earlier RTH if against the wind.

It's a classic mistake to fly away downwind in a strong wind.
Usually done at high altitudes where the wind is stronger, making it difficult for the drone to RTH.
There's only so much DJI can do to make things idiot proof.
The users have to do some thinking for themselves.

Labroides Posted at 2016-12-31 19:04
It's a classic mistake to fly away downwind in a strong wind.
Usually done at high altitudes where the wind is stronger, making it difficult for the drone to RTH.
There's only so much DJI can do to make things idiot proof.

steven0706 Posted at 2016-12-31 10:57
Yeah~ this is very important issue and it is very hard to for the operator on the ground tell the wind speed.

But you seem to expect the mavic will have inbuilt avionics that continually monitor wind speed and present the operator with flight paths, distance times and recommended height to fly for survival in windy conditions?
You do realise this is a cheap drone that is easy to operate?
It is not designed to be 100% idiot proof yet despite some of the marketing but it is easy to prevent silly preventable mistakes at times without blaming the technology.

steven0706 Posted at 2016-12-31 17:28
Yeah, I learn the lesson now. I just suggest that the algorithm should notice an earlier RTH if against the wind.

Wouldn't matter. Wind is variable. What is you fly and there is no head or tail wind, it would calculate something. Then when you return, suddenly a lot more wind, then those calculations are worthless.

Sorry for your loss.

With strong winds at high altitude, I often descend to a more appropriate height where the wind speed are lower.

After triggering RTH it is still possible to adjust the height of the Mavic.

I almost had the same issue recently, strong winds at higher altitude literally starting carrying my mavic away from me as if it was flying it self backwards, i pushed forward throttle and it made no difference, some quick thinking on my part, popped her into sport mode and it was back in no time... some thing to take note for future.

steven0706 Posted at 2016-12-30 18:41
I do not recall exactly how much battery I got, probably around 30~40%? But I am sure there was still some green bar left when I triger the RTH.

If it was struggling with the wind in auto return to home mode how come you didn't cancel rth and manually bring her home with all the other viable options available.
Easy for me to say really but i think if i was thrust into your position i would have took over control and brought her back..
Sorry for your loss and hope maybe DJI helps you out..

steven0706 Posted at 2016-12-31 17:28
Yeah, I learn the lesson now. I just suggest that the algorithm should notice an earlier RTH if against the wind.

Sorry to hear of your crash.

Admitting your mistakes makes you humble. But not repeating your mistakes makes you clever.”

steven0706 Posted at 2016-12-31 10:53
Hi Ken, I already sync both of my ip6 plus and note 5 log as instruction. Is there anything else that I can do? I sent the email to , but no response yet.

I'm still not seeing the most recents flight records.

steven0706 Posted at 2016-12-31 10:54
Yes, it was at 400 feet, but I assumed that RTH algorithm should take this into account.

It does not factor in for wind.

DJI-Ken Posted at 2017-1-1 15:36
It does not factor in for wind.

That is exactly what I suggest the algorithm should do.

Visual Air Posted at 2017-1-1 11:47
If it was struggling with the wind in auto return to home mode how come you didn't cancel rth and manually bring her home with all the other viable options available.
Easy for me to say really but i think if i was thrust into your position i would have took over control and brought her back..
Sorry for your loss and hope maybe DJI helps you out..

Yes, I agree and I really learn a lot from this crush. I should do a better job......

magstauk Posted at 2017-1-1 11:45
I almost had the same issue recently, strong winds at higher altitude literally starting carrying my mavic away from me as if it was flying it self backwards, i pushed forward throttle and it made no difference, some quick thinking on my part, popped her into sport mode and it was back in no time... some thing to take note for future.

I thought the sport mode might kill the batter even faster~ so I did not try the sport mode at all... sad...

Peut Posted at 2017-1-1 11:29
Sorry for your loss.

With strong winds at high altitude, I often descend to a more appropriate height where the wind speed are lower.

Really? I thought that the best way to bring her back is RTH and then wait.... I was wrong and I think the wind issue should be taken into account in the RTH algorithm.

steven0706 Posted at 2017-1-2 15:59
That is exactly what I suggest the algorithm should do.

You never know, maybe one day it can calculate the ground speed and pitch angle of the aircraft and make a  determination.

+1 for RTH should take in situ wind into account. It's a fairly easy (rough) calculation. They surely have characterized flight performance in a windless environment. Calculate the drag area. When performance differs from the baseline, tadaaa, you have wind. Given the known data, you can estimate wind velocity. This obviously doesn't help you if the wind magnitude or direction drastically changes in flight but incorporating this into the algorithm should add some measure of extra safety.

I would go one step further. The wind estimation should be calculated and displayed to the pilot throughout the flight, not just silently fed into the RTH black box.    Before contemplating a longer distance flight, this is info i would love to have rather than relying on external forecasting websites.  

Ken-you're funny.