I have flipped my H on landing 3 times now. ENOUGH!

[JulesTEO]

Went out back with a quick set up and shot a much too long, very long winded video of a bunch of landings and a roll over. Yep, I did break the tip off the right rear prop, which means all the profit for the year just went out the window No, I didn't edit the video for color or light, but did chop almost 2 minutes off the front end.

Note the landing zone is on a slight slope, and not all that smooth.

Great demonstration!

I'm not sure I'd like to deliberately flip the H even though I have a backup aircraft, and a generous amount of spare blades.

That flip happened surprisingly fast, even kind of got ahead of your narration

I'm curious though about the time it takes the motors on your unit to idle; actually what caught my attention was the sound they make when they are at low RPM. None my aircraft sound like that, but that's just me noticing those insignificant details.

 

[ArnhemAnt]

Nice work Pat. I think you have covered things pretty well, just as Jules has also done. For me, the key things to a good landing are making sure you take things steady and try to put the H down as evenly and smoothly as possible. I hold down the throttle and keep it down till I hear the motors go to idle, then slowly let the throttle stick go back to centre, before hitting the red button. I think this may be the issue for some users. If those motors down spin down properly, then I can see how you could get caught out, as you have demonstrated in the video.

 

[The Driver]

Went out back with a quick set up and shot a much too long, very long winded video of a bunch of landings and a roll over. Yep, I did break the tip off the right rear prop, which means all the profit for the year just went out the window No, I didn't edit the video for color or light, but did chop almost 2 minutes off the front end.

Note the landing zone is on a slight slope, and not all that smooth.

Very helpful vids in this thread for new H owners .Thanks for those taking the time to do so
I'm assuming the flip you did with the sticks in rabbit mode would have been less likely to happen in turtle mode?
At the same time, I guess being in turtle mode gives you less of a chance to make last second corrections or aborted landings if need be?
I usually land in turtle mode but may have to reconsider.
Perhaps leave in rabbit mode for landings but turtle for hand catching...hmmm

 

[PatR]

I don't use turtle mode for anything but filming, but I'm one that prefers crisp control response when flying, something turtle mode doesn't provide. However, there are two things that probably influence my desire for crisp control response; I've been flying RC for close to 48 years and flew 3D aerobatics for 15. Because of that I'm always planning control inputs much earlier than someone new to the hobby or used to having fairly tame control set ups. Going into multirotors 4 years ago I certainly rolled my fair share of landings and ran into stuff from time to time, but lots of practice eliminated those issues. This is not like a video game where you can screw up and get an automatic reset. In this there's a price to pay when you screw up.

The H was designed to be pretty responsive, which makes it a more difficult tool to learn on, but once you do you will be a better operator than someone used to a system providing less control. This is where I think a desire to sell lots of product got in the way of common sense in advertising it as an aircraft people can start with. I disagree with that premise, believing the H is an aircraft for people that have first put some time on small, twitchy "inside" type quads that got them used to thinking fast. Limited space also forces you to plan further ahead of the aircraft. If you can land those living room quads you can land pretty much anything since almost nothing is as difficult to land as they are

As for the flip in the video, I could have got out of it by not reversing the stick and just applying take off power to lift off but I wanted to show what happens when someone might try to correct by over controlling when reversing the stick. It was a bit more violent than I had planned. A little too much stick on my part. Then again, I think that's what people are doing if they are constantly flipping when landing. The H does not have to be landed on smooth, flat ground.

 

[ThunderChicken]

I went out flying yesterday and got some video at the local park where the has been a flying field for over fifty years. They mostly fly just sailplanes out there now since housing is built up all around it now. I had been out there before and fly in a field across the road from them. A group of them came over to see what the "DRONER" was up to. Some came up and took a peek at the screen and got the inevitable "Wow that's cool" statements. I came in to land and had to do a hand catch and as I walked toward my H there were several comments worrying about my safety. Hovering at 7 to 8 feet controller in my left hand I reached up and gently grabbed the landing gear with my right hand. throttled down and pressed the red button simultaneously.
Shut down and recovery without a hitch or a twitch. I got a few questions as to why I did the hand catch. I explained that the extra tall grass was not good for VTOL operations some people were sitting at the picnic table I had taken off from. I hate cleaning up my bird when it has grass stains on it.
Besides it is not a weed wacker.

