I had three fully charged batteries to take my Mavic 2 Pro out yesterday then the Great British sky over North London turned from blue to gray and the heavens opened with a large down pour of rain - flights cancelled! Knowing the discharge cycle is ten days and I don't like leaving my batteries on a 100% charge for that long I decided to discharge them by hovering the drone in my house... I have done this with multiple drones on many occasions before without any problems but yesterday was a real reality check on what can happen if you do...

The drone was in P-GPS as I got a lock inside, I had set failsafe to hover (not RTH) and the lights were on in the room. I was in tripod mode with the OA turned on and all was OK for quite a while as normal. The drone drifted back slightly so I tried to reposition it in readiness for landing but the OA prevented it from moving so, foolishly, I turned off the OA... The drone then switched to ATTI and slowly started drifting out of control around the room, crashing into the walls, flying towards my head and finally landed itself upside down on the carpet...

All four props were destroyed as you can see in the pic.

Amazingly, the drone however remains in A1 condition. I've refreshed the FW and recalibrated the IMU and gimbal, armed the motors with my two spare props and the two less damaged ones and everything appears to be just fine as if nothing happened. The M2P is clearly a very robust drone and the outcome could have been a lot worse but thankfully no harm done to me or the drone and nothing more than a small bit of paint needed on the walls.

My advice to those thinking of flying indoors is this:

1. DON'T
2. If you must (perhaps an indoor job with the drone) then do the following:
a. Use prop guards
b. Turn on the AUX lights
c. Never turn off OA
d. Set failsafe to hover
e. Have experience in flying in ATTI mode (though that didn't help in my case)
f. Ensure the room is VERY lit and spacious
3. Always have a spare set of at least 4 props in the bag - I'm now grounded with only 2 props but have 6 coming this week from DJI

I've been flying DJI drones for nearly three years and this is my first incident as never had to even replace a prop before but anything can happen at any time to anyone with any drone - we live and learn!

Safe flying!

A J Posted at 4-8 00:21
My advice to those thinking of flying indoors is this:

1. DON'T

Apologies whats OA?

MervTheSoon Posted at 4-8 00:27
Apologies whats OA?

Obstacle Avoidance.

saviour Posted at 4-8 00:29
Obstacle Avoidance.

Ohh thanks for that

saviour Posted at 4-8 00:29
Obstacle Avoidance.

Ohh thanks for that

I flew my old Mavic pro many times indoors
But i flew them in a large hall and with high ceilings only
Never in a small room
However, i flew them all in Atti mode (as it was totally indoors) and with OA fully off and RTH set to hover & in tripod mode after taking off

Some very interesting indoor flying tips

MervTheSoon Posted at 4-8 01:04
I flew my old Mavic pro many times indoors
But i flew them in a large hall and with high ceilings only
Never in a small room

I've done that about 50 times from the Spark to the Inspire with no problems at all. Doesn't mean you will never crash - as this proves.

A J Posted at 4-8 01:09
I've done that about 50 times from the Spark to the Inspire with no problems at all. Doesn't mean you will never crash - as this proves.

yup agree!
there will always be accidents and mistakes made

MervTheSoon Posted at 4-8 01:07
Some very interesting indoor flying tips

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-QKBrJmG4Y

Dylan often gives good tips.

A J Posted at 4-8 01:12
Dylan often gives good tips.

Yes he does! Very wise and quite the british humor he adds

MervTheSoon Posted at 4-8 01:12
yup agree!
there will always be accidents and mistakes made

Yep - I'm just thankful that an ambulance didn't need to be called.

A J Posted at 4-8 01:12
Dylan often gives good tips.

Yes he does! Very wise and quite the British humor he adds

MervTheSoon Posted at 4-8 01:14
Yes he does! Very wise and quite the British humor he adds

Yeah, he's great!
DPD just text - new props will be here tomorrow! Thanks DJI

A J Posted at 4-8 01:16
Yeah, he's great!
DPD just text - new props will be here tomorrow! Thanks DJI

Yay!! Happy Flying!!

A J Posted at 4-8 01:16
Yeah, he's great!
DPD just text - new props will be here tomorrow! Thanks DJI

Yay! Happy Flying!

MervTheSoon Posted at 4-8 01:21
Yay! Happy Flying!

.

Quickest way to crash a drone ...fly it indoors ….

Holy hell, you have flown your inspire indoors? This is one craft I won’t even start up inside

AnzacJack Posted at 4-8 02:30
Holy hell, you have flown your inspire indoors? This is one craft I won’t even start up inside

Yes I have No problems at all with that one but in one of my bigger rooms.

Sky Donkey Posted at 4-8 02:23
Quickest way to crash a drone ...fly it indoors ….

