W.T. Foxtrot Posted at 2017-5-18 04:53
Sorry this happened to you, but it really does sound like you could have avoided disaster.  Hindsight....  hopefully, you will have many successful flights. Good luck

thanks. i could've avoid the loss if i read complaints in this forum before taking a risky flight in 2nd day with a new toy.

Skold Posted at 2017-5-17 07:08
I'd say that falls along the lines of common sense.  They can't spell everything out for you.

right. it is just a user manual. it doesn't need to list all shortcomings of a product so clearly.

Bill in Ohio Posted at 2017-5-18 11:31
Old saying "There are Old pilots and Bold pilots,  but there are no OLD BOLD pilots".  Flying a drone you get to walk away, in a manned aircraft you might have been swimming home.  When do they normally get in trouble - when they are first starting out and later when they feel real confident they can handle things and get sloppy.

thanks for kind advice. Have a new one and testing all modes before next trip this time. : )

UK Stu 5 Posted at 2017-5-18 12:50
Seen loads of these situations come up now..pilot flies drone out to sea in strong wind and craft can't make it back, I'm sure i won't be doing it in a hurry, if i do any costal flying ill be sticking close to shore

yes, we should not take risk in any uncertain situation and before knowing shortcomings of a product well. It was the Bass Rock in the sea which triggered me to take risk fly to it.

PanaceaBeachBum Posted at 2017-5-22 16:02
Bummer about your loss. Good looking video. Im getting the impression im the only one that uses RTH almost every time I fly, if for nothing more than to see it in action. Maybe Ive gotten used to how perfect it is in 3dr flight control.

Thanks.. it works almost perfect in normal weather. : )

Quadcoptercrazy Posted at 2017-5-22 22:34
Lol I wish more people took control over the drone, I got lambasted on another forum for saying that its better to fly home manually.
unrelated to the quote you also have another option than sport mode, you could of turned off the forward avoidence sensors, in calm winds the Mavic usually goes around 30mph and I've found it plenty for most windy conditions, if that doesn't work I'll switch to sport mode.

Thanks for advice. I've got new Mavic to try sport mode before any flight in wind.

Topsurfer Posted at 2017-5-23 01:44
Hello,
I see a lot of statements like:
> "I slowly understand the limitation of RTH button in wind "

yes. it is strong wind.

The problem was user shouldn't use RTH button in ocean wind after flying more than 1 km away from land before understanding its algorithm and before experiencing the sport mode for emergency. It will be useful to try all basic features in safe environment first if time allows.

At 0:55 I see another DJI drone.. no interference ?

DutchMavicPro Posted at 2017-5-28 02:51
At 0:55 I see another DJI drone.. no interference ?

no interference.

Im shocked that ANY pilot would chose to fly back using RTH, the way i see it, RTH is there as a LAST resort if all hell breaks lose.....Whatr if all hell breaks lose and your using RTH, where do you go then? what next? oh , nothing.

Ive been flying since the P2, I have NEVER once used RTH as opposed to flying it myself

Ive only had 2 emergency RTH's  once on the p2 whereby it locked me out because of the battery power , i watched EVERYHTING like a hawk and it landed infront of me

and once last week with the P4P when it lost signal because my phone crashed, within 10 seconds i had the phone back on and had cancelled the RTH and again flew home manually.

Manybe (and im not blaming DJI) DJI need to put out a disclaimer saying "RTH IS TO BE USED AS AN EMERGENCY WAY OF GETTING THE QUAD BACK"

fans41561333 Posted at 2017-5-11 20:13
You study the return route n tell me how smart the drone's RTH feature is with the 78% battery left. The route didn't try to adapt the path it came from at all. I won't be talking about this topic if I lost it to the sea because i flied too far, called it back too late and the return home path was adapting for the home position direction. This RTH button feature is unacceptable in this case and DJI should have reminded not to use it when windy if it is not smart enough for it.

