There are two often repeated quotes on this site:
"You WILL crash your Phantom"
and ...
"Each flight is potentially your Phantom's last".
So true. This is not a hobby for the faint of heart. Or light of wallet.
I have had the Phantom for just a few weeks and have been very conservative with each flight; staying away from water, flying over grassy areas, never going higher than 50ft, or more than 100 yeards in any direction. This afternoon I was a little more adventurous, taking the P2 up to about 140ft above a large concrete public fountain. All was going well until the P2 seemed to explode in mid-air. I watched in horror as the machine tumbled through the air and smack onto the concrete below. You can re-live it here:
https://vimeo.com/87640134
So what happened?
As far as I can tell, one of the props came off. I recently fitted a new set of carbon fiber props to see how they performed, and being used to the stock self-tightening props I only used fingers to tighten the nuts. An incredibly expensive lesson to learn.
Here is the damage report:
Incredibly, once the battery was reconnected, the P2 did power up but obviously not to a full ready state. On the positive side the GoPro is all but unscathed and working fine. I think the gimbal itself might also be ok, along with the iOSD mini and the Tx.
I know I can replace the individual components, including the shell. But the unknown right now is the potential internal damage. The attached image shows a tiny piece that rattled out of the shell. Can anyone identify what that might be? I have it next to an anti-drop screw for scale.
I guess I have three options -
I don't want to buy a brand new unit obviously. But, if I did, I could keep this one for spare parts. It's the expedient and expensive option.
I can rebuild it myself. I think going through the rebuilding process is an integral part of this hobby, and would give me a deeper appreciation for the craft (I have zero experience with soldering). I know that is the right thing to do, but I am also eager to get back to flying.
Or, I can have someone else repair it. I can send it into somewhere like Dronefly and have them do the repairs. I am leaning towards this option.
So, I guess the question is just how difficult is the re-building process? Has anyone here rebuilt a phantom after such a crash?
"You WILL crash your Phantom"
and ...
"Each flight is potentially your Phantom's last".
So true. This is not a hobby for the faint of heart. Or light of wallet.
I have had the Phantom for just a few weeks and have been very conservative with each flight; staying away from water, flying over grassy areas, never going higher than 50ft, or more than 100 yeards in any direction. This afternoon I was a little more adventurous, taking the P2 up to about 140ft above a large concrete public fountain. All was going well until the P2 seemed to explode in mid-air. I watched in horror as the machine tumbled through the air and smack onto the concrete below. You can re-live it here:
https://vimeo.com/87640134
So what happened?
As far as I can tell, one of the props came off. I recently fitted a new set of carbon fiber props to see how they performed, and being used to the stock self-tightening props I only used fingers to tighten the nuts. An incredibly expensive lesson to learn.
Here is the damage report:
- One lost propeller
Multiple cracks in the hull
One bent hull arm
One broken prop guard
One destroyed motor, and another one likely broken
Bent gimbal mount
Broken AVL58 Hub
Internal damage - still TBD
Incredibly, once the battery was reconnected, the P2 did power up but obviously not to a full ready state. On the positive side the GoPro is all but unscathed and working fine. I think the gimbal itself might also be ok, along with the iOSD mini and the Tx.
I know I can replace the individual components, including the shell. But the unknown right now is the potential internal damage. The attached image shows a tiny piece that rattled out of the shell. Can anyone identify what that might be? I have it next to an anti-drop screw for scale.
I guess I have three options -
I don't want to buy a brand new unit obviously. But, if I did, I could keep this one for spare parts. It's the expedient and expensive option.
I can rebuild it myself. I think going through the rebuilding process is an integral part of this hobby, and would give me a deeper appreciation for the craft (I have zero experience with soldering). I know that is the right thing to do, but I am also eager to get back to flying.
Or, I can have someone else repair it. I can send it into somewhere like Dronefly and have them do the repairs. I am leaning towards this option.
So, I guess the question is just how difficult is the re-building process? Has anyone here rebuilt a phantom after such a crash?