I am posting this knowing 99% of the problems in the video are pilot error. I am still fairly new to flying and have done 99% of my flights in full GPS mode. I had 7 satellites when I took off, but quickly dropped below 6. The Phantom performed like it should and switched to ATTI mode. After that, things went south. The wind was 10-15mph according to Hover app. When I got some altitude, I take it the wind was blowing harder.
I almost stroked out, and probably had 2 heart attacks in this 8 minute video. I was sooooo close to being back home a few times, but lost it again. I did try RTH once, but that is the point in the video that it left my neighborhood and flew across the field. Somehow the gimbal moved itself to 90 degrees down, so I had no idea which way it was facing. I can identify a few times in the video that I turned the wrong way and cause more problems. At the end, I made the decision to put my Phantom down in the field across from my house. I thought I was a flat part of the field, but it was actually a slight slope. I was landing a little faster than I was comfortable with and realized I was going to crash. I tried to turn the Phantom into the crash to keep it from slamming down on the landing gear or camera. THANKS goes out to Killer RC and UAV Bits for the gimbal saver and the carbon fiber protector. I had no damage to my baby!!!
What have I learned from this? 1. I need to practice in ATTI mode (a lot!!!) 2. I don't need to fly right now in wind over 5 mph until I get more comfortable. 3. I am going to stop trying to fly long distance and work more and flying using the FPV.
So, with all of that being said, below is the link to the raw footage of my flight. I know I am going to get slammed for it, but I think it is a crazy video that still gets my heart rate up.
http://youtu.be/MqHcNQQK7K0
I almost stroked out, and probably had 2 heart attacks in this 8 minute video. I was sooooo close to being back home a few times, but lost it again. I did try RTH once, but that is the point in the video that it left my neighborhood and flew across the field. Somehow the gimbal moved itself to 90 degrees down, so I had no idea which way it was facing. I can identify a few times in the video that I turned the wrong way and cause more problems. At the end, I made the decision to put my Phantom down in the field across from my house. I thought I was a flat part of the field, but it was actually a slight slope. I was landing a little faster than I was comfortable with and realized I was going to crash. I tried to turn the Phantom into the crash to keep it from slamming down on the landing gear or camera. THANKS goes out to Killer RC and UAV Bits for the gimbal saver and the carbon fiber protector. I had no damage to my baby!!!
What have I learned from this? 1. I need to practice in ATTI mode (a lot!!!) 2. I don't need to fly right now in wind over 5 mph until I get more comfortable. 3. I am going to stop trying to fly long distance and work more and flying using the FPV.
So, with all of that being said, below is the link to the raw footage of my flight. I know I am going to get slammed for it, but I think it is a crazy video that still gets my heart rate up.
http://youtu.be/MqHcNQQK7K0