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First and very catestrophic crash

No one wants to own up to a crash if they can get away with blaming the manufacturer and likewise; a manufacturer would ideally always like to blame the pilot. ;) There will never be any reliable information as to any brands' reliability. But one thing is for sure; the reliability factor of ANY brand soars when flown by a competent and experienced pilot.
OK I'll admit it, I should've had more training!
 
I wasn't trying to direct that at you, and to be honest, we've all made mistakes, I know I have. :) I also know that there are equipment failures that are definitely not the pilot's fault, I was just pointing out that it would be very hard to quantify those numbers and that; in the end, what we do will have a greater impact on our success.
 
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OK I'll admit it, I should've had more training!

This won’t change. Training and learning don’t stop. Always try to “not exceed your training”......
 
Here is the full flight log folder. It was my understanding regarding rebuilding the GPS almanac that waiting that long only applied if you were flying in a new location that was a significant distance away? It's last flight, a successful flight, was from within 3 feet of the same starting point.

I will take a look tomorrow, I missed your post earlier in the day.
 
I “feel” that a very significant percentage of reported fly aways and falling out of the sky incidents are actually operator error.

I experienced two events “early on” that support your comment. There was one crash (yup, "fell out of the sky"), and one flyaway. The first instinct in each case was to determine my error. I studied the remains, reviewed my actions, checked the equipment, etc, and came to the firm, confidant “no way, no how, Uh-Uh, wasn’t me” conclusion that some mysterious factor beyond myself was the cause. Until in one case, two days later, and the other case, a week or so later, I realized what I had actually done wrong. Although it happens, the issue is not always a quick avoidance of “blame”. It is likely as often just the lack of knowledge that comes with any new venture, and this particular venture comes with an awful lot of details that are not easy to see.
 
Took a look through the FlightLogs and one consistent theme is the fsk_rssi going to 0 which is Dual Band Redundancy mode even when the 2.4 GHz is quite strong (-15 to -25). This leads me to believe the RC is problematic in the ST-16, the Typhoon H, or both.

At launch the throttle is eased up instead of full up (may be due to rate slider in turtle) Then Panic mode set in at impact with the throttle bouncing below neutral when released and the flight mode switch going to RTH then Smart mode in under a second which may have exacerbated the problem.

I am trying to figure out something in Q500log2kml for the quick analysis that is not working for me. I'll report more later.
 
I am attaching screenshots of the data from just before arming the motors until just after the crash.

14819
14818

In the top photo we see the throttle go to 0 at 33:39 (B3 - Big Red pressed) and throttle up to launch start at 33:46. At 33:49.5 the aircraft pitches forward (nose down so negative pitch) 20 degrees, throttle is pulled back and the aircraft pitch changes to 20 degree nose up pitch and simultaneously RTH is triggered for about 4 seconds from 33:51 to 33:55 then to Smart mode for remainder of the flight (Flight mode - 2048 Angle, 683 RTH, and 3412 Smart).

The bottom photo shows that the right stick for pitch and roll remained centered throughout the flight. Yaw was input briefly, but was most likely accidental and of very little consequence.

You had several successful flights previous to this flight and the only thing really wrong is being in turtle mode on takeoff. You always want to get the aircraft off the ground with max thrust, then hover and check control inputs to ensure they respond properly before raising the gear and commencing flight.

If this is a factory refurb with warranty, I would contact Yuneec CS, have them review the telemetry and determine if this would be covered.
 
Just for future reference with any drone, don’t try to ease off the ground using a soft throttle up. Hammer it and get away from the ground as quickly as possible. One of the easiest ways to roll a drone is trying to sneak a take off. Many a new DIY drone has died an early death on the first test flight that way.
 
The copter starts to give a lot of pitch and roll without any reason. No stick movement as OT said. No error flags at this time, no status changes. This is what we call a spontaneous fly-away.
The only strange thing is that there are only 11-12 satellites visible. In open areas you get up to 20.
However, GPS was good and GPS fix was done.

This is a clear warranty case.

br HE
 
I appreciate the help. I really do. I have a ticket number with Yuneec and trying to get a call scheduled to discuss.

IF the repair I made holds up to one of the arms, the motor head split right where it mates to the end of the carbon tube, then I am out just 2 arms. Would make the repair list look like this. And that is assuming nothing was broken electronically like any internal boards or the camera. It may be cheaper to find one of the "drone only" Typhoon's on eBay that is missing batteries and the ST16 if I can't get any help from Yuneec.

1 each A arm assembly
1 each B arm assembly
5 propellers.
CGO3+ Filter Cover
Upper cover for the H
CGO3+ Upper plate /top mount set

FWIW here are some pics of the damage and the video of the very brief flight.

 

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Most of what I see is easily repairable with the appropriate parts. The outlier might be any damage to the CGO3+ not depicted in the photos.

You'll need to change the top shell of the H but that's not a big deal. If you're changing the shell you might consider going with H520 shells which are identical but are ORANGE. Orange for me is a big advantage where I often fly.

