Freefall then crash!

[vieks]

Damm, just got this on saturday and now this. Was descending slowly from about 200 ft then at about 75 ft it just starts free falling all the way to the ground and crashes. Camera brake off and breaks a propeller. Black tape is ripped where it was attached to the camera( not sure what this is for ) and camera lens part broke of but looks like may be able to snap back into place.

Not sure what could have happened here. Calibrated before take off with over 6 gps signals, full battery on everything.

On hold with DJI service now, questions becomes can I get a new one right away or do I have to ship for repairs and wait a month to get it back? Some type of defect here just don't know what it is.

 

[tizzl10]

Damm, just got this on saturday and now this. Was descending slowly from about 200 ft then at about 75 ft it just starts free falling all the way to the ground and crashes. Camera brake off and breaks a propeller. Black tape is ripped where it was attached to the camera( not sure what this is for ) and camera lens part broke of but looks like may be able to snap back into place.

Not sure what could have happened here. Calibrated before take off with over 6 gps signals, full battery on everything.

On hold with DJI service now, questions becomes can I get a new one right away or do I have to ship for repairs and wait a month to get it back? Some type of defect here just don't know what it is.

how fast were you descending? folks need to realize that the descent rate needs to be slow. I don't know why DJI doesn't stress this. sounds like prop wash to me.

 

[srandall25]

Damm, just got this on saturday and now this. Was descending slowly from about 200 ft then at about 75 ft it just starts free falling all the way to the ground and crashes. Camera brake off and breaks a propeller. Black tape is ripped where it was attached to the camera( not sure what this is for ) and camera lens part broke of but looks like may be able to snap back into place.

Not sure what could have happened here. Calibrated before take off with over 6 gps signals, full battery on everything.

On hold with DJI service now, questions becomes can I get a new one right away or do I have to ship for repairs and wait a month to get it back? Some type of defect here just don't know what it is.

When you say free falling, do you mean that the motors cut out completely? Was it in a RTH mode or did you have control? At any point during the 'free fall' did you attempt to throttle up and if so, was there any response whatsoever to your increase in throttle?

 

[vieks]

Was taking it down slow and when I saw I lost control with the remote it started to wobble and drop fast, I couldn't get it to lift back up, sure was trying. The settings were stock settings, didn't make any adjustments. Bought through Red Rock USA on amazon who I understand is an authorized dealer according to DJI so hoping they will honor a return and exchange as apposed to having to wait 4 weeks for dji to fix. This is the 2nd malfunction I had with this unit, first being the wifi extender, now loss of control. Very frustrating as you can imagine.

 

[Dirty Bird]

Was taking it down slow and when I saw I lost control with the remote it started to wobble and drop fast, I couldn't get it to lift back up, sure was trying. Very frustrating as you can imagine.

That is classic prop wash...caught in your own turbulence. I've never had mine do that, but the way to get out of it is to use the right stick to slide in any lateral direction, out of your prop turbulence and into clean air. Very sorry for your misfortune. That little black "tape" is actually the electrical ribbon connector going into the camera.

 

[jalpert]

I'm a newb as well, but as appose to just descending slowing, always descend with movement.

Just keep in mind, if you are going 10mph into a 10mph tail wind and descending, your bad air is still under you.

 

[denofr]

By any chance do you have prop guards on?

 

[race3]

Do you have any indication if the power was lost in mid flight or did it seem like it still had power once it lost control?

I had a mid flight power failure which caused my phantom vision to crash. I don't know if they've fixed this issue on the PLUS not or yet, so learning more about your experience is helpful.

 

[gunslinger]

Was taking it down slow and when I saw I lost control with the remote it started to wobble and drop fast, I couldn't get it to lift back up, sure was trying. Very frustrating as you can imagine.

That is classic prop wash...caught in your own turbulence. I've never had mine do that, but the way to get out of it is to use the right stick to slide in any lateral direction, out of your prop turbulence and into clean air. Very sorry for your misfortune. That little black "tape" is actually the electrical ribbon connector going into the camera.

+1 on this. I HAVE had this happen to me and it's both scary and a bit difficult to overcome... Luckily I was able to. You really want to keep the PV moving either forward, backward or laterally during a descent in order to stay out of that dirty air... (prop wash)

-slinger

 

[vieks]

prop guards were on but still managed to break one of the blades along with the camera. Don't think it lost power during loss of control but may have for a second or two, was hard to tell. I tried moving in all directions during the free fall to no avail.

 

[LuvMyTJ]

The general consensus is that prop guards seem to make it worse. This condition affects full size heli's too. DJI slowed the max decent in software version 2.0 as I recall to help prevent this. Remember not to descend straight down nor to quickly. Always descend at an angle.

 

[b00st3d]

Did you hold the throttle all the way down to the bottom limit for 3 seconds or longer? If so, you basically shut the motors down yourself.

 

[RedRyderMedia]

Did you hold the throttle all the way down to the bottom limit for 3 seconds or longer? If so, you basically shut the motors down yourself.

Does that happen in mid air also? I thought that only happened when you land.

 

[DrJoe]

Its properly called a "vortex ring state" and has to do with a vortex being created by the rotating propeller blades during hover. Increasing power worsens the effect, the only thing to do is to move in the horizontal plane.

Check out this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vortex_ring_state

The only time I got one was with my new prop guards installed. They are no longer installed. Pissed me off that there was nothing in the manual about this little gem that effects ALL rotor craft.

Expensive lesson, sorry man.

 

[srandall25]

Could this effect be so extreme that is looks like cat paws are smacking the phantom back and forth violently like what I experienced? Or would the effect be more of a softer ' wobble' ?

 

[DrJoe]

Fluttering down like a leaf in a breeze.

 

[b00st3d]

Did you hold the throttle all the way down to the bottom limit for 3 seconds or longer? If so, you basically shut the motors down yourself.

Does that happen in mid air also? I thought that only happened when you land.

I was under the impression that this could happen even in the air. I haven't tried it myself, though...

 

[jejeje]

A motor cannot stop current Vision,Vision+,Phantom2 by operation with a throttle as less than 10% during flight.
According to the manual of NAZA-M, motor stop operation has 2 mode of "Immediately" and "Intelligent".
It becomes the motor stop by one operation mentioned above at the time of the "Immediately" mode setting.(not over 3sec,Immediately stop!)
It is fixed so that only "Intelligent" is usable by the latest software.

 

[4wd]

It is fixed so that only "Intelligent" is usable by the latest software.

Yes I noticed this yesterday.
I did manage to accidentally shut off my original phantom once while flying (not wise) - and was thinking I'd leave the plus on Intelligent anyway.

 

[Didjelirium]

So it means there are no ways of shutting down the engine manually by mistke while midair ?
Not even if, while attempting to NOT descend straight, you unfortuntely put both levers in the same position as to start the enging ?

Just the noob question of a guy about to go on his 2nd flight.

Thanks and Bless !