New Member, crashed drone :(

[Spoole76]

Hi guys,

Received a lovely Phantom 3 Pro for Xmas and on the 4th flight smashed it into a tree at high speed, have flown model aircraft for years but become too confident.

On the face of it the drone is unbelievably unscathed apart from the mud and dirt I had to clean off.

I did a flight straight after and everything seemed good. Now I have an issue with battery, even once fully charged it says that the temp of the battery is too cold and then it says it's 23% charged. I am guessing the battery is now duff, any other items I should check ?


Best regards

Steve

 

[robinb]

You were lucky as most crashes involve writing off the camera assembly.

Re do a full calibration.
Check the shell carefully for any twisting and cracks, same with the blades.

Pesky trees do leap out in front at times !

 

[alokbhargava]

Good that you are able to fly it again. You should re-caliberate all. Check for any physical damage to body. Check for balancing or props again. Throw away a prop if you see any crack or twist. Check for signal strengths again. Hope you will recover your bird fast.

Lesson: Always fly above the tree/ buildings level in the area.

 

[Skypicswa]

Make sure the batteries have latest firmware as its for cold weather flying on battery

 

[Spoole76]

Thanks guys, looks like I was very lucky, recalibrated, fully checked over and all is well, just had another 20 min flight, everything is perfect. Just need to keep away from trees !

 

[Solar Deity]

Always good to know how high the tallest objects are around you. Set the RTH height above those objects, and fly/practice above them. A lot of unobstructed space up there.

SD

 

[Spoole76]

Yeah, I was foolishly doing fast fly pasts about 4m to capture some dramatic footage, I forgot it isn't a model plane and the controls are very different, but a lesson learned I think

 

[snowghost]

Thanks guys, looks like I was very lucky, recalibrated, fully checked over and all is well, just had another 20 min flight, everything is perfect. Just need to keep away from trees !

Altitude is your friend. If you need to mess around trees at lower altitudes use a spotter and take your time. After all it's a flying camera, not a toy race drone. Good luck and enjoy!

 

[Stinch]

I'd say you were very lucky. There are many horror stories of broken cameras, gimbals, and cracked shells including board mounts with lesser crashes. These repairs can cost hundreds of dollars and still the a/c may not be right. I doubt (if there is a) next time the a/c will fair as well. You can always fly slow and speed up the video in post-processing. Fly safe, conservative, and have fun!

 

[kphantom]

Yeah, I was foolishly doing fast fly pasts about 4m to capture some dramatic footage, I forgot it isn't a model plane and the controls are very different, but a lesson learned I think

I have ran into some of the traditional model plane folks, and they really do fly their vehicles. The P3 makes computer stabilized flight fairly easy for beginners and pros alike. I think the reall difference is that very precise 3D point in space flying is possible. Like anything though, it is best to go slow and don't fly around any hazards if that can be avoided. Have fun flying!