Drone Went Rogue. Crashed Twice. Don't know what to do.

[AndyP]

My first few flights were in Safe Mode. It scared the **** out of me a couple of times because I hadn’t yet learned how Safe Mode behaves. Yuneec did a rotten job of explaining it. Later I found some YouTube videos that filled in some mighty gaps and finally two manuals written by pilots that truly explained things.

After the first few flights I flew only Angle Mode.

It is natural for first time H pilots to start with Smart Mode. Most people are cautious with new aircraft and will start out in Smart Mode until they gain confidence.

Yeah, the manual even says it's recommended to learn Angle Mode, but to start off in Smart Mode until you feel comfortable.
Well I only got 2 flights in before the drone went rogue and flew into a tree at 12 m/s, destroying itself, so there was no comfort to be had lol

 

[Steve Carr]

Yeah, the manual even says it's recommended to learn Angle Mode, but to start off in Smart Mode until you feel comfortable. Well I only got 2 flights in before the drone went rogue and flew into a tree at 12 m/s, destroying itself, so there was no comfort to be had lol

Were you able to get the FlightLog sent to Yuneec?

 

[AndyP]

Were you able to get the FlightLog sent to Yuneec?

Yes sir I did. As soon as I got home from work. I also linked this thread, just in case they want to poke in and see the conversation and work you experts put in on helping me

 

[Steve Carr]

Yes sir I did. As soon as I got home from work. I also linked this thread, just in case they want to poke in and see the conversation and work you experts put in on helping me

Haha.......well, it's a nice thought but don't count on it. They don't have the time and they have their own software which analyzes the logs and gives them a yea or nay on warranty repair. They don't read the logs and they won't tell you if there was a malfunction. They will only tell you whether or not it will be covered.

 

[AndyP]

Haha.......well, it's a nice thought but don't count on it. They don't have the time and they have their own software which analyzes the logs and gives them a yea or nay on warranty repair. They don't read the logs and they won't tell you if there was a malfunction. They will only tell you whether or not it will be covered.

I kind of assumed as much too. I greatly appreciate the help. I will update this thread when I have more information.

 

[Roadstar30]

Yeah, the manual even says it's recommended to learn Angle Mode, but to start off in Smart Mode until you feel comfortable.
Well I only got 2 flights in before the drone went rogue and flew into a tree at 12 m/s, destroying itself, so there was no comfort to be had lol

I didnt see is it the pro model or the plus model ?
Is possible that you might unknowingly hit it back into smart mode when lowering the landing gear it only a thought
My son in law crashed his into a tree on the first day second flight yuneec fixed it
Good luck

 

[AndyP]

I didnt see is it the pro model or the plus model ?
Is possible that you might unknowingly hit it back into smart mode when lowering the landing gear it only a thought
My son in law crashed his into a tree on the first day second flight yuneec fixed it
Good luck

I never raised the landing gear. I left all settings and switches in the same position from takeoff to landing.

 

[biltno]

It would be nice if they were active with the forum. It would only make things better for everyone. Would the “ tech” do it on their own? My thought is not likely. Taking phone calls from people in less than a good mood 8 hours a Day is not the occupation I would want

 

[FlushVision]

It would be nice if they were active with the forum. It would only make things better for everyone. Would the “ tech” do it on their own? My thought is not likely. Taking phone calls from people in less than a good mood 8 hours a Day is not the occupation I would want

Many moons ago we did get the odd post from a couple of yuneec guys in here...few and far between, though. And I've not seen anything from them now in a good long time.

 

[AndyP]

Update. Here is the response I got. Looks like I'm screwed because what they see and what actually happened are two different things. That second flight, I never yawed anything. I went straight up and tried to move forward and the drone took off to the left and I never touched the sticks as it flew at 12m/s 300 feet into a tree.:

On the first flight in question, the pilot armed the unit's motors in Smart Mode and took off 7 feet away from the transmitter, well within Smart Mode's 26-foot safety geofence. This caused the drone to immediately fly outside of the safety perimeter, as it is programmed to do, at which point the unit made contact with an object and crashed. On the second flight in question, the pilot armed the unit's motors in Smart Mode and again took off inside of the Smart Mode geofence, although the unit was 20 feet from the transmitter at takeoff. The unit flew away outside of the safety circle, at which point the pilot was able to regain control. The pilot flew the unit around the field for a short amount of time before landing the unit and turning off the motors. The motors were then rearmed and the unit took off, this time outside of the safety circle, and had no issues with uncontrolled movement. The pilot yawed the drone and moved the transmitter's right stick in a leftward direction, causing the drone to fly into a tree. While it's possible that the pilot did not realize that in Smart Mode the drone will still move to the left when left input is given, regardless of yaw position, unfortunately the pilot's commands directly led to the second crash. There are no malfunctions present, and the manual advises that the drone must be at least 26 ft from the transmitter when taking off in Smart Mode. Non-warranty determination.

