I haven't been on the site in a long time. I'm a snow bird and moved from Florida back to New York for the summer. In Florida my Phantom 2 worked flawless. I was very comfortable with flying it. My background is Aerodynamics and forty plus years of military (U.S. Navy), civilian, airline and RC flying.
I didn't have a senior moment when I came to NY and took my first flight in a very easy area to fly. I knew nothing of these compass problems you have been discussing. I put the P2 on the ground, everything checked out like my 300+ flights I have made with my P2 with the exception of doing a compass swing in NY.
Zoom, off I go. Holy Crap and WTF is going on. It hooked and went a lot further than sixteen feet and headed for trees. I calmed it down but it was tough to control the hooking turns. Light Bulb. Holy Crap A-hole, compass swing. I came back and landed. ****, senior moment arrives, I can't remember how to do a compass swing. S1, S2, which one, no manual, too lazy to go to computer. WTF. Let's fly some more. Moved further out into the open. Takeoff. Not real stable. Hooking turns but controllable. I flew it often in ATT and high winds along the Florida surf line. Scared a lot of things in the beginning mostly me, my P2 and some friendly surfers. I'm comfortable flying this thing. In NY, at no time did I feel comfortable in trusting a hover near anything.
Alright time to find out how to do a compass swing. Oh yeah, S1, five times, rotate horizontal.......Good to go.
Takeoff. Hook. Crash into gazebo thirty-eight feet away. Video to follow when I get another reader. Forgot mine in Florida.
Need a new Zenmuse gimbal, snapped it in half. Snapped a blade tip. Ejected the battery (not the first time, nor the first crash). Took off blades, ran motors, bent gimbal to fit under legs. Replaced blades, turned on, GPS, sideways video and zoom back in the air. Hovering at three feet, it flew but was not stable. Landed and came on here to read about this problem.
My feelings. Something isn't right somewhere. I have too many flights to not be able to have controlled the crash. I'm definitely not bitter towards anything with what happened. It happened and needs to be worked out. No blame. Would love to get a price break on a new gimbal. If not, oh well. "Oh Dear, my Phantom broke, do you want me to spend the days inside with you, perhaps we can get passionate or can I buy a new gimbal for $300+? Do, da, do, da, do, do, do......Do, da, do, da, Dooot.......Thank you, Dear. I will get in contact with B & H Photo right away."