PV2+ Falls from Sky

[Realtour Pro]

My PV2+ has fallen from different heights, mostly under 20'. Yesterday it fell after it's previous flight about 5 days before. Both crashes are at an elevation between 5,000 and 5,800 feet at heights from 20" to 100". Yesterdays 100" fall came down quickly but stable, at about 50" I switched it to atti and it seemed to drift horizontally before it hit a grassy ballpark which seemed to ease the fall. Nothing broke this time.

I've been checking the firmware daily and never saw the latest update because it only shows up if you manually update the Phantom RC unit individually. Now all firmware and OS is up to date on both.

Does anyone know if the new firmware is supposed to correct the loss of altitude problem that many others have experienced?

PV2+ serial PH645191171

 

[Phantom menice]

look on youtube vortc ring state... were you hovering when they crashed mine did twice and cost me a camera .... dji said no problem on their end

 

[Realtour Pro]

Yes. Each time it was hovering in gps.

 

[Realtour Pro]

Those vids were informative. They may or may not explain what happened, but the one where the guy used his quad and demonstrated the phenomena has good info on how to avoid and what to do. Also my high altitude and thin air combo might make it more susceptible.

 

[Doono]

Why has your Phantom fallen from different heights, mostly under 20'? What's going on there?

 

[Realtour Pro]

Yes, it's almost always been when I took my eyes off of it watching it on my iPhone. Always from 10 to 20 feet except the last one which was around 100 feet. The common thing is that " I was looking at the screen" then I noticed it coming down. That's why the vortex ring state theory is a very real possibility since it most likely was stationary. The only thing different on the last time was that I took off my prop guards and installed Maytech carbon fiber props.

 

[dnicu26]

They should add some kind of parachute to these drones, to ease their fall in case this stuff happens.

 

[Realtour Pro]

They should add some kind of parachute to these drones, to ease their fall in case this stuff happens.

I do believe they could add software to detect vortex ring state and autocorrect. I don't know if thats what's going on with my unit but I'm convinced that if the controller detected a sudden elevation drop that differed from the signal from the transmitter it would eliminate some of the unexplained "falls from the sky" crashes.

 

[Doono]

Yes, it's almost always been when I took my eyes off of it watching it on my iPhone. Always from 10 to 20 feet except the last one which was around 100 feet. The common thing is that " I was looking at the screen" then I noticed it coming down. That's why the vortex ring state theory is a very real possibility since it most likely was stationary. The only thing different on the last time was that I took off my prop guards and installed Maytech carbon fiber props.

What happens if you get yourself a chair, don't concentrate so much on the screen, just watch LOS. Don't do any maneuvers, just be patient and gently hover and slow cruise around, and WATCH! See if anything stands out in regard to how it responds. Re the vortex ring state, just take off the prop guards to remove that from the equation. (This is throwing a hand grenade but, vortex ring state only happens when the pilot needs more training) Oh, and to make things worse,(when I say this) carbon fiber props do NOTHING and do not bring any value to the flight performance.

 

[Realtour Pro]

Yes, it's almost always been when I took my eyes off of it watching it on my iPhone. Always from 10 to 20 feet except the last one which was around 100 feet. The common thing is that " I was looking at the screen" then I noticed it coming down. That's why the vortex ring state theory is a very real possibility since it most likely was stationary. The only thing different on the last time was that I took off my prop guards and installed Maytech carbon fiber props.

What happens if you get yourself a chair, don't concentrate so much on the screen, just watch LOS. Don't do any maneuvers, just be patient and gently hover and slow cruise around, and WATCH! See if anything stands out in regard to how it responds. Re the vortex ring state, just take off the prop guards to remove that from the equation. (This is throwing a hand grenade but, vortex ring state only happens when the pilot needs more training) Oh, and to make things worse,(when I say this) carbon fiber props do NOTHING and do not bring any value to the flight performance.

Regarding the chair, actually, I was only testing out the new props without the guards to see if they responded better to pitch and roll input.

