Hi. I pulled a real stupid move today. Had flown my H to the end of a road filming, turned it around, and backed it up by mistake into a small thicket near the woods edge, totally pilot error. I powered it off instantly to save the motors, (they appear to be fine with drone start up) but I broke two props and lost one of the 4 rubber dampers on the camera mount plate. I ordered a repair kit with the parts, which should be here in a few days, but I can't figure out how I'm going to get the rubber dampers in place. Anyone have any experience with this? I ordered the camera crash kit from Yuneec, which appears to come with everything I'll need. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.
Pulled a Dumb One; Need Help
- Thread starter CC Rider
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Use fishing line, wrap it around the nub and pull the line though the mount. It will pull though with little effort.
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Great idea. Thanks for the tip. I'll try that method instead of trying to poke the dampers into place. If the motors/rotors appear to be fine are they?
Are you sure there are 4 rubber dampeners? Normally there are only 2.
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Yes, 4 located between the mount and the camera base, but only two pins with washers holding two of them. The other two are held in place by the diagonal placement of the 2 pins. The whole assembly is covered by another piece designed to protect the 4 rubber dampers.
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There are supposed top be 4, but only 2 locking plastic pieces. If you install only 2 then you might get camera jiggle and vibration.
PatR
Premium Pilot
There are indeed 4 vibration dampers. If you take a close look at the top of the gimbal mount, specifically the forward and aft portion, you will see the top has a cover plate over it that conceals the top of the dampers. Using your thumbnail or some other small bladed tool you can place your tool under the lower edge of the cover and lift it away from the upper mount. Lift the opposite side and that cover comes off the mount exposing the top of the anti vibration balls.
The stop pins are actually two parts each, a long plastic pin with a cast flat portion on top and a removable disc at the bottom. The bottom of the shaft is split to permit compression and flanged to retain the washer when the end is expanded. To remove the disc at the bottom requires the anti vibration ball be compressed enough for the lower disc to slide up the pin a little bit to permit the slotted lower portion of the pin to be compressed enough to slide the flat washer over it and off. Making all this difficult to see is having an all black assembly.
It seems people want to make the process of installing the anti vibration balls a lot more difficult than it is. Simply compress the flanged end of the anti vibration ball enough to get the flange started into the hole. Break off the end of a round toothpick to remove the sharp point and use the dull end to push the rest of the flange through the hole. Any small diameter tool that is rounded on the end will do. No pointy stuff. If you can't do one end of an anti vibration ball in less than 10 seconds you need to work on your dexterity. Those that remove the top cover will find there's is nothing difficult or mysterious about the process. Those that don't will end up making a simple job a hard one. Snap the top cover back in place when you are done. You can't get it wrong because it only fits back on one way.
Some seem to think the assembly is not safe or effective if only using two "safety" pin devices. This is not so. People can add more safety devices if they choose but they need to recognize that any safety device that limits the ability of an anti vibration ball to expand and compress negates its ability to act as a vibration isolator. If additional safety devices are added and they in any way compress an anti vibration ball you can be assured you will experience the effects of vibration in your video. The two safety pins are there to assure the camera will not separate from the gimbal in flight, or a somewhat hard landing, and they do that very well. They are not there to prevent the camera from separating from the gimbal during a crash. Since kinetic energy released during a crash is defined by the speed and angle of the crash it's pretty hard to predict how much force will be present during the event. Anything strong enough to assure camera retention during a crash is also strong enough to assure that energy is distributed to the rest of the airframe. The system is somewhat frangible by design, which reduces the cost of repairs.
The stop pins are actually two parts each, a long plastic pin with a cast flat portion on top and a removable disc at the bottom. The bottom of the shaft is split to permit compression and flanged to retain the washer when the end is expanded. To remove the disc at the bottom requires the anti vibration ball be compressed enough for the lower disc to slide up the pin a little bit to permit the slotted lower portion of the pin to be compressed enough to slide the flat washer over it and off. Making all this difficult to see is having an all black assembly.
It seems people want to make the process of installing the anti vibration balls a lot more difficult than it is. Simply compress the flanged end of the anti vibration ball enough to get the flange started into the hole. Break off the end of a round toothpick to remove the sharp point and use the dull end to push the rest of the flange through the hole. Any small diameter tool that is rounded on the end will do. No pointy stuff. If you can't do one end of an anti vibration ball in less than 10 seconds you need to work on your dexterity. Those that remove the top cover will find there's is nothing difficult or mysterious about the process. Those that don't will end up making a simple job a hard one. Snap the top cover back in place when you are done. You can't get it wrong because it only fits back on one way.
Some seem to think the assembly is not safe or effective if only using two "safety" pin devices. This is not so. People can add more safety devices if they choose but they need to recognize that any safety device that limits the ability of an anti vibration ball to expand and compress negates its ability to act as a vibration isolator. If additional safety devices are added and they in any way compress an anti vibration ball you can be assured you will experience the effects of vibration in your video. The two safety pins are there to assure the camera will not separate from the gimbal in flight, or a somewhat hard landing, and they do that very well. They are not there to prevent the camera from separating from the gimbal during a crash. Since kinetic energy released during a crash is defined by the speed and angle of the crash it's pretty hard to predict how much force will be present during the event. Anything strong enough to assure camera retention during a crash is also strong enough to assure that energy is distributed to the rest of the airframe. The system is somewhat frangible by design, which reduces the cost of repairs.
