Bummed. New P3A Crashed. Pls Advise

[McVenturesRC]

Well, something went wrong today. Your help in assessing and advising would be appreciated.

It was my fourth flight. Wide open area. Sunny. 7mph winds at ground level. Battery 100%. Controller at 90%. iPad Air 2 100%. Propellers snug. Battery tight. Per all discussions, I pulled gauntly to make sure it was in place. Calibrated properly.

It was my first flight out of beginner mode. Was airborne about 3 minutes, so battery still at 97%. Was approx 100 feet high, 100 feet away. No signs of trouble. Then I heard a warning signal, but up to that point I was flying by observing the phantom. It just dropped. No time to do anything.

Upon reaching crash site, battery dislodged and found about 4 feet from phantom. Suspect is was dislodged at impact. Gimbal works. Camera works. With propellers removed, started bird. All motors work, seemed to spin fine. Damage to body in several positions, crumbled.

Please advise on how I need to submit flight data so you guys can review. Please also advise on what my next steps should be, like return, etc. Thank you. Tom

 

[2fast4u]

First thing is get your log from your iPad, in itunes go to the apps, scroll all the way down, select the go app and copy the flightrecords folder to your computer. Upload the log to healthydrones and share the link here.

 

[McVenturesRC]

BTW, it was visibly powerless on its descent. It was tumbling out of the sky. I would have to assess that no power was going to the blades.

 

[McVenturesRC]

Here is the HealthyDrones link of the flight...
HealthyDrones.com - Innovative flight data analysis that matters

 

[Wacker2611]

I'm so sorry that you've had such a bad start McVenturesRC . I remember your post about being scared to fly, and everyone reassuring you that all would be OK. It sounds like you've been extraordinarily unlucky. There are people on here who could really help you ascertain what has gone wrong if you can upload your flight log.
Again though, really sorry about the accident.

 

[badbeerbreath]

Definitely looks like compass issues.

 

[Wacker2611]

The obvious thing is the compass, but I'm no expert. I presume you had calibrated properly in Go, away from the car/metallic objects etc?

 

[McVenturesRC]

I'm so sorry that you've had such a bad start McVenturesRC . I remember your post about being scared to fly, and everyone reassuring you that all would be OK. It sounds like you've been extraordinarily unlucky. There are people on here who could really help you ascertain what has gone wrong if you can upload your flight log.
Again though, really sorry about the accident.

Just bad luck. I uploaded the HealthyDrone file above. I don't know exactly what I'm looking at, but it looks like everything was working fine. Maybe the battery fell out. IDK. I specifically inserted the battery, tugged on it with two different tugs, and it was firmly implanted. I do know that the battery was about 5 feet away from the P3A, dislodged. I didn't see it fall from the sky, and it wasn't "dirty" as if it had hit the ground from 100 feet. IDK.

 

[McVenturesRC]

The obvious thing is the compass, but I'm no expert. I presume you had calibrated properly in Go, away from the car/metallic objects etc?

Yes. On a sidewalk. No metal near by.

 

[McVenturesRC]

If it was a compass issue, and let's assume the calibration was not done properly, does that explain loss of power? It just dropped.

 

[Oso]

I realize that Healthy Drones isn't always perfect with representing location, but at first glance it looks to me like your Phantom hit a tree and began to spin which gave crazy compass readings resulting in a crash.

 

[McVenturesRC]

I realize that Healthy Drones isn't always perfect with representing location, but at first glance it looks to me like your Phantom hit a tree and began to spin which gave crazy compass readings resulting in a crash.

View attachment 35515

The map is off. I was never over the trees. It landed 30-40 feet inside the grassy area. Healthy drone map is definitely off.

 

[Oso]

If it was a compass issue, and let's assume the calibration was not done properly, does that explain loss of power? It just dropped.

It was still recording data at least up until 1:05 of your flight and all the way down to 10 feet in altitude. It still had power for at least data basically right up until it hit the ground.

 

[McVenturesRC]

The map is off. I was never over the trees. It landed 30-40 feet inside the grassy area. Healthy drone map is definitely off.

Winds were 8-10 mph

 

[McVenturesRC]

It was still recording data at least up until 1:05 of your flight and all the way down to 10 feet in altitude. It still had power for at least data basically right up until it hit the ground.

Well, that's true. It was hurling ground-ward sideways, which made me think the power was gone. It wasn't stable. Could data still be collected without propeller movement?

 

[Wacker2611]

It was still recording data at least up until 1:05 of your flight and all the way down to 10 feet in altitude. It still had power for at least data basically right up until it hit the ground.

So it can't be a bad battery connection right?

 

[phantom13flyer]

Can you screen record the flight log with stick inputs. Are you sure you didn't execute a CSC ?

 

[Oso]

Well, that's true. It was hurling ground-ward sideways, which made me think the power was gone. It wasn't stable. Could data still be collected without propeller movement?

Yes, it can lose power for the props but still record data. The connectors are separate. This can happen if the battery is not fully inserted which we saw a lot when the P3 was new. Also perhaps a CSC which was noted above. [sorry for the added text, my browser just crashed!]

 

[McVenturesRC]

Can you screen record the flight log with stick inputs. Are you sure you didn't execute a CSC ?

IDK what a CSC is. I was only pushing left stick forward for attitude and right stick left. I'm not sure about your first sentence.

 

[McVenturesRC]

Yes, it can lose power for the props but still record data. The connectors are separate. This can happen if the battery is not fully inserted.

I am absolutely sure that the battery was properly seeded. I tugged on it with two different finger position pulling hard. I've read all the battery posts. It lifted off firmly in place. That may have been the culprit. I'm not saying it isn't. But I do know 100% that I tugged and it was firmly in place when it launched. Not sure what else I could have done with regards to the battery.