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Bye Bye Mavic - How to lose it in 5 easy steps...
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Wellsi
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Well, after a few months of fun, I managed to completely lose my new toy, meaning I couldn't even claim on DJI Refresh.

Lost it whilst flying down near Dover by managing to convince myself it was being blown backwards out to sea by the wind.  Funny how one simple error can compound itself and steer your mind into making further mistakes as the panic slowly increases.  End result:  completely lost and truly unlikkely ever to be found by anyone...

Anyway, I made a video using the streamed footage and flight data.  After flying for over 18 months I'd have liked to think I was experienced enough not to make any of these mistakes. But I did, so I guess others could too.  Here they are, in all their glory, so hopefully someone, somewhere, won't do the same!

Cheers,

Ian







2017-4-7
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DroneFlying
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I'm sorry for your loss, but talk about making lemonade out of lemons: that's an outstanding video with a very thoughtful and thorough analysis of what happened. And I'd like to believe that nobody would be laughing about it or thinking it could never happen to them.

There is one thing that I'm curious about, though: do I understand correctly that you landed in the park and shut the motors down but after the connection to the controller was lost the Mavic took off again and tried to fly back to the home point? That behavior certainly would have surprised me too: I would have thought that once it had landed -- regardless of its location -- that it would stay there even if the connection to the controller was then lost.
2017-4-7
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SkunkWerxs
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Wellis / Ian,

   Your honesty and understanding of the Mavic system + operation is so refreshing and to make a video
log about your loss is one of the Best Mavic vid's I seen to date!
    I've been flying RC crafts for over 20yrs. in my opinion you did all you could have , given the situation
Ocean on one side with cliffs, Low battery, far away distance from you, 1000 things going through your mind at once just trying to get your Mavic back to you safely .
     To me you are an Excellent Pilot and it shouldn't have happen to you but it did unfortunately.
I can also tell you that 99.9% of RC crashes and losses into the Twilight Zone is due to making one (1)
     mistake with Perception and Orientation of the RC craft. as you explained your flight all the up to the point of making the EM landing , I was thinking , WoW this guy knows the Mavic's capability's inside out,
when you said it took back of to RTH my heart dropped .
      My whole point of all my rambling on here is ---- I would have done 100% The Same Thing's You Did !
and I also would have lost my Mavic too ! Then to come on to the form, post a video and explain what happen to the Tee, realizing the mistake made without putting Blame on DJI because of app crashing or signal loss tells a lot about you.
       You are an Excellent Pilot , Responsible, Honest and Safe, more people should be like you, as of now all that see your video will walk away more knowledgeable -- You have my Respect
2017-4-7
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Jason Lane
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Excellent post and video. I can understand how, with a little bit of panic, we can forget some of simple things such as to occasionally check your Mavic's position on the map if it's out of sight, rather than fly solely through FPV.

In hindsight, do you reckon the slowdown may have actually been due to the Sun setting off the Obstacle avoidance, rather than the wind overpowering it?
2017-4-7
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Jason Lane
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DroneFlying Posted at 2017-4-7 03:31
do I understand correctly that you landed in the park and shut the motors down but after the connection to the controller was lost the Mavic took off again and tried to fly back to the home point? That behavior certainly would have surprised me too: I would have thought that once it had landed -- regardless of its location -- that it would stay there even if the connection to the controller was then lost.

If this is indeed what happened, I think this would be the 2nd time I've heard of this behavior. I think I even read a DJI rep say that it's the expected behavior. If so, it seems like another bad programming choice. In the other incident, I believe the user said that he made the mistake of powering off the RC before the Mavic after doing a manual landing, and so the Mavic took off in an auto RTH. Pretty ridiculous, if you ask me. I know we're supposed to power off the aircraft first, but I certainly wouldn't expect the Mavic to RTH in the case of such an easy mistake. I'd like to go and test this out myself, but I'm traveling and won't have the opportunity for several more days.