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PatR
Premium Pilot
Yes, those are exactly the kind of repairs (portrayed in Augustine's video and alluded to in PatR's post) I must make to my H Pro just as soon as the parts arrive, which with any luck should be before the end of the week. Luckily the Typhoon was only a few feet off of the ground when I erroneously backed it into a thicket, the props caught some tall grass and small branches, and down it went. But between the force of the fall and the torque of the props grabbing the vegetation, there was enough force present on the camera housing to displace the camera rail mount, snapping one of the 2 plastic pins in half and popping one of the 4 rubber dampers so far away I could not find it despite a half hour-long search.
The repair kit comes with 2 pins and 4 dampers. One of the pins and damper assemblies on my H is still in place in the mount. I wonder if I should cut the pin and just replace it and the damper or simply leave them in place, keeping the second pin in the event of another similar crash, which I most sincerely hope to avoid in the future? I learned my lesson well about camera/craft orientation and flight control when I crashed it, and I wasn't relieved about any possible unseen damage I may have done to my machine until I took my Typhoon back into the sky yesterday minus the camera just to ensure it was still operating fine, which I'm happy to say it is. Yuneec has built a tough, sturdy unit in the Typhoon H.
I've been trying to figure out why a completely pilot-error related crash feels better to me for some reason than a weird, hard-to-explain "fly away" crash would or some other wholly equipment-related accident, and I think it comes down to a matter of having a feeling of personal control over the aircraft. I guess I don't feel - nor do I WANT to feel - the victimization most of us would experience if our beloved bird were to just suddenly fly off on its own accord or come down somewhere unseen due to some built-in failure beyond our control. MY Typhoon H crashed because of something I did with it. I can accept that reality. I know it makes it easier to believe that all of the technical problems with flying a drone have already been worked out by the pros and the scientific experts, and that all we have to do on our end as pilots is to fly it safely, correctly, within the specs of its design, and in adequate spaces to ensure us years of piloting enjoyment. In theory, at least, that's how things should work.
Pilot error I can handle and will gladly take responsibility for it when it happens to me, hopefully learning from it and then growing into being a better UAV pilot. That is something tangible I can hold in my hands. Any other cause of a flying mishap would leave me feeling taken advantage of and totally victimized. Being a victim is just not a role I am comfortable with or ready to adopt. It disempowers an individual and robs him or her of their own volition.
The repair kit comes with 2 pins and 4 dampers. One of the pins and damper assemblies on my H is still in place in the mount. I wonder if I should cut the pin and just replace it and the damper or simply leave them in place, keeping the second pin in the event of another similar crash, which I most sincerely hope to avoid in the future? I learned my lesson well about camera/craft orientation and flight control when I crashed it, and I wasn't relieved about any possible unseen damage I may have done to my machine until I took my Typhoon back into the sky yesterday minus the camera just to ensure it was still operating fine, which I'm happy to say it is. Yuneec has built a tough, sturdy unit in the Typhoon H.
I've been trying to figure out why a completely pilot-error related crash feels better to me for some reason than a weird, hard-to-explain "fly away" crash would or some other wholly equipment-related accident, and I think it comes down to a matter of having a feeling of personal control over the aircraft. I guess I don't feel - nor do I WANT to feel - the victimization most of us would experience if our beloved bird were to just suddenly fly off on its own accord or come down somewhere unseen due to some built-in failure beyond our control. MY Typhoon H crashed because of something I did with it. I can accept that reality. I know it makes it easier to believe that all of the technical problems with flying a drone have already been worked out by the pros and the scientific experts, and that all we have to do on our end as pilots is to fly it safely, correctly, within the specs of its design, and in adequate spaces to ensure us years of piloting enjoyment. In theory, at least, that's how things should work.
Pilot error I can handle and will gladly take responsibility for it when it happens to me, hopefully learning from it and then growing into being a better UAV pilot. That is something tangible I can hold in my hands. Any other cause of a flying mishap would leave me feeling taken advantage of and totally victimized. Being a victim is just not a role I am comfortable with or ready to adopt. It disempowers an individual and robs him or her of their own volition.
PatR
Premium Pilot
Leave the surviving pin in place and save the spare.
Regarding that sense of victimization. Toss that concept in the garbage. What we fly is at the low end of both the technological and price scale for sUAS. They are not certified in any way and adhere to no type of component or assembly standards. Although they seem to some to be very expensive, they are in reality quite inexpensive for what they can do but should not be viewed as reliable. Most of the time they work well but regardless of brand or price they are not anywhere close to perfect. Those that want to believe they should be are deluding themselves. Until consumers unite to urge design standards on manufacturers the best we can hope for is having a company stand behind their products when things go wrong.
