Too many firsts....

[iResq]

I got the opportnunity to test my new RP gimbal yesterday. Bright and sunny day, very windy. 10-15 mph with gusts over 25. I probably wouldn't normally fly on such a windy day but a) the Phantom can handle it, and b) what a great test for the gimbal.

My plan was to shot a few minutes each at 1080i 60 and 1080p 30 both with and without CPL.

Things were going well until 10 minutes into the flight (60% battery left), I lost all control. She pitched hard right and down from about 150'. I was fortunate that she came down a couple of hundred feet from where I was. I was flying in GPS mode in an area where I have flown many times. (GPS lock, 8 sats (I didn't look when I lost her). There really was no time to try ATTI mode. She was still running on the ground and would not shut down from the controller, I had to turn her off at the battery.

Unfortunately, the crash was not captured on video. Based on what was on the card, when I switched filming modes the last time, I must have hit the camera button and took a picture vs. starting the new recording.

When I reviewed the video I did have, there is major jello. I am not sure if this was a symptom of whatever caused the crash or I just need to dial in the gimbal.

The phantom appears to be fine. I did break the camera mount on the gimbal.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4Ldw4HxPCU[/youtube]


DSC04390 by iresq, on Flickr

 

[tizzl10]

oh, dear God, that photo hurt my heart..that sucks.

 

[pyrophantom]

Sorry m8 that's not a pretty sight at all !!! To wait all this time for the RP gimbal and then have that happen is just pants !

Going to be quite difficult to ascertain the cause of something that extreme, it just sounds so uncharacteristic of the aircraft to lose control like that.

Feel for ya bud !

 

[tizzl10]

I got the opportnunity to test my new RP gimbal yesterday. Bright and sunny day, very windy. 10-15 mph with gusts over 25. I probably wouldn't normally fly on such a windy day but a) the Phantom can handle it, and b) what a great test for the gimbal.

My plan was to shot a few minutes each at 1080i 60 and 1080p 30 both with and without CPL.

Things were going well until 10 minutes into the flight (60% battery left), I lost all control. She pitched hard right and down from about 150'. I was fortunate that she came down a couple of hundred feet from where I was. I was flying in GPS mode in an area where I have flown many times. (GPS lock, 8 sats (I didn't look when I lost her). There really was no time to try ATTI mode. She was still running on the ground and would not shut down from the controller, I had to turn her off at the battery.

Unfortunately, the crash was not captured on video. Based on what was on the card, when I switched filming modes the last time, I must have hit the camera button and took a picture vs. starting the new recording.

When I reviewed the video I did have, there is major jello. I am not sure if this was a symptom of whatever caused the crash or I just need to dial in the gimbal.

The phantom appears to be fine. I did break the camera mount on the gimbal.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4Ldw4HxPCU[/youtube]


DSC04390 by iresq, on Flickr

would you happen to remember around what time of the day your quad went haywire?

 

[Pull_Up]

Ouch, sorry to hear about that. If the weakest link (the plastic mount) took one for the team then everything else should hopefully be ok and Rotorpixel can send you a new camera mount.

Regarding the jello, it's probably a function of props and gimbal adjustment. My props are balanced and I tightened my gimbal thumbscrews to 6 full turns each then a bit more for luck. I guess age of dampers and amount of spring left in them will dictate how tight/loose your setup needs to be to kill jello.

150ft crash, aircraft fine and just the mount broken? That's pretty impressive. For what it's worth I flew two full batteries this morning with no ill effects. I did notice a little circling in the test hover so calibrated the compass with gimbal in place and that sorted it. The only thing I noticed in terms of flight characteristics was there's more inertia, so you need to come off the stick a little earlier than usual, or put in more corrective input than usual. Only manifests at higher speeds, though.

Hope you get back up in the air quickly.

 

[iResq]

Email to Keri. Hopefully he has some extras laying around.

 

[Pull_Up]

I believe they do the industrial 3d printing either in house or locally so shouldn't be a long turnaround either way.

 

[pyrophantom]

How much did your lens filter setup weigh out of interest ??

 

[iResq]

I have no idea. Both are metal.

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[DaveTown]

Dang, Dave, sorry to hear about the crash. Hope you get it sorted out and flying again soon.

D.T.

 

[Scottrod]

So sorry! That really sucks. Especially since it was the maiden flight with the new gimbal. Hopefully it doesn't take as long to send you a new camera mount as it did to send you the gimbal...

 

[Big Ben]

Did you do a compass calibration after you had mounted the gimbal? You should always do one when you have made changes to the hardware of your bird.

 

[iResq]

I did not. Hmm. She flew prevent for 10 min but I guess better safe then sorry.

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[Shrimpfarmer]

Yikes thats just awful. I don't really fear flyaways any more (touch wood) its the dam 45 deg slam into the ground thats worrying. Quite a few posts still report that type of behaviour.

 

[Scottrod]

Yikes thats just awful. I don't really fear flyaways any more (touch wood) its the dam 45 deg slam into the ground thats worrying. Quite a few posts still report that type of behaviour.

I agree. I don't really think flyaways are an issue anymore. However, this behavior of suddenly slamming into the ground is becoming more and more common. I agree that I think it was a compass calibration issue with the new hardware.

One thing I thought about while doing the compass calibration, you should try to make sure that you are not wearing a wedding band or any other jewelry that might come close to the compass while calibrating.

 

[pyrophantom]

And maybe think of the terrain you are flying over, power lines etc, all you can do is go through the pre flight checklist and try to ensure everything is tickety boo before flying and try to avoid heavy gusty winds.

 

[iResq]

This is an area I have flown many times. While I read all the time about avoiding power lines (none here) I wonder if that's really a known or a I read, it sounds reasonable, I'll share kind of a thing. I've flown during sun spots, but I'm crazy like that.

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[Pull_Up]

Mine did exhibit small circling behaviour in the test hover during the first flight following installation. I've never had it before and it was very obvious to me, even though it was only a 4ft diameter or so. Brought her in and calibrated with everything in situ and the drift was gone.

Not sure why yours wouldn't have shown up the effect on the compass straight awat as mine did, although to be fair it might not have been the gimbal, but the tools I had been using in the install or the fact that I removed my Flytrex until I get some double-sided tape for it...