@Wellsi, you said in the video that if you had used the autoland feature of the app, the Mavic would have stayed put. What makes you say that? Do you know for sure that it would have behaved differently?
2017-4-7
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DroneFlying
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Jason Lane Posted at 2017-4-7 05:00
If this is indeed what happened, I think this would be the 2nd time I've heard of this behavior. I think I even read a DJI rep say that it's the expected behavior. If so, it seems like another bad programming choice. In the other incident, I believe the user said that he made the mistake of powering off the RC before the Mavic after doing a manual landing, and so the Mavic took off in an auto RTH. Pretty ridiculous, if you ask me. I know we're supposed to power off the aircraft first, but I certainly wouldn't expect the Mavic to RTH in the case of such an easy mistake. I'd like to go and test this out myself, but I'm traveling and won't have the opportunity for several more days.

@Wellsi, you said in the video that if you had used the autoland feature of the app, the Mavic would have stayed put. What makes you say that? Do you know for sure that it would have behaved differently?

I think this would be the 2nd time I've heard of this behavior.

It sounds vaguely familiar to me too, but I think the first time I probably just dismissed it as confusion on the part of a new pilot.

I think I even read a DJI rep say that it's the expected behavior. If so, it seems like another bad programming choice.

I agree.

I'd like to go and test this out myself, but I'm traveling and won't have the opportunity for several more days.

I'll try this out myself later today and see what happens.
2017-4-7
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Wellsi
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Thank you guys.... your comments put a smile on my face.....

Regarding the landing; well, in my garden, holding the stick down for 3 seconds shuts off the motors once it's on the ground.    When I uploaded to Healthy Drones  / Airdata UAV, it simply showed "loss of signal" at that point, so I guess it landed but never shut off; if the motors had shut off, it wouldn't have started up and taken off again. And had I used auto-land, it should have shut down irrespective of losing signal with the remote...

Ian

2017-4-7
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SkunkWerxs
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Jason Lane Posted at 2017-4-7 05:00
If this is indeed what happened, I think this would be the 2nd time I've heard of this behavior. I think I even read a DJI rep say that it's the expected behavior. If so, it seems like another bad programming choice. In the other incident, I believe the user said that he made the mistake of powering off the RC before the Mavic after doing a manual landing, and so the Mavic took off in an auto RTH. Pretty ridiculous, if you ask me. I know we're supposed to power off the aircraft first, but I certainly wouldn't expect the Mavic to RTH in the case of such an easy mistake. I'd like to go and test this out myself, but I'm traveling and won't have the opportunity for several more days.

@Wellsi, you said in the video that if you had used the autoland feature of the app, the Mavic would have stayed put. What makes you say that? Do you know for sure that it would have behaved differently?

Jason + DroneFlying ,

RTH can be a double edge sword
The Mavic will take back off if you don't kill or are unable to the motors
I believe Ian's situation was he brought the Mavic down to land and it, did but did not stop the motor's  
then when it Lost signal with the RC it triggered RTH---This could have happened to anybody
RTH is a good thing -- the motors still running was the last thing Ian was thinking about after he safely landed it
2017-4-7
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DroneFlying
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Wellsi Posted at 2017-4-7 05:19
Thank you guys.... your comments put a smile on my face.....

Regarding the landing; well, in my garden, holding the stick down for 3 seconds shuts off the motors once it's on the ground.    When I uploaded to Healthy Drones  / Airdata UAV, it simply showed "loss of signal" at that point, so I guess it landed but never shut off; if the motors had shut off, it wouldn't have started up and taken off again. And had I used auto-land, it should have shut down irrespective of losing signal with the remote...