Very true !

i have a question,
the d. Set failsafe to hover, you mention same as Remote Controller Signal Lost = Hover?
and what happens to the bird when the battery indicator is so low that (H) for RTH on the battery status kick in automatic,
will the bird still stay and hover on this RTH phase?

Blackchim Posted at 4-8 04:14
i have a question,
the d. Set failsafe to hover, you mention same as Remote Controller Signal Lost = Hover?
and what happens to the bird when the battery indicator is so low that (H) for RTH on the battery status kick in automatic,

That's a good question. I only ever flew indoors to discharge my batteries quicker so always landed on around 45%. Never been in a situation where I experienced a low battery warning indoors. Given that the setting to hover is for failsafe (signal lost) I'd imagine the drone would still RTH if low battery is not cancelled within the 10 second count down. That said, if the drone is within 5 meters of the home point it should just land anyway - if of course you have a home point as getting GPS indoors (and maintaining it) is difficult.

Blackchim Posted at 4-8 04:14
i have a question,
the d. Set failsafe to hover, you mention same as Remote Controller Signal Lost = Hover?
and what happens to the bird when the battery indicator is so low that (H) for RTH on the battery status kick in automatic,

Flew test it once indoors with the original MP, went slightly to the wall, quickly grabbed it from bottom and turned it upside down with a little force as it was quite difficult. Never did it again.

SD_Pilot Posted at 4-8 05:01
Flew test it once indoors with the original MP, went slightly to the wall, quickly grabbed it from below and turned it upside down with a little force as it was quite difficult. Never did it again.

I did consider grabbing it as it flew towards my face but my reaction was just to duck out the way... Glad I did looking back as those props will cut through skin and I don't want to even think what would have happened if it hit my chops or eyes! Walls can be painted, props and drones replaced but plastic surgery is something else lol Scary moment to say the least mate! All is well that ends well and yeah, that was my last ever indoor flight... I'd rather the batteries expand than experience that again!

I made this same mistake with a Phantom 4 several years ago.  Had the same loss of GPS, same ATTI issues, and similar crash.  Unfortunately, mine broke a compass and caused some other damage, which cost $300 to fix, so I'd say you got one inexpensive lesson there.  Thanks for sharing.

A J Posted at 4-8 04:52
[view_image]

thank you for a good answer

Excellent cheklist for safe indoor flight!

Best way to drain your batteries when you can't fly is to use them as a power bank with the adapter provided in the Fly More Kit. Simply use your battery for charging any of your gadgets until your battery reaches the desired voltage. Hovering indoors is asking for a crash....

Damager Posted at 4-8 05:46
I made this same mistake with a Phantom 4 several years ago.  Had the same loss of GPS, same ATTI issues, and similar crash.  Unfortunately, mine broke a compass and caused some other damage, which cost $300 to fix, so I'd say you got one inexpensive lesson there.  Thanks for sharing.

I was expecting a 'Hasselblad' camera in pieces I must admit lol - definitely a lucky outcome from an unfortunate situation. It's because the drone itself didn't crash into the walls as guarded by the props merely bumping into the walls (albeit several times) that I'm not facing an invoice of hundreds of pounds I guess. I can handle £22 for four new props but £1200 for a new M2P would have really .... me off. Thanks for the comment.

Blackchim Posted at 4-8 06:28
thank you for a good answer

You're welcome. Trust me, you don't want to fly indoors - well, bedrooms anyway!

EnricoBrun Posted at 4-8 06:39
Excellent cheklist for safe indoor flight!

https://youtu.be/tsJ8upE6RZc

Thanks for sharing.

ro_flyer Posted at 4-8 07:00
Best way to drain your batteries when you can't fly is to use them as a power bank with the adapter provided in the Fly More Kit. Simply use your battery for charging any of your gadgets until your battery reaches the desired voltage. Hovering indoors is asking for a crash....

I didn't get the fly more kit but that's a good tip for those with the power bank adaptor. I asked and it answered lol

A J Posted at 4-8 07:28
I didn't get the fly more kit but that's a good tip for those with the power bank adaptor. I asked and it answered lol

You can buy it online, in Amazon or eBay. It is quite unexpensive and very useful on this or other situations, as charging your remote controller  for an example, with one of the used batteries that still have some juice on it.

ro_flyer Posted at 4-8 08:06
You can buy it online, in Amazon or eBay. It is quite unexpensive.

Yeah I've seen it and had it with other drones when I've bought the fly more combo's. But as you may have guessed I usually discharge by hovering indoors with no issues on my past ten drones until yesterday - may have to invest in one now though as not doing that again.

A J Posted at 4-8 08:09
Yeah I've seen it and had it with other drones when I've bought the fly more combo's. But as you may have guessed I usually discharge by hovering indoors with no issues on my past ten drones until yesterday - may have to invest in one now though as not doing that again.

Cool, having an expensive "ceiling fan" hovering over your living room may not be the best idea!!