Phantom 2 flyways

[freyjoel]

My fly-away story is now a few pages old in this thread. (And I am still waiting to hear how DJI support will respond to my answers on the form they sent.)

Whereas I am quite certain that my crash (in the ocean) was due to some sort of mechanical failure, and not pilot error (don't judge the statement unless you go back and read the story), I also agree that it is crazy to think that there is as high a failure rate that has been discussed here these last couple of pages.

That said, I did get a Phantom 1 a couple of months before getting the Phantom 2 and, after flying it without issues for about 2 weeks, during one flight, it ascended to about 50 ft, and suddenly and completely and without warning, lost all power and fell to the ground (asphalt), breaking one of the arms. In that case, I had bought it from Amazon, so I simply returned it and got another.

I have since flown that Phantom probably 75 times without incident.

And now, after flying the Phantom 2 about 100 times for a couple of months, I lost it too.

So, while I agree that these are generally reliable, I do have to say, I'm starting to get a little nervous about it...

As others have said when you first posted, based on the way your Phantom 2 responded my first guess would have been you might have accidently hit the switch for home lock or course lock. Personally I wouldn't fly over water without FPV with osd so I know exactly what is going on. As for the P1, I don't trust them at all.

 

[LuvMyTJ]

<snip>Whereas I am quite certain that my crash (in the ocean) was due to some sort of mechanical failure</snip>

I am looking into one of these. It's cheap enough. I'll have to order one and check the weight of it. -> http://youtu.be/ofmfyJqeFbU

 

[ghinson]

Was flying Phantom 2 mode. Not NAZA. And do either of those modes cause a Phantom to begin to spiral without hands on the left joystick?

 

[freyjoel]

Just curious, with so many flights under your belt why are you flying Phantom 2 mode?

 

[ghinson]

I am looking into one of these. It's cheap enough. I'll have to order one and check the weight of it. -> http://youtu.be/ofmfyJqeFbU[/quote]

I LOVE that! That would've saved my $400. The P2 still would've been trashed by the salt water. As would have been the GoPro. BUT. I bought a Square Trade accidental protection plan on the GoPro. If I could find my combo, I could send the GoPro back for a replacement.

 

[av8inglife]

I am looking into one of these. It's cheap enough. I'll have to order one and check the weight of it. -> http://youtu.be/ofmfyJqeFbU

That things is brilliant! especially for under $20 bucks. I'm in when they get back in stock.

 

[ghinson]

Just curious, with so many flights under your belt why are you flying Phantom 2 mode?

Just felt more comfortable with it. Felt safer. (Once I activated the Failsafe mode.) Wasn't certain I would gain much from the HL, CL, and ATTI. But, I was reading up on NAZA around the time of the crash, considering making the switch.

 

[LuvMyTJ]

I am looking into one of these. It's cheap enough. I'll have to order one and check the weight of it. -> http://youtu.be/ofmfyJqeFbU

That things is brilliant! especially for under $20 bucks. I'm in when they get back in stock.

To bad it wasn't reusable, like a cartridge refill. I emailed them asking when they would be back in stock. Awaiting their reply. :ugeek:

 

[RogerClark]

My fly-away story is now a few pages old in this thread. (And I am still waiting to hear how DJI support will respond to my answers on the form they sent.).

So, while I agree that these are generally reliable, I do have to say, I'm starting to get a little nervous about it...

I think the problem is that, DJI sell this as a consumer product with very little support, but its actually a very complex technical product.

The user community does its best to make up for DJI's lack of communication, but as DJI have made the whole system a "black box"; all anyone can do is speculate about why things went wrong.

Probably what the Phantom needs is a SD memory black box recorder system, so that when things go wrong, if the Phantom can be recovered; we'd be able to work out why it went wrong, e.g. look at the inputs from the RC receiver, look at the readings from the GPS, the compass, the giros and the accelerometer, and also look at the power commands being sent to the ESCs

Without that sort of data, I doubt we're going to be any the wiser.

umm. makes me think... Does ArduoCopter have this ?? I'm just going to Google it ;-)

 

[freyjoel]

Just curious, with so many flights under your belt why are you flying Phantom 2 mode?

Just felt more comfortable with it. Felt safer. (Once I activated the Failsafe mode.) Wasn't certain I would gain much from the HL, CL, and ATTI. But, I was reading up on NAZA around the time of the crash, considering making the switch.

HL is invaluable. If I didn't have Fatsharks and iosd I couldn't imagine flying without it. Every so often I take my googles off and put them on my kid. Once I'm more than 100 yards away I lose orientation easily and I can't tell what direction I'm moving. I'm pretty sure I would have lost my P2 by now without googles or HL.

 

[freyjoel]

My fly-away story is now a few pages old in this thread. (And I am still waiting to hear how DJI support will respond to my answers on the form they sent.).

So, while I agree that these are generally reliable, I do have to say, I'm starting to get a little nervous about it...

I think the problem is that, DJI sell this as a consumer product with very little support, but its actually a very complex technical product.

The user community does its best to make up for DJI's lack of communication, but as DJI have made the whole system a "black box"; all anyone can do is speculate about why things went wrong.

