I have had my P3P for about two months now. Today I discovered the difference between a Phantom pilot and a fixed wing private pilot, with a touch of humble pie thrown in.
I was cruising along about 5 feet off the ground with the camera pointed down about 20 to 30 degrees. I started to roll the camera back up and immediately noticed there was a rise in front of me coming up pretty quick. The little voice in my head screams, “@#$%! Pull up!!” So, I grab the left stick and haul it back into my lap. It did not pull up.
Well, no mystery about what happened here. What I need is some advice on what to do next. I wasn’t going very fast and was only a few feet off the deck. The bird came to rest on its back in some very soft, powdery soil. When I got to it one prop was still spinning and throwing dirt all over the place. The good news is that I had installed a camera/gimbal guard right before this flight. It snapped a couple of the zip ties holding it in place but it and my camera are otherwise fine. In fact, there does not appear to be any other physical damage – didn’t even break a prop. Electrical condition remains unknown at this point. My concern is all the fine powder that seems to have gotten into everything – motors, gimbal, fans, etc. I don’t want to do anything at all until such time as I have gotten that stuff out 100%. I seem to recall seeing somewhere that if I open the shell I will void my warranty. Even so, if I send it in they are going to charge me anyway unless pilot error is covered.
On the off chance any of you have ever had a similar experience, I would welcome your insight and advice.
I was cruising along about 5 feet off the ground with the camera pointed down about 20 to 30 degrees. I started to roll the camera back up and immediately noticed there was a rise in front of me coming up pretty quick. The little voice in my head screams, “@#$%! Pull up!!” So, I grab the left stick and haul it back into my lap. It did not pull up.
Well, no mystery about what happened here. What I need is some advice on what to do next. I wasn’t going very fast and was only a few feet off the deck. The bird came to rest on its back in some very soft, powdery soil. When I got to it one prop was still spinning and throwing dirt all over the place. The good news is that I had installed a camera/gimbal guard right before this flight. It snapped a couple of the zip ties holding it in place but it and my camera are otherwise fine. In fact, there does not appear to be any other physical damage – didn’t even break a prop. Electrical condition remains unknown at this point. My concern is all the fine powder that seems to have gotten into everything – motors, gimbal, fans, etc. I don’t want to do anything at all until such time as I have gotten that stuff out 100%. I seem to recall seeing somewhere that if I open the shell I will void my warranty. Even so, if I send it in they are going to charge me anyway unless pilot error is covered.
On the off chance any of you have ever had a similar experience, I would welcome your insight and advice.