While it was a bit breezy up at height, I've flown many times at wind velocities 2x this including RTH at these wind speeds---never was a problem so I don't believe DJI's excuse on wind speed in your case.   Possibly you had the sun preventing a RTH (collision avoidance preventing it from moving).  I had this happen a few times, since then when I fly at distance I always disable collision avoidance.  I don't see this in your logs though...

Nice video

New Mavic I received is much more stable during take off and hovering. : )

fans8f6a669a Posted at 2017-5-28 07:34
Im shocked that ANY pilot would chose to fly back using RTH, the way i see it, RTH is there as a LAST resort if all hell breaks lose.....Whatr if all hell breaks lose and your using RTH, where do you go then? what next? oh , nothing.

Ive been flying since the P2, I have NEVER once used RTH as opposed to flying it myself

good point.

randy.sauder Posted at 2017-5-28 09:41
While it was a bit breezy up at height, I've flown many times at wind velocities 2x this including RTH at these wind speeds---never was a problem so I don't believe DJI's excuse on wind speed in your case.   Possibly you had the sun preventing a RTH (collision avoidance preventing it from moving).  I had this happen a few times, since then when I fly at distance I always disable collision avoidance.  I don't see this in your logs though...

ok. probably facing sun on way back.

M Stuart K Posted at 2017-5-28 15:04
Nice video

thanks for encouragement.

2017.07.12 Happy with 2nd Mavic which is more stable during take off and hovering.  

fans41561333 Posted at 2017-5-12 07:21
I never claim that I'm a pilot who is familiar with drones. That was third time flying a drone as a beginner on 3rd day after opening the box. I m telling the fact with data that the drone recorded. RTH button is useless when windy.

I never claim that I'm a pilot who is familiar with drones.

You just summarized the entire thread. Reread your own post. Become familiar with drones and their limitations and then ask yourself the same questions again. I your answers are the same, sell the drone and take up knitting.

fans41561333 Posted at 2017-5-12 07:21
I never claim that I'm a pilot who is familiar with drones. That was third time flying a drone as a beginner on 3rd day after opening the box. I m telling the fact with data that the drone recorded. RTH button is useless when windy.

as you say this was your 3rd flight, why did you  go out over the water that far on a windy day ? if you had taken time to learn you would have realised it was too windy and the distance from you wasn't decreasing so its time to go high and put into sports mode & follow the map line heading back home, sorry but blaming RTH isn't the issue, everyone knows in wind the blades have to try harder and thus use more battery.
good luck with your replacement and get more fights before heading out far over water & high winds.

It's not dji's fault, it's your for flying the mavic out to far after just buying it. If you had flown short flights in different conditions you would have known that in high winds you need to switch to sport mode.

What i don't understand Is....
  Did you know that there were Sever winds day when you took off.?
did the controller advise you of a sever wind condition.?
wind gust of over 19mph  / 30kph.?
I believe sport mode would have be able to Save Mavic
Sport mode up to 40 mph/64kph
problem with sports mode In windy condition it uses a lot of battery quickly...so quickly that some battery (here say) get so hot they pop in flight

RTH is a Feature That is built in to Mavic and not just for Emergence purposes only
I believe Mavic Is a Amazing Piece of Technology  for the price
................... and DJI  good bad or indifference with these "Toy Drones" Opened the door to future
The Fact that your were able to retrieve you Mavic after that fateful flight is Amazing Feet in it's self

I had the same issue once flying in a windy area.  I thought I had sport mode engaged.  I turned the drone around and flew it towards me but noticed it was still going backwards.  Thank goodness I was able to bring the drone lower and get it back to the home point.

Only later did I find out that the sport button was disabled by default.  You have to go into the DJI 4 app and enable it before the switch works.
This another annoying feature that DJI screws up.  How is it they make such a great piece of hardware and then intentionally put software in place to make it difficult and frustrating to use?

fans41561333 Posted at 2017-5-11 21:32
No, I expected the drone to be able to adapt/adjust the direction to return home. It had so much time to adjust the direction and it couldn't.

