My FC40 Just Flew Away

[Motocrossed]

Hey Everyone,
I hope someone can shed some light on what may have been the problem. I changed out my stock props with the 9450's. I went outside my house to test the quad. I did not calibrate the quad because I have flown in my yard dozens of times and felt it would be a non issue. I waited until I received GPS signals and the light was blinking green. I engaged the motors and took it up maybe 20' to hover. All seemed fine at this point. I added a little bit of throttle and it just took off. Shot up to about 80' and started flying away. I had no control over the quad so shut off transmitter hoping it would return. As soon as I powered off the transmitter the quad fell from the sky to the ground about 200 yards away in a neighbors driveway. 3 of the 4 props broke, gimbal broke, landing gear broke.

So my question, should I have done the "calibration dance"? Is there a setting in the NAZA software I needed to adjust for the new propellers?

 

[bywalker]

I hate reading these, because I hate to hear about a crash of a phantom of any model. I don't have any advice besides a complete checklist which would include a compass calibration every single time regardless of any other advice. I know from what I've read that it says you don't have to if you are flying in the same area, as your previous flight, but better safe than sorry. Sorry this happened..

 

[Motocrossed]

I hate reading these, because I hate to hear about a crash of a phantom of any model. I don't have any advice besides a complete checklist which would include a compass calibration every single time regardless of any other advice. I know from what I've read that it says you don't have to if you are flying in the same area, as your previous flight, but better safe than sorry. Sorry this happened..

Thanks for the reply. I wish I knew what was the cause. I'm thankful no one on the ground was injured. The GoPro 4 seems fine so I'm looking at about $250 in repairs, but would still like to know why this happened. Having a rum and coke while grieving. Happy flying!

 

[Lonewolf]

I'd have to agree with the compass calibration issue. Just because you fly in the same area all the time doesn't mean you didn't subject the compass to some magnetic interference even within the home. Moving around the house/room with the Phantom may have allowed the compass to come into contact with some magnetic field causing the compass to lose bearing or become disoriented. Even transporting the Phantom in your vehicle can allow the compass getting too close to the magnets in the vehicles radio speakers.

 

[martybabe]

Are they original props? I know it's a long shot but the only crash I ever had was switching out the props to clone props, it flew crazy, no control at all and smashed into a hedge. I changed back to the genuine props and it flew great again.

Like I say t's a long shot but as it's the only thing you changed.....

 

[IflyinWY]

Bummer Motocrossed, sorry to hear your bird got a wild hair up it's ... and took a dive. You may want to add a tracking device while you're throwing money at it. Who knows when it may happen again.

I've tried 9443 and 9450 props on my FC40 and have experienced nothing but improved performance. I cannot imagine changing props would cause it to go whacky. What could have made it appear to go nuts is if you had a switch (or both) flipped to the wrong position on your controller, or had one (or both) of your control sticks deflected from the center position when you powered up the bird.

There's my shot in the dark. Have anymore info or recollections to share? Pass the rum please.

 

[syotr]

Many flyaways seem to be related to GPS. First choice in a flyaway should be to try Atti mode. If it is a GPS problem, you may regain control. If you try to initiate a return to home by turning off the transmitter, it won't help because it needs GPS to work.
Not sure why it would fall from the sky in this situation. Hope you can figure it out and get it flying again.

 

[bywalker]

I wouldn't worry about it. Have a few drinks, make your repair and maybe do a few upgrades along the way. After my first crash I made it better than before. Rebalance my rotorpixel, imu calibration, new props and made sure everything was nice and tight. Recalibrated the remote and compass and back in the air. Wasnt my first crash and probably won't be my last. But both crashes were 100% my fault. Altitude is your friend (one of mine was into my wife's car while doing pre flight checks and the other was into a tree while my daughter distracted me). I've learned from both. My last upgrade was a flytrex (not the live one but the cheaper one). Works great. Happy flying!

