1st day's flight... 1st crash

[B Scott]

Well after having a huge row with the mrs about having bought a drone I went out and crashed it.
Not as bad as it could have been but I an still crushed.
My biggest worry was the camera as it was hanging from the wires beneath the body. The leg was broken but that is an easy one screw fix and last of all I lost 3 props. That's a pain in the butt as well but again just an off the shelf fix.
I slumped back home, my heart in my mouth and started looking for replacements...
Landing gear strut $10
Clip for camera with 4 grommets and retainer pins $15
3R & 3L props $40 (ouch)

Well not too bad I thought, Oh wait, this is a US store and I live in Europe. OK switch to local dealer. Prices about the same but in Euros not Dollars... wait a minute!!!! 50 Euros for a landing strut that costs $10 in the US? What a ripoff! Same price in Europe and UK. I just saw a UK video and the guy paid 50 POUNDS!

Anyway I put I all together and with the exception of mounting the camera 90* off center and having to do it again it all works. Oh NO! the strut that DIDN'T BREAK is flopping about. I turned the body on it's back and retracted the gear and the put them back to the "extended" position. Both legs started coming back but then the floppy leg suddenly fell back and the other leg stopped. I held the floppy leg in the extended position and repeated the drill. This time the other leg extended all the way/ I guess it stops as a fail-safe when the other leg doesn't work.
My take on it all is a stripped gear. I imagine this means I need to buy a whole new motor assembly. (another 50 euros)
My question is about how to replace the assembly (if that is what is wrong). I see what looks like 2 pop rivets over the antennae clip so I am not sure if I need to remove the body or not. No videos on YouTube, so I could use some advice please.

 

[RiverRunner]

Landing gear is easy to replace. Remove two screws and slide it out. Watch this video at about 9 minutes.

 

[Dr Delta]

Hi Scott,

What a shame to have your maiden flight end up so badly.

You did not tell about the ins and outs of your crash, but maybe you can try Yuneec's after sales service. As I understand that is quite good/brilliant (at least in US) and sometimes results in a brand new H. If you have any suspicion of strange behaviour of your H it may be good to look at the telemetry data and start by sending that in to Yuneec.
Since your H is quite new it will be under guarantee and maybe sending it in for repairs will prove to be cheaper then do-it-yourself.

Good luck and I hope you are back in the air pretty soon.

 

[B Scott]

Thanx to River runner and Dr Delta for the quick reply's. I did a little more examination and the two pop-rivets are indeed allan-head hex screws. I imagine the motor just slides down/out? I see on the foto of the replacement part it has a connector foot on the back.
Delta I didn't go into the crash because it was obvious to me it was my fault. I was heading toward a tree at height and panicked. Instead pulling the drone back, I moved it down into the treetop. I still need to get used to how I must turn on the obs and all. I'm just glad it is something fixable and the didn't ruin the entire drone. (he wipes the sweat from his brow)
As for the service in Europe... from what I read, it is awful. It seems they don't bother to pick up the phone of answer emails. We got your money so drop dead sort of attitude. But personally I have not had any contact with them so who is to say. It's only what I have come across in several posts.
My brother is coming to see me this summer so I might load up on some of the parts that have a big price difference and have him bring them across.

 

[B Scott]

I have just watched a great video posted by capt drone (

)and this shows exacty what is inside the landing gear motor. I removed my motor and opened it up. Just as in the video the two lower prongs from the pot-metal foot are cracked off. Fortunately the two pieces are still in the motor. Just for laughs I have glued them back in place with epoxy. Let us see if it works as a temp fix.

 

[B Scott]

Just had a quick chat with one of my numerous brothers-in-law and at some point we may be able to CDC a replacement from Titanium or Aluminium... SWEET!

 

[B Scott]

Just found a shop in Germany that sells ONLY the metal lever without the motor assembly. 1/5 the price of the complete unit.

 

[nicholas hickman]

B Scott, just a note to say sorry to read of your crash, I'm sure many of us have had that PANIC moment!

Hope it all gets fixed, don't let it phase you just learn from it.

kind regards

 

[B Scott]

Nicholas,
Thank you for your kind words. Fortunately most of the panic and fear disappeared once it was plain to me that the damage was repairable. This is but the last in a long line of remote controlled aircraft in the last 40 years of which I have managed to discover how high they can bounce. The difference is that all the past crashes where mostly a matter of losing the many hours I took to build them rather than the (huge?) one-off investment my Typhoon H represents. Add to that the mental image of having to to announce to my Mrs that the large dispersal of funds she was furious about was now a box of spare parts and you can probably picture my despair.
Fortunately after receiving the needed parts an some preliminary tests this no longer seems to be the case. Now wiser and much more prudent I shall try to make my future flights in slightly safer surroundings until such time as I feel my understanding of the controls are at a much higher level then they are at the moment. But in my defense, I had my new drone staring me in the face for several days screaming "FLY ME NOW" and my heart won over my brain.
In retrospect I would have preferred to have had a bit more control of my enthusiasm and both waited a day or two and traveled a bit farther to a more suitable location as well as not having to spend even more money to replace parts that should have stayed whole if I had been more cautious. All said and done I am fortunate it didn't turn out much worse and as such have learned a valuable lesson and am now a wiser and slightly poorer man.