Sad day of the flipping Phantom

[Smashed_Pumpkin]

Yesterday I took my drone out with my usual giddy excitement and placed it on my newly-laid patio. Spun those props on like a whimsical child, thinking of all the wondrous joy I would shortly be having as my drone ascended into the heavens. I calibrated my compass, waited for the friendly wink of those green LEDs and push my sticks inwards and down.

At this point all had gone well. The rotors began to spin in their usual, reassuring way and I tickled the throttle feeling the familiar, upward pull of the motors. And this is when things went south. In the space of what felt like less than 1 second my drone had flipped 180 degrees, sent 1 propeller flying skyward and somehow ejected my camera from the zenmuse along with a few bits of splintered plastic. I stared in horror as the props continued to spin at full speed despite my attempts to power down and only after I grabbed the landing struts, righted the upended drone and throttled down did it eventually power down.

Needless to say I was shaken and like a puppy with his tail between his legs I retreated inside to assess the damage. As far as I can tell I've not actually damaged anything. The prop that flew off went over the fence and landed in the park next to my house but was only slightly scuffed in the process, no nicks bigger than a breadcrumb and no cracks to be seen. There are now little metallic circles on top of each prop where they spun against the patio tiles but it's only aesthetic.

My better half eventually convinced me to take it out and try again otherwise I'd the fear would get to me and negatively impact future flights so I did. This time it took off fine and flew perfectly as it always has. So I'm a little perplexed as to what on earth caused it. Could an incorrectly calibrated compass do that? I am colourblind so often reading the LEDs is a bit of a chore for me and I kind of feel like I might have rushed the compass calibration prior to the crash.

I've looked around for other instances of this happening and found a few but it seems like in most cases it's after the pilot has opened the Drone up and altered something inside. I've done nothing like that and been flying it problem free until this time.

 

[Deleted member 62848]

Yesterday I took my drone out with my usual giddy excitement and placed it on my newly-laid patio. Spun those props on like a whimsical child, thinking of all the wondrous joy I would shortly be having as my drone ascended into the heavens. I calibrated my compass, waited for the friendly wink of those green LEDs and push my sticks inwards and down.

At this point all had gone well. The rotors began to spin in their usual, reassuring way and I tickled the throttle feeling the familiar, upward pull of the motors. And this is when things went south. In the space of what felt like less than 1 second my drone had flipped 180 degrees, sent 1 propeller flying skyward and somehow ejected my camera from the zenmuse along with a few bits of splintered plastic. I stared in horror as the props continued to spin at full speed despite my attempts to power down and only after I grabbed the landing struts, righted the upended drone and throttled down did it eventually power down.

Needless to say I was shaken and like a puppy with his tail between his legs I retreated inside to assess the damage. As far as I can tell I've not actually damaged anything. The prop that flew off went over the fence and landed in the park next to my house but was only slightly scuffed in the process, no nicks bigger than a breadcrumb and no cracks to be seen. There are now little metallic circles on top of each prop where they spun against the patio tiles but it's only aesthetic.

My better half eventually convinced me to take it out and try again otherwise I'd the fear would get to me and negatively impact future flights so I did. This time it took off fine and flew perfectly as it always has. So I'm a little perplexed as to what on earth caused it. Could an incorrectly calibrated compass do that? I am colourblind so often reading the LEDs is a bit of a chore for me and I kind of feel like I might have rushed the compass calibration prior to the crash.

I've looked around for other instances of this happening and found a few but it seems like in most cases it's after the pilot has opened the Drone up and altered something inside. I've done nothing like that and been flying it problem free until this time.

HI not sure with p2 but if compass wrong it would tell you,,,,I can't offer reason but was a good read and glad you got back out there ,,all the best for future flights

 

[Smashed_Pumpkin]

Heh thanks. Yea I think it was good that I went back out and got it flying again. It does make me a little nervous though, not knowing what caused it. I'm tempted to start doing hand held take-offs so that I can feel if it's wanting to flip by that's not really ideal.

 

[sar104]

A couple of comments. Firstly, your "tickling the throttle" phrase worried me because if that is how you are taking off then it is a recipe for flipping the aircraft. Takeoff needs to be a very positive, full-throttle maneuver - you can throttle back immediately that it is airborne. Secondly, if it was not a low throttle error, presumably it was not a prop flying off that caused the flip? That would do it too.

 

[Smashed_Pumpkin]

A couple of comments. Firstly, your "tickling the throttle" phrase worried me because if that is how you are taking off then it is a recipe for flipping the aircraft. Takeoff needs to be a very positive, full-throttle maneuver - you can throttle back immediately that it is airborne. Secondly, if it was not a low throttle error, presumably it was not a prop flying off that caused the flip? That would do it too.

Thanks for the reply. I have read it's best to be firm with the throttle on take off and I generally make sure I am. The tickle I described was more of a little push to make sure the motors are responsive. I didn't give it anywhere near enough power to lift or move the drone.

I have to admit that it all happened so fast that the prop may well have flown off prior to the flip but from what I recall, it felt as though the prop pinged off as a result of clipping my patio tiles as the drone pulled itself upside down. Although the more I think about it, surely for a prop to come off as a result of hitting something, it would need to have done some damage to it's thread, whereas I've inspected all threads in the props and on the motors and nothing looks damaged.