I never rely on automated features like RTH. Always take off, land fly home manually. I have previously flown my old Phantom 2 in over 30 knots of wind...

simsurf Posted at 2017-7-13 18:10
I never rely on automated features like RTH. Always take off, land fly home manually. I have previously flown my old Phantom 2 in over 30 knots of wind...

Same here, I like flying it back myself and haven't even used RTH at all.

Strange how this hobby evolves !  a few years back, this  scenario was so unlikely to ever happen,   as a drone pilot would have come up through the ranks, by way of learning and building the machine,  so from day one the pilot would be very aware,  of its capabilities, and performance capability.  typically the new pilot would have sought advice and training to fly his /her model, starting by learning to hover in atti type mode,  then would have progressed to learn nose in flying, all with in about 50 meters,   then the pilot would have learnt circuits  etc etc over many weeks.     these days drone manufacturers build turn key drones, to make flying a drone easier.  So  a guy sees a drone on the internet and orders one,  postal service drops it to his door,  the new pilot charges the battery,  and goes off and flies well over a 1000mtrs on the first few flights !   the pilot has absolutely no idea of what is happening or why its happening !   with a likely outcome that it may crash.      authorities then see this and say drone flying is dangerous.   this makes this whole thing ridiculous !    route cause analysis would show that the fault here is THE SERIOUS LACK OF TRAINING !    i am sorry but i am starting to think its wrong to sell, turn key drones, in the current way!        the guy with this issue didnt have a clue,  just as bad, he wasnt aware that he needed to know anything !   and dissappointingly he still doesnt know much,   so where does the fault really start?    companies who sell turn key drones, really ought to lock the drone into 50mtr radius circle,  until the pilot has undertaken x number of flights,  and sat through  a comprehensive flight training video,  before having the drone unlocked, or at least something !  if the outcome even though very unlikely was a fatality,  and this went to court,  who could argue what ? who would have the best case of due diligence ?  i am not siding with the pilot or DJI ,   i am just raising this,  because its so easy for all us long time served pilots to knock this pilot for what he has done here,    i have tried to think of putting myself into a hobby where i didnt have a clue and think if i could get myself in a similar predicament,  like jet sking,  jet boat or something ???  my natural want to understand would lead me to research and do more research before applying the throttle for the first time.   i dont the know the full answer to this without breaking it down and understanding , i do know its sad though !

MikeQView Posted at 2017-7-14 14:49
Strange how this hobby evolves !  a few years back, this  scenario was so unlikely to ever happen,   as a drone pilot would have come up through the ranks, by way of learning and building the machine,  so from day one the pilot would be very aware,  of its capabilities, and performance capability.  typically the new pilot would have sought advice and training to fly his /her model, starting by learning to hover in atti type mode,  then would have progressed to learn nose in flying, all with in about 50 meters,   then the pilot would have learnt circuits  etc etc over many weeks.     these days drone manufacturers build turn key drones, to make flying a drone easier.  So  a guy sees a drone on the internet and orders one,  postal service drops it to his door,  the new pilot charges the battery,  and goes off and flies well over a 1000mtrs on the first few flights !   the pilot has absolutely no idea of what is happening or why its happening !   with a likely outcome that it may crash.      authorities then see this and say drone flying is dangerous.   this makes this whole thing ridiculous !    route cause analysis would show that the fault here is THE SERIOUS LACK OF TRAINING !    i am sorry but i am starting to think its wrong to sell, turn key drones, in the current way!        the guy with this issue didnt have a clue,  just as bad, he wasnt aware that he needed to know anything !   and dissappointingly he still doesnt know much,   so where does the fault really start?    companies who sell turn key drones, really ought to lock the drone into 50mtr radius circle,  until the pilot has undertaken x number of flights,  and sat through  a comprehensive flight training video,  before having the drone unlocked, or at least something !  if the outcome even though very unlikely was a fatality,  and this went to court,  who could argue what ? who would have the best case of due diligence ?  i am not siding with the pilot or DJI ,   i am just raising this,  because its so easy for all us long time served pilots to knock this pilot for what he has done here,    i have tried to think of putting myself into a hobby where i didnt have a clue and think if i could get myself in a similar predicament,  like jet sking,  jet boat or something ???  my natural want to understand would lead me to research and do more research before applying the throttle for the first time.   i dont the know the full answer to this without breaking it down and understanding , i do know its sad though !

