Help... like some advice, should I get a different drone?

[ron1969]

I have a week to return my PV 2. First I love everything about it, but live in a populated area and it scares me to fly this thing as all I can think about is a fly away. I can't get the nerve to fly over 150 feet at about 60 yards away because of the potential for a fly away. This is concerning as we all know how much money this thing costs. A few of the competitors forums have very few posts about fly away. The few posted seem to be user error and here it seems even the most seasoned pilot is losing the drone.

A question for you, would you return and start over with a different company due to the fly away issue. Judging from over 4 hours of Internet research the issue is real and someone is going to get hurt. I don't want to be the user that knew about the issue ignored it and hurt someone..

Thanks for the support!

 

[kydan]

Re: Help... like some advice, should I get a different drone

Most fly aways are from user error. They either didn't read the manual, failed to wait for the quad to mark its home location, flew somewhere with a lot of interference, etc.

The bigger question you want to ask is...

Will you be happy with your PV2.

The PV2+ is another option or just the plain old Phantom 2. I would choose te phantom 2 because so many with the vision wish they had capability to run with a gopro. To each his own

 

[N017RW]

Re: Help... like some advice, should I get a different drone

R/C aircraft are dangerous.

Technology is now lowering cost(s) and enabling anyone to easily control one of these Phantoms or similar.
(I said control, not fly)

I (like many) started years ago with cars, boats, planes, helis, etc., and now multi-rotors.
In so doing you learn the importance of: set-up, construction, SAFETY, the 'heart-break' of loss, etc.

Reading about all these problems are a double-edged sword. You learn from others' mistakes but you worry it will happen to you.
Polls are not gospel and respondents are not screened, however, one I have seen indicates about 15% of users responding have had incidents resulting in loss of a/c, not just a crash.

There is no one 'issue' to be resolved and it will never be foolproof. R/C a/c have been flying away, locking up or out, colliding, crashing, etc. forever and will continue to.

With fixed wing or other unstable a/c they would 'fly away' and crash nearby instead of 'flay away' [internally stabilized] to crash somewhere else.

Some pilots are too reliant on the technology, others may expect perfection. These can both be attributed to lack of experience.

Equipment will fail, you will fail (human error), the A/C will crash. It's part of the 'deal'.

If you feel like you can not relax and enjoy the A/C then you should migrate to where you are comfortable until you feel otherwise.

OF COURSE you are correct in being concerned about damage or liability.
But you have to find the 'sweet spot' for your personal risk/reward ratio.

 

[FlyingFox]

Re: Help... like some advice, should I get a different drone

I have a week to return my PV 2. First I love everything about it, but live in a populated area and it scares me to fly this thing as all I can think about is a fly away.

A question for you, would you return and start over with a different company due to the fly away issue. Judging from over 4 hours of Internet research the issue is real and someone is going to get hurt. I don't want to be the user that knew about the issue ignored it and hurt someone..

Thanks for the support!

This is a decision only you can call, I haven't seen much evidence of the P2V "Fly aways" that were not pilot error.
It depends on many factors to make you relax and comfortable, are you near to somewhere open like a national park or country side where there are not many people about? I wouldn't use my nearest park as although large ,has kids playing, and I don't fly above my neighbours houses.
As above as long as you stick to a safety orientated pre flight and post flight routine and keep to your capabilities which will grow with practise, you should have no problem at all.
To me apart from checking the props and airframe etc, waiting for the 1st set of rapid greens, "home lock" then the 2nd rapid set of greens +6 satalites is a must, although I sometimes take off and hover at 15' to acquire more than 6 satalites,(not often) before I'll fly.

Good Luck

 

[ron1969]

Re: Help... like some advice, should I get a different drone

I have a week to return my PV 2. First I love everything about it, but live in a populated area and it scares me to fly this thing as all I can think about is a fly away.

A question for you, would you return and start over with a different company due to the fly away issue. Judging from over 4 hours of Internet research the issue is real and someone is going to get hurt. I don't want to be the user that knew about the issue ignored it and hurt someone..

Thanks for the support!

This is a decision only you can call, I haven't seen much evidence of the P2V "Fly aways" that were not pilot error.
It depends on many factors to make you relax and comfortable, are you near to somewhere open like a national park or country side where there are not many people about? I wouldn't use my nearest park as although large ,has kids playing, and I don't fly above my neighbours houses.
As above as long as you stick to a safety orientated pre flight and post flight routine and keep to your capabilities which will grow with practise, you should have no problem at all.
To me apart from checking the props and airframe etc, waiting for the 1st set of rapid greens, "home lock" then the 2nd rapid set of greens +6 satalites is a must, although I sometimes take off and hover at 15' to acquire more than 6 satalites,(not often) before I'll fly.

Good Luck

Fox thanks for the response and I am doing a lot of homework to make sure when it leaves the ground all systems are a go.

Any thoughts on why the Walkera QRX350 or other like drones seem to have a LOT less noise around flyaway issues? Sale numbers perhaps?

