Autopilot - Engage - Crash

[Frank Morris]

So I crashed my P3A today. Pilot error on not fully reading the manual. Waypoint 1 at 26ft. Starting altitude at 100ft. Expected (I blame the rather fine Italian wine from last night clouding my judgment) it to fly to the waypoint automatically once autopilot engaged and then descend.

Damage i can see:
Gimbal broke off and broke the cable.
One of the arms is bent meaning that the prop now rubs on the frame.
Two broken carbon fibre props (they were great - much quieter than plastic)

So to anyone else - a word of warning and probably a reminder - don't fly
a) when you've had a lot to drink the night before and/or are tired.
b) when you haven't fully read the manual.
c) There is a tree in-between you and the Waypoint 1.
d) You expect the P3 to stop immediately when you flick it back to P mode.
e) When trying out new autopilot software, try it where there is nothing to crash into!

Sending off to heliguy.com this week to see how much it will cost to repair

 

[P3A_Demon]

Very sorry to hear that!
I have a question on part d, did it glide to a stop and about how fast was it traveling? So far in my practice missions, waypoint 1 is right near where I am standing. I will now be sure to do a test of canceling out of the mission and see how it reacts.

 

[Zefnoly]

So I crashed my P3A today. Pilot error on not fully reading the manual. Waypoint 1 at 26ft. Starting altitude at 100ft. Expected (I blame the rather fine Italian wine from last night clouding my judgment) it to fly to the waypoint automatically once autopilot engaged and then descend.

Damage i can see:
Gimbal broke off and broke the cable.
One of the arms is bent meaning that the prop now rubs on the frame.
Two broken carbon fibre props (they were great - much quieter than plastic)

So to anyone else - a word of warning and probably a reminder - don't fly
a) when you've had a lot to drink the night before and/or are tired.
b) when you haven't fully read the manual.
c) There is a tree in-between you and the Waypoint 1.
d) You expect the P3 to stop immediately when you flick it back to P mode.
e) When trying out new autopilot software, try it where there is nothing to crash into!

Sending off to heliguy.com this week to see how much it will cost to repair

I had a similar crash with my P2 caused by the stupid autopilot. I landed with low power and at the moment i was going to turn the engines off the lights blinked red and the low power autopilot kicked in making it go back up in the air slowly towards my house wall (didn't have any control and to short time to respond). Luckily for me i was able to follow it and not really sure what happened next in my frustration but 3 of the props broke. The Zenmouse H3-2D gimbal containing my GoPro3 fell slightly off (the 2 plastic security pins trough 2 of the holes kept it on). I picked it up and ran into my house in serious frustration and anger as i had just used a small amount of money on some cheap FPV goggles i havent even received in my mailbox yet to try. I thought everything was worse than it looked (expected it). But the gimbal along the whole drone surprisingly survived without any kind of damage. New props made it fly like before again.
Next i did was turning the low battery autopilot off as i'm a good enough pilot to land myself if the power is running low (i usually fly back at 50%-40% left) as i got a IOSD telling me the power usage trough the FPV goggles i finally got shorty after i replaced the props. I'm stil really afraid something similiar is going to happen again so i did another test flight after the IOSD got installed and noticed wobbly movements. Discovered some bad coils in one of the engines but a friend got me a nice cheap repair at his workshop.

I'm sorry about your drone tho. Hope it doesn't get to expensive, i dont think i would fly anytime soon if i got your damages so i'm really care full while flying. The autopilot can be a killer sometimes and more dangerous than flying yourself if you have the concentration, which is why i turned the low power autopilot off. I bet it is slightly different on the P4 with sensors and all that tho.

 

[Frank Morris]

Very sorry to hear that!
I have a question on part d, did it glide to a stop and about how fast was it traveling? So far in my practice missions, waypoint 1 is right near where I am standing. I will now be sure to do a test of canceling out of the mission and see how it reacts.

I was using Autopilot - Autoflight Logic and it was travelling around 8mph. For me, it was the time taken from "OH F**K" to then flicking the switch back to P and then trying to save the P3 from hitting the tree. In future, I'm going to practise going from autopilot to manual.

Ho hum, C'est la vie.

 

[Frank Morris]

I had a similar crash with my P2 caused by the stupid autopilot. I landed with low power and at the moment i was going to turn the engines off the lights blinked red and the low power autopilot kicked in making it go back up in the air slowly towards my house wall (didn't have any control and to short time to respond). Luckily for me i was able to follow it and not really sure what happened next in my frustration but 3 of the props broke. The Zenmouse H3-2D gimbal containing my GoPro3 fell slightly off (the 2 plastic security pins trough 2 of the holes kept it on). I picked it up and ran into my house in serious frustration and anger as i had just used a small amount of money on some cheap FPV goggles i havent even received in my mailbox yet to try. I thought everything was worse than it looked (expected it). But the gimbal along the whole drone surprisingly survived without any kind of damage. New props made it fly like before again.
Next i did was turning the low battery autopilot off as i'm a good enough pilot to land myself if the power is running low (i usually fly back at 50%-40% left) as i got a IOSD telling me the power usage trough the FPV goggles i finally got shorty after i replaced the props. I'm stil really afraid something similiar is going to happen again so i did another test flight after the IOSD got installed and noticed wobbly movements. Discovered some bad coils in one of the engines but a friend got me a nice cheap repair at his workshop.

I'm sorry about your drone tho. Hope it doesn't get to expensive, i dont think i would fly anytime soon if i got your damages so i'm really care full while flying. The autopilot can be a killer sometimes and more dangerous than flying yourself if you have the concentration, which is why i turned the low power autopilot off. I bet it is slightly different on the P4 with sensors and all that tho.

I was getting on so well flying it manually, but I was finding that I needed Autopilot to do the video shots. I'll post repair costs. Just spent a small fortune on all the accessories that go with Phantom's so need to make it better Can't afford the P4 yet, but it's on the wishlist ;-)