 

[PatR]

Jules,

Holding the throttle at the aft stop it usually takes about 5 seconds for them to reduce to idle speed. As for the motor sound, one of the props had lost a tip in the roll over. My arm obstructed my view when looking at them, a failure on my part. The motor sound was louder after the roll over, which I noticed, but I elected to keep going as I had done similar last year when I took the tip of a prop off after getting to close to a fixed object. Higher risk but it was too hot and I didn't want to start over, plus I had gotten the dinner call just as I started the camera rolling. It was not a good decision to continue but I was not putting anybody or thing at risk, just the aircraft, and I own the old pasture it was flying over.

BTW, I am extremely envious of your graphics skills. Your videos are outstanding!

 

[Dr Delta]

Jules,

BTW, I am extremely envious of your graphics skills. Your videos are outstanding!

Sorry, but I find vids like PatR's illustrative indeed, but not very intriguing. Brave to flip the H, of course, but so what? Done on purpose and not by accidental drift which happens every now and then (calibrating often when displacing helps a lot, as I have learnt and stated before. Drift is not only caused by wind...).

I think Teo's contribution is excellent, btw. Not disputing Pat's knowledge etcetera Teo's craftmanship in graphics is outstanding, and more important the ability to make a video that learns a lot to newbies is quite another talent (a talent some others as captain drone, fan tho mass, Michael Stenger have as well, in their own 'dialect').

Hat off to all contributors to this awesome forum.

cheers!

 

[PatR]

Drift can be controlled, unless it's a toilet bowl. Drift can also be induced through ham handed control input. You "drift" during a crosswind landing in a full scale airplane. You have the ability to input opposite aileron and hold some rudder to correct for the drift. It's your choice, apply the correct inputs and land or not and crash. Your call but you'd come out looking bad when you blamed drift as the cause talking to your insurance company, who would insist you took some flight lessons before allowed to fly solo again.

BTW, that was the b27 firmware, the one many had declared to cause bad landings. I have two using it and they both land the same. Excuses won't overcome lack of skill but practice will develop the skill to eliminate the need for an excuse.

 

[ThunderChicken]

Crab angle can be a bit scary in a full scale fixed wing. Especially in a light weight Piper Cub or Cessna 140 or the 100's of small planes that are light weight. I don't have a problem landing the H in a wind at all. I have landed with gust of 30 to 35 MPH without a mishap, yet. Light touches on the controls are necessary, if your hand is heavy problems will happen.

 

[PatR]

I went out flying yesterday and got some video at the local park where the has been a flying field for over fifty years. They mostly fly just sailplanes out there now since housing is built up all around it now. I had been out there before and fly in a field across the road from them. A group of them came over to see what the "DRONER" was up to. Some came up and took a peek at the screen and got the inevitable "Wow that's cool" statements. I came in to land and had to do a hand catch and as I walked toward my H there were several comments worrying about my safety. Hovering at 7 to 8 feet controller in my left hand I reached up and gently grabbed the landing gear with my right hand. throttled down and pressed the red button simultaneously.
Shut down and recovery without a hitch or a twitch. I got a few questions as to why I did the hand catch. I explained that the extra tall grass was not good for VTOL operations some people were sitting at the picnic table I had taken off from. I hate cleaning up my bird when it has grass stains on it.
Besides it is not a weed wacker.

Good one Just talked to a gal that works at a public lake that flies an H. She lands hers just fine too.

 

[Texy]

My Zerotech Dobby is stained green permanently now. Mostly from tree leaves.

 

[Dr Delta]

Drift can be controlled, unless it's a toilet bowl. Drift can also be induced through ham handed control input.

Dunno if this was meant as a response to my post a bit earlier, but if it is thanks. I can assure you that, as hang gliding pilot and instructor for over 30 years, I am very well aware of drift.
The drifting that led to the bounce-flipping I mentioned earlier (#2) seemed not to be induced by wind but other effects like maybe proximity to large iron building parts, compass calibration or poor satellite reception at the moment my H flipped. It happened after a very small and low test flight for about 5 minutes in a rather small garden between buildings (one of them an iron construction and H was drifting towards it), no wind at all. Telemetry showed no anomalies btw.