Ok, I see -- thanks for the clarification. Even if the motors are still running it knows it has landed and (in my opinion) shouldn't take off and try to return to home just because it lost the connection to the controller. As Jason said, that seems like a bad design decision.
2017-4-7
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SkunkWerxs
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DroneFlying Posted at 2017-4-7 05:25
Ok, I see -- thanks for the clarification. Even if the motors are still running it knows it has landed and (in my opinion) shouldn't take off and try to return to home just because it lost the connection to the controller. As Jason said, that seems like a bad design decision.

I think if Landing protecting is disabled the Mavic lands by the Pilot manually and the pilot has to stop the motors
Correct me if I'm wrong?  
2017-4-7
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Fractures
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Jason Lane Posted at 2017-4-7 05:00
If this is indeed what happened, I think this would be the 2nd time I've heard of this behavior. I think I even read a DJI rep say that it's the expected behavior. If so, it seems like another bad programming choice. In the other incident, I believe the user said that he made the mistake of powering off the RC before the Mavic after doing a manual landing, and so the Mavic took off in an auto RTH. Pretty ridiculous, if you ask me. I know we're supposed to power off the aircraft first, but I certainly wouldn't expect the Mavic to RTH in the case of such an easy mistake. I'd like to go and test this out myself, but I'm traveling and won't have the opportunity for several more days.

@Wellsi, you said in the video that if you had used the autoland feature of the app, the Mavic would have stayed put. What makes you say that? Do you know for sure that it would have behaved differently?

Thank you Wellsi for posting your story, I also would have done the exact same thing as you.

2017-4-7
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Moll51
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Great video and sadly for you but extremely informative for a newly to drone flying. I will take your advise seriously as I don't want to either have an accident or loose the drone
2017-4-7
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4wesomeAdam
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If I have limited landing zones, flying over water or flying over inaccessible terrain I always use 30% power as my SOP for landing the Mavic.

So frustrating when you landed at that park and it took off again.

Thanks for the video.

Apparently the spirit of the Spitfire was not with your Mavic that day.
2017-4-7
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SkunkWerxs
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Fractures Posted at 2017-4-7 05:43
Thank you Wellsi for posting your story, I also would have done the exact same thing as you.

Fractures,

There is a setting --- landing protection --- if enabled one the Mavic has landed the motors shut off automatically
With it disabled --- you have to Manually shutdown the motors
Correct me if I'm wrong ?
   
2017-4-7
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DroneFlying
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SkunkWerxs Posted at 2017-4-7 05:31
I think if Landing protecting is disabled the Mavic lands by the Pilot manually and the pilot has to stop the motors
Correct me if I'm wrong?

If that's the case then it's news to me and the manual doesn't seem to mention it.
2017-4-7
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Jason Lane
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SkunkWerxs Posted at 2017-4-7 05:31
I think if Landing protecting is disabled the Mavic lands by the Pilot manually and the pilot has to stop the motors
Correct me if I'm wrong?

I'm pretty sure it still kills the motors after holding down the left stick. I usually keep Landing Protection disabled, and hand catch my Mavic for about 99% of my landings. All I do is hold the left stick down for a few seconds while holding the Mavic, and the motors shut down.
2017-4-7
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PizzaFiend
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Great video and account Ian! Thank you for sharing, and I hope that others will learn from this; I know I have...

Sorry for your loss, and hope that you might find it.

Cheers,

John
2017-4-7
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hallmark007
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Hey Wellsi, tough break but a great video I'm sure no consolation, but the whole irony of the situation you went up to video an aviation memorial and managed to to lose  your own Aircraft , I wonder how many from the war would liked to have lost their aircraft and still be around to tell there story.

Hope you have better luck with your new one. Good look.
2017-4-7
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SkunkWerxs
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DroneFlying Posted at 2017-4-7 05:53
If that's the case then it's news to me and the manual doesn't seem to mention it.

