I bought Mavic Pro on April 12, 2017 for my UK trip.

I tested it in Singapore and used it on April 14 when I visited Linlithgow Palace in Edinburgh.


On April 15, I flied it to Bass Rock which is a small island in sea in front of Tantallon Castle on land.
I replaced a fully charged spare battery before flying it.
I called it back with Return To Home button when battery is about 78% left and drone is about 1.2km away.

It couldn't come back before the battery is flat.
Next day, someone found it on nearby beach and contacted me by getting email address from DJI.
I was in Skye when she emailed me and she put all effort to return it to my friend in Edinburgh on April 17.

I want DJI to answer why the drone is not smart enough to adapt and keep the return home direction correctly when windy.
I feel the service is repair service provided is not really helpful because it took about 9 days just to say it needs to be replaced with new one and charging me for almost full price for drone itself.

* I feel the repair service provided is not really helpful.

Last route

Note the RTH is going to come in at a set p-mode speed.  If the wind is greater than that, the drone might have been going backwards. Even airplanes can go backwards if the headwind is great enough.

This is total pilot error.  I know you don't want to hear that, but it is. not to mention breaking the VLOS rule which would have saved you in the first place.

A lot of people underestimate the power of the wind and wind gust. You should never fly before you check your wind speed, wind direction, wind gust. From 10' to 200' it is a difference between dyas and night when it comes to  wind conditions.

Sorry for your loss but unfortunately you learned an expensive lesson. Flying drone is like flying an airplane. You do all your checks before and after you flight.

The other poster summed it really well and I can't add anything to it.

SAFETY FIRST - FUN SECOND

You should have put it on sport mode and flew it home manually.  That's what I would have done if it was me.

fansca9280ea Posted at 2017-5-11 18:26
Depending how windy it was at your RTH altitude it could have been fighting winds not going anywhere (not Dji's fault)
-What was your RTH altitude?
-the drone wasn't that far away, why not fly home manually?

https://www.dropbox.com/s/1fpg5k ... stFlyRoute.PNG?dl=0

"For your claimed case, we have already finished the analysis, and the result is as follows:

1) At flight time 360s, RTH is initiated by the pilot via the RC;
2) The aircraft was trying to RTH (which we could confirm via the attitude of the aircraft), but it could not, due to an improper flight environment with a strong wid;
3) At flight time 1064s, landing is initiated by Critical Low Battery level. In the end, the aircraft landed into the water.

According to the analysis, the incident was not caused by any product malfunction factors"

Xman1 Posted at 2017-5-11 18:41
Note the RTH is going to come in at a set p-mode speed.  If the wind is greater than that, the drone might have been going backwards. Even airplanes can go backwards if the headwind is great enough.

This is total pilot error.  I know you don't want to hear that, but it is. not to mention breaking the VLOS rule which would have saved you in the first place.

I haven't tried P-mode at all.

Did a quick search on weather and wind gusts up to 10 m/s. normal wind was far lower than that. Did you fly into the wind at shore or with it? Rth should not fly that crooked? Maybe the front facing sensors saw the sun or some flare and tried to avoid it.

fansca9280ea Posted at 2017-5-11 18:26
Depending how windy it was at your RTH altitude it could have been fighting winds not going anywhere (not Dji's fault)
-What was your RTH altitude?
-the drone wasn't that far away, why not fly home manually?

I trusted RTH button and used it to call back when battery is 78% left. Can see the return route in picture from the point i called it back. It came back the same distance with remaining battery but not in right direction.

dronist Posted at 2017-5-11 18:51
A lot of people underestimate the power of the wind and wind gust. You should never fly before you check your wind speed, wind direction, wind gust. From 10' to 200' it is a difference between dyas and night when it comes to  wind conditions.

Sorry for your loss but unfortunately you learned an expensive lesson. Flying drone is like flying an airplane. You do all your checks before and after you flight.

My point is RTH button is not as smart as it supposed to be. It didn't adapt to keep in the direction of path it came from.

