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When things go wrong

blackomega

Well-Known Member
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Jan 29, 2019
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96
Age
43
Well fellow members of Spark pilots.

My Mavic 2 Zoom arrived yesterday, I am not sure how much more use I will get from my spark. I may even consider selling it
I hope that you may allow me to continue to post my work on this forum. i would like to post my videos both here and MavicPilots
or please subscribe to my youtube channel

One of the reasons i got the spark is my wife wanted me to learn on a smaller "less expensive" Drone
she was correct.
so please enjoy my blooper reel of sorts
 
Well, maybe better not to show the compilation of
crashes to a eventual buyer for your Spark... ?
 
watching those videos makes my skin crawl... why are you backing.... serves you right! wait, look around you, you're surrounded by trees! no don't- *sigh*.

There's NO worse place to fly than in a field in the winter or spring where there's trees everywhere with no leaves on them.
 
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watching those videos makes my skin crawl... why are you backing.... serves you right! wait, look around you, you're surrounded by trees! no don't- *sigh*.

There's NO worse place to fly than in a field in the winter or spring where there's trees everywhere with no leaves on them.

Well this was meant to be a funny topic

Thanks for killing it for the rest of us
 
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Well this was meant to be a funny topic

Thanks for killing it for the rest of us

well it was a somewhat tongue-in-cheek response but maybe too subtle for some ;)

still makes my skin crawl when I see those video though, I almost (and from time to time, DO) shout "noooo, don't do it!" (I can't watch!)
 
Interesting spark bloopers movie - but tell me, do other spark pilots have similar crashes?

Lets see them and learn (spelled laugh) ??
 
Interesting spark bloopers movie - but tell me, do other spark pilots have similar crashes?

I flew my spark for the first week in a park with the prop guards on to protect the prop and a lens glare shield on to protect the camera/gimbal.

The very first time I removed those, my spark got behind me (and I wasn't quite fully mentally programmed yet to handle it not facing the same way I was facing) and it got close to a tree so I stopped, and it stopped within maybe 6" of the tree. I then carefully nudged it to get it away from the tree, but was facing the wrong way so I slowly went INTO the tree, and down it came, only about a 15ft drop though.

Cracked the vane on one of my props, and somehow managed to put a scuff on the LENS of the camera. Fortunately it was on the area not in front of the optics (the lens is oval/rectangular) so it doesn't mess with my camera shots. Had to reboot it to clear a gimbal servo error, but thankfully doesn't appear to have suffered any permanent issues. That's been over a year ago and it's extremely rare that I have any issues. I DID brush a guy wire at a ham event this spring though, somehow not taking me out of the air.
 
Funny story so today I was letting on of my friends kids fly it. Nice sunny day. I was flying my mavic so was not paying close attention to him
The spark went into atti mode and got blown Into a tree and fell about 20feet. It still survived
 
Yep - small leafless branches, sturdy (but long) blades of grass.... Beware the invisible crash causers! ?
 
I flew my spark for the first week in a park with the prop guards on to protect the prop and a lens glare shield on to protect the camera/gimbal.

The very first time I removed those, my spark got behind me (and I wasn't quite fully mentally programmed yet to handle it not facing the same way I was facing) and it got close to a tree so I stopped, and it stopped within maybe 6" of the tree. I then carefully nudged it to get it away from the tree, but was facing the wrong way so I slowly went INTO the tree, and down it came, only about a 15ft drop though.

