Let's see some videos!

[Mlaudisa]

Here is the last flight of my first Phantom... I was flying at around 7:00a on a Saturday morning to minimize the number of curious by-standers and have some space to film around these tall condos. I decided to dare and fly the aircraft over a suspended bridge between two towers and come back, but things did not go as hoped... The first 2' 20" of video are all good, then it gets a bit more exciting... I have since bought a new aircraft (which has not been flying nearly as well) and have stayed clear of residential areas.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lhtrI5Fy78[/youtube]

 

[Double-D]

Here is the last flight of my first Phantom... I was flying at around 7:00a on a Saturday morning to minimize the number of curious by-standers and have some space to film around these tall condos. I decided to dare and fly the aircraft over a suspended bridge between two towers and come back, but things did not go as hoped... The first 2' 20" of video are all good, then it gets a bit more exciting... I have since bought a new aircraft (which has not been flying nearly as well) and have stayed clear of residential areas.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lhtrI5Fy78[/youtube]

Oh dear!
Watching your video the other day i thought of how tempted I'd be to fly between those buildings.
Your first pass was nail biting. You should have just flown straight through instead of looking around. That must have been disorienting.
In the end it looks like RTH did the damage?
Speaking of damage. Where's the footage of it falling?

Thanks for sharing your mishap.
I may have the courage to post my crash now though yours was spectacular.

 

[Mlaudisa]

Here is the last flight of my first Phantom... I was flying at around 7:00a on a Saturday morning to minimize the number of curious by-standers and have some space to film around these tall condos. I decided to dare and fly the aircraft over a suspended bridge between two towers and come back, but things did not go as hoped... The first 2' 20" of video are all good, then it gets a bit more exciting... I have since bought a new aircraft (which has not been flying nearly as well) and have stayed clear of residential areas.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lhtrI5Fy78[/youtube]

Oh dear!
Watching your video the other day i thought of how tempted I'd be to fly between those buildings.
Your first pass was nail biting. You should have just flown straight through instead of looking around. That must have been disorienting.
In the end it looks like RTH did the damage?
Speaking of damage. Where's the footage of it falling?

Thanks for sharing your mishap.
I may have the courage to post my crash now though yours was spectacular.

Thanks... RTH was indeed the "culprit", just doesn't know if there's an obstacle between it and Home. I found a company that's developing some "sensors" for the Phantom that would detect object proximity and steer away the aircraft, but I don't know at what stage of production they are. Had I re-positioned myself to regain line of sight, I would have been able to bring it back, but when it disappeared behind the tower I had no idea if it was continuing on its trajectory and flying further away: I felt then my best hope was to recall it automatically (in other words, I panicked!).

Regarding the footage of the fall... when I recovered the camera and the card, the file seemed damaged and I used a bunch of utilities to try and repair it. I later learned that the best way to deal with this is to re-insert the micro-SD card in the camera and turn the Phantom on... this writes some marker to any interrupted file and closes / formats it properly. Unfortunately, by then I had erased the original file and only recovered where it now ends.

 

[mediaguru]

In most situations my panic move is to let go of the controls in GPS mode. Then the bird will stop and hover. Then try to regain LOS or just take a breath and figure out what to do.

Or, I may hit the throttle and go UP. Eventually you'll see it and there is seldom anything blocking the flight of the bird above it.

 

[fraub]

Three great state parks...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wFRb_E ... e=youtu.be

 

[Mlaudisa]

Three great state parks...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wFRb_E ... e=youtu.be

Nice video, I have been to Brown County and Turkey Park, the video brought back some nice memories...

 

[jarrah31]

Three great state parks...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wFRb_E ... e=youtu.be

Brave flying there at 2:51 in Bear Hollow! Nice video, thanks!