I wonder if the "tickle" I gave it did the opposite of tightening the props, and instead created enough momentum to loosen rather than tighten the one that flew off.

 

[sar104]

Thanks for the reply. I have read it's best to be firm with the throttle on take off and I generally make sure I am. The tickle I described was more of a little push to make sure the motors are responsive. I didn't give it anywhere near enough power to lift or move the drone.

I have to admit that it all happened so fast that the prop may well have flown off prior to the flip but from what I recall, it felt as though the prop pinged off as a result of clipping my patio tiles as the drone pulled itself upside down. Although the more I think about it, surely for a prop to come off as a result of hitting something, it would need to have done some damage to it's thread, whereas I've inspected all threads in the props and on the motors and nothing looks damaged.

I wonder if the "tickle" I gave it did the opposite of tightening the props, and instead created enough momentum to loosen rather than tighten the one that flew off.

If the prop actually spun off, rather than broke, then that sounds like the problem. When you spin them on do you tighten them, or just assume that they will tighten in flight?

 

[Smashed_Pumpkin]

If the prop actually spun off, rather than broke, then that sounds like the problem. When you spin them on do you tighten them, or just assume that they will tighten in flight?

I spin them on until the motor turns, as recommended in every DJI video I've ever seen. Should I be gripping the motor and tightening the props further do you recon?

 

[sar104]

I spin them on until the motor turns, as recommended in every DJI video I've ever seen. Should I be gripping the motor and tightening the props further do you recon?

I never trusted that method - I've seen too many accounts of them spinning off before they self-tightened properly. I always hand-tighten by holding the motor. I much prefer the new bayonet-style mounts on the P4.

 

[dg8882]

If you saw a prop fly off, that is more than likely the reason for flipping. I would NEVER trust the phantom to tighten the props for me, I spin mine down all the way, then grip the motor and twist it on firmly. Never use the tool to hold the motor since you will likely over-tighten and strip the threads of the prop.
My props are constantly on and off since my case doesn't fit with them on and I have never had an issue with them coming off being hand tight.

 

[Pharm]

I spin them on until the motor turns, as recommended in every DJI video I've ever seen. Should I be gripping the motor and tightening the props further do you recon?

Yes! You cannot "hand tighten" without holding the motor still.

 

[Smashed_Pumpkin]

Mmhm, I think you guys are probably right. For the propeller to go what seemed like straight up, the chances are it came loose before the drone flipped. I'll endeavour to tighten my props a bit further than I have been in future I think.

 

[Sasquad]

I spin them on until the motor turns, as recommended in every DJI video I've ever seen. Should I be gripping the motor and tightening the props further do you recon?

Yes, use the tool, tighten them just a bit while holding the bell housing with the tool. I have been doing it that way for a long time, no issues. Be smart about it. You don't need to over tighten, but just to spin them on until the housing sounds is a recipe for what you experienced.

 

[danchez]

Yesterday I took my drone out with my usual giddy excitement and placed it on my newly-laid patio. Spun those props on like a whimsical child, thinking of all the wondrous joy I would shortly be having as my drone ascended into the heavens. I calibrated my compass, waited for the friendly wink of those green LEDs and push my sticks inwards and down.

At this point all had gone well. The rotors began to spin in their usual, reassuring way and I tickled the throttle feeling the familiar, upward pull of the motors. And this is when things went south. In the space of what felt like less than 1 second my drone had flipped 180 degrees, sent 1 propeller flying skyward and somehow ejected my camera from the zenmuse along with a few bits of splintered plastic. I stared in horror as the props continued to spin at full speed despite my attempts to power down and only after I grabbed the landing struts, righted the upended drone and throttled down did it eventually power down.

Needless to say I was shaken and like a puppy with his tail between his legs I retreated inside to assess the damage. As far as I can tell I've not actually damaged anything. The prop that flew off went over the fence and landed in the park next to my house but was only slightly scuffed in the process, no nicks bigger than a breadcrumb and no cracks to be seen. There are now little metallic circles on top of each prop where they spun against the patio tiles but it's only aesthetic.

My better half eventually convinced me to take it out and try again otherwise I'd the fear would get to me and negatively impact future flights so I did. This time it took off fine and flew perfectly as it always has. So I'm a little perplexed as to what on earth caused it. Could an incorrectly calibrated compass do that? I am colourblind so often reading the LEDs is a bit of a chore for me and I kind of feel like I might have rushed the compass calibration prior to the crash.

I've looked around for other instances of this happening and found a few but it seems like in most cases it's after the pilot has opened the Drone up and altered something inside. I've done nothing like that and been flying it problem free until this time.

I feel bad that you had to go through that, but that sure is one entertaining read. Thanks for sharing.

 

[jason]

Just spinning props on thinking they are tight is a recipe for disaster as many a pilot have found. Hard breaking can cause those props to become loose and cause many a P2 pilot to experience what damage a quick descent from few hundred feet can cause. So it's always wise to use the wrench to ensure props are tightened before any flight