Thought I knew what I am doing - still a lot to learn...

[edonovanl]

Maybe this experience will help other newbies...

Was dreaming about flying, (this happens often) and decided to get up early and run through a few batteries (P2V+V2 w/o gimbal/camera) before an approaching storm front gets here. With about 50+ battery flights, I have practiced what-if scenarios, recovery techniques, fly in ATTI mostly and working on manual mode skills, and also practice orientations and how to move away from nearby obstructions.

However, today I made a probably typical mistake - flying at about 5 ft and 50 yards away in ATTI with S1 programed for manual, I was nearing some trees with the help of the wind so to bring the drone back I switched to Home Lock and backed the stick and saw the Phantom going in the wrong direction. Then, what I practice not to do, happened - I panicked and dumped altitude onto some soft grass, watched it bounce and the battery pop out. Broke two cheap prop guards but props are fine, but now I can't get the motors to spin up after CSC, but I'll figure that out this afternoon - probably a loose connection.

I know what I did wrong, but what I should have done should have been immediate without thought. Here's my take:

1. Should have immediately switched to GPS instead of Home! ATTI plus Home Lock = Course Lock so my action with the stick moved the Phantom in the wrong direction - Sadly, I have actually practiced this technique but it's apparently no ingrained yet.
2. Should not have dumped altitude but maybe should have increased altitude to get over the trees, then taken a deep breath and organize my thoughts.
3. Early on, when practicing with my Syma X5, whenever I got in trouble my technique was to cut power and drop to the grass. This works with the X5 because it is so light it just bounces and the motors auto-stop. However, this is bad technique because that is what I reverted to in panic mode. I've been learning and practicing bad technique!

Bottom line, I need much more practice and shouldn't feel so confident in my skills, but at least I know what I did wrong and hopefully won't make that mistake again. But the good thing is, now and for the first time, I get to open my Phantom up and see what's inside! I am excited about that!

 

[ccase39]

ok

 

[Ezookiel]

I was playing with ATTI last night, and maxing out my speed, and left it way too late to turn at the end of the full speed run towards some trees, and even having turned, and now on full forward (away from the trees), she still had way too much backward momentum, and came SOO close to going fully into the trees. I slammed on some altitude and it sailed backwards over the very tips of the trees and cleared them by just a whisker. **** my heart rate must have maxed out at a pretty high level at that point. Sadly, it would have looked great on the video, except by that time the full forward power had overcome the drift backward, and they never really got properly into the shot.
The fact is, I've clocked up 66 flights so far - enough to feel confident - and nowhere near enough to know how things can go wrong and how to respond when they do.

I like how you're practicing worst-case-scenarios and training/re-training your responses.
My response last night was to slam on some altitude, which worked in that instance, but I'm not sure I can take the credit for the response. I sure didn't train for it. I really do need to do these experiments with ATTI and MANUAL and IOC and HL at much lower speeds, in far more open areas. "Prior Practice Prevents Piss Poor Performance" they say.

 

[ccase39]

I am also working on my depth perception orientation. When you are a hundred or so feet out it can be tough to get a bearing on how close you are to an object. I went in to get a shot of a swinging bridge this weekend. I went above the bridge and brought her down above the road to where I thought I was centered. I was looking at the video screen and moved to the up just a bit and was trying to get centered again and my landing gear clipped a power line. I thought I was between and above two power lines which I knew was risky. I had no idea I hit it until I watched the video. Another milimeter or so and I would have crashed and maybe caused a power outage lol.

 

[edonovanl]

ccase39, I too struggle sometimes with depth perception and orientation. I know mine is caused by the fact that I wear mono-vision contacts, one for distance and one for up close, so I have to be careful when I fly near obstructions.

Ezookiel, after some reflection on my situation, I thought that maybe if I had added throttle I might have ended up in the very top of a tree that would be impossible to climb - -what then? My best option would have been to quickly center the joysticks and switch S1 to GPS so the drone would have stopped and hovered, then S2 to Home Lock to get away from the trees.

Today I'm going to practice that until it is instinctive. Also going to practice with my Syma X5 without dumping power when I get in trouble to try and break that habit.

 

[sdtrojan]

Why do people fly below tree-top level in a wooded area? Just curious, it defies common sense. I always make sure I am 60-100' above any obstruction when I fly, because I know I still have a lot to learn.

 

[Hughie]

They are possibly reasons why some people do this - I haven't spent too long thinking about it because I know what trees do to a 5.8ghz FPV signal. I stay as high as I can for that reason.

