In flight failure

[Paranull]

Hi!

I looked at my ST16 channel settings and
have like first picture. No other mixings.
Bought june 2016.
Latest firmware 1.35
system st16_system_v03.01.b30
APK version st16_app_v01.00.45

Best regards

 

[Mickeyboo]

Once you know what to look for the problem is easy to spot.
The opening screen in Channel Settings should look like this;
View attachment 7261

If it looks like either of these, you are in big trouble:
View attachment 7262 View attachment 7263

Thanks again for the detailed info...when I get back home in a couple weeks, I'll check mine out...

 

[Mickeyboo]

I think notifying the FAA of this issue would speed this up in the USA with regard to Yuneec addressing it in a timely fashion.

 

[PatR]

Perhaps allowing those with first hand info one more chance with Yuneec, where they might reference an FAA-NTSB notification might be appropriate as well. The NTSB is the agency most involved with safety of flight concerns.

 

[AH-1G]

If they do not respond quickly I know a Senior FAA official here in Orlando, I can contact him maybe able to expedite the issue

 

[PatR]

I prefer they (Yuneec) willingly look into it rather than grudgingly after being threatened. Without down playing this situation I'm thinking they have their hands full with other issues at the moment and running too short of a staff to be effective in everything at once. Just a guess.

 

[NorWiscPilot]

I called Yuneec to alert them to a flawed firmware update. They said it was impossible and that I pressed B1 which shut down the motors. They refused to look at the telemetry which clearly showed the problem. The failure occurred on final descent with yaw to the right at the same time. It dropped 180'.

So tonight I took the same controller and connected it to the flight simulator and did a quick test flight using the same control method. It did exactly the same thing every time I tried it.

Sooooo.........Yuneec........B1 was not pressed. Nope. I'm giving you a fail on CS for this one. And, oh, by the way, exactly the same thing just happened to another experience H pilot. And I confirmed it in his flight logs.

Steve,

May I ask a favor? After looking through your post and the current replies, I am not seeing the firmware versions to which you are referring. Any chance you can edit your original post to include the exact version numbers?

On a follow-up note of my own, this might not be completely related, but nonetheless something to keep in mind for those of us who like to tweak the rate curves. If not done right, we can introduce cross-pollination of controls. I ran into this yesterday when I noticed my broken rate curve values had reset.

After adjusting, my J3 and J4 curves, right aileron included descent, left aileron included ascent! Quickly realizing what was going on, I was able to land (on a four foot wide lake dock no less). Went through the settings and noticed J3 and J4 were assigned to throttle. Reset and did it the correct way. Now all good. (Yes, I re-learned the correct way and how I messed up in the first place.)

Just a reminder of how easily some things can get messed up, intentional or otherwise.

Thanks!

Jeff

P.S. Might I also suggest changing your post title to something that will alert all pilots.

Something like Critical Alert: Potential In-Flight Failure

 

[gwhuntoon]

Wow, I just read this Steve. Awesome job. I'm checking mine tonight. And to think of all those times we just brushed off another drop from the sky as a battery issue. I'm sure some of them were but how many more were this issue?

 

[BeeRAD56]

I called Yuneec to alert them to a flawed firmware update. They said it was impossible and that I pressed B1 which shut down the motors. They refused to look at the telemetry which clearly showed the problem. The failure occurred on final descent with yaw to the right at the same time. It dropped 180'.

So tonight I took the same controller and connected it to the flight simulator and did a quick test flight using the same control method. It did exactly the same thing every time I tried it.

Sooooo.........Yuneec........B1 was not pressed. Nope. I'm giving you a fail on CS for this one. And, oh, by the way, exactly the same thing just happened to another experience H pilot. And I confirmed it in his flight logs.

Thank you for this thread!!!

I often rotate while ascending for the filmmaking effect and was recently thinking about experimenting with a rotating decent. I'm going to check my control functions immediately before ending up in the dirt!

 

[Steve Carr]

noticed J3 and J4 were assigned to throttle

Hey Jeff. Take another look at post #5 in this thread. I included a history before and after the update for the throttle channel. Prior to the update the minimum value of Ch0 is 662 and then drops to zero when B1 is pressed. After the update the value drops below 662 on every flight. The last flight on 6/22 was a much longer descent which is why the motors shut down as the value kept declining.
I don't mess with Channel Settings and did not make this change. I have cautioned many times about changing them. Many months ago I did reduce the yaw rate but I did it properly. In this case it was added as a slave to J1. The second picture of the settings page was from another pilot. He did not change the setting either. His changed after the firmware update. He has been flying the H for over a year.

 

[NorWiscPilot]

Hey Jeff. Take another look at post #5 in this thread. I included a history before and after the update for the throttle channel. Prior to the update the minimum value of Ch0 is 662 and then drops to zero when B1 is pressed. After the update the value drops below 662 on every flight. The last flight on 6/22 was a much longer descent which is why the motors shut down as the value kept declining.
I don't mess with Channel Settings and did not make this change. I have cautioned many times about changing them. Many months ago I did reduce the yaw rate but I did it properly. In this case it was added as a slave to J1. The second picture of the settings page was from another pilot. He did not change the setting either. His changed after the firmware update. He has been flying the H for over a year.

Hi Steve,

Sorry, but I was referring to the firmware levels. I am not seeing any reference to the actual firmware revision you are saying has the fault.

Thanks!

Jeff

 

[Steve Carr]

actual firmware revision

Right. It was the latest firmware.

 

[gwhuntoon]

I have the latest firmware and fortunately for me, my opening Channel Screen looks correct so for me I can't blame the firmware however that begs the question of what is the root cause, ST16 firmware incompatibility with certain ST16 hardware or a possible glitch when updating firmware over the air? Personally I haven't done over the air firmware updates. I tried once and it hung so I went back to download and update from the SD card.

 

[Steve Carr]

that begs the question of what is the root cause,

I have not used the wifi update method. I download the file and use it for each machine. I also don't think it's hardware related. The install jumped a cog and created a new vampire version.
I find it interesting that after correcting the channel settings everything is fine until you create a new model. Then the problem is carried into that model.

 

[Steve Carr]

Wow, I just read this Steve. Awesome job. I'm checking mine tonight. And to think of all those times we just brushed off another drop from the sky as a battery issue. I'm sure some of them were but how many more were this issue?

I feel badly about those as well. With many of them I simply looked at the telemetry data and could not see any problem. It doesn't show in telemetry. You have to go through the remote log to find the anomaly. Information about the remote logs is scarce so it took many hours to finally get things pinned down.

 

[Maik]

Good you found out Steve! I'll take a look at my channel settings a.s.a.p.
Yuneec must take serious!

 

[Dr Delta]

Thanks Steve.

I just checked mine and all looks okay (like the first picture, that is).
Bought my H and controller in february 2017, did latest firmware update by WIFI.
I am in Europe, so I have the EU firmware.

 

[Andyzonk]

Just had a look at mine - seems AOK. Same as first photo in post #1 and #16. Running latest firmware, one of the first 'H's in the UK from Yuneec.

 

[glider]

Mine looks ok. I have messed with the settings but apparently never had any unwanted mixings for the throttle.

 

[TAI UK]

Has this issue only been reported in the US