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Another H Bites the dust!

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So here's a malfunction that you guys may want to be aware of. While using my H with the Wizard in watch me mode. Be vary careful,,, Today while having the H follow me it decided to take a dive from 35 ft in the air straight to the ground at 20mph... Needless to say there is nothing left of the H. I'm not sure what went wrong and since it was using the wizard I'm not sure about the telemetry info? It was only 3.5 min into the flight when this happened on a full battery. I've sent an email to Yuneec and hope they get back to me. The drone was unrecoverable and I'm hoping that there is a way to get the info they will need to show it was a malfunction. Was a crazy site to just watch it start heading towards the ground and just keep going. I though for sure it would level out but,, it didn't. I could really use your advice as how to get the telemetry. I've looked on the ST16 but it only has the last flight using it as the controller. I did have a team of people since we were doing a photo shoot so I guess I'm fortunate for that if this ends up going a legal route.
 
My biggest concern using the Wizard in follow me mode is putting it in my pocket. I'm concerned it would be easy for a button to get pressed and end up with the same result.
 
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I have read of one such instance where similar button depression occurred.
Yes, I had that same concern and so the wizard was in my hand. The H was darting left and right before it started heading to the ground. Looked very agile for a minute. although there was no reason for it to be shifting. We were running in a straight line at the time.. It actually tilted extremely forward and started getting closer and losing altitude. I feel it should never lose altitude and should recognize and correct? I'm no expert and the H is a great idea... but... auto flight should never allow it to hit the ground no matter what. I don't think moving at 20mph is a safe speed to lad at? It slows down on regular decent,, right? It was a flaw in the auto control or whatever it uses to tell altitude. I've flown RC Helis in the past and it really looked like it tilted forward to the point that it was beyond it's ability. That's a malfunction and yours will do it to... It seemed to tilted beyond it's ability to maintain flight and then allowed itself to go to the ground.. That's two malfunctions... I'm posting here just so you guys are aware of this limitation and that this can occure to you also. We will buy another H and put it thru the same motions if that's what is needed. I'm really just curious where the telemetry data is? Is it in the wizard?
 
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I have read of one such instance where similar button depression occurred.
My biggest concern using the Wizard in follow me mode is putting it in my pocket. I'm concerned it would be easy for a button to get pressed and end up with the same result.
I can see you guys are the YUNEEC Defenders,, lol ,,, I like the H,,, was awesome for a minute... Was one of the first to get it... I didn't get it for the fun of it. It was for marketing. It's intended use is to have aerial footage of boats under way using our Underwater lighting. I own the company that manufactures the lights and the cost of the H is not an issue. However we warranty our products from defects and know that having a flaw is not our customers responsibility. This is a malfunction no matter how you view it.... I'm just seeking advice on the data.. You are free to ***-U-ME as much as you wish.
 
Sorry for the loss. My first thought is if you did not have the ST16 connected and the H is unrecoverable you might be out of luck on flight data, I don't think the Wizard records but I'm not sure.

Did you have dynamic altitude active? The Wizard has a barometer inside for altitude control. This has a large effect on holding a constant altitude above ground level. I can hold my Wizard above my head then rapidly drop it too the ground and watch the H drop. There are several cases Yuneec suggests you turn off dynamic altitude.

FWIW I have been doing a lot of flying with my Wizard and haven't had a problem yet. Without flight logs it may be difficult to determine the cause.
 
Sorry for the loss. My first thought is if you did not have the ST16 connected and the H is unrecoverable you might be out of luck on flight data, I don't think the Wizard records but I'm not sure.

Did you have dynamic altitude active? The Wizard has a barometer inside for altitude control. This has a large effect on holding a constant altitude above ground level. I can hold my Wizard above my head then rapidly drop it too the ground and watch the H drop. There are several cases Yuneec suggests you turn off dynamic altitude.

FWIW I have been doing a lot of flying with my Wizard and haven't had a problem yet. Without flight logs it may be difficult to determine the cause.


