Is Phantom 4 immune to VRS in P-Mode?

[Suhail78]

Hello,

From what I've read about VRS, and the Phantom 4, it seems that DJI has made some changes to make it more difficult to enter into this state, which is great if true!!

I am a relatively new phantom pilot, and everyday i'm out here reading these forums just to gain knowledge about possible situations and scenarios, and what to do if i ever encounter these situations, thankfully i haven't had any problems, and its been absolutely awesome flying this thing.

I was out flying my phantom in a park the other day, i'm up about 200' and i start to descend straight back down, left stick full throttle down, and i notice the bird tilt a little bit left and then slightly to the right and i got nervous, but because of what I've read i knew to push forward on the right stick and descend while moving horizontally, which i did whether i needed to or not. So my question is this:

Is this an indication that i could have possibly started to enter a VRS state, or could it just have been that the wind picked up and gave the bird a little push, and the GPS was trying to hold its position? Just trying to understand what happened, b/c it made me a little nervous.

Thanks in advance for the responses. This forum has been an excellent resource.

 

[Sinisalo]

I would say the Phantom 4 is virtually immune to vortex ring state. I say virtually because there could be a combination of conditions that allow it to happen. For one if you are at a very high altitude. I have flown mine at 6500ft asl though with no problems.

 

[Suhail78]

I would say the Phantom 4 is virtually immune to vortex ring state. I say virtually because there could be a combination of conditions that allow it to happen. For one if you are at a very high altitude. I have flown mine at 6500ft asl though with no problems.

Thanks for the response! I haven't gone any higher than 300 feet, and i still get nervous (im still newbie). Good to hear that you haven't had any issues!

 

[jwt873]

The P4 is my third multirotor. (I have an older simpler quadcopter and a larger hexacopter). I've been flying multirotors for four years.

I've never seen anything resembling VRS with any of them. I'd never even heard of the phenomena until I started following the DJI forums last April when I got my P4. I don't lose any sleep over VRS .

 

[Suhail78]

The P4 is my third multirotor. (I have an older simpler quadcopter and a larger hexacopter). I've been flying multirotors for four years.

I've never seen anything resembling VRS with any of them. I'd never even heard of the phenomena until I started following the DJI forums last April when I got my P4. I don't lose any sleep over VRS .

Hey, thanks man! Really appreciate your comments, they are very reassuring .

 

[Meta4]

From what I've read about VRS, and the Phantom 4, it seems that DJI has made some changes to make it more difficult to enter into this state, which is great if true!!

VRS was possible early on in the P2 series when DJI allowed it to descend at 6 metres/sec.
DJI slowed that to 4 m/s and later to 2 m/s to prevent VPS.
For the P3 and P4 series, DJI set the motors at an angle which helps keep the Phantom out of its propwash when descending.
As a result they were able to increase descent speed 50% to 3 m/s.
The P3 and P4 are VRS proof.

 

[Suhail78]

VRS was possible early on in the P2 series when DJI allowed it to descend at 6 metres/sec.
DJI slowed that to 4 m/s and later to 2 m/s to prevent VPS.
For the P3 and P4 series, DJI set the motors at an angle which helps keep the Phantom out of its propwash when descending.
As a result they were able to increase descent speed 50% to 3 m/s.
The P3 and P4 are VRS proof.

Thanks Meta!!! So i should have no fear descending straight down full throttle with my P4. , thanks for the response.


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots

 

[Rapfife]

I understand the idea of limiting the descent to 3 m/s to avoid VRS. There are times when flying at a high altitude that I would like to descend rather quickly. Would pressing into forward flight while holding 100% down on the stick allow for a faster decent? Does anyone know of a safe way to bring the P4 down at a faster rate?

 

[Suhail78]

I understand the idea of limiting the descent to 3 m/s to avoid VRS. There are times when flying at a high altitude that I would like to descend rather quickly. Would pressing into forward flight while holding 100% down on the stick allow for a faster decent? Does anyone know of a safe way to bring the P4 down at a faster rate?

Seems to me that it does come down faster if your pushing forward on the right stick, i dont know if it actually does or it just seems that way, but just giving it the eye test it sure does seem to come down faster if it has forward momentum.

I usually come down from higher altitudes in a spiral or zig-zag pattern.

 

[Sinisalo]

Thanks for the response! I haven't gone any higher than 300 feet, and i still get nervous (im still newbie). Good to hear that you haven't had any issues!

I was flying at 6500 Above Sea Level, not above ground level

 

[deltalimatango]

Here is some technical stuff on it:

Vortex ring state - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Meta4]

I understand the idea of limiting the descent to 3 m/s to avoid VRS. There are times when flying at a high altitude that I would like to descend rather quickly. Would pressing into forward flight while holding 100% down on the stick allow for a faster decent? Does anyone know of a safe way to bring the P4 down at a faster rate?

Seems to me that it does come down faster if your pushing forward on the right stick, i dont know if it actually does or it just seems that way, but just giving it the eye test it sure does seem to come down faster if it has forward momentum.
I usually come down from higher altitudes in a spiral or zig-zag pattern.

Coming down with a forward component might seem faster (because the speed is faster) but the vertical component is still limited and no faster.
It's easy to check the VS (vertical speed) indication in the app or on replay from the flight record.

Does anyone know of a safe way to bring the P4 down at a faster rate?

According to the P4 specs, in sport mode it will descend 33% faster - Max descent rate = 4 m/s (Sport mode)

 

[SoCalDude]

I was flying at 6500 Above Sea Level, not above ground level

But at what altitude (MSL) was your launch point?

 

[Patrick]

Hello,

From what I've read about VRS, and the Phantom 4, it seems that DJI has made some changes to make it more difficult to enter into this state, which is great if true!!

I am a relatively new phantom pilot, and everyday i'm out here reading these forums just to gain knowledge about possible situations and scenarios, and what to do if i ever encounter these situations, thankfully i haven't had any problems, and its been absolutely awesome flying this thing.

I was out flying my phantom in a park the other day, i'm up about 200' and i start to descend straight back down, left stick full throttle down, and i notice the bird tilt a little bit left and then slightly to the right and i got nervous, but because of what I've read i knew to push forward on the right stick and descend while moving horizontally, which i did whether i needed to or not. So my question is this:

Is this an indication that i could have possibly started to enter a VRS state, or could it just have been that the wind picked up and gave the bird a little push, and the GPS was trying to hold its position? Just trying to understand what happened, b/c it made me a little nervous.

Thanks in advance for the responses. This forum has been an excellent resource.

you might want to calibrate your IMU, on occasion ill see wobble on decent which means its time to do an IMU calibration unless there's some odd wind effects. i havent seen an VRS state with my phantoms since my P2V+, i rarely decend straight down, its normally like climbing down the stairs