left throttle pull back - newbie question

[liamski]

Hello good people,

I have something of a 'newbie' question...I have about 5 hours flying with the Phantom 2 so I'm getting the hang of it.

Yesterday however I was doing a quick descent from about 100 feet. I pulled the left stick fully back, probably about 7 seconds. When I let go and stick was centred the thing continued to fall. I pushed up and only after about 5 seconds (which seemed a lifetime) did the thing respond and start to rise again but not before touching the ground very slightly. My question is, did I cut the motors off by holding the left stick back for more than 3 seconds? this is the way I normally cut off when I catch the drone in my hand. I did not think that doing this would cut the thing off in flight, the various sensors etc kicking in to tell the drone it is at high altitude in the air. Can some kind person enlighten me as I am struggling to find info about this in the DJI literature.

Thanks,

 

[OI Photography]

If you hold the left stick down all the way for more than 3 sec while flying, that initiates the auto-land procedure (according to DJI's documentation).

 

[jadebox]

Holding down the left stick during flight will not shut off the motors (and does not initiate auto landing). It will shut off the motors after the 'copter lands.

You probably experienced VRS. See viewtopic.php?t=17468

-- Roger

 

[OI Photography]

Holding down the left stick during flight will not shut off the motors (and does not initiate auto landing). It will shut off the motors after the 'copter lands.

You probably experienced VRS. See viewtopic.php?t=17468

-- Roger

VRS wouldn't have been arrested by adding throttle over centerpoint, probably quite the opposite if he had entered that state.

 

[liamski]

thanks for the response folks...it does still leave me a bit perplexed. I did read the article on your link jadebox, thanks for that. I do have prop-guards as it happens which I read tends to promote VRS. I'm still a bit confused on my initial question though. I did not read anywhere that holding the throttle stick back for 3 seconds will bring the device into Autoland mode. I think now my routine will be not to fly in anything over 12mph and descend slowly. I must check that I have also the latest firmware limiting descent speed to 2m/s.

 

[HarryT]

If you hold the left stick down all the way for more than 3 sec while flying, that initiates the auto-land procedure (according to DJI's documentation).

Are you sure about that? I generally fly at about 50m, and hold the throttle stick fully down for way longer than 3s to descend from that height. Definitely no autoland.

 

[Damon]

If you hold the left stick down all the way for more than 3 sec while flying, that initiates the auto-land procedure (according to DJI's documentation).

Are you sure about that? I generally fly at about 50m, and hold the throttle stick fully down for way longer than 3s to descend from that height. Definitely no autoland.

Tested this today from 100 meters up. Full down for 9 seconds. No autoland. Myth busted

 

[q8f1]

Hi,

Glad you got it sorted, a couple of points in my also brief experience;
1. never descent straight down, come down at an angle.
2. you can catch land and hold the throttle down for 3secs (catch copter level above head) the copter thinks it's landed and the motors will turn off. Practice catch landing, it's the best way to avoid damage landing.

Cheers Mark

 

[jadebox]

Holding down the left stick during flight will not shut off the motors (and does not initiate auto landing). It will shut off the motors after the 'copter lands.

You probably experienced VRS. See viewtopic.php?t=17468

-- Roger

VRS wouldn't have been arrested by adding throttle over centerpoint, probably quite the opposite if he had entered that state.

If there was some wind, the 'copter could have moved out of the vortex as he increased the throttle.

Also, if you're descending, or moving any direction, very quickly, it sometimes take a bit of time to stop or change directions due to the aircraft's momentum.

-- Roger

 

[ZaqHydN]

Practice catch landing, it's the best way to avoid damage landing.

I have to disagree - as a former RC Helo pilot, the best way to avoid damage ladings is to practice landing in control. With all the auto-compensation these UAVs have, it shouldn't be that hard to learn how to land without incident. Use A-Mode regularly to practice flight control (in safe areas) and do "Landing Drills".

One of my favorites is using a metal shop-fan grille (the front half of a 30" fan grill); it causes the magnetic compass to fail and you have to land using only your controls and sight. A few others is to use parking lot grids to practice landing "on-point" and doing touch & go's to get comfortable with how the aircraft responds to your commands in relation to it's situation.

In-flight hand-catches are cool and easy (also potentially dangerous), and are certainly a way to avoid a damaged landing, but it's also the best way to avoid learning how to land at all.

Cheers and keep it up!

 

[Qoncussion]

In addition to the advice given here, lose the prop-guards. Ive experienced VRS twice - both with the guards on. I've never had it with them off.