 

[ccase39]

Why do people fly below tree-top level in a wooded area? Just curious, it defies common sense. I always make sure I am 60-100' above any obstruction when I fly, because I know I still have a lot to learn.

I never do unless I am in a clearing. I always fly at 200 feet when doing long distance or GS flying.

Part of the fun though is pushing the envelope. Just flying around taking pictures get boring after a while. Trying to get those hard to get shots makes it a lot more fun. It's a thrill but can be an expensive one.
I have been doing full speed runs under bridges and a few feet above the marsh lately and have had a blast.

Using nothing but FPV to navigate a small estuary and flying below the marsh grass is hella scary but fun.
I'm an ex junkie so maybe that explains it.

 

[edonovanl]

Why do people fly below tree-top level in a wooded area? Just curious, it defies common sense. I always make sure I am 60-100' above any obstruction when I fly, because I know I still have a lot to learn.

I don't know why other people do but I know exactly why I do. I am developing flying skills and reactions for those occasions when I need them. Oddly enough, sdtrojan, yesterday I started practicing above the tree line - tough on the neck after a while since I'm flying without a camera. Also, I enjoy flying maneuvers and in tight spaces and precise control is essential. Finally, I admit that I suffer from separation anxiety, when my Phantom gets too far away it makes me uncomfortable since I have no telemetry/camera. Yes, I know about HL, CL, and RTH, but I had problems with my v3 so am re-establishing trust...

 

[ccase39]

I don't know why other people do but I know exactly why I do. I am developing flying skills and reactions for those occasions when I need them. Oddly enough, sdtrojan, yesterday I started practicing above the tree line - tough on the neck after a while since I'm flying without a camera. Also, I enjoy flying maneuvers and in tight spaces and precise control is essential. Finally, I admit that I suffer from separation anxiety, when my Phantom gets too far away it makes me uncomfortable since I have no telemetry/camera. Yes, I know about HL, CL, and RTH, but I had problems with my v3 so am re-establishing trust...

My theory is that if I pay that much money for something I am going to enjoy it. I cant enjoy it to its full potential if I am scared of what may happen.

 

[sdtrojan]

I don't know why other people do but I know exactly why I do. I am developing flying skills and reactions for those occasions when I need them. Oddly enough, sdtrojan, yesterday I started practicing above the tree line - tough on the neck after a while since I'm flying without a camera. Also, I enjoy flying maneuvers and in tight spaces and precise control is essential. Finally, I admit that I suffer from separation anxiety, when my Phantom gets too far away it makes me uncomfortable since I have no telemetry/camera. Yes, I know about HL, CL, and RTH, but I had problems with my v3 so am re-establishing trust...

That explains a lot, now I understand. I fly FPV and likely fly away from my position a lot further than you do. But trees are the P2's kryptonite, so be careful!

 

[Ezookiel]

Why do people fly below tree-top level in a wooded area? Just curious, it defies common sense. I always make sure I am 60-100' above any obstruction when I fly, because I know I still have a lot to learn.

On that particular occasion where I barely cleared the top, the trees were at each end of a big open area, I was playing down low and at speed to run the camera close to the ground at full throttle, just to give some "need for speed" type of interest to what would be a pretty boring video.

The time I flew through a tree, I picked the area deliberately, it has a few small young (max prob 8 foot?) trees sprinkled around the area, it allowed me to fly between, and around them, fly at them then sail up over, and perform other basic manoeuvrers that would build my skill and experience, with minimal risk to the quad (as was seen by flying through the leaves and branches unscathed) and would be great skill development for me. I'd rather do this with flags or other soft items, but I can't, so pick the next best thing.
Flying back and forth in open air at 50 metres doesn't have that thrill and excitement level of playing dodge does. I definitely get up high when I'm going exploring away from where I am, as I have no desire to risk crashing a long way away and having to go find it, or have the remains stolen before I get to them, but up close and personal in LOS flight, I get quite a thrill from it.
I have a million scratches on my 4WD because I take it off road and use it for what it was built for, I bought my quad to have this kind of excitement and thrill dodging trees etc, and so I do it knowing there could be very expensive consequences, but I still do it, because that's why I bought it.
I'm hardly going to start doing the races through the bush that some people do with theirs. Those guys are insane, and I'd love to know what kind of FPV systems they have that transmit that well through forests.

