Always the machine and never the operator.

[CraigCam]

Happy New Year. Lots of new pilots jumping in and more confusion all around. I sense that there are too many quick to point to problems and very few taking any personal responsibility. It's always the H at fault. Perhaps some here would care to share how they were humbled by their own mistakes that at first glance seemed caused by the H. Later, upon further scrutiny, there is then admission of mistakes made in piloting and it is was not all the manufacturers fault. I see a lot of good advice being ignored also like having 100' of clearance around you at launch. I know this thread may not go anywhere but sometimes anecdotal stories help others not repeat our mistakes. Thanks in advance to anyone who wants to "come clean".


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[RiverRunner]

A clear, concise and up to date manual would go a long way towards avoiding newby errors.

 

[PatR]

Good points. If we don't critique ourselves we can never improve.

I know I own a piece of the results with my fly away. Had I done a couple things differently it would not have ended up in a tree. Not having a tall tree to my left and slightly ahead would have prevented my view in front being obscured on one side when the H took off on it's own, which would have made appropriate control response to the condition possible. Because I could not see it, in all probability I drove it into another tree 300' away after the fly away initiated and exiting Smart mode. No, it was not inside the Smart Circle at any time. So poor site planning was the foundation for loss of control after visual with the aircraft was lost, which occurred as landing gear were raised. So I violated one of the cardinal rules for flying RC; always plan for the worst and take steps to minimize that risk prior to flight. I chose to let convenience have priority over a clear field of view. Never again.

 

[Eagle's Eye Video]

Sure, I'll fess up...

Only had about a month's experience and maybe 5 hours flight time when I had one real incident which resulted in a minor crash,
with fortunately no injuries to others, and only minor damage.

Was trying to land in a more constricted area, with at the most 15 feet clearance all around... low 4 foot wall in front,
and to the left... larger archway structure behind me and a small tree to the right. Took off from there, so it should
be no problem, right?

Yeah, well not so much... battery was getting to about 15 volts so I brought the H back, and for the first time had
experienced some toilet bowling. At the same time a family came into the area, and of course the 7 year old
beelined for the Typhoon.

Well, even though I had read on these boards, "If in trouble, gain altitude... can't run into a 25 foot tree or structure
if you're 25 feet above them." Started to panic with the child nearby and waved him off... tried to bring the H down,
and it really started drifting more within about 3 feet of the ground. Likely prop wash was exacerbating the drift.
Ended up drifting into that low wall, taking out 3 props, and immediately started it's final uncontrolled descent
to the ground.

Final damage: 5 props done, with 3 broken and 2 more dinged and scuffed enough that I did not trust them.
One landing strut snapped at the base when it abruptly completed the 3 foot drop to the ground, and when the
landing gear gave way, the gimbal mount was dislodged. Fortunately, it did not tear out any of the connection wires.

Total cost to repair was only about $60, for a full set of props, replacement gimbal mount and one landing strut.

Totally my fault, because:

1) I did not land in a more open area... I could have gained altitude and right sticked the H to an open parking lot
with only 3 cars in it, 50 yards away. When my panic started kicking in, my judgement started drifting as badly
as the drone.

2) At that point I did not trust the advisement of some senior members of this board, and was still in the mode of
"There is NO way I'm going to try and catch a flying Cuisinart". I now know that it will many times be the safest
method of landing when things go south and as you might have seen in the last week, I have fully embraced that
landing technique.

 

[CraigCam]

Sure, I'll fess up...

Only had about a month's experience and maybe 5 hours flight time when I had one real incident which resulted in a minor crash,
with fortunately no injuries to others, and only minor damage.

Was trying to land in a more constricted area, with at the most 15 feet clearance all around... low 4 foot wall in front,
and to the left... larger archway structure behind me and a small tree to the right. Took off from there, so it should
be no problem, right?

Yeah, well not so much... battery was getting to about 15 volts so I brought the H back, and for the first time had
experienced some toilet bowling. At the same time a family came into the area, and of course the 7 year old
beelined for the Typhoon.

Well, even though I had read on these boards, "If in trouble, gain altitude... can't run into a 25 foot tree or structure
if you're 25 feet above them." Started to panic with the child nearby and waved him off... tried to bring the H down,
and it really started drifting more within about 3 feet of the ground. Likely prop wash was exacerbating the drift.
Ended up drifting into that low wall, taking out 3 props, and immediately started it's final uncontrolled descent
to the ground.

Final damage: 5 props done ,with 3 broken and 2 more dinged and scuffed enough that I did not trust them.
One landing strut snapped at the base when it abruptly completed the 3 foot drop to the ground, and when the
landing gear gave way, the gimbal mount was dislodged. Fortunately, it did not tear out any of the connection wires.

Total cost to repair was only about $60, for a full set of props, replacement gimbal mount and one landing strut.

Totally my fault, because:

1) I did not land in a more open area... I could have gained altitude and right sticked the H to an open parking lot
with only 3 cars in it, 50 yards away. When my panic started kicking in, my judgement stared drifting as badly as the
drone.

2) At that point I did not trust the advisement of some senior members of this board, and was still in the mode of
"There is NO way I'm going to try and catch a flying Cuisinart". I now know that it will many times be the safest
method of landing when things go south and as you might have seen in the last week, I have fully embraced that
landing technique.

The hand catch seems unsafe but if you always keep it at extended arms length, in the worse case scenario, you can fling the drone to the ground and damage it rather than yourself. Just ask Enrique Iglesias.
I had an odd launch with compass error and did not trust its behavior to get close so did a ground landing. I've learned to hold the left stick down even when touched down completely until motors stop. I had left the H sitting fully initialized for about 20 mins and it did not like that at all. I used a large rock to secure my landing pad and it could have been full of iron as that's typical here in the Sonoran desert.