 

[rdonson]

If Yuneec acknowledges that the H and the ST16 knew you were trying to launch within the safety geofence for "Smart Mode" its really not a very smart mode. It should have beeped like a banshee and flashed its lights off telling you of the problem and refused to launch. This is why most pilots avoid "Smart Mode" like the plague.

Andy I'm so sorry you've had to go through this nonsense.

 

[AndyP]

If Yuneec acknowledges that the H and the ST16 knew you were trying to launch within the safety geofence for "Smart Mode" its really not a very smart mode. It should have beeped like a banshee and flashed its lights off telling you of the problem and refused to launch. This is why most pilots avoid "Smart Mode" like the plague.

Andy I'm so sorry you've had to go through this nonsense.

And from what it sounds like in their diagnostics, it sounds like I took off outside the Smart zone, hit left on the thumbstick and hit a tree. When in reality, the tree that it flew into was probably 300 feet away. I am going to call in the morning and see if I can send them the GPS map and show them where it took off and hit the tree nowhere near where I was at.

 

[biltno]

The smart mode should much more clearly defined in the manuals. Most new pilots will think smart mode is the safest way to fly because of the terminology, which is actually not “ safe” if your not familiar with everything.
Andy, if yuneec won’t help you I’m sure the forum can assist you in repair and getting you back in the air

 

[Dr Delta]

.

I had no idea of how to fly a drone at all. As a matter of fact the H is was my first 'model plane' after destroying a glider some 38 years ago after a weeks work and glue.

So I started reading the manual and this forum as well as looking up a lot of youtubes before I even considered buying a thingie as an H. There is a lot of competition in teh air. Then I decided and bought one, Pro package and RS and all. But also the USB trainer, and I got some 5 hours of that before I got my H outside. In SMART mode, which I studied quite well.

I loved SMART mode, RTH and all gimmicks.
After a while I was confident I could manage this Hex. So went for ANGLE mode and never went back to SMART. Use RTH quite often tho, pretty comfortable.

Never had any issues whatsoever, except for two tipping-overs while landing next to or on large metal objects.

H is an awesome ship.

Cheers!

 

[Dustoff]

Now it’s time to take a dead breath and figure out what’s broken , motor arms are cheap enough but the camera can be expensevive , do you have any phots of the aftermath so we can see what needs to be replaced .

 

[AndyP]

After an hour long phone call, They are going to try and work with me. I have to send them the video of the first flight to show that I actually did take off and land in the same location. Because according to their logs, it looks like I flew it around and landed it some 100 feet away from me, then took off a 2nd time with the drone rotated 180 degrees and flew it into the tree.
But I never rotated the drone. It was facing the same direction the entire time.
So, hopefully I can get the video to him and the proof of purchase and they will warranty it for me so I'm not out of pocket on the repair.

Also, the technician told me that none of you guys can be trusted because you don't now how to read the logs like they do and that you probably just entered the numbers into a spreadsheet and didn't know how to read them properly so you gave me incorrect information. And whatever software you used to analyze the info I gave you, and the gps info and trajectory info, that you don't know what you are doing.
Also the manual that you provided isn't as good as theirs and I should ignore it and use theirs instead. lol. So there's that

 

[AH-1G]

Obviously, they know what we know and won't admit we are correct.

 

[FlushVision]

Also, the technician told me that none of you guys can be trusted because you don't now how to read the logs like they do and that you probably just entered the numbers into a spreadsheet and didn't know how to read them properly so you gave me incorrect information. And whatever software you used to analyze the info I gave you, and the gps info and trajectory info, that you don't know what you are doing.
Also the manual that you provided isn't as good as theirs and I should ignore it and use theirs instead. lol. So there's that

I'm at a loss for words.

 

[biltno]

Extremely poor judgement and representation for a company to bash people that support it. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt for corporate employees of yuneec be made aware of their telephone “techs” conduct

 

[CraigCam]

Watch that embedded horrible calibration video and see how little they get their own product.