Firmware Update - Typhoon H fly off crash

[Richk]

Pic shows up for me, maube it doesn't like your Texas heat Billy

 

[BillyTexas]

Angle

Then you should've been good

 

[NADrone]

Then you should've been good

My thought as well.

 

[Steve Carr]

The damage doesn't look that bad. I've seen much much worse. Who knows about the camera but it doesn't look that bad either. One of my cameras broke and fell about 500' and I thought it was junk. I sent it in and they repaired it and returned it for less that $100 (out of warranty).

 

[NADrone]

Good grief! 500' feet? I'm surprised it doesn't look worse and really surprised that you found it.

 

[Steve Carr]

Good grief! 500' feet? I'm surprised it doesn't look worse and really surprised that you found it.

The camera mount on a Q500 had a hidden crack. When it broke, the camera dropped and landed about 30' in front of me on a muddy road. Had it landed anywhere else I would not have found it.

 

[NADrone]

The camera mount on a Q500 had a hidden crack. When it broke, the camera dropped and landed about 30' in front of me on a muddy road. Had it landed anywhere else I would not have found it.

That is wild. Glad it didnt hit you!!

 

[Steve Carr]

That is wild. Glad it didnt hit you!!

Me too. I heard something hit the road and saw a camera bounce in the air. I looked at the monitor and the screen was blank. I'm still using that camera.

 

[Kevin G Gardner]

Ran my first and only firmware update on my new typhoon h this week to take advantage of the new features. Read this forum to see if there were issues, didn't find anything alarming. Applied the update per instructions. Did it twice in fact to ensure I had not missed a step. Waited 2 days to get my nerves up to test fly it. I started it up locked into 18 sats, lifted off 10' in the air and let it hover. It hovered for about 5 seconds and then took off vertical and forward with zero input from me. I tried to gain control but it didn't respond, slammed into tree limbs, props broke, prop arms broke, dropped like a brick onto concrete, smashed the camera, broke then landing gear. The control was not in return to home mode btw. It's a $1000 pile of rubble now.

Mine did more or less the same thing, I did the update. Waited 2 days, took it to the park where I have been dozens of times. Launched it, flew around the field no problem. Brought it back to front an center to land, it suddenly decided to shoot up on its own then it shook violently and flashed its lights then dropped like a stone from 70 foot up.

 

[Jester]

Are you guys talking about the firmware update that came out last month or the auto pilot update from last week? The reason I'm asking is that I've done the full update from last month but not the newest one yet, and may hold off a bit.

 

[Steve Carr]

Are you guys talking about the firmware update that came out last month or the auto pilot update from last week? The reason I'm asking is that I've done the full update from last month but not the newest one yet, and may hold off a bit.

I'm in exactly the same position and honestly, I'm not certain which one is an issue or perhaps both. I've flown several times without incident since the previous full update but I'm holding off on this one for the time being.

 

[Dr Delta]

Is the pic not showing up?

Yes, twice.

cheers.....!

 

[Airtography]

I've experienced this myself -- an uncontrollable H fly-away. You were lucky - it stayed within your sight. Mine went a mile away and I spent several hours in recovery. I found it totaled with 3 broken arms, landing gear, shell, and air-frame. It's the most horrible feeling in the world. I know.

Please do call Yuneec and at least send them your telemetry files. I'm sure they will sort it out for you. If not for you, perhaps they will learn something for the rest of us and find an issue with the upgrade and the components of your model that many of us may also have -- and publish a fix. I do know that there were several change to the H between early and mid 2016 (for example, the arm pins changed from #2 screws to #2.5, and mother board changed from version 5(2015) to 7(2016) if i recall).

I understand the lack of confidence you'll now have with the H. Once my unit was repaired, I test flew it with a 20' tether secured to my case until I was certain the issue was resolved.
If that didn't work, I had purchased 6 9" wooden props and was prepared to make a ceiling fan out of the darned thing as a conversation piece. But - all was well after repairs and I've gained confidence in the H again. I now have 3 H's.

You've helped us already. I just upgraded all three units to the new version. I'll be testing this weekend --- tethered for each with the information you provided. I again encourage your call to Yuneec -- I'm confident they will sort it out for you.

By the way - it's not just Yuneec that has issues -- my DJI Phantom once had a fly-away. I never recovered that one, but I still have 2 Phantoms without issues. Like all other software/firmware devices (phones, PC's, etc) these electronic devices are subject to failure. Hence real concerns for safety as I suspect is one of your issues in addition to cost. Completely understandable.

Thanks

 

[FlushVision]

...<snip>..., in all fairness, warned me against running firmware updates...<snip>...