I didn't notice the return route when calling it back. I noticed it only when DJI asked me to upload flight data to sync after sending for repair. It could have come back in time if i tried to call it back manually.

last route

Lucas775 Posted at 2017-5-11 19:22
You should have put it on sport mode and flew it home manually.  That's what I would have done if it was me.

I just got it and didn't have a chance to try Sport mode. Thanks for advice.

fans41561333 Posted at 2017-5-11 20:01
https://www.dropbox.com/s/1fpg5k ... stFlyRoute.PNG?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/1fpg5k ... stFlyRoute.PNG?dl=0

Sync your DJI go flight to https://airdata.com/. Once you do that, post a link here. It shows substantially more data, and I can tell you what the wind speeds were.

Here are instructions: https://app.airdata.com/sync-app

For example:

fansca9280ea Posted at 2017-5-11 18:26
Depending how windy it was at your RTH altitude it could have been fighting winds not going anywhere (not Dji's fault)
-What was your RTH altitude?
-the drone wasn't that far away, why not fly home manually?

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.

I only have mavic for about a month. I never used the auto return yet. There are so many features and settings that if you don't have all insinc with your flying area it Def can get you into probs, ie:too much sun or not enough,water flying or land,set height of the function it self. Even though it may not be windy on ground, every 100 feet up you go, like diving is another atmosphere,  who knows what wind is up there . Sux it happen.when I had my wipeput , DJI was very helpful and very responsive to my inquiries through out repair process and took great care of me as customer. It does sound like and i can see why DJI say pilot error. At least it got recovered to get annualized. I seen some stories where what happened to you happens and never seen again.
Good luck with case

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 and the route which 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, i call it back too late and the return home path is 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.

So you want the drone to tell you that it is too windy to RTH from that distance after you flew it there?

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh.........................@#%#@
{:4_177:}{:4_157:}

Jenee 2 Posted at 2017-5-11 20:29
So you want the drone to tell you that it is too windy to RTH from that distance after you flew it there?

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh.........................@#%#@

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.

That's not strange ;-) on they end the airplane knows that there is high-wind. You also get warnings in the app.

With a calculation the Mavic knows the windspeed and direction during flying

fans41561333 Posted at 2017-5-11 19:59
My point is RTH button is not as smart as it supposed to be. It didn't adapt to keep in the direction of path it came from.

I didn't notice the return route when calling it back. I noticed it only when DJI asked me to upload flight data to sync after send for repair. It could have come back in time if i tried to call it back manually.

.. and apparently, not all pilots are as smart as they are supposed to be.

Looking at the flag on the castle and the motion of the water on the lake, I can clearly tell its too windy to be flying.

fans41561333 Posted at 2017-5-11 21:32
No, i want 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.

Hi sorry to hear you had trouble with your Mavic please post your logs as others have said to airdata or phantom help.
Some things to remember when flying on windy days, always try to fly into the wind on your outward journey.
You could have cancelled RTH and flew aircraft back manually, you can fly at speed of 40mph in sport mode and this is what you should have done when you realised it was making no headway, you can use radar in bottom left hand corner to get your heading and use telemetry to work out how fast you are making ground.
These are reasons why if your inexperienced you should keep your craft in VLOS and 1.2 miles is to far .
This is all about managing risk, if you are flying on a windy day, consider all your options and plan how you are going to fly a mission plan how you are going to get craft home, plan in the event of something happening what you are going to do,
If you do this you will always have more than one option, which you were relying on .
Now it maybe something else happened and it may not have been your fault, in order to get help you need to post your logs.

When I read something like this, I´m wondering which background in tech, or general flying tech, a lot of those buyers of the mavic have.
Open the package, throw away the manual and let the drone get some coffee from the next shop most far away.
This little drone packs some cool functions inside, which clearly points out that we´re living in 2017. 5 years ago nobody could even think of this is possible.
Beside the problems which are manufacturing related and have to be handled by the guaranty, this thread should be stated as:

"I made an mistake, so here is the story to prevent others doing the same."

fans41561333 Posted at 2017-5-11 19:59
My point is RTH button is not as smart as it supposed to be. It didn't adapt to keep in the direction of path it came from.

