Bezerk-Psycho Quad Alert!

[flyNfrank]

You can't keep from logging into the forum without seeing a new thread that consist of someones aircraft going Berserk or Psycho. Then having any discussion why it may have happened turns into disagreements, so I wont bring it up here in the original post.

But what I do want to point out to everyone reading this is something that needs to always stick with you. If You are someone that might forget to remember in a panic situation, then write this on your R/C or somewhere is clear sight.

At any point should your aircraft begin flying strange in any way whatsoever, on the R/C reach to the upper leftside and switch the flight mode into A-Mode.

Once in A-Mode, take control of the aircraft and land it asap. Do not just look at the aircraft and return to the air. Go to a safe area. Somewhere there is no metallic interference and calibrate the compass.

Remember.....A-Mode.

 

[Wibble]

I completely agree. Remember you must enable this mode first!!!

 

[batch1978]

Well put! I have created a very inexpensive mod to remind me of this feature luckily I haven't had to try it out yet lol

 

[flyNfrank]

That's a good one! lol.

You could also tie a string from your finger to the switch.

 

[Oso]

Don't you wish that the A mode wasn't the middle choice? I'd so much prefer it to be all the way over for an easier switch in an emergency.

 

[batch1978]

Yeah actually

 

[F6Rider]

You can't keep from logging into the forum without seeing a new thread that consist of someones aircraft going Berserk or Psycho. Then having any discussion why it may have happened turns into disagreements, so I wont bring it up here in the original post.

But what I do want to point out to everyone reading this is something that needs to always stick with you. If You are someone that might forget to remember in a panic situation, then write this on your R/C or somewhere is clear sight.

At any point should your aircraft begin flying strange in any way whatsoever, on the R/C reach to the upper leftside and switch the flight mode into A-Mode.

Once in A-Mode, take control of the aircraft and land it asap. Do not just look at the aircraft and return to the air. Go to a safe area. Somewhere there is no metallic interference and calibrate the compass.

Remember.....A-Mode.



View attachment 31916

This is an excellent idea, I have practiced this several times at random just to be sure I wouldn't just stare at the bird while it flew away and crashed. In the Army we used to practice Non-Standards (non standard manuvers) on a regular basis for that very reason.

 

[flyNfrank]

This is an excellent idea, I have practiced this several times at random just to be sure I wouldn't just stare at the bird while it flew away and crashed. In the Army we used to practice Non-Standards (non standard manuvers) on a regular basis for that very reason.

Something I do after launching is go up to around 150ft altitude and hover. I then switch to A-mode which lets the quad drift freely with the wind stream. This shows me exact direction from where I'm standing, and depending on how long I let it drift it also gives me some idea how fast the wind is at that altitude. The mph speed actually registers while doing this test. When finished watching it drift away, just switch back to P-mode and go about your flight plan.

 

[dysan911]

I have a question... Ok so how do you guys go about quickly determining the birds orientation in relation to your position so that when you get into a situation you can flip to "A" and know immediately if the controls are reversed or not. (Bird facing you).

 

[HD pilot]

Don't you wish that the A mode wasn't the middle choice? I'd so much prefer it to be all the way over for an easier switch in an emergency.

I was thinking exactly the same

 

[bobmyers]

I have a question... Ok so how do you guys go about quickly determining the birds orientation in relation to your position so that when you get into a situation you can flip to "A" and know immediately if the controls are reversed or not. (Bird facing you).

If you look on the radar on the left lower corner of the screen, if the red triangle representing the Phantom is pointed to the center of the circle, it is headed straight to the Home Point. -- or if you are tracing flights on the map and the red triangle is lined up or pointing down the green line it is headed to the Home Point.

 

[Prometric]

I wish this switch was on top dead center of flight sticks or buttons.

 

[flyNfrank]

I have a question... Ok so how do you guys go about quickly determining the birds orientation in relation to your position so that when you get into a situation you can flip to "A" and know immediately if the controls are reversed or not. (Bird facing you).

Actually the question you're asking is not important at that stage. The aircraft will hover. It will likely be in a drift while hovering, but most importantly it wont be in a rapid fly-away that is uncontrollable. It's after this point is when you would use the info bobmyers suggested.

 

[Shammyh]

I have a question... Ok so how do you guys go about quickly determining the birds orientation in relation to your position so that when you get into a situation you can flip to "A" and know immediately if the controls are reversed or not. (Bird facing you).

As others have said, check the radar display.

Or if it's me, I just give it a little nudge in the forward direction, see which way it moves, and orient it in my brain.

 

[witold]

ATTI mode sometimes helps - and sometimes does not. Do not kid yourself that this is some sort of bailout. ATTI doesn't use GPS,but it still uses pretty much every other possible point of failure. Compass problems/etc are not going to fix themselves just because you go into ATTI. Sometimes it seems to work, other times it doesn't make any difference whatsoever.

And if someone is not used to ATTI, chances are also decent that they will make it worse. All the sudden, they find themselves in a position where they actually have to fly the quad, prevent it from drifting, keep altitude. And they are usually too far away to really fly LOS.

 

[Shammyh]

ATTI mode sometimes helps - and sometimes does not. Do not kid yourself that this is some sort of bailout. ATTI doesn't use GPS,but it still uses pretty much every other possible point of failure. Compass problems/etc are not going to fix themselves just because you go into ATTI. Sometimes it seems to work, other times it doesn't make any difference whatsoever.

And if someone is not used to ATTI, chances are also decent that they will make it worse. All the sudden, they find themselves in a position where they actually have to fly the quad, prevent it from drifting, keep altitude. And they are usually too far away to really fly LOS.

It's not a bailout, but it's saved myself (and probably many others) at least once.

Saying that "it'll make it worse", is like saying "Yea, this 747 can take off and land via autopilot. If there was a problem, the human pilots are so out of practice that they'll probably only make the problem worse". Except... that's why they force pilots to do manual take-off and landings at regular intervals.

The real key here is that inexperienced UAS operators should play with and become comfortable with ATTI mode. It only uses the barometer and IMU, and therefore, if there are either GPS and/or Compass issues, ATTI will more often than not be the only means to bring the bird down safely, short of a mid-air CSC.

ATTI is also invaluable for pushing the last bit of horizontal speed out of the P3. And as already stated above, it can also be useful for a quick judge of wind speed and direction.

The real take-away/lesson here is that everyone should be experienced in flying with ATTI mode.
If someone is totally reliant upon the GPS aids, they really shouldn't be flying anywhere outside their back yard or an open field to begin with.

So yes, it's entirely possible that an inexperienced pilot might make things worse if they've never used ATTI before. However, the solution to that isn't to say "don't use ATTI when things go wrong", the solution is "1) Use ATTI when things go wrong. 2) Test and become experienced with ATTI before things go wrong."

 

[Erroll]

Something I do after launching is go up to around 150ft altitude and hover. I then switch to A-mode which lets the quad drift freely with the wind stream. This shows me exact direction from where I'm standing, and depending on how long I let it drift it also gives me some idea how fast the wind is at that altitude. The mph speed actually registers while doing this test. When finished watching it drift away, just switch back to P-mode and go about your flight plan.

I do the same if there is any breeze about - carry over from using WDIs (wind drift indicators) in skydiving.

 

[flyNfrank]

Good Tip to know, if you don't already.

 

[robby3265]

Good point about using atti but its no use to you if you have a signal loss were you lose the video downlink,

 

[B- Scene Films]

As for orientation, this might be of use in the event that video is gone: