Have you crashed?

African wildlife · Dec 19, 2017

OOO: First Drone, first flight. Wow. As a woman very close to me would say: “He’s got balls!”

OOO · Dec 19, 2017

African wildlife said:
OOO: First Drone, first flight. Wow. As a woman very close to me would say: “He’s got balls!”

I’m glad you liked the video. Thanks!

Paul Buckley · Dec 20, 2017

OOO said:
I’m glad you liked the video. Thanks!

Very impressive, even more so because of first flight!
I wouldn’t have the nerve, even after two years of flying!

Erised · Dec 20, 2017

I never crashed my P4 (so far) but my little Syma x5 crashed big time and still ticking. It just that I to try stuff that I would never attempt with my P4 and it was and still is a great learning quad. When friends or family ask if they can fly the Phantom I tell them try the Syma instead.

Sky Wombat · Dec 21, 2017

Depends on how far you want to push things to some extent. I currently have two operational (yep third one totalled). One of the craft I keep for 'unusual' flying. Strange it is the one I baby that tends to prang

Of course the positive side is that if you crash you'll need to buy a new one AND it will be up to date.

African wildlife · Dec 21, 2017

Sky Wombat: I fully appreciate that different people push their limits (or don’t). I’ve seen the train video on another thread, for example, which is insane! But I thought we’d keep it very simple.

And I’m still hoping for votes/responses from the mods and other highly experienced drone pilots.....

Bad Brad · Dec 21, 2017

I landed once in a spot I didn’t want to. It was when I first bought it. Definitely cause I didn’t have the experience I do now practice and time flying helps

RocketBrew · Dec 22, 2017

I was testing a shot for a wedding when a street light jumped out in front of the P4P...

wfmiller · Dec 23, 2017

I have crashed multiple times but not from my Phantom 4 pro which I have as a Christmas present from the wife and not yet flown. The drones I crashed were not the best and they were my training drones used to get out of my system some of the bad habits I had. Have learned a lot since the last crash and hopefully am more skilled than previous!! If not this is going to be a way expensive hobby!!

X24 · Dec 23, 2017

turfstuf said:
From someone who had 2 drones in for repair last week...
Keep an eye on your collision avoidance sensor settings whenever your Go 4 app is updated. Somehow my side sensors got turned off. Not an excuse but it seems like all the settings aren’t always saved during updates.

Also, my P4P was really messed up...gimbal snapped off, broken landing gear & antennae, not under warranty. I figured it was totaled. But it was only about $230 to fix.

Hi there! My P4P hit a little twig off of a branch and snapped off the prop. Consequently it came down and hit the ground. I was watching the aircraft and not the screen. I did not see the rogue twig, landed in a foot of snow. LOL. Anywise, I was curious as to where you obtained the gimbal yaw arm as DJI does not sell them. It’s a bit of a job to replace, mine was bent but I was able to straighten it. Also broke a landing leg.. glad you put it back together. Mine is back as well. Thanks, Chris

CFzone · Dec 23, 2017

I have had only 2 minor crashes from about 5m up and on grass. Had my drone for about 3 months.

Clockman · Dec 23, 2017

African wildlife said:
Clockman: I’m assuming that aircraft pilots would call that an emergency landing rather than a crash. Better an “inadvertent”, eh, than a catastrophe?!

OOO: If you’re going to crash, then that’s the place to do it (so long as the Mavic was retrieved). I’m guessing you’d flown a different drone before? Thankfully, our mountain kloofs are a bit wider.

Ghost & jryser: Self-honesty and “practice, practice, practice” are definitely important for learning.

WithTheBirds: Whereas I’m not brave enough to use your word “docile”, the act of simply stopping and hovering hasn’t been lost on me at times of “What now?”Those 3D heki drones sound worse than a belligerent chicken!

No....it was really a crash.

Dejan Smaic · Dec 23, 2017

Once. Flying 6" while videoing on the Great Salt Lake, it struck a small object while at speed. Unavoidable and not visible.

ETC · Dec 23, 2017

I've had several "incidents" which did no damage but two major crashes and both were during litchi missions. First one was a flight up a hill to circle a fire tower which worked great several time however in a last minute decision I moved one waypoint but forgot to adjust the altitude so the bird simple dropped into the trees. Broken gimbal arm, ribbon and legs (P3) I fixed this then picked up a P4 and was running a mission over a golf course and again last minute moved the landing spot which took it over a park memorial marker as planned then was to descend and land however there was a 73 foot his light pole in the path which just caught the legs and gimbal. I ended up replacing the body, 2 gimbal arms, ribbon, both legs, props. I would have been cheaper to simply buy a new one which I found out after I finished up repairing. On the good side I know just about everything about drone repair now

Flying manually for me the hardest is flying towards the home point as all the side movements are backwards. More practice is required.

Done right

Not so right - moved waypoint and crash - near crash into wires - forgot the gimbal gaurd

JarrodF · Dec 23, 2017

Dejan Smaic said:
Once. Flying 6" while videoing on the Great Salt Lake, it struck a small object while at speed. Unavoidable and not visible.

Was the small object the Great Salt Lake?

turfstuf · Dec 23, 2017

X24 said:
Anywise, I was curious as to where you obtained the gimbal yaw arm as DJI does not sell them.

I opted to have DJI to fix it. Shortly before this mishap, I tried to separate the top & bottom shells of a P4. Could not get it apart even after watching every youtube video! About the same time, I boiled the LCD on an iPod Touch while trying to replace the battery. Was happy to pay DJI for the repair.

charlieb4 · Dec 23, 2017

OOO said:
African Wildlife: It was my first drone and first flight. I love to fly through narrow canyons and thanks God we have several such places here. I accepted associated risk and I love to do that again. Actually I have already done that:

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

OOO, what Drone u r using?

charlieb4 · Dec 23, 2017

charlieb4 said:
OOO, what Drone u r using?

Btw, very beautiful job well done! Also, what video software are you using"

nickj · Dec 23, 2017

I crashed into a tree once, but despite sounding like a weed whacker as it chopped through the branches, my P4P didn't crash! I didn't even land it after, we kept shooting lol