Dynamic altitude was on but, there was no ups or downs that may cause the H to follow. I was sitting in a seat and holding the remote face up horizontal. The H was 35 ft up and just tilted extremely forward and started heading towards us and the ground. We stopped and it still continued. I thought for sure it would level out but,, it didn't. I think the H is a great idea and I hope Yuneec will improve it to the point that it is a secure platform. It has the potential for sure... I'm not so sure the public needs to find all the flaws.. I know that sometimes it's easier to let us test and report so they can address issues ( Microsoft ). This is not quite the same since the flaws could cost the customer who put there trust in a company a lot of money. I am fortunate enough that I can afford to buy another H. What about the guys who save up and turn into a test subject. I know Yuneec is good about taking care of those that can prove with the data that the H malfunctioned or has an unknown flaw. This is one of the instances where this may not be available. I'm interested in seeing how Yuneec handles this. I used there controllers the way they are intended. If the data is the key then I'm sure they had enough foresight to see that when using the wizard there would need to be a way to store the telemetry information. The H is designed to fly this way and so I'm sure they thought about this. I'll be in touch with them monday when the company meets and will probably do a conference call with Yuneec then to see what the options are.. I'm sure this is not the first issue and Yuneec seems to be an honorable company........ Thanks for the sensible reply. This may be a case where the data is not available but I didn't design the H so we will see.
 
Hey Kevin,
Very sorry to hear that mate. I cannot help you either as I have not yet got my H. Reading what you described above, my 1st thought was the remote must have rubbed against something and activated a command but if you say it was in your hand them I have no idea mate. Sure hope Yuneec look into it for you.
The more I read about te H, the more I am leaning towards the P4 sadly. Not a fan of DJi after some awfull expierences but the H needs a few things sorted before I decide to buy at this stage. Not being negative guys but its alot of money for a pensioner and I want to make sure this one is sorted.
Good luck again mate.
 
Hey Kevin,
Very sorry to hear that mate. I cannot help you either as I have not yet got my H. Reading what you described above, my 1st thought was the remote must have rubbed against something and activated a command but if you say it was in your hand them I have no idea mate. Sure hope Yuneec look into it for you.
The more I read about te H, the more I am leaning towards the P4 sadly. Not a fan of DJi after some awfull expierences but the H needs a few things sorted before I decide to buy at this stage. Not being negative guys but its alot of money for a pensioner and I want to make sure this one is sorted.
Good luck again mate.
Yes,, I agree,, there are a lot of bugs to the H and I'm looking into a P4 myself... I went with the H because it was advertised to do just the things I needed. I was looking at the Q500 4k and decided to wait on the H. I've been watching the P4 and it does seem to be better thought out. The H would blow it away if Yuneec had just taken the time to get the software worked out. The more I think of this the more I see that there are a lot of people putting this to the test of what was advertised and it is failing more than it should. If we can't come to a resolve with Yuneec we will give the P4 a chance to shine. I'm hoping Yuneec will step up and work with us if they didn't make data allowances for flying with the wizard. We were over water and so the H is not recoverable but,,, it's designed to fly and they provide a water proof case for the wizard. So they also see it as capable of secure flight over water or land. We used it exactly the way it's designed so I'm sure they thought about the data. In the end our company will give credit where it is deserved. If the H or the P4 gets the job done then they will for sure get the credit. We are seeing over 100,000 visitors a month this year and it's our 3rd year. I know that my graphic designer is bitting her nails wanting this type of amazing footage.. We were able to get a little with the first couple of shoots and had pretty much figured out the settings for what we were doing.
 
This is the last image on the controller. It froze so I took a picture of it.. notice the position of the arm.. extremely tilted. Also notice the distance from the boat. When it hit it was only a few feet back 30 -/+.. the starting position was 50+ feet back and 35 +/- up. IMG_20160709_222041015.jpg IMG_20160709_222041015.jpg It seems the camera still knows where the wizard is. Wondering why the H continued to descend?
 
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Each time I use the wizard, I turn off the altitude control especially when I use the waterproof bag.
In that kind of device, there is so many way to disturb the barometer (I can see with my garmin fenix 3 watch) that I think it's dangerous to use the barometer
 
It wasn't in the waterproof bag,, That was just stating that Yuneec designed the H with the idea it would fly over water. Yes, I could see where the bag would cause a problem with air pressure.
 