There are a number of YouTube videos that cover the repairs that seem to be needed. @Steve Carr has published several on his channel folepi22
 
@DoomMeister "the only thing really wrong is being in turtle mode on takeoff. You always want to get the aircraft off the ground with max thrust"

Sorry I disagree!

I have well over 4,500 minutes of flight on my H, 98% of the time I take off in turtle mode.
The only time in a slightly rabbit mode if it's windy, and if wind is also an issue with landing, I'll hand catch.
 
This is also pilot error, and you admitted it! This was very nice of you to mention that. kudos.
If at any time your new to any aircraft, you need to put yourself in a field that is wide open, with out any obstacles to hinder your flying.

Page 7
GENERAL SAFETY PRECAUTIONS AND WARNING
Always operate your aircraft in open area that are free from people, vehicles and other obstructions.
Realizing this can't be done all the time.
 
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The copter starts to give a lot of pitch and roll without any reason. No stick movement as OT said. No error flags at this time, no status changes. This is what we call a spontaneous fly-away.
The only strange thing is that there are only 11-12 satellites visible. In open areas you get up to 20.
However, GPS was good and GPS fix was done.

This is a clear warranty case.

br HE


As the warranty is expired, I tried anyway with Yuneec and they basically said "oh sorry, but for $80 an hour plus parts we might be able to fix it"

They were kind enough to point out that there was "probably" a hardware failure and if I didn't send it in to be repaired correctly it would probably result in another flyaway.

Maybe.

I will say I enjoyed it for it's short life. But nothing they said bolstered my trust. And by the time I pay them for parts and labor plus what I bought it for (used) I'd have spent as much as a new one, but still own a used one, with no guarantee they will find and fix the root cause.

I can probably part out what does work, and I have a new battery with one flight/charge on it. But I'd have to think I'm not going to go with another Yuneec. I realize I'm a little frustrated at the moment but something like this really shakes your trust in it.
 
As the warranty is expired, I tried anyway with Yuneec and they basically said "oh sorry, but for $80 an hour plus parts we might be able to fix it"

They were kind enough to point out that there was "probably" a hardware failure and if I didn't send it in to be repaired correctly it would probably result in another flyaway.

Maybe.

I will say I enjoyed it for it's short life. But nothing they said bolstered my trust. And by the time I pay them for parts and labor plus what I bought it for (used) I'd have spent as much as a new one, but still own a used one, with no guarantee they will find and fix the root cause.

I can probably part out what does work, and I have a new battery with one flight/charge on it. But I'd have to think I'm not going to go with another Yuneec. I realize I'm a little frustrated at the moment but something like this really shakes your trust in it.
I can see it shaking your trust, like others, if you stick this out, you'll be glad you did.
 
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So just to add a follow up/closure to this. I did repair the Typhoon. I've had several successful flights without a repeat of the flyaway. Found nothing inherently wrong during the repair that would explain the crash. Replaced the parts that I anticipated replacing, went through and factory reset everything in so much as I could, reinstalled firmware, anything that might contribute to what happened.

But this Monday I did receive my new Mavic 2 Pro. I still plan on keeping the Typhoon but the portable size of the Mavic 2 is sure nice.

Back to the Typhoon however the one thing that happened as a result of the accident, I have yet to resolve. The front little cover that goes around the lens on the camera was cracked, not too bad but cheap part and replaced it. Nothing about the camera seemed damaged, everything looked great except that cover.

However the lens is showing a very blury, like a mis-focused area on the right third of the image. This happens whether video or stills. I've attached an unedited image that shows what I mean. After repairs the camera was blurry across the whole image and followed the steps found on YouTube to focus it. The best I can get is the right 2/3rd's in focus, not the whole image. The sensor looks pristine, nothing is lose or seemingly misaligned. My best guess is that an element inside the lens was knocked out of alignment, that is what it looks like. But speculation as I am not sure if the lenses have multiple elements inside them, just assuming they do.

I'll likely try a new lens as that is simple enough to replace and see, particularly if I can find one cheap enough. If that doesn't work I'll compare costs on replacing the camera vs. the various repair services. I still have some reservations flying it without really knowing what happened. Having the Mavic 2 Pro throws a different wrinkle in from the standpoint of "why fly the H when I have the M2P"? But I imagine there are some instances where the H might be useful, I certainly like the team flying ability, I have my son fly while I run the camera and it was working well.
 

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Out of focus to one side usually indicates the lens is not centered correctly in the mount. It might be leaning a very small amount to one side or the other, causing the image to be out of alignment with the sensor.
 
Just for future reference with any drone, don’t try to ease off the ground using a soft throttle up. Hammer it and get away from the ground as quickly as possible.
That is similar to what I used to tell student pilots when I used to do some flight training. Basically, altitude is your friend. When you are higher you are clear of obstacles and you have more time to think and you're less likely to panic.
 

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