When I read the manual I didn't see it either
It was just something I noticed while in the process of flying and messing around with settings
I never gave it much thought till now --- Wellsi Definitely Saved many Mavic's with his Video
  
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Burmman
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Thank you for the video and sorry to see your Mavic gone. I worry about this every time I fly. I've not even gotten mine very far away and I worry. As frustrated as I would have been I'm not sure I would stop looking for mine. Since you have the new Mavic couldn't you fly to the same area a do an search from above ? Might be able to find it.
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SkunkWerxs
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Jason Lane Posted at 2017-4-7 05:58
I'm pretty sure it still kills the motors after holding down the left stick. I usually keep Landing Protection disabled, and hand catch my Mavic for about 99% of my landings. All I do is hold the left stick down for a few seconds while holding the Mavic, and the motors shut down.

Jason ,

Yes you are correct
you are manually killing the motors by holding down the left stick
When Landing protection is enabled the Mavic comes down to approx. 3ft from the ground --Stops and hovers -- Then you push the stick down again the Mavic Lands -- then motors shutdown on there own.
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4wesomeAdam
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SkunkWerxs Posted at 2017-4-7 06:02
When I read the manual I didn't see it either
It was just something I noticed while in the process of flying and messing around with settings
I never gave it much thought till now --- Wellsi Definitely Saved many Mavic's with his Video

Where is this setting found?
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DroneFlying
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hallmark007 Posted at 2017-4-7 06:02
Hey Wellsi, tough break but a great video I'm sure no consolation, but the whole irony of the situation you went up to video an aviation memorial and managed to to lose  your own Aircraft , I wonder how many from the war would liked to have lost their aircraft and still be around to tell there story.

Hope you have better luck with your new one. Good look.

the whole irony of the situation you went up to video an aviation memorial and managed to to lose  your own Aircraft

Yes, and the other irony is that if he'd had a little less battery left while over the park the critical battery threshold would have been reached, at which time the Mavic would have insisted on landing . . . and would have stayed on the ground. It was just kind of a "perfect storm" of circumstances and mistakes.
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SkunkWerxs
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4wesomeAdam Posted at 2017-4-7 05:48
If I have limited landing zones, flying over water or flying over inaccessible terrain I always use 30% power as my SOP for landing the Mavic.

So frustrating when you landed at that park and it took off again.

I use 30% SOP also
But in Wellsi situation realizing the wind and distance, making EM landing --  I don't think that would have been enough.
This could have happen to anybody there's a lot going on when your trying to get your Craft back to you
with the Variables that Wellsi was experiencing.
I would have lost my Mavic too!!!!!!
2017-4-7
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Mcflying
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Although the outcome was for you a bummer.
I found it pretty informative,...so thanks.
That made me think?
If all of us watch your clip on Youtube, and let say you get 100K views.
Then you could buy a new one from the youtube advertisements.
Pretty briljant don't you think?

SO EVERYBODY WATCH THIS CLIP!!!!
and learn from a PRO
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SkunkWerxs
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4wesomeAdam Posted at 2017-4-7 06:07
Where is this setting found?

Connect your device to the Mavic controller , Power up Mavic and RC it is in MC settings
its on the (3) Third page of the sensor settings
2017-4-7
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un hombre
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Oh my, I feel so sorry for your loss... Nothing you could do, "Smart" functionality of Mavic made a stupid decision...

This only shows me that I am better of with the "Video cache" enabled instead of disabled...
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SkunkWerxs
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SkunkWerxs Posted at 2017-4-7 06:27
Connect your device to the Mavic controller , Power up Mavic and RC it is in MC settings
its on the (3) Third page of the sensor settings

Landing Protection right above Precision Landing
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Wellsi
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SkunkWerxs Posted at 2017-4-7 04:56
Wellis / Ian,

   Your honesty and understanding of the Mavic system + operation is so refreshing and to make a video

Cheers Skunk!

Yep; a perfect storm of minor mistakes, all compounding.
If it had been the gleeming white Phantom 3 I would be back there doing aerial searches.. if I had started the long flight on full battery, or if I'd checked the map location of it, or if I'd used auto-return, or if I'd used auto land or CSC, or if I'd checked the rotors had switched off, or if I'd not had complete jungle and cliffs between me and it, then I may well have had a happier ending....  But there we are!