 

[chapsrlz]

Here is the last flight of my first Phantom... I was flying at around 7:00a on a Saturday morning to minimize the number of curious by-standers and have some space to film around these tall condos. I decided to dare and fly the aircraft over a suspended bridge between two towers and come back, but things did not go as hoped... The first 2' 20" of video are all good, then it gets a bit more exciting... I have since bought a new aircraft (which has not been flying nearly as well) and have stayed clear of residential areas.

one meter to the right and above/below and the phantom would have crashed in a balcony...
bad luck

 

[Dirty Bird]

Had I re-positioned myself to regain line of sight, I would have been able to bring it back, but when it disappeared behind the tower I had no idea if it was continuing on its trajectory and flying further away: I felt then my best hope was to recall it automatically (in other words, I panicked!).

Allow me to offer a technique that may save you in a similar situation:

If you are going to be flying around something tall like this where you might lose sight of the aircraft (or giant 700' tall coal stacks, over and around bridges, etc), once you have GPS lock, take off, turn to face the object, set your camera straight ahead and go straight up from your launch position. Climb until the highest point of the object (don't forget antenna, spires, or other structures protruding from the top) are even with (or below) the horizon. Allow your aircraft to hover at that point, note your altitude, and reset your Home Point with S2. You should see the tails lights rapid flash green indicating resetting the Home Point was successful (you may need binoculars if you are really high up). Now that you have reset your Home Point at an altitude equal to the obstacle height you can be confident that, should an RTH occur, your Phantom will climb to that point PLUS an additional 20m (66'), allowing you to safely clear the obstacle.

 

[Mlaudisa]

Had I re-positioned myself to regain line of sight, I would have been able to bring it back, but when it disappeared behind the tower I had no idea if it was continuing on its trajectory and flying further away: I felt then my best hope was to recall it automatically (in other words, I panicked!).

Allow me to offer a technique that may save you in a similar situation:

If you are going to be flying around something tall like this where you might lose sight of the aircraft (or giant 700' tall coal stacks, over and around bridges, etc), once you have GPS lock, take off, turn to face the object, set your camera straight ahead and go straight up from your launch position. Climb until the highest point of the object (don't forget antenna, spires, or other structures protruding from the top) are even with (or below) the horizon. Allow your aircraft to hover at that point, note your altitude, and reset your Home Point with S2. You should see the tails lights rapid flash green indicating resetting the Home Point was successful (you may need binoculars if you are really high up). Now that you have reset your Home Point at an altitude equal to the obstacle height you can be confident that, should an RTH occur, your Phantom will climb to that point PLUS an additional 20m (66'), allowing you to safely clear the obstacle.

Terrific, thank you for that... I feel so "traumatized" by that experience that it'll be a while before I try something like that again, but if I do, I'll be sure to follow your technique. If you set home point, though doesn't that replace the original launch point for RTH?

 

[Dirty Bird]

Terrific, thank you for that... I feel so "traumatized" by that experience that it'll be a while before I try something like that again, but if I do, I'll be sure to follow your technique. If you set home point, though doesn't that replace the original launch point for RTH?

It does indeed replace your launch point. This is why you want to go STRAIGHT UP when you take off, so you are still above your original launch point. When you use S2 to reset, the aircraft will still be in the same position. It will just be setting your launch ALTITUDE at or above the height of the obstacle. Should an RTH occur, your Phantom will first climb to that altitude + 20m (or maintain altitude if higher), then come to your Home Position, then auto-land.

I guess I should ask, how bad was she damaged in the crash?

 

[Mlaudisa]

Terrific, thank you for that... I feel so "traumatized" by that experience that it'll be a while before I try something like that again, but if I do, I'll be sure to follow your technique. If you set home point, though doesn't that replace the original launch point for RTH?

It does indeed replace your launch point. This is why you want to go STRAIGHT UP when you take off, so you are still above your original launch point. When you use S2 to reset, the aircraft will still be in the same position. It will just be setting your launch ALTITUDE at or above the height of the obstacle. Should an RTH occur, your Phantom will first climb to that altitude + 20m (or maintain altitude if higher), then come to your Home Position, then auto-land.

I guess I should ask, how bad was she damaged in the crash?