For that very reason I've only ever once done an update on my H that I acquired back at the start of June last year. I only did the update then (February 2017) using the update released in November last year to fix a problem with an exceptionally long connection time to the camera. Incidentally, the first flight after the update didn't go completely smoothly. There were issues to do with the gimbal rotating continuously without input from me but that was resolved simply by re-booting.

 

[NADrone]

Yes, twice.

cheers.....!

Sorry. BillyTexas couldn't see it. Thought I had posted it incorrectly.

 

[NADrone]

For that very reason I've only ever once done an update on my H that I acquired back at the start of June last year. I only did the update then (February 2017) using the update released in November last year to fix a problem with an exceptionally long connection time to the camera. Incidentally, the first flight after the update didn't go completely smoothly. There were issues to do with the gimbal rotating continuously without input from me but that was resolved simply by re-booting.

I was having the long camera connection as well but that was not my main reason for deciding to update. I had a few camera quality issues I was hoping would correct. While I don't believe I had to update the firmware for this but I had sent in my waiver to Yuneec so I could bypass the no fly zone restriction. I was just going to do everything at once. I watched both the U.K. and U.S. Yuneec guys videos on applying firmware updates to the H. I followed the U.K. guys procedures. I have a friend who has a new facility at his business under construction. He wanted me to occasionally fly over for aerial shots. I installed a Harbortronics Timelapse cam for him at the same site as well. The aerials would just enhance the finished time lapse video. He is within 5 miles of our regional airport and of course the H picked that up quick and wouldn't start there. Cool feature but knowing this already, I only intended to fly over at about 30'. Nowhere close to commercial flight altitudes. So I need to bypass that feature. My friend that hooked me up with Yuneec warned me against installing firmware updates when he delivered mine to me and trained me to fly it. I told him last night about the crash and of course he was bummed too but he hasn't updated his at all.

 

[FlushVision]

I was having the long camera connection as well but that was not my main reason for deciding to update. I had a few camera quality issues I was hoping would correct. While I don't believe I had to update the firmware for this but I had sent in my waiver to Yuneec so I could bypass the no fly zone restriction. I was just going to do everything at once. I watched both the U.K. and U.S. Yuneec guys videos on applying firmware updates to the H. I followed the U.K. guys procedures. I have a friend who has a new facility at his business under construction. He wanted me to occasionally fly over for aerial shots. I installed a Harbortronics Timelapse cam for him at the same site as well. The aerials would just enhance the finished time lapse video. He is within 5 miles of our regional airport and of course the H picked that up quick and wouldn't start there. Cool feature but knowing this already, I only intended to fly over at about 30'. Nowhere close to commercial flight altitudes. So I need to bypass that feature. My friend that hooked me up with Yuneec warned me against installing firmware updates when he delivered mine to me and trained me to fly it. I told him last night about the crash and of course he was bummed too but he hasn't updated his at all.

Even though the video quality wasn't too bad straight out of the box, I did notice a slight improvement on the video quality after the update and it sorted out the long connection times to a far more sensible level. It was worth doing the update for me at the time I did it, but I won't be in any hurry to do any further updates (and there has been a couple of updates made available since I updated mine) until I identify an absolute need to do one.

There is a major international airport (Manchester International) about 16 miles away from me as the crow flies, but I still only live about half a mile outside the Eastern end of its Class D airspace where drone flying is allowed but it's good practice to inform ATC of any intended drone flights. But that area is very high ground with it being part of the Pennine Hill range (The 'Backbone' of England), so it is that aircraft coming in to land, depending on their approach pattern, can seem to be relatively close to that high ground. So, while I have no problems starting up the motors on the H, and while I'm allowed to take off and fly in that area with only so much as a curtessay nod to ATC if I feel like it, I'm reluctant to fly in that area. I sometimes do, but I'm extra careful and tend not to go very high.

So far I've not received a brief to fly a job within 5 miles of that airport, but that area on the hills some 16 miles away from the airport I think is more dangerous for flying drones (because of the high ground) than it would be taking off from, say, 4 miles away from the airport. Go figure!

 

[NADrone]

I've experienced this myself -- an uncontrollable H fly-away. You were lucky - it stayed within your sight. Mine went a mile away and I spent several hours in recovery. I found it totaled with 3 broken arms, landing gear, shell, and air-frame. It's the most horrible feeling in the world. I know.

Please do call Yuneec and at least send them your telemetry files. I'm sure they will sort it out for you. If not for you, perhaps they will learn something for the rest of us and find an issue with the upgrade and the components of your model that many of us may also have -- and publish a fix. I do know that there were several change to the H between early and mid 2016 (for example, the arm pins changed from #2 screws to #2.5, and mother board changed from version 5(2015) to 7(2016) if i recall).

