Four of the six I've had anyway...
I posted this the other day on Facebook in a drone group, I got no replies, though. Wrong neighborhood, and way too long I think!
P4Pros cracking...I apologize for the long post.
A couple of weeks back I posted about my P4 cracking. Cracking wasn't really on my radar with the P4 (I had them on my first P3P but I figured they HAD to have done it right by now!), so I did not adjust my flying accordingly. I never crashed it, never dropped, landed hard, landed weird, nothing. Flew in sport mode about 50% of the time. I was never deliberately rough with it though, it's not a sport drone after all. I returned this one once (Apple Store) because of connection issues. Had this for a month before it cracked, but the crack was fully through one arm, and starting on the other before I saw it, so it was growing for a bit before I noticed.
Because DJI will have it for up to two months, I wanted something else to keep me flying while it's warm out. I bought a Mavic Pro at Best Buy but could not handle the small controller
( I'm a C6 quadriplegic and have hand trouble) so I returned it for another P4P. This one would descend slowly on its own, and no calibration would fix it. We tried many things multiple times.
Returned that for #4. This one lasted seven days before it cracked. I had my braking as low as it would go, I used sport mode maybe 15% of the time, but I was deliberate with my stick movements.
Number 5 now, that was Friday. I first flew it Saturday evening, and ran 3 batteries. Sunday night another three before I saw the crack starting on one of the rear arms (I checked closely between every battery swap), right between the vents. They all crack in this exact spot.
On this one I was so careful, it was boring to fly. I never once used sport mode (I used atti mode for maybe five seconds three times over the weekend to check wind direction and strength at 390ft, of course I was at a stop), had braking at the minimum, and I was incredibly careful with my stick movements. I made absolutely sure my fingers never once slipped off a stick. Never dropped or crashed of course, and I handled it as if it was glass. Never ever was it handled by the arms (none of mine are).
I really don't know for sure what the hell I am doing so different from everyone else. Jim Schuler is a good buddy of mine, and we fly together nearly every day when I'm in town. The only difference between our flying is I fly a lot more than he does, I have six batteries, no job (so tons of free time) and I'll run through every one in a row at times. His has not cracked. The other is that my sticks are configured to Mode 1. So left is forward and back, and turn left right. Right stick is up and down, slide left and right. This is more compatible with my abilities.
I typically fly as far as I can, both to see new scenery (it's all farmland), and because I have fun simply stretching the limit. I usually go full stick out and back (30mph in GPS mode with VPS on), at just under 400ft. I used to use sport or ATTI (P3P) modes on the return, and catch the tailwind home before I'm out of gas...I see a lot of people doing this. As a throwback from the earlier Phantom days when VRS type things on descent were an issue, I'd typically climb while traveling forward, and descend the same. I've been seeing this recommended for years, these things move like crazy while descending in place.
When the Phantom flies, you can clearly hear the buffeting at times. This is especially apparent during a descent at speed. You can hear the "whirrr whirrr whirr" loudly doing this. It is my only guess as to the cause of this crap. If you can picture the forces this cyclic action must apply - it's a classic fatigue failure developing movement. I would honestly think this shouldn't be an issue, though. Many of us do this, especially those going for range. I have always had better results combining the maneuvers.
This noise really came to my attention on this latest bird, and last night I did my descents slower. Half stick down at the most. It is still audible, but I was nonetheless being far gentler than I would think is necessary, to the point of removing a lot of the enjoyment to be had. It still cracked, with airdatauav reporting just six flights and 1hr 55mins of use
On #6 now, flew five batteries last night. No cracks yet...
Interested in your thoughts, ideas, and personal experiences!
I posted this the other day on Facebook in a drone group, I got no replies, though. Wrong neighborhood, and way too long I think!
P4Pros cracking...I apologize for the long post.
A couple of weeks back I posted about my P4 cracking. Cracking wasn't really on my radar with the P4 (I had them on my first P3P but I figured they HAD to have done it right by now!), so I did not adjust my flying accordingly. I never crashed it, never dropped, landed hard, landed weird, nothing. Flew in sport mode about 50% of the time. I was never deliberately rough with it though, it's not a sport drone after all. I returned this one once (Apple Store) because of connection issues. Had this for a month before it cracked, but the crack was fully through one arm, and starting on the other before I saw it, so it was growing for a bit before I noticed.
Because DJI will have it for up to two months, I wanted something else to keep me flying while it's warm out. I bought a Mavic Pro at Best Buy but could not handle the small controller
Returned that for #4. This one lasted seven days before it cracked. I had my braking as low as it would go, I used sport mode maybe 15% of the time, but I was deliberate with my stick movements.
Number 5 now, that was Friday. I first flew it Saturday evening, and ran 3 batteries. Sunday night another three before I saw the crack starting on one of the rear arms (I checked closely between every battery swap), right between the vents. They all crack in this exact spot.
On this one I was so careful, it was boring to fly. I never once used sport mode (I used atti mode for maybe five seconds three times over the weekend to check wind direction and strength at 390ft, of course I was at a stop), had braking at the minimum, and I was incredibly careful with my stick movements. I made absolutely sure my fingers never once slipped off a stick. Never dropped or crashed of course, and I handled it as if it was glass. Never ever was it handled by the arms (none of mine are).
I really don't know for sure what the hell I am doing so different from everyone else. Jim Schuler is a good buddy of mine, and we fly together nearly every day when I'm in town. The only difference between our flying is I fly a lot more than he does, I have six batteries, no job (so tons of free time) and I'll run through every one in a row at times. His has not cracked. The other is that my sticks are configured to Mode 1. So left is forward and back, and turn left right. Right stick is up and down, slide left and right. This is more compatible with my abilities.
I typically fly as far as I can, both to see new scenery (it's all farmland), and because I have fun simply stretching the limit. I usually go full stick out and back (30mph in GPS mode with VPS on), at just under 400ft. I used to use sport or ATTI (P3P) modes on the return, and catch the tailwind home before I'm out of gas...I see a lot of people doing this. As a throwback from the earlier Phantom days when VRS type things on descent were an issue, I'd typically climb while traveling forward, and descend the same. I've been seeing this recommended for years, these things move like crazy while descending in place.
When the Phantom flies, you can clearly hear the buffeting at times. This is especially apparent during a descent at speed. You can hear the "whirrr whirrr whirr" loudly doing this. It is my only guess as to the cause of this crap. If you can picture the forces this cyclic action must apply - it's a classic fatigue failure developing movement. I would honestly think this shouldn't be an issue, though. Many of us do this, especially those going for range. I have always had better results combining the maneuvers.
This noise really came to my attention on this latest bird, and last night I did my descents slower. Half stick down at the most. It is still audible, but I was nonetheless being far gentler than I would think is necessary, to the point of removing a lot of the enjoyment to be had. It still cracked, with airdatauav reporting just six flights and 1hr 55mins of use
On #6 now, flew five batteries last night. No cracks yet...
Interested in your thoughts, ideas, and personal experiences!