I use the screen to frame my shots as well as navigate. I was only talking a couple of seconds in-between visual contact the quad and the screen at the time. Thats how I know it was hovering with no input on any control. If letting it hover in place is amateur then guilty as charged. All who've done that raise your hand,
As mentioned the prop guards are off, the only change was going to the carbon fiber props which by the way survived the crash when it flipped over.
Without trying to be too defensive, there are other explanations other than lack of experience for VRS. Wind shifts on the North Side of the Transverse Mt Range at nearly 6,000 feet can violent at just 100 feet over the tree tops. Downdrafts can set in motion a vertical decent that sets up VRS. Also returning in and decending downwind presents challenges as well. The area where I fly is surrounded by trees typically from 40 to 150 feet high. Sometimes you have no choice of direction when the power is low of where and how to land.

 

[Doono]

Not sure I understand what you're saying. I have no idea if any input from you is affecting your flight falls. I just know observation and patience will often assist in diagnosing what's wrong. You may be operating it perfectly, and there's a hardware issue. I do stand by what I said about VRS. If you wish to fly in turbulent conditions, (what ever the cause) you risk wind movement interfering with flight performance. On a still day you can decend at 4/5 meters a second with no problem, (protectors or not). If you want to decend faster, just CSC and shut the motors off!

 

[LuvMyTJ]

Please post your topics in the correct area. I have moved this one from 'News' for you.

 

[Gianttonyboy]

Question- I just got my P2V+ 2 days ago so I'm learning a lot. Do the Csrbon Fiber props work with the Vision Plus?

 

[Doono]

Please post your topics in the correct area. I have moved this one from 'News' for you.

Didn't he mistakenly post it to general discussion, not news?

Needs to be in PV2+ forum! or maybe help.

Either way, he'll get the gist of it.

 

[LuvMyTJ]

@Realtour Pro - the move note was for you as you posted this in the 'News' area.

@Gianttonyboy - please stay on topic. Start a new thread with your question in the appropriate area which seems like it will be the Vision+ area or Help.

 

[BaldEagle]

I posted my experience in another thread and I'm not sure if I experienced the same thing a few days ago, but I live in Pennsylvania. We're about 200 feet above sea level. I took my Phantom to about 150 feet almost directly under me and placed in a hover while I began to work on setting waypoints. Suddenly the video feed was frozen from the camera. The bird sounded totally normal and had not moved from the position that I was working with it. I then "randomly" (I hope this wasn't the killer stupid maneuver) tried my controls and the phantom would not move - no yaw, no up-down, nothing. And then all of a sudden, it just shut off and dropped from the sky.

I saw another thread somewhere that suggested that there is some positions that I could have put the controls to shut it off in the middle of the air?

I lost a camera/gimbal and a couple of propellers from that crash. And almost lost my head, too.

 

[Doono]

The training I was referring to was knowing when it's too unstable (wind gusts etc) to go flying.

Researching all this is half the fun, you sound like you'll have it sorted pretty quickly.

 

[sidebox]

[quote="Skyjunkie"I took my Phantom to about 150 feet almost directly under me and placed in a hover while I began to work on setting waypoints. [/quote]

This sentence is hurting my brain. Should I assume that you meant directly above? Not under?

I suggest setting your waypoints while your p2 is on the ground, rather than taking your eyes of off it and leaving it susceptible to all kinds of who knows what in the air.

 

[ProfessorStein]

I saw another thread somewhere that suggested that there is some positions that I could have put the controls to shut it off in the middle of the air?

Yes indeed. It's the CSC... the same stick positions you use to start the motors spinning. Out-of-the-box, the default CSC is both sticks down and inward... though I believe you can choose a different position using the Assistant app.

And, what was already said... you really should set your waypoints while your Phantom is on the ground. You can wait until you're up in the air to activate/run the mission, but the actual inputting of the waypoints... yeah... that's way too long to keep your eyes off your Phantom when it's in the air.

 

[BaldEagle]

Apologize for the mis-speak. I did mean "above my head", not below me.
And the reason that I was setting the waypoints while it was up in the air was my own worries. I wanted to reset my home position at a higher altitude to avoid trees on the return as well as to be sure I don't activate the whole thing early by mistake and have it take off toward the waypoints and hit trees. So I thought it is ok to just have it hover while I did my work. I don't think it hit anything, but as you say, it is stupid not to keep eyes always on bird. I obviously paid for my being overly anxious. But I agree with what is being said - better to set the waypoints while on the ground - take the bird to a particular height, reset the home position to my desired height, then activate the waypoints.

Thanks again to all for the constructive comments.