Probably what the Phantom needs is a SD memory black box recorder system, so that when things go wrong, if the Phantom can be recovered; we'd be able to work out why it went wrong, e.g. look at the inputs from the RC receiver, look at the readings from the GPS, the compass, the giros and the accelerometer, and also look at the power commands being sent to the ESCs

Without that sort of data, I doubt we're going to be any the wiser.

umm. makes me think... Does ArduoCopter have this ?? I'm just going to Google it ;-)

True, as early adopters we are the guinea pigs. I feel bad for people who bought P1's. Vision's are a little better but I don't trust them either. So far though I think the P2 non-visions are the best bang for the buck out there. Just gotta accept the fact that there may be a crash or flyaway one day or just don't get into this in the first place. I read all about the P1's and I knew it was a possibility that it could happen with the P2's but so far the P2 is HUGE improvement.

 

[RogerClark]

Just gotta accept the fact that there may be a crash or flyaway one day or just don't get into this in the first place.

True...

I've flown RC gliders in the past, at a club, and crashes were frequent, as were the occasional loss.

The difference with the flyaways seems to be that these are fly-by-wire type systems, where you have no direct control.

I'm not sure if this applies to commercial aviation, but from what I recall NASA used 3 flight control systems, which verify against each other, and all 3 systems had to be developed by completely different manufactures, so that hopefully no 2 systems had the same bug.

 

[ghinson]

To bad it wasn't reusable, like a cartridge refill. I emailed them asking when they would be back in stock. Awaiting their reply. :ugeek:

Found it in stock here: https://www.apsltd.com/p-15045-water-bu ... light.aspx

 

[tawd77]

That water buoy looks pretty neat, but it has a max lifting capacity of 2.2lbs. I was thinking the phantom weighed around 3lbs with the battery installed, and fpv setup onboard?

 

[OI Photography]

I am looking into one of these. It's cheap enough. I'll have to order one and check the weight of it. -> http://youtu.be/ofmfyJqeFbU

I LOVE that! That would've saved my $400.

Maybe not: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJ_UG7IxIJM

Water-buoy has already said they're working on a v2 that is supposed to work better, no other details yet. Till then I wouldn't rely on one of these to save a Phantom.

 

[Jebus]

Just curious... I see you guys keep mentioning the flyaway issues were pretty much isolated to the v1 Phantoms. Are you including the v1.1.1 Phantoms in this category as well? Just curious.

 

[LuvMyTJ]

Maybe not: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJ_UG7IxIJM

Water-buoy has already said they're working on a v2 that is supposed to work better, no other details yet. Till then I wouldn't rely on one of these to save a Phantom.

Thanks for the link. Maybe I'll hold out for version 2. I think it would work better with a Phantom which is less likely to sink at the same rate as the weight used in the video.

 

[ghinson]

DJI Support update.

A few pages ago I told the story of my lost Phantom which was, in my opinion, doubtlessly a mechanical issue with the Phantom. I reported it to DJI support, to a sympathetic-sounding ear. The rep emailed me a spreadsheet form they wanted me to fill out which was obviously designed to try and weed out pilot error with questions like, "Did you set home point before take off?" "Did you turn on the controller or the Phantom first?" "What were the last codes you used?"

I answered the questions honestly and, I know the answers would not have implied pilot error or interference.

It took almost two weeks for them to reply again, but last night they sent this simple, short reply:

Greg,

Unfortunately we will not be able to replace this unit as our policy does not support that option.

Rob E.
DJI Technology,
Systems Administrator.

I replied with:

Can you give me a little more details please? This was obviously a mechanical issue. The drone suddenly, and without cause began to spiral away out of control. There was no pilot error. There was no interference, as it is hard for anyone to be in a more remote area than I was. If this ticket did not warrant remediation, then I cannot imagine that you guys listen to anyone when it comes to support.

To which I got one more reply:

I cannot give you details as we don't have the unit. If you would like to mail in your transmitter and all other components we can offer you a 30% discount on a new unit.

Rob E.
DJI Technology,
Systems Administrator.

So, apparently, the policy is that if a unit is lost to mechanical error, and there is no way to blame pilot error or interference (by how you answer their questions) there is not remediation because there is no way to verify the story.

Not really surprising and, to be honest, this would be very tough for a company to manage. I am certain that a majority of fly-aways ARE due to pilot error. (Though there still is an argument to be made that DJI is equally to blame for some of these too, given how poor their support, software and manuals are.)

I've already purchased a replacement drone, since it took them so long to reply, so I cannot take advantage of their offer.

 

[Big Ben]

Tell them you already bought another one. You could suggest they reimburse you the discount in the form of a few extra free batteries.

 

[RogerClark]

@ghinson

I'm currently trying to get DJI to replace my faulty RC Tx unit, but despite ending them a very detailed diagnosis they have just taken a week to reply, and have now asked me to make a video of the problem and send it to them.

As the fault in the RC Tx takes between 5 and 10 mins to occur, it's going to be a very very long boring video, and I can't see how a video of the lights on the phantom starting to flash yellow while the RC Tx unit still has its red led on, is really going to do much, unless they are just after visual proof that I own the unts.

But they have not asked for serial numbers which would have been the first step in a normal customer service system.

I guess I will need to make a video,but sending it to them will be hard.

BTW

What replacement drone did you buy?

Did you get another Phantom or go to an open source or another closed source drone.