I didn't notice the return route when calling it back. I noticed it only when DJI asked me to upload flight data to sync after send for repair. It could have come back in time if i tried to call it back manually.

It looks like the drone cannot go into the right direction because the strong winds are pushing it away. Look at the wind direction in your video and look into what direction the drone drifted away.

You are blaming the RTH feature for something that is physically not possible. If the wind is too strong, the drone cannot make it. Others have said it already: You should not have flown that far; the drone was out of sight. You should not have flown at strong winds.

With a lot of experience you could have saved your drone (maybe): Fly it manually, return to the shore, don't fight the wind and accept that the drone is drifting away. Then land it somewhere far away from your home point, go there and collect it.

And again a simple case of RTFM..

Seriously though, never in those 15 minutes it took to return the thought popped up in your head "Hmm, this thing isn't back yet, i should check what is going on"?
I used the RTH function for the first time since i bought my mavic on wednesday. I have my mavic since february.. It was SO scary to do, and i kept my eyes on the remote all the time, checking both the camera and telemetry to make sure it was actually flying back to the homepoint.

This was most definately pilot error, and quite honestly, you were just too arrogant to think that you could blame this on DJI. No sir, you broke your toy. I hope you bought DJI Care Refresh.

sport mode would have got you out of trouble simple ;)

Sorry my friend, but this is your fault.

You did not study Mavic's limitations, parameters and did not use common sense.

Having good signal strength and being only 1.2 km away in strong wing does not call for automatic RTH.

What you should have done was lower the altitude and return manually in sports mode, if wind was too strong.

Thankfully it was found by a honest founder. I am sure you will remember your lesson next time you fly it

fans41561333 Posted at 2017-5-11 21:32
No, i want 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.

This is why in all aircraft pilots sit in the pilots seat because the autopilot needs manual input at times to correct problems exactly like you describe.  You are that pilot, you are the one that makes the final call when something doesn't go right, in this case, the RTH was likely being overpowered by wind forces.  You should have switched to sport mode and flew manually to correct what the aircraft was incapable of correcting against.  You actually had to pilot your aircraft in this dangerous situation.

I feel your pain, but this is not a RTH problem.  This is just a series of errors is all.

Note RTH can also be interrupted by the sun if the forward vision is active and the aircraft won't be able to RTH in that situation either as it cannot tell the bright light is not an object.  Again, this requires manual input.

Yes be honest RTH should only be used in extreme circumstances and not just for leisure. It's a failsafw feature.

With that being said?  Fly safe and fly smart.

Did you have line of sight?  Why not just fly it home manually?  You could have easily done so.  Utilize the map on the app to situate orientation and fly home.

I NEVER fly my drone when winds are even 12 mph far away due to understanding how much power it takes to cut back through the wind.  If you will Fly in wind, fly out against the wind and return home with the wind. Let the wind do the work on the way home.

Hope everything works out for you.

I want DJI to answer why the drone is not smart enough to adapt and keep the return home direction correctly when windy.

I think the short answer to this question is that determining the best speed and direction is a very complicated problem to solve. And DJI probably isn't anxious to get into the business of creating a complex RTH algorithm that could arguably get them into even more trouble when / if it failed to produce the desired results.

I don't feel the service is repair service provided is not helpful at all because it took about 9 days just to say it needs to be replaced with new one and charging me for almost full price for drone itself.

Complaints about service are a common theme here and I believe there's some merit to many of them. As far as the replacement price, they apparently (and for good reason) consider a submerged Mavic to essentially be a complete loss, which is why a replacement is so expensive.

TJAUS Posted at 2017-5-11 22:12
.. and apparently, not all pilots are as smart as they are supposed to be.

