Average flights & hours before disaster

[Kestrel24]

Hi all,
Wondering if a few of you would be willing to provide me with a little info.
For those who have been touched by technical grief, experienced drone derision... How many flights & hours did you manage before drone disintegration?? ( I'm talking about totally written off/lost/buggered).

My thanks in advance.

 

[N017RW]

Sort of the opposite of your question...

So far on a P2nv: 1.75 years, 120+ flights, ~30 hrs., 1.5 sets of props (nicked two very early on) and counting.

 

[Ralph M]

Just flew my 50th mission on a Phantom 3 Advanced. About 10 hours flight time, over 100 miles traveled. With the exception of a stupid pilot error that chipped a couple blades, it has flown perfectly.

I'll also note that I inspect the Phantom before every flight, and that I have a 30-second hover and jog routine I do every time before I begin a mission. I am particularly attentive to confirming that the motors are spinning freely, and the propellers are on tight.

That said, I wish there were some stats on mean time to failure (MTF) for components such as motors, and some guidance on preventive maintenance. I wonder, for example, how long the motor bearings will last before they fail (yeah, I know, on my first extended flight over water).

 

[flyNfrank]

If you are a complete 1st timer you can expect it will happen. And if it doesn't happen then you probably have not been having any fun being over stressed about it.

 

[johngussman]

been real lucky with my phantom 3, over 300 flights, original props...no major issues.

 

[Mark The Droner]

Seven months - my P2V is still in perfect working order.

 

[exit 4]

Two months, 95 flights, 184 miles. Zero problems. I had the same question when I first joined this site. All you hear about is people having problems. But this is only a few compared to the millions of us with no problems. relax and enjoy.

 

[jamesb72]

That said, I wish there were some stats on mean time to failure (MTF) for components such as motors, and some guidance on preventive maintenance. I wonder, for example, how long the motor bearings will last before they fail (yeah, I know, on my first extended flight over water).

I've not had a bearing wear out on phantoms but from rc planes and helis bearings dont generally fail without warning, they will develop play over time and start to get hot in use.

If you check for play every month or so and check motor temps after flight for one motor warmer than others you would pickup bearing issue well before it affects flight.

Obviously esc etc faults generally have no warning, but again in my rc experience they generally fail on the ground at startup.

P1 I got spare bearings which are still in packet, p3 I bought spare cw/ccw motors to keep on hand just in case, I dont fly the phantoms huge hours but like to have spares on hand on the umbrella theory.