Lessons learned? Get inert weights for portable pad. Don't let it sit that long. Calibrate again and test to remove uncertainty for next flight. Never assume anything.


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[Eagle's Eye Video]

Being bald, at least I don't have to worry about a haircut...

 

[gwhuntoon]

I took off in Smart mode way inside the geofence and had no ability to go backward. I was too quick to get in the air and hadn't noticed the light on the drone. Fortunately experience kicked in and instead of continuing to fly I landed to sort out what I'd done. Keep in mind, the fact that I was in Smart mode hadn't registered until after I landed. I haven't done it since and only take off in Angle mode.

 

[PatR]

oops... quoted instead of editing

 

[BobW55]

I agree that UP TO DATE documentation would be a big help.
Crash #1 totally my fault, flying way too low way too fast trying to weave through the trees in my yard. 3 props on that one.
Crash #2 after the firmware update that gave all the compass errors. Flew sideways ( I had no control) buried it's self into a bush. 4 props and a trip to the Yuneec hospital.
More often than not it IS pilot error.

 

[RiverRunner]

Never had a crash, flyaway or even a hard landing. I did have one learning moment. I was in a big hurry to try out a modification between storms. I did not notice that I was missing a prop. (I had taken it off to get to something and forgot to put it back on.) The H took off a bit wobbly but hovered just fine and I got the 5 rotor mode warning. I was able to fly it and land it no problem. I would have probably never tested this intentionally, but after seeing it work, I have a lot more confidence that it will fly and land with a rotor failure.
Lesson learned: Slow down and go through your check list.

 

[slick]

before last update my typhoon h pro flew flawlessly i guess my pilot mistake was updating updating to last firmware

 

[Steve Carr]

My list.........accumulated over time:

1. You will try to take off in Smart or Home mode.
2. You'll think its a great idea to take off from the roof of your car.
3. You will forget to put a card in the camera or forget to erase the files that have it nearly full.
4. You will see your gimbal bracket fall into a pond because you forgot to remove it before you launched.
5. You will watch a prop wrap around a tall weed when trying to take off in a field, flipping the bird upside down and breaking the other props.
6. You will have the best flight of your life and get spectacular video of a once-in-a-lifetime event only to find later you forgot to hit record.
7. A gourgeous blond will come up and start asking questions, you will loose concentration with the resulting embarassing crash.
8. You will discover dead tree branches are immpossible to see 1000' away.
9. You will practice your planned shoot with your first battery only to discover you didn't bring a second.
10. As you are editing your video you will see a group of kids shooting arrows at your bird.

 

[PatR]

Hmmm, I think I've experienced 8 out of the 10 with slightly different description.

 

[Wingshooter]

My list.........accumulated over time:

1. You will try to take off in Smart or Home mode.
2. You'll think its a great idea to take off from the roof of your car.
3. You will forget to put a card in the camera or forget to erase the files that have it nearly full.
4. You will see your gimbal bracket fall into a pond because you forgot to remove it before you launched.
5. You will watch a prop wrap around a tall weed when trying to take off in a field, flipping the bird upside down and breaking the other props.
6. You will have the best flight of your life and get spectacular video of a once-in-a-lifetime event only to find later you forgot to hit record.
7. A gourgeous blond will come up and start asking questions, you will loose concentration with the resulting embarassing crash.
8. You will discover dead tree branches are immpossible to see 1000' away.
9. You will practice your planned shoot with your first battery only to discover you didn't bring a second.
10. As you are editing your video you will see a group of kids shooting arrows at your bird.

I have experienced

3,4,6,8 but fortunately no crashes or mishaps. Common Sense List!

 

[CraigCam]

#6... got me. I'm adding losing some of your best footage by erasing wrong USB stick without a backup.


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[RiverRunner]

My list.........accumulated over time:

1. You will try to take off in Smart or Home mode.
2. You'll think its a great idea to take off from the roof of your car.
3. You will forget to put a card in the camera or forget to erase the files that have it nearly full.
4. You will see your gimbal bracket fall into a pond because you forgot to remove it before you launched.
5. You will watch a prop wrap around a tall weed when trying to take off in a field, flipping the bird upside down and breaking the other props.
6. You will have the best flight of your life and get spectacular video of a once-in-a-lifetime event only to find later you forgot to hit record.
7. A gourgeous blond will come up and start asking questions, you will loose concentration with the resulting embarassing crash.
8. You will discover dead tree branches are immpossible to see 1000' away.
9. You will practice your planned shoot with your first battery only to discover you didn't bring a second.
10. As you are editing your video you will see a group of kids shooting arrows at your bird.

Drive 2 1/2 hours to a beautiful site, set everything up and discover that you don't have a card in the camera or a spare with you.

 

[CraigCam]

Wait all day for the sunset only to have last minute clouds shut it down....


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[PatR]

Can I add twice losing an SD card and adapter by putting them in my pocket with the car keys? When the keys came out, so did the cards. Both times the cards had videos that had yet to be transferred...


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[Eagle's Eye Video]

Wait all day for the sunset only to have last minute clouds shut it down....

Driving back from the location you just shot at, just missing some incoming rain and thinking yourself lucky...
until you catch a beautiful rainbow that appears to end only a 1/2 mile away from you...

but you already burned through all your batteries...

 

[CraigCam]

I went "hand held" after a landing and got 7 more minutes of video on a desert pink sunset sky explosion. I let it sit at first at landing point for awhile then picked it up over my head and pivoted around. You'll appreciate how steady the H is in flight when you try this and review the footage. It still gave me enough steady moments to edit and helped finish the light arc of the mission.


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