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Carnivorous Tree.

Joined
Jan 5, 2017
Messages
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Age
61
Location
Lethbridge, Alberta
So..... we were up visiting my Mother-in-law and Brother-in-law for the last week. As they live in Northern Saskatchewan, this is a great time to get in some flying with my birds. I flew my H batteries and then pulled out my first love, my Q500 4K. I calibrated the compass (720 Km (450 miles) from home) and took her up. I flew two of my batteries and yup, still love this bird. Ray came out of the house and, as he is a pilot and evinced an interest in drones, asked him if he would like to try it. I went over the controls with him, pointed out the power lines and suggested we keep it in turtle mode while he gets used to it. He took off, went up around 30 meters (100 ft.),flew around and was having a blast. I kept an eye on the controller, and, being as he seemed to be doing fine, relaxed my concentration (cue the ominous music please maestro). He brought it down to around 2 M (6 ft.) from the ground and was practicing turning and moving back and forth. At this point, I pointed out there was a tree about 10 feet from him. As if on cue, he looked down at the controller, and backed into the tree before I could stop him. In my minds recollections, I could swear that the tree had a mouth that was salivating at the thought of eating a drone. It hit the branches and fell through them to the ground. The last part of the fall was less than a meter (3 ft.).It seem the controls, being in mode 2, are not what he it used to in the excavator he operates at work. From his description, they correspond to mode 1. The look on his face can only be described as horror. I walked over to my poor wee little bairn and picked it up. Hmm, camera detached, but the wires are still connected. Just a couple of the rubber mounts off. All propellers still intact (?). The only real damage, a broken end on one landing strut. At this point, Ray looks devastated, like he hurt my first-born. I laughed and told him this was minor and could be easily fixed. 5 minutes to pop the camera back on, look over the broken leg and check out the controls. Camera still works properly, drone hovers properly and responds to all controls. He was too gun-shy to try again. I returned home yesterday, ordered new legs from Vertigo Drones and will replace them when they arrive. Recently, Ray gave me his 1966 Buick Wildcat 2 door with the 425 Nailhead engine for my birthday. It needs a little TLC, but is a great old car. I think that I will, on my next visit up there, return this favour by giving him the Q500 4K. He will have to, even though he is a pilot, get his basic drone pilots certificate. I will then have someone to fly with. Next time, he fixes it.
 
Next time, he fixes it.

@ChuckBridges
You might want to ensure Ray knows there is a natural progression to drone repairs.

It usually starts with a broken prop, maybe a landing gear, and the first reaction is:
“OMG!!! I’ve destroyed my Drone !! The world is ending!!!”

Over the course of a few repairs, it evolves to:
“Gee. I ran into that tree trunk at full throttle. The drone is smashed into a million pieces. Hope I can get it fixed before supper time”.
 
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I told him that I assume all responsibility for not watching close enough. I would never blame him and neither should he. It's only a crash. Not my first crash and it won't be my last. His first crash, and with a drone, won't be his last either. I told him he needs to practice with an inexpensive drone for a while to get comfortable with them. I haven't told him I am giving him the 4K yet.
 
If you give him the Q, also get him the Yuneec Flight Simulator. It will give him a better feel for the controls so he is less likely to get confused. The down side of the sim is the need to bind the controller to the sim and then bind to the Q afterwards.
 
Good idea. I will have to order another dongle as I use mine to keep learning with the challenges. He can learn the same way. I was 2 months with the Simulator before my H ever left the box.
 
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