Have to say, it's good to read your comments...

cheers
Ian


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FrequentFlyer
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Very informative and great info.
2017-4-7
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Wellsi
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Mcflying Posted at 2017-4-7 06:22
Although the outcome was for you a bummer.
I found it pretty informative,...so thanks.
That made me think?

Lol....!   
Actually, I think you get around $1 per thousand views, so I'd need a million views to make that money....  
Given the specialist nature of this video, I don't see that happening...  Maybe I'll be able to buy a spare set of propellers
It's a nice thought, but I like that people are seeing this positively and learning the odd tip...

Ian
2017-4-7
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4wesomeAdam
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SkunkWerxs Posted at 2017-4-7 06:17
I use 30% SOP also
But in Wellsi situation realizing the wind and distance, making EM landing --  I don't think that would have been enough.
This could have happen to anybody there's a lot going on when your trying to get your Craft back to you

To clarify, I don't just rely on 30% battery life as the only factor in returning to my original take off point. It is one of many factors I consider that I did not list.

And one factor i use the OP mentioned is wind direction and speed, flying generally into the wind outbound and flying with the wind inbound as much as possible.

2017-4-7
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MavicMule
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Nice recap Ian!  Like others have said, I would of had the same thought process you had.  The final comments are very helpful reminders.  Thank you for posting!
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hallmark007
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DroneFlying Posted at 2017-4-7 06:10
the whole irony of the situation you went up to video an aviation memorial and managed to to lose  your own Aircraft

Yes, and the other irony is that if he'd had a little less battery left while over the park the critical battery threshold would have been reached, at which time the Mavic would have insisted on landing . . . and would have stayed on the ground. It was just kind of a "perfect storm" of circumstances and mistakes.

When I was looking at that video, and he was saying he lost sight of it and flew past him, if only he checked the small radar at the bottom of the screen he would have had plenty of time to realise where his Mavic was,
So many people don't use that radar but it's the easiest and most simplest ways of knowing the direction Mavic is flying.

Sometimes we all overthink this stuff.
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4wesomeAdam
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SkunkWerxs Posted at 2017-4-7 06:29
Landing Protection right above Precision Landing

Thanks brother.

2017-4-7
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QuadcopterNacho
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Great video! I actually thought that the quad wouldn't try to RTH after the motors had been shut down. Maybe they didn't?
I think the Mavic displays the RPM on the controller, right? (I didn't get mine yet). Maybe if it happens again to someone, checking the RPM to make sure the motors shut off is a good idea.
Anyway, I would have done the exact same thing as you did...
2017-4-7
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DJI-Ken
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Sorry to hear that Ian, it is a shame when a pilot loses their aircraft.
2017-4-7
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SkunkWerxs
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Wellsi Posted at 2017-4-7 06:30
Cheers Skunk!

Yep; a perfect storm of minor mistakes, all compounding.

Ian ,

Your very welcome !!!!!!
I've been in your position a few times B4 I have Crash and I have Lost my Crafts to never be seen again
Even with the years of experience that I have, it can still happen and it does loll
Every time I fly I accept the fact that anything can happen to cause a loss or a crash of any Type of RC
I am Piloting --- it keeps you on your toe's , make's you want to learn more so that it doesn't happen
again.
Fook all the IF's -- let it go -- This was a learning experience and I'm sure it will never happen again to you .
You Have Just Became a Better Pilot Then What You Already Were !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
CHEER's + Happy Flying when you get your New Mavic   

2017-4-7
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SkunkWerxs
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Mcflying Posted at 2017-4-7 06:22
Although the outcome was for you a bummer.
I found it pretty informative,...so thanks.
That made me think?

Mcflying ,

Great idea
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ArtistFirst
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Sorry brother.
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