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.

SHamers Posted at 2017-5-11 21:40
That's not strange ;-) on they end the airplane knows that there is high-wind. You also get warnings in the app.

With a calculation the Mavic knows the windspeed and direction during flying

https://www.dropbox.com/s/1fpg5k ... stFlyRoute.PNG?dl=0

If Mavic knows winds peed and direction during flying, what happened to this Return To Home path with 78% battery left ?  

fans41561333 Posted at 2017-5-12 07:21
I never claim 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 is recorded that RTH button is useless when windy.

I m telling the fact with data that the drone is recorded that RTH button is useless when windy.

It isn't "useless" in windy conditions. I think what you really mean is that it's not guaranteed to get your drone back to you in cases where it might be possible to return under the direct control of a human pilot. But nobody -- and certainly not DJI -- has ever claimed that RTH is a replacement / substitute for the pilot. It's a convenience that when used correctly and in the right circumstances will bring the drone back to you, but not one you should rely on to make it back successfully.

SLiWooDy Posted at 2017-5-11 23:22
Looking at the flag on the castle and the motion of the water on the lake, I can clearly tell its too windy to be flying.

This clip is from 2nd day of flying. Do you mean a user is not supposed to fly a drone when windy ? I bought it to use in trips and wind is expected in most of the places.

hallmark007 Posted at 2017-5-12 01:44
Hi sorry to hear you had trouble with your Mavic please post your logs as others have said to airdata or phantom help.
Some things to remember when flying on windy days, always try to fly into the wind on your outward journey.
You could have cancelled RTH and flew aircraft back manually, you can fly at speed of 40mph in sport mode and this is what you should have done when you realised it was making no headway, you can use radar in bottom left hand corner to get your heading and use telemetry to work out how fast you are making ground.

thanks for useful advice. I was confident with RTH button after reading user manual and didn't expect for what happened. I presumed that it is pretty safe to come back with 78% of battery after flying with a new battery  only for 6 mins.  

fans41561333 Posted at 2017-5-12 07:40
thanks for useful advice. I was confident with RTH button after reading user manual and didn't expect for what happened. I presumed that it is pretty safe to come back with 78% of battery after flying with a new battery  only for 6 mins.

Unfortunately it wasn't power that was your main factor for getting home, it looks like it was wind, get yourself another Mavic you will have learned a lot from this experience, and not much consolation but your video was looking great.
Good luck

BirdieMavic Posted at 2017-5-12 02:42
When I read something like this, I´m wondering which background in tech, or general flying tech, a lot of those buyers of the mavic have.
Open the package, throw away the manual and let the drone get some coffee from the next shop most far away.
This little drone packs some cool functions inside, which clearly points out that we´re living in 2017. 5 years ago nobody could even think of this is possible.

The topic title describes exactly what happened.  DJI never mentions that user with no experience in drones or background in tech shouldn't buy/fly Mavic. Of course, no beginner can fly without reading user manual and how to press/use RTH button.  

fans41561333 Posted at 2017-5-12 07:21
I never claim 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 is recorded that RTH button is useless when windy.

Everything is useless when windy. If the wind blows at 80km/h and the drone's max speed is 65km/h, there is little you can do.

DroneFlying Posted at 2017-5-12 06:47
I want DJI to answer why the drone is not smart enough to adapt and keep the return home direction correctly when windy.

I think the short answer to this question is that determining the best speed and direction is a very complicated problem to solve. And DJI probably isn't anxious to get into the business of creating a complex RTH algorithm that could arguably get them into even more trouble when / if it failed to produce the desired results.

If RTH algorithm is not good enough when windy, shouldn't it be disabled when drone can detect strong wind ?

This is not about $.  i have agreed to pay for replacement cost. This is about credibility of what is stated in user manual and the performance of the feature itself in wind. The data says it all.  
https://www.dropbox.com/s/1fpg5k ... stFlyRoute.PNG?dl=0