Had a brain fart moment!

bshaker Air4c 1 · Dec 31, 2015

I went flying this morning on what seemed to be a perfect day; 15 min. into sunrise no wind; perfect conditions for my flight mission. After I got out to about a little over 800ft dropped WiFi signal (typical) so I landed Air4c 1 (my drones name) rebooted the Q & St10 and flew the rest of the mission (only closer). After playing back the video I noticed the first 5 min. of footage was very unstable as if there were high winds then all of a sudden the video stabilized. And then it dawned on me; I forgot to take off the gimbal/camera cover. I wish they would make them a different color (red) as a visual reminder to remove, because the black one blends in well with Q & the camera. Luckily after watching the video I was able to tell where about it fell off. I went back to that location and found it. No harm, no foul; hope I don't forget to remove the cover again. I think I'll paint red myself.

wedbster · Dec 31, 2015

bshaker Air4c 1 said:
I think I'll paint red myself.

I believe, there was a todo list around the days.
Checklist before starting ... I can have a look for you .....

Subtle Shots · Jan 2, 2016

bshaker Air4c 1 said:
I went flying this morning on what seemed to be a perfect day; 15 min. into sunrise no wind; perfect conditions for my flight mission. After I got out to about a little over 800ft dropped WiFi signal (typical) so I landed Air4c 1 (my drones name) rebooted the Q & St10 and flew the rest of the mission (only closer). After playing back the video I noticed the first 5 min. of footage was very unstable as if there were high winds then all of a sudden the video stabilized. And then it dawned on me; I forgot to take off the gimbal/camera cover. I wish they would make them a different color (red) as a visual reminder to remove, because the black one blends in well with Q & the camera. Luckily after watching the video I was able to tell where about it fell off. I went back to that location and found it. No harm, no foul; hope I don't forget to remove the cover again. I think I'll paint red myself.

They should have designed it to slide on from the front covering the camera lens and thus protecting the gimbal and the camera lens. Then it would be blocking the video signal so that you could tell it was on the camera when you're about to take off. I had the same thing happened just the other day. Except the gimbal guard didn't fall off because I use velcro to strap it in place.....I've got some yellow stickers I'm adding to it today....

wedbster · Jan 2, 2016

You never be alone

look @ 2:00

bshaker Air4c 1 · Jan 2, 2016

Subtle Shots said:
They should have designed it to slide on from the front covering the camera lens and thus protecting the gimbal and the camera lens. Then it would be blocking the video signal so that you could tell it was on the camera when you're about to take off. I had the same thing happened just the other day. Except the gimbal guard didn't fall off because I use velcro to strap it in place.....I've got some yellow stickers I'm adding to it today....

I totally agree that will guarantee to catch your attention that the cover is still on. Think I'll save the paint follow your lead and put stickers on myself. The cover has a sticker on it but it's not visible if you're looking down on the drone. Thanks for the info.

ChuckD · Jan 5, 2016

I'm surprised you can actually get off the ground with the cover in place. It's hard to keep my cover on just to store the Q.

Sean Kolb · Feb 4, 2016

bshaker Air4c 1 said:
I went flying this morning on what seemed to be a perfect day; 15 min. into sunrise no wind; perfect conditions for my flight mission. After I got out to about a little over 800ft dropped WiFi signal (typical) so I landed Air4c 1 (my drones name) rebooted the Q & St10 and flew the rest of the mission (only closer). After playing back the video I noticed the first 5 min. of footage was very unstable as if there were high winds then all of a sudden the video stabilized. And then it dawned on me; I forgot to take off the gimbal/camera cover. I wish they would make them a different color (red) as a visual reminder to remove, because the black one blends in well with Q & the camera. Luckily after watching the video I was able to tell where about it fell off. I went back to that location and found it. No harm, no foul; hope I don't forget to remove the cover again. I think I'll paint red myself.

I emailed Yuneec to ask for some type of red ribbon on the bottom. I almost lost mine twice.

Colin · Feb 5, 2016

What you need is a small can of flourescent paint.

Sticks · Feb 8, 2016

Paint it, put "Remove Before Flight" ribbons on it, a ID10T lanyard running from the cover up to one of the forward prop threads...

Lots of stuff you can do - along with being religious about pre and post flight checklists.

Slingshot · Feb 12, 2016

bshaker Air4c 1 said:
I went flying this morning on what seemed to be a perfect day; 15 min. into sunrise no wind; perfect conditions for my flight mission. After I got out to about a little over 800ft dropped WiFi signal (typical) so I landed Air4c 1 (my drones name) rebooted the Q & St10 and flew the rest of the mission (only closer). After playing back the video I noticed the first 5 min. of footage was very unstable as if there were high winds then all of a sudden the video stabilized. And then it dawned on me; I forgot to take off the gimbal/camera cover. I wish they would make them a different color (red) as a visual reminder to remove, because the black one blends in well with Q & the camera. Luckily after watching the video I was able to tell where about it fell off. I went back to that location and found it. No harm, no foul; hope I don't forget to remove the cover again. I think I'll paint red myself.

I painted mine INTERNATIONAL ORANGE....did the same **** thing...stupid right?

Manila Bay · Feb 12, 2016

Tape it with a blue color, the one that painter`s use for the line stripping. they stick well on plastics.

pownalite · Feb 20, 2016

bshaker Air4c 1 said:
I went flying this morning on what seemed to be a perfect day; 15 min. into sunrise no wind; perfect conditions for my flight mission. After I got out to about a little over 800ft dropped WiFi signal (typical) so I landed Air4c 1 (my drones name) rebooted the Q & St10 and flew the rest of the mission (only closer). After playing back the video I noticed the first 5 min. of footage was very unstable as if there were high winds then all of a sudden the video stabilized. And then it dawned on me; I forgot to take off the gimbal/camera cover. I wish they would make them a different color (red) as a visual reminder to remove, because the black one blends in well with Q & the camera. Luckily after watching the video I was able to tell where about it fell off. I went back to that location and found it. No harm, no foul; hope I don't forget to remove the cover again. I think I'll paint red myself.

i put some yellow electrical tape on my cover to (hopefully) call my attention to the fact the cover is on the camera. so far, so good, but it is easy to overlook it. also, consider making a "preflight checklist" and put that on it.

Grampz55 · Jan 29, 2017

I got a big red ribbon tyed in a bow on mine. Hoping that I will see it and take off the gimble cover.

ChuckBridges · Jan 30, 2017

I put 3 "Remove Before Flight" labels on mine. I forgot to take it off the first time I flew it. It fell off when the 4K got about 3 meters in the air. I printed out the Pre/Post flight checklist, had it laminated and use a dry marker to check things off. Wipe off, ready for next time!