UK Pilots and Crashes. Phantom 2 Vision Plus

[Mashman]

I'm fairly new to this having had my Vision+ for only 3 weeks (at time of post) and so far I have completed five successful flights.
I'm using mine straight from the box after upgrading the firmware has recommended by dji. I've read about NAZA M but not tried it yet, should I ? what are the benefits over the standard setting ?

So here's my question.......... Are the horror stories I have read about flyaway's due to pilot error or is there a serious glitch with the machine ?. I've read about components "frying" etc so I'm looking for true information and not just pilots blaming dji for errors they have made themselves.

On another subject can a GPS Tracker be fitted to the Vision Plus just in case of a flyaway ?. I see Rewire Security do a nano tracker and wondered if this could be attached in some way. Does anyone use or recommend something like this.

Sorry for all the questions guys. Looking forward to your answers.

 

[happydays]

I like NAZA M because of the home lock feature. If you change over, with both switches in the uppermost position, its the same anyway,

I think the majority of fly aways are either due to the craft not securing home lock initially or electrical interference from phone masts or similar. Avoid flying near phone masts!

For home lock, there will be two sets of rapid green flashes, one for compass direction and one for home position set after the craft has locked on to six satellites for a few seconds. It is vital not to fly if you're new until you have verified that home lock has been secured. Two simple ways to verify this; one, a single slow steady green light and two, check on the ground station screen that the home point (blue dot) is in the same position as the aircraft (red plane). Then you know that home is where it is at the moment.

If home lock has not been set, then the craft thinks it is outside the limits and flies away to where it believes home actually is.

I've had a fly away with a phantom 1 and it is a helpless feeling, totally due to my hast to get it up in the air. That was over a year ago; I'm now on my third phantom and have no issues.

Many people use trackers on their phantoms, the new flytrap live seems to be getting good press.

Good luck!

 

[Mossie]

I've had a Vision and then a Vision Plus since Jan and have made 100s of flights with never any sort of flyaway.
What I try and do ( when I can remember !) is send the Phantom off about 100 mtrs and do a practice Home lock return before I send it off any distance, then you are absolutely certain that it's home position is locked.

Also, if you are going to send the Phantom off to any large distance from you always try and send it upwind. Then if the battery gets low it can return with the wind behind it.

 

[4wd]

I think a good percentage of so called flyaways there has been some pilot error or incorrect procedure to do with compass or waiting for it to get homelock at take-off point.
I like to verify it has the new take-off point set by looking at 'find my phantom' in the app.
Sure there are still some cases where something has failed in flight, hard to make a complex machine which doesn't have parts fail eventually.
I'm more concerned about recent reports of batteries suddenly reporting almost empty and causing enforced decent when they are actually not even half used. It does put you off doing anything ambitious especially over trees or water.

 

[Mashman]

Thanks for your answers so far guys..............

But are you both talking about flying in NAZA M mode ?
If so, is it any different to flying in "auto" mode straight from the box ?.

In the "auto" mode how do I know if the GPS is accurate enough to bring it home ?. I've not had the guts to switch off the transmitter and try this feature yet.

Thanks in advance.
Stu.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNZzyFM ... IE3lifRmDw

 

[jonboy73]

I seem to like crashing.. lol

only video I've managed so far.

3 weeks in and I am getting better, promise.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3ixDrDjgAs

 

[Mashman]

I seem to like crashing.. lol

only video I've managed so far.

3 weeks in and I am getting better, promise.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3ixDrDjgAs

Nice one Jon. Are you sure you have the transmitter the right way up ?. lol (Y)

 

[happydays]

I seem to like crashing.. lol

only video I've managed so far.

3 weeks in and I am getting better, promise.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3ixDrDjgAs

Have you ever tried golf?



Get into a big open field before you kill somebody! :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[chrismbrock2009]

I seem to like crashing.. lol

only video I've managed so far.

3 weeks in and I am getting better, promise.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3ixDrDjgAs

I'm no expert but why are you flying near trees and in the forrest if your not comfortable with flying your bird yet??

 

[jarrah31]

Another potential source of flyaways is lack of GPS signal...

Last week I noticed that after having left my Phantom in a hover (around 100x100ft away), it just suddenly started to drift with the wind, despite ensuring GPS home lock (the manual way) and having green lights before setting off. The key thing is I only had around 6-7 sats up in the air, and I suspect the number dropped to 5 resulting in going to Attitude mode, therefore all the effort in ensuring a home lock was lost because there was no GPS signal.

I therefore discovered and read up on the foil hack, which for me worked a treat!! A test before and after the mod (45 mins apart) showed a 2-3 sat improvement, plus there lots of other positive testimonials! (My mod: viewtopic.php?f=27&t=19099&start=70#p180517)

My suggestion is to do the foil mod as an extra reassurance of reducing flyaways.

 

[Mashman]

Another potential source of flyaways is lack of GPS signal...

Last week I noticed that after having left my Phantom in a hover (around 100x100ft away), it just suddenly started to drift with the wind, despite ensuring GPS home lock (the manual way) and having green lights before setting off. The key thing is I only had around 6-7 sats up in the air, and I suspect the number dropped to 5 resulting in going to Attitude mode, therefore all the effort in ensuring a home lock was lost because there was no GPS signal.

I therefore discovered and read up on the foil hack, which for me worked a treat!! A test before and after the mod (45 mins apart) showed a 2-3 sat improvement, plus there lots of other positive testimonials! (My mod: viewtopic.php?f=27&t=19099&start=70#p180517)

My suggestion is to do the foil mod as an extra reassurance of reducing flyaways.

I get around 10 sats before takeoff and according to the app 9 sats when in the air. But the video link does sometimes freeze. Would I be right in thinking this mod would solve that problem ?