When I bought my mavic or started in beginner mode?

simsurf Posted at 2017-7-16 01:10
When I bought my mavic or started in beginner mode?

I meant "it started in beginner mode" ...I can't work out how to edit posts on the phone..

hello , i'm new ! this seems scary, so what do you do when it's windy? i'd like to know cause i want to buy my first drone ! thank you !

Flying_Aquila Posted at 2017-7-16 01:20
hello , i'm new ! this seems scary, so what do you do when it's windy? i'd like to know cause i want to buy my first drone ! thank you !

If the wind speed against the mavic is the same as it's default speed it's not going to get far as it's being pushed back by its equal wind speed etc (remember it's quite a light craft so strong wind flying isn't ideal if far away), if the wind is very strong go higher if needed so you can see it better, and engage sport mode, this will allow it to go faster and get through the headwind better, it uses more battery but will get it moving faster towards home for example and not just go through battery struggling & sat fighting headwind.
There are other variables to consider also
When it gets to 30% low bat warning are you too far away to get back safely ?
At 10% it's critical bat warning and will probably just land where it is, so that means at the 1st warning you have 20% bat use to get it home or land it safely.
**none of the above accounts for strong wind resistance which will reduce distance covered, so as the pilot you must make that decision**

PS little tip, adjust your bat warning level based on environment, if it's calm them home at 30% should be fine, if it's windy maybe put your bat warning higher to give you more to get back with at warning.

Flying_Aquila Posted at 2017-7-16 01:20
hello , i'm new ! this seems scary, so what do you do when it's windy? i'd like to know cause i want to buy my first drone ! thank you !

i can only answer this by "learn to fly" . if you can try to link up with some time served guys in your area, you will learn far more, and more quickly than just about any other method,   if you have no option but to fly/learn alone,   read up on as much as you possibly can before your first flight,  go through the mavic manual at least three times,  watch as many flight training videos as possible, before you commit your own flying machine to the air,   write check lists for everything,   including preflight checks,  then when you are ready,  ONLY fly in an open environment free from people for at least the first few flights,  and do everything you can to keep it closer than 75mtrs away,   dont think check lists are for pussies,  its a well known fact that new pilots will loose at least 50% of their brains ability straight after takeoff, fact !    so plan what you are gonna do,   and if it does anything other than you expect land and assess what happened, and why.    hope that helps just a little bit.

FYI, if you hold the right stick forward while in RTH the mavic will do over 30.

MikeQView Posted at 2017-7-14 14:49
Strange how this hobby evolves !  a few years back, this  scenario was so unlikely to ever happen,   as a drone pilot would have come up through the ranks, by way of learning and building the machine,  so from day one the pilot would be very aware,  of its capabilities, and performance capability.  typically the new pilot would have sought advice and training to fly his /her model, starting by learning to hover in atti type mode,  then would have progressed to learn nose in flying, all with in about 50 meters,   then the pilot would have learnt circuits  etc etc over many weeks.     these days drone manufacturers build turn key drones, to make flying a drone easier.  So  a guy sees a drone on the internet and orders one,  postal service drops it to his door,  the new pilot charges the battery,  and goes off and flies well over a 1000mtrs on the first few flights !   the pilot has absolutely no idea of what is happening or why its happening !   with a likely outcome that it may crash.      authorities then see this and say drone flying is dangerous.   this makes this whole thing ridiculous !    route cause analysis would show that the fault here is THE SERIOUS LACK OF TRAINING !    i am sorry but i am starting to think its wrong to sell, turn key drones, in the current way!        the guy with this issue didnt have a clue,  just as bad, he wasnt aware that he needed to know anything !   and dissappointingly he still doesnt know much,   so where does the fault really start?    companies who sell turn key drones, really ought to lock the drone into 50mtr radius circle,  until the pilot has undertaken x number of flights,  and sat through  a comprehensive flight training video,  before having the drone unlocked, or at least something !  if the outcome even though very unlikely was a fatality,  and this went to court,  who could argue what ? who would have the best case of due diligence ?  i am not siding with the pilot or DJI ,   i am just raising this,  because its so easy for all us long time served pilots to knock this pilot for what he has done here,    i have tried to think of putting myself into a hobby where i didnt have a clue and think if i could get myself in a similar predicament,  like jet sking,  jet boat or something ???  my natural want to understand would lead me to research and do more research before applying the throttle for the first time.   i dont the know the full answer to this without breaking it down and understanding , i do know its sad though !

Hi MikeQView,

You are not right, People are free, healthy, and smart, so you can't create sytem, law or anythings else to  prevent some people (A few part in fact) to be stupid !  I

f DJI do that : Block your drone or somethings else, YOU or other good skilled pilot will be the looser and you will have to deal with this unpleasant restriction.

Any law, system, book, forum and so on will prevent people to be stupid.

Obviously, in any hobbies you have to read, learn and understant you hobbies before starting, lot of people hnow that and do that, don't late stupid people create bad law !

Have a nice day,
Yo

Just started with my Mavic, and I'm very much a beginner,  but I have to say that it is a bit concerning though that OP seems to have had no clue or just chose to ignore the UK regulations on flying a drone. At 1.2km could you see the drone?

If its that windy, why fly? Seems idiotic to me...

Seems to me that marketers have created a new generation of consumers who expect everything to happen flawlessly at the touch of a button.  No training or knowledge necessary.  Fortunately, we only have to endure stupid Mavic complaints.  How many fools will meet their maker in an ICON A5 ?

Towlie Posted at 2017-7-12 12:13
I had the same issue once flying in a windy area.  I thought I had sport mode engaged.  I turned the drone around and flew it towards me but noticed it was still going backwards.  Thank goodness I was able to bring the drone lower and get it back to the home point.

Only later did I find out that the sport button was disabled by default.  You have to go into the DJI 4 app and enable it before the switch works.

I think an inexperienced beginner is very likely to lose their drone if sports mode is too easily or accidentally enabled, heck, I've accidentally turned it on several times, myself.

IMHO it's good thing that this feature is disabled by default, but would completely agree that the documentation covering this is inadequate.

Flying_Aquila Posted at 2017-7-16 01:20
hello , i'm new ! this seems scary, so what do you do when it's windy? i'd like to know cause i want to buy my first drone ! thank you !

Short answer is don't fly in windy conditions until you are more experienced.

fans41561333 Posted at 2017-5-12 07:21
I never claim that I'm a pilot who is familiar with drones. That was third time flying a drone as a beginner on 3rd day after opening the box. I m telling the fact with data that the drone recorded. RTH button is useless when windy.

...and over water at that! {:4_177:}

I have had mine for 3 days just took her for her first flight and no way in hell I would go that far (Not in beginner mode) and over water and with high wind.

Live and learn.

fans8f6a669a Posted at 2017-5-28 07:34
Im shocked that ANY pilot would chose to fly back using RTH, the way i see it, RTH is there as a LAST resort if all hell breaks lose.....Whatr if all hell breaks lose and your using RTH, where do you go then? what next? oh , nothing.

Ive been flying since the P2, I have NEVER once used RTH as opposed to flying it myself

Thanks. I am more careful with windy environment now. : )

RCNJ Posted at 2017-7-12 12:07
as you say this was your 3rd flight, why did you  go out over the water that far on a windy day ? if you had taken time to learn you would have realised it was too windy and the distance from you wasn't decreasing so its time to go high and put into sports mode & follow the map line heading back home, sorry but blaming RTH isn't the issue, everyone knows in wind the blades have to try harder and thus use more battery.
good luck with your replacement and get more fights before heading out far over water & high winds.

Thanks for advice.