 

[syotr]

Re: Help... like some advice, should I get a different drone

I have a week to return my PV 2. First I love everything about it, but live in a populated area and it scares me to fly this thing as all I can think about is a fly away. I can't get the nerve to fly over 150 feet at about 60 yards away because of the potential for a fly away. This is concerning as we all know how much money this thing costs. A few of the competitors forums have very few posts about fly away. The few posted seem to be user error and here it seems even the most seasoned pilot is losing the drone.

A question for you, would you return and start over with a different company due to the fly away issue. Judging from over 4 hours of Internet research the issue is real and someone is going to get hurt. I don't want to be the user that knew about the issue ignored it and hurt someone..

Thanks for the support!

If you could not afford to lose the money, then this may not be the best hobby for you. Flying multicopters is a money pit even if you don't lose one.
There are certainly many real flyaways that are not pilot error. These are very complicated machines with lots of ways to fail. What is disturbing to me is that DJI is not doing enough to solve this problem. If they were an American company, they would be forced to recall all of their Phantoms until this is resolved. If there is a major accident due to a flyaway, we may all be grounded.
As for other models, no one really has accurate statistics about the percentage of flyaways so who else would you start over with?
I am building a new quad and it will not have a NAZA controller. I have lost faith in them.

 

[FlyingFox]

Re: Help... like some advice, should I get a different drone

I am not able to comment on the Walkera or others etc, ie I am sure though that here in the UK there is no way trading standards and other official safety bodies would not allow importation of DJI products if they were not safe when used correctly.

You have to remember that people don't usually post "Wow I came back and it didn't crash" on any forum, it's only the problems and user issues , and this forum in my opinion has great contributors with a wealth of advice and experience which if followed will lead to a happy and exciting experience with the Phantom.

(As the instructions from the box, are in my opinion are not enough for persons new to Rc flying)

Good sign your reading up,though ...

 

[007trains]

Re: Help... like some advice, should I get a different drone

I dont think switching from a dji phantom to a walkera would be a step up. From my experience walkera quads are cheaply built and aimed at a lower end of the market. You probably wouldn't hear of walkera fly aways is they tend to have everything else go wrong first. I admit I am a little biased and walkera have probably gotten a lot better than they used to be but if you already have the phantom I suggest you keep it, read the manual and take a look at the preventative maintanence thread and you'll be fine. The only issues I have had is when I rushed the take off before it got a home lock but I quickly landed and everything was ok. But at the end of the day it's your call so do whatever your compfortable with

 

[CallMeAlan]

Re: Help... like some advice, should I get a different drone

If you decide to get a different one, do NOT get a Parrot AR Drone. I had one for a few weeks, decided I liked the whole flying concept, and moved up to a Phantom Vision. Good move, I love it, it's much better, in a different class entirely. Friday evening I took a couple of friends out to the common where we together flew the Drone and the Phantom. One of them expressed an interest in buying the Drone, so I thought, I don't need it any more, so on Saturday I took it out by myself for the last time.

When I pressed the Take Off button, which is supposed to send it a metre high and wait in hovering mode, it simply whizzed straight up at high speed, to about 50 metres maybe, then took off in the wrong direction at high speed. Pressing Land, pressing Emergency, trying to turn it round, nothing worked. It's gone forever, into some deep woods with heavy thorn bushes. Couldn't find it. It's a goner.

Got in touch with Parrot, who are not in the least interested. Sent me some stock reply about wind (there was none - well, 2 or 3 mph according to my anemometer), draft from high buildings (nearest building was a house, a good half mile away) and blamed my inexperience, and said it was my responsibility to maintain control. All I did was press Take Off - I never had a moment to even take control!

So please please please, avoid Parrot.

 

[GMANNZ]

Re: Help... like some advice, should I get a different drone

I still dont get how the hell you can buy something , unpack it .. use it till your level of amusement lowers or a new version comes out, .... then return it when theres nothing wrong with it ??

If I was in business I would honour ... badly made goods or broken things in the supply chain ... but a "change of mind" after unpacking and use, really ??? ... to me is why most things these days are made in China, ... cause noone can afford to produce and take return of "change of mind" purchases, and keep profits flowing.

Tell the truth it made me laugh to see some here trying to rip off merchants by returning their "untouched" used Phantoms when the brand new shiny P2plus + came out .... the new shiny thing coming out created such a storm of comtempt it was hysterical ... the funny thing was they got there Plus+'s and now have problems with them as well ... was to me sort of karmic in a way. :lol:

 

[doug86]

Re: Help... like some advice, should I get a different drone

Judging from over 4 hours of Internet research the issue is real and someone is going to get hurt.

Wow, did your exhaustive 4 hours of research reveal any of the following?
- exactly how many Phantoms have been sold, so you can find out what percentage of those in use have had problems?
- How many competitors use the DJI NAZA system, which would mean that changing companies may not solve the problem?
- How many flyaways do the competition experience?
- Did you collect data on lost winged RC aircraft and if they "flew away?"
- Compare the injury rate of Quadcopter use to other RC aircraft?
- Compare the injury rate of Quadcopter use to other hobbies, like golfballs? Fishing hooks? Swimming pools? Archery?


... lets keep things in perspective. Eventually, someone will do some real, data driven research on UAV's in the hobby category. Until then it's all just conjecture.

