Flight four.........CRASH

[Old Jar Head]

OK, it was my mistake. Pretty much.
Launched fine. Went to hit the gear up switch and grazed the far right toggle with my wrist, putting it in SAFE mode. She bolts straight away from me, as programmed, and right into a wall. All in slow motion. I knew I had lost control, knew my wrist had hit something, but I couldnt process fast enough to realize what had gone wrong in time to save it. Ooppss.

Three props gone. Gimble knocked off. About a 1/16th of an inch of the the rear part of the gimbal mount slide piece broken off. Replaced props. Remounted gimbal, I think. Arms, landing gear, motors, body all look fine.

Drone powers up, locks on fine. No apparent power to camera or gimbal. No led at all on camera, no movement, wont connect.

Am I screwed? Off to repair or anyone have any ideas on how to get the camera up? Manual was.....unhelpful.

 

[snerd]

That smart mode switch is a killer! I now reach underneath to raise and lower the gear.

 

[Jimmylee]

Was not your fault, it was Yuneec's. What were they thinking with this circle of death BS.
What was intended to protect us keeps biting us in the a#s!
It's only a matter of time that we will all slip up and crash during take off or landing.

Even the RTH stays out 26 feet from where it took off, WTH.

I love my H but geeezzzzzz.

Loose this feature Yuneec!

 

[Old Jar Head]

Sorry, Jimmy I dont agree. The first dumbass that flies his own drone into his own face will be a lawsuit. One which, even if Yuneec wins, will up operating costs, and thus retail costs. I mean we live in a society where you have to put a warning lable on an iron that says do not iron clothes while on body.

With safe mode on the aircraft at least Yuneec can come back and say hey feature was overridden by the pilot it's his own **** fault.

Besides, I am looking more for input on how to fix, not whom is to blame.

 

[Jimmylee]

Sorry, Jimmy I dont agree. The first dumbass that flies his own drone into his own face will be a lawsuit. One which, even if Yuneec wins, will up operating costs, and thus retail costs. I mean we live in a society where you have to put a warning lable on an iron that says do not iron clothes while on body.

With safe mode on the aircraft at least Yuneec can come back and say hey feature was overridden by the pilot it's his own **** fault.

Besides, I am looking more for input on how to fix, not whom is to blame.

Sorry Old jar, don't agree with you.

So they want to protect the operator but all bystanders are fair game to be flown into.

Sounds like Yuneec is trying to pass the blame to the operators with this lame circle of death.

 

[BobW55]

I have given serious thought to just disconnecting the wire to the switch. Jumper the wire for angle mode to the same pole. No way to accidently hit it then

 

[Typhoon Charlie]

Glue a block of plastic or wood in front of the switch to keep it from going forward. This is what I plan to do when I get mine back.

 

[Andyzonk]

Glue a block of plastic or wood in front of the switch to keep it from going forward. This is what I plan to do when I get mine back.

There is a Video on Youtube of a guy with a Typhoon Q500 that took off in 'Smart' Mode. The Drone shot straight at his Face, he raised his hands to protect himself and got his fingers Seriously 'Sliced'. I think once you have made this 'Smart' mistake, you are unlikely to ever do it again. No need for blocks of wood or plastic. Your Brain will stop you from letting that happen again.

 

[OnTheRopes]

There is a Video on Youtube of a guy with a Typhoon Q500 that took off in 'Smart' Mode. The Drone shot straight at his Face, he raised his hands to protect himself and got his fingers Seriously 'Sliced'. I think once you have made this 'Smart' mistake, you are unlikely to ever do it again. No need for blocks of wood or plastic. Your Brain will stop you from letting that happen again.

Not so sure, I was flying today and inadvertently switched OBS on when reaching for the landing gear, I didnt even know I had done it. No incident though luckily. Ihave also swithed Smart mode on accidently, just not near home.
Smart mode has its uses occasionall so I wouldn't want to disable it permanently but I would like something to lock the switch with, the kind of thing you would have on an ejector seat switch

 

[Rotorman]

I am new to "smart" r/c aircraft, but is it common to try to take off and fly your copters closer than 26'. For years air parks have had restrictions for proximity. Wouldn't it just be a better practice to never take off closer than the 26' and then the flight mode doesn't matter?

