Phantom drop out of sky on video

[beech1972]

Hi Guys,

Just wondered if anybody has any ideas of what caused this?

It was about 100 feet up and in GPS mode, a couple of times it shook recently and i put it straight away in ATTI mode and it was fine then landed no problem

This time it was in GPS, started shaking, i again put in ATTI, it seemed to recover for a couple of seconds, then just plummeted to the ground, here is a link to it as i put it on youtube for people to have a look at.three times its done it, but only once its crashed

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xy_7_pc ... e=youtu.be

Thanks in advance.

Graham

 

[QYV]

do you know what version of the firmware the Phantom is/was on? sort of looked like a VRS to me

 

[isky172]

Yeah, VRS. Looks just like my experience (except I was able to get out of it, luckily):

http://youtu.be/hkMcngDEPxo

 

[IrishSights]

Yes this is classic VRS. NEVER descend straight down even for small distances as once its induced its difficult to get out of. Happens to real experienced heli pilots too. The chopper that crashed on the raid on Bin Laden was caused by VRS.

 

[N017RW]

No doubt... classic even.

VRS is not an intuitive phenomenon.

Simply put- once you are aware of what happens when you descend into a descending air mass the bulb goes off as it is easy to understand that you are essentially riding that air mass (to the ground). You must maintain some lateral motion, preferably not downwind of any current wind, to prevent the descending air mass from building under you.

That or descend really slow until you learn to recognize VRS.

 

[nintendrone64]

Looks like prop wash, sorry man.
Bring your craft down slower.

 

[QYV]

Firmware version 3 makes it nearly impossible to get into a VRS, even descending straight down at full throttle due to the descent rate limit. that being said, wind conditions can in rare cases cause it to happen beyond the pilot's control

 

[Fyod]

Yep, I'm on v3.4 and it is very safe to hold full throttle down, whereas on v1.8 I too had a VRS crash, not even a windy day.

 

[GerdS]

If you want to descent quickly always keep some speed. And as you are not aware of local wind direction at your actual height, better do it in Atti mode than GPS mode. In GPS mode it might happen that your selected movement direction is same as wind direction, so the copter stands still in relation to the surrounding air.

Regards, Gerd

 

[jwegener]

Beech1972, what version are you running? Curious if that's the issue.

 

[damoncooper]

Time to repost this again it looks like:

IMPORTANT: Reading this will help you avoid a crash that afflicts helicopters, including Phantoms.

If you haven't mastered VRS-avoidance descents, know the tell-tale signs of VRS and have a VRS escape plan, you need to read this or you may lose your quad to a crash.

viewtopic.php?t=17468

 

[beech1972]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the replies, it was running i 3.00, i have just updated it after the problem last week, never had an issue before on 3.00 and descended straight down before.

I wasn't descending quickly and flipped it to ATTI at the first wobble, it did it twice before that time it dropped out the sky and was much lower level the other two times.

Will fly it again when the weather gets better and see what happens

 

[Ash]

Hi. I had this just after a 5 or 6 of flights. I was descending straight down full throttle, the phantom lost control bouncing left to right exactly like the phantom in the video. Up to now I didn't think there was any damage but my gimbal now moves on its own from time to time and I have a strange noise on startup. **** it!! I have noted your advice on descending....thanks for that guys. Best Regards

 

[IrishSights]

Beech1972: please read back in this very thread...the advice is unanimous - do not descend straight down! Its bad pilot practice to do so, no matter what the version of firmware. You really need to listen to all the good folks here trying to help you.

Sent from Samsung S4 via Tapatalk

 

[afx]

Is it on standard rotors (white plastic) or carbon ones or others?
i never had such vrs with my carbon rotors but i've got once with white plastic. standard rotors are more soft and flexible and you have less control over phantom.
that's my opinion.

 

[beech1972]

No, i won't descend straight down again.

Yes was with Carbon Props

 

[QYV]

I descend straight down all the time with firmware 3, it's so crippled you can't really VRS. still it's better to keep a tiny bit of lateral movement.

whoever suggested it's plastic vs carbon fiber props was a bit off though. VRS is simply a physics issue that affects all rotary wing aircraft, all the way up to full size helicopters and VTOLs. the material of the rotors is irrelevant