The camera and gimbal were a write off, the battery came out and was torn open, the aircraft seemed remarkably in good shape. I had to open the shell and reconnect a couple of loose connections, but thought I'd have a usable aircraft. Unfortunately, one of the motor mounts was slightly bent, enough that the prop was rubbing on the arm, so I didn't bother any more. I'm using it as spares and as a test platform for mods. I feel my replacement aircraft is not as smooth and solid a flyer, but so be it...

 

[srandall25]

Terrific, thank you for that... I feel so "traumatized" by that experience that it'll be a while before I try something like that again, but if I do, I'll be sure to follow your technique. If you set home point, though doesn't that replace the original launch point for RTH?

It does indeed replace your launch point. This is why you want to go STRAIGHT UP when you take off, so you are still above your original launch point. When you use S2 to reset, the aircraft will still be in the same position. It will just be setting your launch ALTITUDE at or above the height of the obstacle. Should an RTH occur, your Phantom will first climb to that altitude + 20m (or maintain altitude if higher), then come to your Home Position, then auto-land.

I guess I should ask, how bad was she damaged in the crash?

Interesting... two questions:
1) Does resetting, by switching S2, only reset the RTH altitude from 60' to the new height.. and not reset the home point?
2) Do you switch S2 to Course Lock (middle position) and leave it there for a few seconds.. or do you switch it to the middle position and then immediately back to the top position?

 

[Dirty Bird]

The camera and gimbal were a write off, the battery came out and was torn open, the aircraft seemed remarkably in good shape. I had to open the shell and reconnect a couple of loose connections, but thought I'd have a usable aircraft. Unfortunately, one of the motor mounts was slightly bent, enough that the prop was rubbing on the arm, so I didn't bother any more. I'm using it as spares and as a test platform for mods. I feel my replacement aircraft is not as smooth and solid a flyer, but so be it...

That's too bad...sorry to hear that. Is the damage to the shell itself or the motor base? If the shell is damaged, you can purchase a new one for $59, and a motor unit goes for around $29 I believe. Be nice to get that airframe back in flying shape.

 

[Dirty Bird]

Interesting... two questions:
1) Does resetting, by switching S2, only reset the RTH altitude from 60' to the new height.. and not reset the home point?
2) Do you switch S2 to Course Lock (middle position) and leave it there for a few seconds.. or do you switch it to the middle position and then immediately back to the top position?

1 - Manually resetting the Home Point resets both current position & altitude. Whatever altitude you are at when you perform the manual reset, the Phantom will climb to that altitude +20m on an RTH.

2 - If you are in Phantom mode, flip S2 from Pos1-3 FIVE times. Rapid green indicates success.

If in NAZA mode, you can reset either Course Lock or Home Point:

To reset Course Lock, turn to desired heading and flip S2 from Pos 1-2 FIVE times. Rapid green flash indicates success.

To reset Home Point, hover @ desired position/altitude and flip S2 from Pos 2-3 FIVE times. Rapid green flash indicates success.

 

[srandall25]

That's great info. I never heard of Heading Lock.. I assume that resets the forward direction for course lock? Also, you did mean S1 for NAZA mode and not S2 correct?

 

[wattsn]

Heading Lock = Course Lock

And both the above are done with S2 switch (top left) NOT S1.

 

[Double-D]

The camera and gimbal were a write off, the battery came out and was torn open, the aircraft seemed remarkably in good shape. I had to open the shell and reconnect a couple of loose connections, but thought I'd have a usable aircraft. Unfortunately, one of the motor mounts was slightly bent, enough that the prop was rubbing on the arm, so I didn't bother any more. I'm using it as spares and as a test platform for mods. I feel my replacement aircraft is not as smooth and solid a flyer, but so be it...[/quote]

Just take out the ESC and the motor then soften the bent arm with a heat gun and bend it back.

Strange that your new Bird flies differently. You'd think they would all be the same.

 

[Dirty Bird]

That's great info. I never heard of Heading Lock.. I assume that resets the forward direction for course lock? Also, you did mean S1 for NAZA mode and not S2 correct?

Yes I did mean S2. Sorry for the typo. You can reset both the heading for Course Lock, and the position/altitude for Home Lock.

 

[Dirty Bird]

How to mount this on Vision+...