Cracked the vane on one of my props, and somehow managed to put a scuff on the LENS of the camera. Fortunately it was on the area not in front of the optics (the lens is oval/rectangular) so it doesn't mess with my camera shots. Had to reboot it to clear a gimbal servo error, but thankfully doesn't appear to have suffered any permanent issues. That's been over a year ago and it's extremely rare that I have any issues. I DID brush a guy wire at a ham event this spring though, somehow not taking me out of the air.
Well this was meant to be a funny topic

Thanks for killing it for the rest of us


Yep, crashes happen, and you definitely were reminding me of some of my 1st mistakes....but these days, governments are flip-flopping and over regulating the hobby/sport/vocation. No one wants droning prohibited, but the White House Lawn Landing, and that Gatwick mess recently were most likely the reasons DJI is geofencing their products all over the world. A Spark is small enough to not cause much injury of damage, but not quite a toy. I have an old Phantom 2, that has NONE of the new 'safeties'....ATTI mode (if that), unlimited ceiling, only the battery limits how high it can fly. I guess it would freefall after....never tried. It could really hurt someone, if not flown carefully.

Fly safe
 
All that water under the Mavic... you are braver than I.... Nice videos. The zoom is my target device at some point. Congratulations. Can your wife call my wife please? :D

70-80% of my flights are over water....one as low as 6m sideways. I used an Air for this, for a waterside resort effort. This was only a test, 0545AM. The daylight hour, and the water condition is critical to assess. DJI optical sensors do not like sunsets on the ocean.

125% speed, high compression.....25km/h was the downwind speed.

 
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well it was a somewhat tongue-in-cheek response but maybe too subtle for some ;)

still makes my skin crawl when I see those video though, I almost (and from time to time, DO) shout "noooo, don't do it!" (I can't watch!)

Written expression of sentiment is very difficult, via writing. Humor, sarcasm, and 'tongue-in cheek' messages are **** near impossible, on a worldwide basis...I'm American....trust me....lưỡi trng má is tongue in cheek...everyone is worried you cannot speak, and use Internet otherwise.Sarcasm 'kinda works' ;-)

peace...
 
Funny story so today I was letting on of my friends kids fly it. Nice sunny day. I was flying my mavic so was not paying close attention to him
The spark went into atti mode and got blown Into a tree and fell about 20feet. It still survived

I will post that crash when I get back from vacation.
 
Funny I found this post today....

My first bird was a walmart Promark GPs 70....it had great specs....threw around the GPS term...how it would come back to you.....great range claims....

reality was....it was actually a good starter piece....but most people couldnt get them to take off without disabling all those features that werent really possible in that price range craft.....so...my first flight was at night...because all day the sunlight blocked the flashing lights that you used to go through synching process....

ill call it succesfull because i got it to land...well maybe landing is too optimistic of a accurate description ....it was within walking distance in a 10 acre field and it was kinda good that it was upside down and easier to see the bottom lights :)


I thought prop wash was natural...and something was wrong when i didnt see them in my "pixelated" video feed :)

I found a new use for my tractor....and found that putting a metal basket in the front hydraulic bucket secured with ratcheting tow straps would get you closer to the height needed to coax it out of a tree......


the basket had enough room to put an extension ladder in for greater recovery heights....and was nice place to carry a cooler with beverages to stay hydrated.....coulda got hurt climbing in and out of that basket to get another beverage you know :0


All jokes aside...front end loaders on tractors are not designed for lifting people in the air to do work.....if a hydraulic line burst....its gonna come back down and death injury is possible....growing up on a farm and KNOWING things like that before it became necessary for manufacturers to print labels of warning...never read or headed by most who became an unfortunate statistic ...sometimes things had to be done...and you watched your father use the tools at hand to do what needed to be done

What you dont see is the extended bucket is against a big branch in the tree........if pressure was lost...its not gonna fall....brakes on tractor are locked...isnt moving.

and for an extra level have towing straps securing basket to tree

I am glad to report that no tractor recoverys have been required with dji products ....

Also glad to have learned many lessons concerning flight with a "disposable" craft
 

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Wow! What a wonderful write-up! Really enjoyed reading and knowing that I too had similar experiences with my non Dji drones.
Well done!
 
The tractor is always useful when improvising, adapting, and overcoming a situation.

Reading your story reminded me of video I seen of a tree nut harvesting machine that would wrap its claws around the base of the tree and shake the living snot out of it, causing the nuts to fall to a tarp below.
 

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