I understand the lack of confidence you'll now have with the H. Once my unit was repaired, I test flew it with a 20' tether secured to my case until I was certain the issue was resolved.
If that didn't work, I had purchased 6 9" wooden props and was prepared to make a ceiling fan out of the darned thing as a conversation piece. But - all was well after repairs and I've gained confidence in the H again. I now have 3 H's.

You've helped us already. I just upgraded all three units to the new version. I'll be testing this weekend --- tethered for each with the information you provided. I again encourage your call to Yuneec -- I'm confident they will sort it out for you.

By the way - it's not just Yuneec that has issues -- my DJI Phantom once had a fly-away. I never recovered that one, but I still have 2 Phantoms without issues. Like all other software/firmware devices (phones, PC's, etc) these electronic devices are subject to failure. Hence real concerns for safety as I suspect is one of your issues in addition to cost. Completely understandable.

Thanks

I've experienced this myself -- an uncontrollable H fly-away. You were lucky - it stayed within your sight. Mine went a mile away and I spent several hours in recovery. I found it totaled with 3 broken arms, landing gear, shell, and air-frame. It's the most horrible feeling in the world. I know.

Please do call Yuneec and at least send them your telemetry files. I'm sure they will sort it out for you. If not for you, perhaps they will learn something for the rest of us and find an issue with the upgrade and the components of your model that many of us may also have -- and publish a fix. I do know that there were several change to the H between early and mid 2016 (for example, the arm pins changed from #2 screws to #2.5, and mother board changed from version 5(2015) to 7(2016) if i recall).

I understand the lack of confidence you'll now have with the H. Once my unit was repaired, I test flew it with a 20' tether secured to my case until I was certain the issue was resolved.
If that didn't work, I had purchased 6 9" wooden props and was prepared to make a ceiling fan out of the darned thing as a conversation piece. But - all was well after repairs and I've gained confidence in the H again. I now have 3 H's.

You've helped us already. I just upgraded all three units to the new version. I'll be testing this weekend --- tethered for each with the information you provided. I again encourage your call to Yuneec -- I'm confident they will sort it out for you.

By the way - it's not just Yuneec that has issues -- my DJI Phantom once had a fly-away. I never recovered that one, but I still have 2 Phantoms without issues. Like all other software/firmware devices (phones, PC's, etc) these electronic devices are subject to failure. Hence real concerns for safety as I suspect is one of your issues in addition to cost. Completely understandable.

Thanks

You are right in that it was close. My 21 year old son said after the fact that he was going to try to grab it....I told him that I'm glad he couldn't reach it. It was coming down out of control and would have cut him up. I will contact Yuneec and hope they replace my new Christmas ornament. I will wait to see how they handle this. If they do replace it, it will take me awhile to have confidence in it. I do not want anyone hurt or any property damaged with an out of control drone. I downloaded the telemetry file last night. I was just combing through the raw data and noticed some erratic behavior around the crash point. I'll send them this file. If any of you have experience with reading the file I will post it. I just don't have time today to go through it. I will make time this weekend though.

I like the ceiling fan idea!! My wife and I were considering a new one for our master bedroom anyway.

I worry about getting it "repaired" and returned. What component tested good while they have it and then fails when I fly again? I have to be confident that life and property are safe when I put it in the air.

See attached telemetry file.

 

[NADrone]

You are right in that it was close. My 21 year old son said after the fact that he was going to try to grab it....I told him that I'm glad he couldn't reach it. It was coming down out of control and would have cut him up. I will contact Yuneec and hope they replace my new Christmas ornament. I will wait to see how they handle this. If they do replace it, it will take me awhile to have confidence in it. I do not want anyone hurt or any property damaged with an out of control drone. I downloaded the telemetry file last night. I was just combing through the raw data and noticed some erratic behavior around the crash point. I'll send them this file. If any of you have experience with reading the file I will post it. I just don't have time today to go through it. I will make time this weekend though.

I like the ceiling fan idea!! My wife and I were considering a new one for our master bedroom anyway.

I worry about getting it "repaired" and returned. What component tested good while they have it and then fails when I fly again? I have to be confident that life and property are safe when I put it in the air.

See attached telemetry file.

Site won't let me post the cvs file.

 

[BillyTexas]

I'm in exactly the same position and honestly, I'm not certain which one is an issue or perhaps both. I've flown several times without incident since the previous full update but I'm holding off on this one for the time being.

Look at my earlier post of my flights right after the latest update from couple weeks ago. I posted vids of 2 flights