Regarding that sense of victimization. Toss that concept in the garbage. What we fly is at the low end of both the technological and price scale for sUAS. They are not certified in any way and adhere to no type of component or assembly standards. Although they seem to some to be very expensive, they are in reality quite inexpensive for what they can do but should not be viewed as reliable. Most of the time they work well but regardless of brand or price they are not anywhere close to perfect. Those that want to believe they should be are deluding themselves. Until consumers unite to urge design standards on manufacturers the best we can hope for is having a company stand behind their products when things go wrong.
Thanks for the tip. I'll try leaving the intact pin/damper alone and just replace the remaining 3 dampers and one pin when they arrive, and call it good.
I completely get your point about the level of drones we have access to and are flying, and how we should regard them in their proper and due light; however, obviously by no means was I comparing them to the military-type drones or heavy-duty commercial units that are out there flying far above and beyond what our relatively meager drones can do. That would be apples and oranges. My statement was made relative to the drones we do have consumer access to and pertains to units that fall under that umbrella alone.
Simply put, my point about "victimization" is this: a pilot-error based crash is self-induced and comes with its own form and quality of retributions and recriminations. But a crash caused by an errant, wayward signal that worked its way through the system; an inexplicable "fly away;" a serious inherent design flaw; a flight system that proved to be untrustworthy in real world situations; etc., would bring about its own sense of grief that I, for one, do not think I'd care to experience. I expect it would feel different than if it was something I caused (i.e., pilot error) and could learn from. I expect the drone I buy and fly to operate as claimed by the manufacturer, no more or less. If I pay extra for enhanced object avoidance, then I only expect it to work as good as advertised under the conditions the manufacturer outlines.
I believe we are saying the same thing. As I stated in my previous post, "In theory, at least, that's how things should work." And as far as perfection goes, apparently drone misbehavior can happen even with the priciest military drones, as recent U.S. history has shown. Maybe I'm just impressed with what consumer-grade drones are capable of doing today, but I unabashedly am. With regards to consumers demanding design standards from drone manufacturers, that would be a lofty goal worth achieving for everyone's benefit.
I completely get your point about the level of drones we have access to and are flying, and how we should regard them in their proper and due light; however, obviously by no means was I comparing them to the military-type drones or heavy-duty commercial units that are out there flying far above and beyond what our relatively meager drones can do. That would be apples and oranges. My statement was made relative to the drones we do have consumer access to and pertains to units that fall under that umbrella alone.
Simply put, my point about "victimization" is this: a pilot-error based crash is self-induced and comes with its own form and quality of retributions and recriminations. But a crash caused by an errant, wayward signal that worked its way through the system; an inexplicable "fly away;" a serious inherent design flaw; a flight system that proved to be untrustworthy in real world situations; etc., would bring about its own sense of grief that I, for one, do not think I'd care to experience. I expect it would feel different than if it was something I caused (i.e., pilot error) and could learn from. I expect the drone I buy and fly to operate as claimed by the manufacturer, no more or less. If I pay extra for enhanced object avoidance, then I only expect it to work as good as advertised under the conditions the manufacturer outlines.
I believe we are saying the same thing. As I stated in my previous post, "In theory, at least, that's how things should work." And as far as perfection goes, apparently drone misbehavior can happen even with the priciest military drones, as recent U.S. history has shown. Maybe I'm just impressed with what consumer-grade drones are capable of doing today, but I unabashedly am. With regards to consumers demanding design standards from drone manufacturers, that would be a lofty goal worth achieving for everyone's benefit.
How about using a subject line "Need help putting rubber numbers in place" ? Wouldn't that help you get more appropriate responses and save people not able to respond from wasting time?
Rubber numbers? WTF? Don't know what you mean, bub. No idea. Whoever spoke about "rubber numbers?" You smoking or drinking something or are you just delusional on your own?
And BTW NO THANKS to your suggestion about me using a different subject line either. I think my subject line was just fine, despite your criticism of it. It got me the "appropriate responses" which you alluded to that I needed, as is made obvious by the responses I did receive. Don't know what your problem is, whoever the **** you think you are, but you've got one and it AIN'T welcome here. So take your load down the road and dump it on someone else who is dumb enough to take you seriously. Because I do not.
You don't like my posts, then don't read them. The name is CC Rider. I'm not going anywhere. So when you see my name don't read what I have to say. And as far as wasting people's time goes, I have a feeling wasting time is something you know a whole lot about. In fact, you've wasted enough of my time for one lifetime already..
So go waste time somewhere elsewhere. And pound some rough, gritty sand along the way.
And BTW NO THANKS to your suggestion about me using a different subject line either. I think my subject line was just fine, despite your criticism of it. It got me the "appropriate responses" which you alluded to that I needed, as is made obvious by the responses I did receive. Don't know what your problem is, whoever the **** you think you are, but you've got one and it AIN'T welcome here. So take your load down the road and dump it on someone else who is dumb enough to take you seriously. Because I do not.
You don't like my posts, then don't read them. The name is CC Rider. I'm not going anywhere. So when you see my name don't read what I have to say. And as far as wasting people's time goes, I have a feeling wasting time is something you know a whole lot about. In fact, you've wasted enough of my time for one lifetime already..
So go waste time somewhere elsewhere. And pound some rough, gritty sand along the way.
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