You said your filming boats. How much traffic? I know of some boats having some heavy duty electronics on board for navigation and is it possible someone cranked up something to interfere with the H's telemetry?
 
I can see you guys are the YUNEEC Defenders,, lol ,,, I like the H,,, was awesome for a minute... Was one of the first to get it... I didn't get it for the fun of it. It was for marketing. It's intended use is to have aerial footage of boats under way using our Underwater lighting. I own the company that manufactures the lights and the cost of the H is not an issue. However we warranty our products from defects and know that having a flaw is not our customers responsibility. This is a malfunction no matter how you view it.... I'm just seeking advice on the data.. You are free to ***-U-ME as much as you wish.
How can you see we are "Yuneec Defenders", when you don't give anyone a chance to replay? ! ****!, Five post in a row and no one defended Yuneec!LOL !:rolleyes: Your statements make you come off as guiltily! Way too defensive! Buy the way, it does not happen to me following my son on his bike! And yes! malfunctions do happen, The H's flight recorder can tell you what happened!;)
 
Dynamic altitude was on but, there was no ups or downs that may cause the H to follow. I was sitting in a seat and holding the remote face up horizontal. The H was 35 ft up and just tilted extremely forward and started heading towards us and the ground. We stopped and it still continued. I thought for sure it would level out but,, it didn't. I think the H is a great idea and I hope Yuneec will improve it to the point that it is a secure platform. It has the potential for sure... I'm not so sure the public needs to find all the flaws.. I know that sometimes it's easier to let us test and report so they can address issues ( Microsoft ). This is not quite the same since the flaws could cost the customer who put there trust in a company a lot of money. I am fortunate enough that I can afford to buy another H. What about the guys who save up and turn into a test subject. I know Yuneec is good about taking care of those that can prove with the data that the H malfunctioned or has an unknown flaw. This is one of the instances where this may not be available. I'm interested in seeing how Yuneec handles this. I used there controllers the way they are intended. If the data is the key then I'm sure they had enough foresight to see that when using the wizard there would need to be a way to store the telemetry information. The H is designed to fly this way and so I'm sure they thought about this. I'll be in touch with them monday when the company meets and will probably do a conference call with Yuneec then to see what the options are.. I'm sure this is not the first issue and Yuneec seems to be an honorable company........ Thanks for the sensible reply. This may be a case where the data is not available but I didn't design the H so we will see.
Your quote from your second post, states :"We were running in a straight line at the time.", yet above you state "I was sitting in a seat and holding the remote face up horizontal. " Hmmm! you were running , while sitting in your seat? Hmm! :confused::rolleyes: And if it "hit the ground" then it must not have hit the "water", where is it??? No blame on you, but you mentioned " A legal route", with all the conflicting statements you have made above, A Yuneec lawyer would tear your case apart!
 
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DC - the OP was on a boat, apparently at night, sitting in a chair while the boat was running in a straight line.

Where I am perplexed is the "H" crashed into the "Ground" and was unrecoverable, yet the flight was over water...Typo I guess.

SO - we have established that all multi rotors have a magnetic attraction to wood and water.
 
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DC - the OP was on a boat, apparently at night, sitting in a chair while the boat was running in a straight line.

Where I am perplexed is the "H" crashed into the "Ground" and was unrecoverable, yet the flight was over water...Typo I guess.

SO - we have established that all multi rotors have a magnetic attraction to wood and water.
Read my take, Over water, but crashed into ground, was running, but was in a seat? To many Type-O's for me if I am a Yuneec lawyer, which he states he could go the "Legal Route" Case over!, I am not blaming the guy, but get the facts straight is all !;)
 
Very perceptive DC. I haven't used the wizard to date but I don't think I would use it over water the first time. Like he said there are a few bugs needing to be sorted out. Bout a month of testing before using it for commercial applications. Yes I'm a Yuneec apologist trying to keep everything on track.
 

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