After re-calibrating compass, accellerometer and a good wait for sats all is fine up to now (about 75 flights logged since february). Never had any difficulties in landing the H, even in strong winds and/or tall grass or small slopes. Never experienced any toilet-bowling effects either.
Very happy with my H, only wish the camera settings would not reset at power down/reboot.

Cheers!

 

[PatR]

Me too!

 

[ByM]

I haven't read all 117 replies but I'm sure yuneec have acknowledged this issue. I've had two H's in the past year. The problem only started a few months ago and i generally just lower it down, hover and then press the red power button when its a foot from the ground.

Hand catching sometimes works but only in perfectly calm conditions. There is a thread that i made about hand catching on a boat. It doesn't work and tries to fly off as the drone just doesn't switch off unless you turn it over on its top and then it cuts off.... but its kind of dangerous!

 

[The Driver]

I haven't read all 117 replies but I'm sure yuneec have acknowledged this issue. I've had two H's in the past year. The problem only started a few months ago and i generally just lower it down, hover and then press the red power button when its a foot from the ground.

Hand catching sometimes works but only in perfectly calm conditions. There is a thread that i made about hand catching on a boat. It doesn't work and tries to fly off as the drone just doesn't switch off unless you turn it over on its top and then it cuts off.... but its kind of dangerous!

Made several practice landings today in somewhat windy conditions.....no issues settling the craft lower than I usually do and had some really smooth landings and one or 2 with a slight bounce.
I feel fairly confident in landing on level surfaces but this can be a top heavy and unforgiving drone when landing....especially the throttle ups when landing somewhat rough. Hand catching will continue to be my primary method in most of my flying areas.
Definitely on the side of those who feel It shouldn't have to be rocket science and require such precision to land this thing.

ByM .....will have to look up your thread about hand catching on boat.
I had no issues catching mine on my Pontoon boat last week on a lake. Red button worked as advertised.....although sometimes it seems like it takes longer when the H is fighting.

 

[crussellgo59]

What is the solution to this? What am I doing wrong? How do I prevent it? These props are a ridiculous $6.66 each and I can't make a profit if I keep breaking two of them at a time and then waiting weeks for more to be delivered. I used to have three full sets of them.

Lot of experts here that have cut their teeth as beginners and can provide good feedback, some have too much free time and get there kicks telling you operator error. The fact is the H get's squirrely on most every flight, just go check the Telemetry logs and you will see it in the data, I don't believe there are too many flights where the GPS isn't lost even when you have plenty of sats on the device and controller.

Working with 3 batteries of flight time in almost every case while operating in angle mode with no hands on the sticks the H won't stay still and drifts at some point in the flight. It can happen at any time and in my early flights (with my compass, altimeter, yada yada all calibrated it would still drift upon landing. Location does not seem to matter.)

You have to make sure you have battery time to wait for the H to come out of the temporary Coma and then try and land, if you rush the landing, it will tip over. Go on UTube for the guy who has 30 years experience and catches his drone every time. By the way there was a guy in Central Park in 2013 that cut off the top of his head. Remote-Controlled Model Helicopter Fatally Strikes Its Operator

Back in June, I lost GPS for 9 seconds (with 16 sats) which is eternity in drone time and being in a wooded area, whiskey bottle, brand new car, oak tree your in my way.

Contrary to the marketing material which talks about all of the wonderful technology, you must know how to fly and be prepared to spend money while receiving on the job training.

 

[PatR]

Or get with someone willing to teach. RC fixed wing, heli, and cars managed to get together in groups a long time ago. Why do we have to always function in a solitary environment?

 

[Texy]

Believe me, I am searching for people to fly with. It's easy for me to find the racing and acro guys, but the photographers are all out working I guess.

 

[ThunderChicken]

Here is a thought for you. Go to the hobby shops and, stage a flight/RC rally in your town. Put up posters and have a sign in gather up information on fellow hobbyist in your area.
I'm taking this idea to the shop where I bought my H. They have a huge area for flying and it is wire and tree free.
Maybe a Photo judging competition and door prizes also a swap shop or a flea market.

 

[sibelius]

Went out back with a quick set up and shot a much too long, very long winded video of a bunch of landings and a roll over. Yep, I did break the tip off the right rear prop, which means all the profit for the year just went out the window No, I didn't edit the video for color or light, but did chop almost 2 minutes off the front end.

Note the landing zone is on a slight slope, and not all that smooth.

That's an excellent demonstration, Pat.