 

[Dragonflyerthom]

I am new to "smart" r/c aircraft, but is it common to try to take off and fly your copters closer than 26'. For years air parks have had restrictions for proximity. Wouldn't it just be a better practice to never take off closer than the 26' and then the flight mode doesn't matter?

Rotor man how old are you? Very wise words. These a/c companies have done everything but powder your bottoms. Now it's their fault you're stupid or forgetful.. Man up, get some good habits, go fly your new pretty. Sometimes I think you guys would want to discuss the right way to wipe your nose (not the word I thought).

 

[OnTheRopes]

I always land much closer than 26'

 

[Sharpe]

You can just order a new mount bottom plate, its probably not sitting snug next to the connectors thus no power if part of the rail is broke - ive just replaced mine after a crash. 10 minutes job, get part straight from Yuneec for about £13. (think there $10 in usa). If you need a guide on how to do it let me know. If that doesnt work, in for repair.

 

[Rotorman]

I flew my H before I read any of the forums and have not switched out of smart mode yet. But I read the instructions and placed the copter 30' away and pressed take off and it took off and hovered three feet in the air and stayed there till you told it to do anything thing else. I have seen the videos on f the guy that had his head cracked open by a phantom. I think that the NFZ is a great idea and the fact the bird won't fly higher than 400' in smart mode is awesome. Less chance my $500,000.00 real helicopter won't have a meet and greet with a drone. Btw I'm 35 dragon

 

[Old Jar Head]

Thank you Sharpe. That is what I was looking for. I did not mean to start a war about the merits of safemode. I will order that plate and get it replaced and see if that takes care the issue.


On a sidenote: when I launched it was more than 40 feet away. Had it up about 5 feet AGL and was playing in angle mode, rotating the YTH this way and that practicing what inputs I need to make to get the copter to do what I wanted it no matter what the orientation of the nose was.

My first mistake: I was kind of on unintentionally following her around as I was flying. When the incident occurred I had drifted to within 15 to 20 feet of the typhoon.

My second mistake: poor wrist control.

My third mistake: I guess my parental instincts kicked in because as soon as she started deviating from where I wanted her to go I started moving toward her like you would a small child about to get in trouble. Needless to say is I moved towards her she moved away from me and BOOM!

Some valuable lessons learned, hopefully at a fairly low cost.

 

[Sharpe]

Made exact same mistake in first hour of ownership - i ordered two bottom mounts......

 

[Jimmylee]

If Yuneec wanted to protect us they should have implemented the circle of death
properly.

Maintain the 26 feet not just horizontally but also vertically from pilot.
Not allow motor startup if within the 26 feet of pilot.
Not allow the bird to descend below 26 feet if close to pilot.

Make the smart switch smart!

To be surprised when the bird takes off horizontally to get out of the 26 feet
because a switch got bumped or mistakenly left in the wrong position is just plain stupid.

 

[Forrestt]

Sorry, Jimmy I dont agree. The first dumbass that flies his own drone into his own face will be a lawsuit. One which, even if Yuneec wins, will up operating costs, and thus retail costs. I mean we live in a society where you have to put a warning lable on an iron that says do not iron clothes while on body.

With safe mode on the aircraft at least Yuneec can come back and say hey feature was overridden by the pilot it's his own **** fault.

Besides, I am looking more for input on how to fix, not whom is to blame.

I agree OJH. What would be nice would be if you could disable it in the gui as it would make it not so likely to be tampered with by new pilots.

 

[Forrestt]

I agree OJH. What would be nice would be if you could disable it in the gui as it would make it not so likely to be tampered with by new pilots.

 

[Forrestt]

If one could find a miniature cover like these it would be sweet!