 

[edonovanl]

My theory is that if I pay that much money for something I am going to enjoy it. I cant enjoy it to its full potential if I am scared of what may happen.

Totally agree ccase39! I'm working on it - looking at outfitting my v+v2 with a gimbal and Hero 3+ or 4. I think I've got the telemetry working but waiting on a cheap cctv camera to test the hookup.

Ezookiel, I can totally understand your reason for flying and I'm on the same page. I'm working up to flying around and between trees and obstacles, and oh so aware of the 'kryptonite' thing! It's fun, and I can envision myself flying courses or races and that's why I practice with a used v+v2 without a camera/gimbal.

 

[JKDSensei]

My theory is that if I pay that much money for something I am going to enjoy it. I cant enjoy it to its full potential if I am scared of what may happen.

Some might ask if you meant to yourself or other people? If this thinking carries over to your automobiles that might not be good.

 

[JKDSensei]

Good post imo edonovanl

I practice with a Syma X5C-1 and now I will make sure I'm not doing that

 

[Deleted member 29014]

Why do people fly below tree-top level in a wooded area? Just curious, it defies common sense. I always make sure I am 60-100' above any obstruction when I fly, because I know I still have a lot to learn.

"Why do people fly below tree-top level in a wooded area?" Why fly anywhere near power lines?

 

[Bryce]

"Why do people fly below tree-top level in a wooded area?" Why fly anywhere near power lines?

Easy... To see how close before transmission gets in our way. Cell phone towers as well. So close to these until the phantom is overwhelmed. I just have to turn off the controller and watch it RTH. I've tested RTh 50 times now and I trust in it fully as long as I've done all my pre flight.
And correct altitudes are set. Trees are a different story.... Lots of good scenes inside a scantily lite tree lower growth area coming up to see the sun from the lower layers. The breakout is nice. Some feels 3 d with the right post prod.

 

[Zigs]

"Why do people fly below tree-top level in a wooded area?" Why fly anywhere near power lines?

I was flying over a river bottom cornfield yesterday. Had a good perspective located on a road elevated about 15 ft. above the field. The corn is close to 8' high right now. I looked at my altitude and noticed it was zero. Had some great corn on the cob for supper.

--zigs

 

[Clipper707]

I was flying over a river bottom cornfield yesterday. Had a good perspective located on a road elevated about 15 ft. above the field. The corn is close to 8' high right now. I looked at my altitude and noticed it was zero. Had some great corn on the cob for supper.

--zigs

I read the Phantom can butter four pieces of corn simultaneously. It's in the manual.

 

[Marlin009]

Maybe this experience will help other newbies...

Was dreaming about flying, (this happens often) and decided to get up early and run through a few batteries (P2V+V2 w/o gimbal/camera) before an approaching storm front gets here. With about 50+ battery flights, I have practiced what-if scenarios, recovery techniques, fly in ATTI mostly and working on manual mode skills, and also practice orientations and how to move away from nearby obstructions.

However, today I made a probably typical mistake - flying at about 5 ft and 50 yards away in ATTI with S1 programed for manual, I was nearing some trees with the help of the wind so to bring the drone back I switched to Home Lock and backed the stick and saw the Phantom going in the wrong direction. Then, what I practice not to do, happened - I panicked and dumped altitude onto some soft grass, watched it bounce and the battery pop out. Broke two cheap prop guards but props are fine, but now I can't get the motors to spin up after CSC, but I'll figure that out this afternoon - probably a loose connection.

I know what I did wrong, but what I should have done should have been immediate without thought. Here's my take:

1. Should have immediately switched to GPS instead of Home! ATTI plus Home Lock = Course Lock so my action with the stick moved the Phantom in the wrong direction - Sadly, I have actually practiced this technique but it's apparently no ingrained yet.
2. Should not have dumped altitude but maybe should have increased altitude to get over the trees, then taken a deep breath and organize my thoughts.
3. Early on, when practicing with my Syma X5, whenever I got in trouble my technique was to cut power and drop to the grass. This works with the X5 because it is so light it just bounces and the motors auto-stop. However, this is bad technique because that is what I reverted to in panic mode. I've been learning and practicing bad technique!

Bottom line, I need much more practice and shouldn't feel so confident in my skills, but at least I know what I did wrong and hopefully won't make that mistake again. But the good thing is, now and for the first time, I get to open my Phantom up and see what's inside! I am excited about that!

I realize this is old, and you probably know this by now, but for those just reading it, the bold above is not accurate. ATTI plus HL is just ATTI.