A gentle lesson in having and following a check list

[gottahavit]

So I took my Q500 4k out to a local lake access:
Put on my blades,
turned on controller
after it started turned on drone
with 16 sats I launched and flew for about 3 minutes to an altitude of maybe 50 feet.
I'm watching the drone and suddenly I see something black come off the drone and float into the marsh I'm hovering over.
I immediately freak out and wait for the drone to fall to it's death
BUT it is flying well and then I realize what I forgot.
I never took off the gimble cover!!!
Besides adding that to my checklist, I'm going to paint the replacement neon green. Also next time I fly over water, i'm bringing my Kayak

New Cover: $4
lesson learned: Priceless!

 

[Steve Carr]

I never took off the gimble cover!!!

A list I made a few years ago when flying the Q:

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 gorgeous blond will come up and start asking questions, you will loose concentration with the resulting embarrassing crash.
8. You will discover dead tree branches are impossible 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.

 

[gottahavit]

Haha

Very true. Until today most of my mess ups were around the sdcard and forgetting to start or stop video.

 

[AH-1G]

Yep. 2, 6, and 9 not enough batteries.

 

[Jafo]

If your gonna fly over water, I suggest you get a water noodle and cut some floats for your landing gear. If nothing else, it'll keep your Q floating until you can get to it.
Good luck and happy flying,
Jafo

 

[Sureshot]

I forgot to start record until It was 100ft up.
So I covered the time with the hat cam view.

 

[DoomMeister]

Number 6 is the biggest blunder by far. So into flying smoothly, only to realize that the record button was never activated, until you are coming in to land. I can’t believe I did it again!!!

 

[gottahavit]

yes that and not hitting stop recording I've only had this for two weeks and I've done this close to a dozen times already. Having the buttons on the controller is cool, but you would have thought Yuneec could have come up with a better "automated" method. Or Just a warning... "Hey Moron, You know you're not recording right now?"

 

[DoomMeister]

In the voice of Bugs Bunny, “Uhhh, hey Bub. Ya know the camera is off don’t cha?” In an aside to the audience, “What a moron!” while making a circular motion beside an ear.

 

[gottahavit]

Exactly!!!

 

[gottahavit]

If your gonna fly over water, I suggest you get a water noodle and cut some floats for your landing gear. If nothing else, it'll keep your Q floating until you can get to it.
Good luck and happy flying,
Jafo

Not sure about noodles. Not of much value if it looses a prop or battery craps out are they? I suppose it might still float(upside down), but is it worth the weight and air friction?

 

[NorWiscPilot]

Not sure about noodles. Not of much value if it looses a prop or battery craps out are they? I suppose it might still float(upside down), but is it worth the weight and air friction?

Invest in “Getterback” instead.

Do a search if not familiar.

“Invest” meant seriously. Got mine at $19 (USD) for two. Now they are something like $39 or $49 each.

Still worth the piece of mind, if nothing else than for salvage.

Jeff

 

[Jafo]

Not sure about noodles. Not of much value if it looses a prop or battery craps out are they? I suppose it might still float(upside down), but is it worth the weight and air friction?

Simple.... whatever the cause would you rather have your Q sink or float ?
It's a no brainer for me.

 

[gottahavit]

I like the GetterBack, that's a cool idea