 

[toorboy]

sorry to hear about ur crash dude
it seems like when people use gps mode
they are rolling the dice to see if it comes back or flys ok :s
thats why I never use gps with mine but I do hate the horror storys
of crashes :s iv not modded mine but with the work u guys do modding n tweeking
and time spent and cash I would be gutted I did have a small crash in november
my own fault for getting to cocky with the dam thing :s

 

[Motocrossed]

Are they original props? I know it's a long shot but the only crash I ever had was switching out the props to clone props, it flew crazy, no control at all and smashed into a hedge. I changed back to the genuine props and it flew great again.

Like I say t's a long shot but as it's the only thing you changed.....

The props are authentic DJI 9450's. Going back to original setup and remodding from there...

 

[John N Kronyak]

Hey Everyone,
I hope someone can shed some light on what may have been the problem. I changed out my stock props with the 9450's. I went outside my house to test the quad. I did not calibrate the quad because I have flown in my yard dozens of times and felt it would be a non issue. I waited until I received GPS signals and the light was blinking green. I engaged the motors and took it up maybe 20' to hover. All seemed fine at this point. I added a little bit of throttle and it just took off. Shot up to about 80' and started flying away. I had no control over the quad so shut off transmitter hoping it would return. As soon as I powered off the transmitter the quad fell from the sky to the ground about 200 yards away in a neighbors driveway. 3 of the 4 props broke, gimbal broke, landing gear broke.

So my question, should I have done the "calibration dance"? Is there a setting in the NAZA software I needed to adjust for the new propellers?

I had only one potentially bad crash after forgetting to calibrate the compass on my P3A. Took off and it shot up to about 50' and did a downward right hand roll into the ground, which luckily was deep grass. Scared the hell outta' me. Luckily it was undamaged. I calibrate every time now. Only takes a minute.

 

[Ti22]

Props make a lot of difference but I don’t think that is enough to cause flyaway.

Only reason to move up to larger props IMO is if you need to lift more weight. Camera, gimbal, VTX, tracker, dual/triple batteries - add that kinda weight you’ll need to swing bigger, more aggressive props.

Roughly stock weight/payload - large, aggressive props will make it feel very touchy/twitchy and more difficult to control.

 

[Molokai]

Hold on - was your GoPro's wifi on?

 

[discv]

Hold on - was your GoPro's wifi on?

Would not have mattered. Tx/Rx 5.8 Wifi 2.4
I had various ideas on this crash- until I read that shutting off the transmitter appeared to cause it to plummet.
I'm left thinking there was 2 problems. The first caused the craft to gain height and move of without control, maybe RTH kicked in, but with a false compass calibration.
I then think a prop (or props) broke bringing about the fall.

Chin up- if it had been anything other than a P1/FC40 you would be left with nothing but a pile of worthless bits

 

[Molokai]

Would not have mattered. Tx/Rx 5.8 Wifi 2.4
I had various ideas on this crash- until I read that shutting off the transmitter appeared to cause it to plummet.
I'm left thinking there was 2 problems. The first caused the craft to gain height and move of without control, maybe RTH kicked in, but with a false compass calibration.
I then think a prop (or props) broke bringing about the fall.

Chin up- if it had been anything other than a P1/FC40 you would be left with nothing but a pile of worthless bits

Good point (for some reason, my P1 troubleshooting came to me instead of the FC40). And yes, that is the beautiful thing about such a light aircraft.

 

[Phantomix]

I tried using custom props, luckily mine crashed right away and there was no damage done.

 

[Ajax]

I currently have 3 phantom fc40s along with a multitude of other quads. One thing I learned is to always - repeat always calibrate prior to every flight event. A flight event being defined as a series of flights at a particular time and place.


Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots mobile app

 

[Scottwillo]

I always calibrate before I fly my fc40


Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots

 

[rattydude77]

I always do the little dance no matter if its the same spot or a new one and if the bird starts acting weird while flying I switch out of GPS mode and bring it home if im in GPS mode 9 times out of 10 im not....HAPPY FLYING