 

[JimDE]

Re: Help... like some advice, should I get a different drone

I too feel sorry for B&H Photo. I sent my first one back with a motor/ESC issue then the next two for camera OOF and smearing issues. Even this one I kept the camera has issues but I respect B&H too much to keep putting them through the exchange for a decent product when it was unlikely that I would actually find one. I just crop the H out of the stills and called it a day on this little experiment in flying camera's.

I am a lot like the OP.... I just am hesitant to fly mine anymore worried about the loss of the bird or worse that it causes physical or property damage if it decides to think for itself. I see it as a $1300 loss that potentially could wipe out my savings in a liability suit if it flies miles away and hits a child or the thing crashes on a hospitals roof and the lipo battery starts a fire. I very rarely fly mine anymore due to lack of confidence in this technology and the first person who offers me .50 on the dollar for it can have it and I will be done with this. I am not going to return it and stick a company I have done business with for 20+ years because Of my ignorance about this technology before buying one. I made the mistake and I will accept the loss I will experience in getting out of it.

Like a saying we bikers have "that their are only two kinds of riders those that have gone down and those who are about to". IMO there are only two kinds of Phantom pilots those that have had fly aways or crashed and those who are about to.

 

[Pinch1020]

Re: Help... like some advice, should I get a different drone

So you buy a $1200 drone and are afraid to fly it!? You should return it and get a toy. No guts no glory, $1200 will keep eating at you then you will be pissed when you crash it. It's not for everyone.

 

[JimDE]

Re: Help... like some advice, should I get a different drone

Doug conjecture or not what do you think US liability courts will feel is a acceptable level of innocent bystander injury or property damage for this little activity. I'll tell you ... None! Liability lawyers are chomping at the bits just waiting to get even one drone caused liability case especially as the commercial giants are trying to open this door. As a owner and user of a phantom I know I would not feel comfortable looking up in the sky seeing larger versions flying overhead delivering pizza's flow and maintained by some kid making minimum wage. This technology just is not ready for primetime if DJI phantoms are a example of it.

Kinda like standing on a golf course and knowing the tree standing between you and the hole is 93% air. Do you take a stroke to get yourself around it or do you smack right at it and play the percentages. Oddly when I have tried that I seem to find the wood not the air.

 

[gbshovel]

Re: Help... like some advice, should I get a different drone

Ive had 3 phantoms the original the II and now the vision. There is a learning curve but I have never had a fly-a-way, I've had many a crash all have been my error even though I thought they were fly a -ways.


Get a kite maybe :lol:

 

[JimDE]

Re: Help... like some advice, should I get a different drone

gbshovel, with vision owners I see them in two groups... RC modeling enthusiasts and photographers. I personally could care less about the flying and RC modeling part of this experience. I had to learn what I have about that part just to get a camera in the air. When I get out of this I don't need anything else that flies as I lived 62+ years prior without RC's and see no reason to fly when it's gone.

 

[doug86]

Re: Help... like some advice, should I get a different drone

Doug conjecture or not what do you think US liability courts will feel is a acceptable level of innocent bystander injury or property damage for this little activity. I'll tell you ... None! Liability lawyers are chomping at the bits just waiting to get even one drone caused liability case especially as the commercial giants are trying to open this door..

Oh please... then why are we still flying after these cases?

http://abcnews.go.com/US/minute-mechani ... d=20182547

http://jalopnik.com/5617310/video-crash ... air-rights

http://anti-rice.com/smf/index.php?topi ... #msg103885

How many kids have been injured by those "control by wire" model aircraft? You can still buy those today.

Does the Phantom have the potential to harm if used by an unskilled operator? Of course, so is a chainsaw, but we haven't outlawed those either.

 

[jimdenburg]

Re: Help... like some advice, should I get a different drone

Here's one to stay away from I guess...

http://cinescopophilia.com/15k-mult...rashing-deep-into-the-peruvian-amazon-jungle/

 

[syotr]

Re: Help... like some advice, should I get a different drone

Here's one to stay away from I guess...

http://cinescopophilia.com/15k-mult...rashing-deep-into-the-peruvian-amazon-jungle/

NAZA flight controller

 

[jimdenburg]

Re: Help... like some advice, should I get a different drone

All I can say is that I've enjoyed the heck out of my P2V in the past 5 months! I've had plenty of crashes--all due to user error in one form or the other, but never a fly-away (and I REALLY hope that's not like mentioning a no-no in the 8th inning!). It has been helpful to read about all of the issues on this forum, not just the fly-aways, because I've gained more respect for the craft over the last several months. I think I was like most new flyers in that I felt like the Phantom would do anything I told it to do at any time, regardless of conditions or how far away I flew the thing. I mean, worst that can happen is it will fly itself home right?

What I've learned is that these things are not magic, there are tons of variables that can make the difference successful flight a crash or a "fly-away". So yeah, I'm a bit more careful, especially in the wind. I use prop-guards to protect my props and anything they could run into. I fly just about every day, concentrating more on the actual flying part rather than how high or far I can go. I'm still impressed by the technology and the unique footage I get from my P2V. And when I break it, I will get a +.