Disintegrating Propellers

Bermuda Sunset · May 18, 2017

Just 5 minutes ago I had a truly horrible experience, and now feel somewhat lucky. While manoeuvring back to land on my terrace there was an almighty "crack, crack" sound and the AC tumbled on to the terrace, luckily not off it, some 4 metres ! Thinking that someone ( possibly daughter ) had put a near invisible bit of wire up or something I checked around, NOTHING THERE, so didn't hit anything. It appears the end of one prop zipped off, maybe hitting another prop, resulting in two ends lost off two props and down she went. Has anyone had a similar experience ? Are some props faulty ? And yes these are the original props supplied with the Drone by DJI, and just over 2 months old

With The Birds · May 18, 2017

Is it possible the prop damage resulted from hitting the deck? The propulsion system will let the AC fly happily with an inch cut off the end if all props. Something else is going on here.

Techcop50 · May 18, 2017

Maybe a large bug or maybe a hummingbird? No way it self-destructed, IMHO.

Capo · May 18, 2017

A small chip or crack from a previous flight could cause this. Always best to inspect blades for even the smallest chips prior to flight. There is a lot of stress on these blades. Not saying that was the case here, but it certainly is possible.

AyeYo · May 18, 2017

How sure are you that that happened in the air and not after impact? The craft would fly just fine (thought full of vibration) with those props pictured.

smiller · May 18, 2017

That clearly looks like impact damage to me. Also note the small chunk missing from the left end of the bottom prop, and the markings on the right end of the top one.

AyeYo · May 18, 2017

Were all props still attached when you picked the drone up from the crash?

msinger · May 18, 2017

@Bermuda Sunset, can we take a look at your DAT flight log? If so, please upload it to dropbox.com and post a link back here. If needed, you can find instructions for locating your DAT flight log here.

Bermuda Sunset · May 18, 2017

Thank you all for your invaluable input and in answer some questions, 1) 1 prop had detached, but whether that was before or after its tumble I don't know. 2) what damage there was to the props may have been a result of hitting the deck and the noise was something else.
@msinger I will try to do as you ask , one thing I have found out is that there is no video log or flight log, that is looking at what you can see on the app. I will use dji *** 2 to get the dat file, thanks guys

Bermuda Sunset · May 18, 2017

msinger said:
@Bermuda Sunset, can we take a look at your DAT flight log? If so, please upload it to dropbox.com and post a link back here. If needed, you can find instructions for locating your DAT flight log here.

Will the DAT flight log be there when I was flying with Litchi mate ?

msinger · May 18, 2017

Bermuda Sunset · May 18, 2017

Hi, hope this can reveal something !!

DanMan32 · May 18, 2017

That dat file doesn't seem big enough to be the correct one. Did you turn on the AC anytime after the crash for a short time? If so you probably picked the DAT file for that session rather than the flight that crashed.
Based on that file size you're talking about a 16 second session from battery power on to battery power off.

Bermuda Sunset · May 19, 2017

DanMan32 said:
That dat file doesn't seem big enough to be the correct one. Did you turn on the AC anytime after the crash for a short time? If so you probably picked the DAT file for that session rather than the flight that crashed.
Based on that file size you're talking about a 16 second session from battery power on to battery power off.

Hi, yes I did, and again for the DAT file so this must be the correct one, 88Mb

Argggh won't upload says file is too Big, any ideas guys ?

Guess I will have to keep on guessing LOL

With The Birds · May 19, 2017

You will need to upload the file to a third party hosting service and paste the link in the thread.

Following your update that one prop was off the AC you can be more than reasonably confident it through the prop off in flight.

Snowwolf · May 19, 2017

Stick it on dropbox and then send the link

Bermuda Sunset · May 19, 2017

With The Birds said:
You will need to upload the file to a third party hosting service and paste the link in the thread.

Following your update that one prop was off the AC you can be more than reasonably confident it through the prop off in flight.

I think you are exactly right, the whole sudden flipping upside down and sideways would be explained by that. As I said in the beginning " feeling somewhat lucky" as just done a pretty long flight !