It just flew away!

[Rayray]

I'm sorry, But I just have to say something here. I read the post and watched the video......as a world recognised hobbyist in RC with over 30 years experience, this whole report makes me very angry. There are some of us that take this hobby of droning and shooting from an aerial platform very seriously, are over precautious, checking everything several times before flying and not flying if anything "does not compute" !! Our hobby is being seriously damaged by guys like this that continue to take chances and do stupid things. With the easy access to drones, it is not likely to change ...Sadley.. !!

Being a man of few words, when you do post I know it is worth reading, Graeme. Your long experience speaks louder than words.

It is common now to find new users drawn in by ads and media that talk about "anybody can fly them", "right out of the box, etc."
I really do not think this member intended or realized the part about taking chances, and I dare say he is learning, not only from his mistakes, but also from the feedback he is getting here. The Hobby is resilient, and actually growing by leaps and bounds.

None of us can turn back the clock, have faith and patience, and work to make the Hobby better.

 

[Graeme Mears]

Being a man of few words, when you do post I know it is worth reading, Graeme. Your long experience speaks louder than words.

It is common now to find new users drawn in by ads and media that talk about "anybody can fly them", "right out of the box, etc."
I really do not think this member intended or realized the part about taking chances, and I dare say he is learning, not only from his mistakes, but also from the feedback he is getting here. The Hobby is resilient, and actually growing by leaps and bounds.

None of us can turn back the clock, have faith and patience, and work to make the Hobby better.

Thanks Rayray.... what can I say?? I'm just hoping that this chat room can make a difference. The typhoon H is an extremely complex piece of flying technology. It needs to be treated as such!! I can't emphasize enough how much every step in preparing it for flight needs to be done carefully with assurance that all is correct. It is totally unsafe if all systems are not performing 100%.

 

[Steve Carr]

If no camera is connected and no GPS engaged, does the ST16 still display the little green home arrow? (I've never tried this to find out).

You had 2 questions.
1) If GPS is turned off, the H is always in Angle mode no matter what position the mode switch is in.
2) The direction or green arrow is calculated based on the heading of the H, the co-ords of the ST16 and the co-ords of the H. If the GPS on the H has malfunctioned the green arrow will be meaningless.

 

[glider]

Yesterday I went back to Lake Huron; surprised to see a few boats out still. Several freighters passed by way out there.

This was my first time officially testing the long range on the H. At ~5,280 ft I still had control and video worked, then brought it home. As usual, the wind was higher than desired, but no issues. Of course I forgot to install the sd card.

I fly all my machines over water unabated, but each one must prove itself first. If they malfunction and go to Davey's locker, oh well, that's always part of the risk of owning a RC, and I view MR's the same way.

 

[Rayray]

I fly all my machines over water unabated,

Yikes. Unbaited you say? Fishing I reckon.
OK, sorry, could not resist. I do the card bit often, finally got in the habit of checking the screen for a card. Wish it had voice so it could tell you.

 

[RiverRunner]

Yikes. Unbaited you say? Fishing I reckon.
OK, sorry, could not resist. I do the card bit often, finally got in the habit of checking the screen for a card. Wish it had voice so it could tell you.

I taped a small piece of red plastic to my sd card. This makes it visible from the back of the H. It also makes it easier to install and remove with my fat fingers.

 

[FlushVision]

I'm a certified pilot and I gotta say that I would never even dream of taking off if I thought the aircraft wasn't 100% To take off knowing that something wasn't quite right is just asking for trouble.

In my early days of flying and long before I became certified I took off with a Phantom 2 Vision with prop guards installed but knowing that one of the spokes on a prop guard was broken, but I thought it'd be ok because it wasn't fouling the prop. You guessed it: a couple of minutes into the flight it dropped like a stone from about 100 ft up. The aircraft had only a small amount of damage...luckily it fell into snow so only a broken prop and the camera had become detached, but it was a lesson well learned. That was almost two years ago and since then I've never taken off with knowing that anything is wrong. I've had a couple of crashes since but not because I'd taken off knowing the aircraft was faulty.

At the end of the day I recon that any certified pilot who is willing to fly an aircraft with a faulty GPS (whether or not he actually intends to use the GPS [a faulty GPS could be an indicator of something else wrong too]) should be given a wide berth: He/she is just an accident waiting to happen. Taking off knowing something is wrong is just unprofessional and the mark of a rank beginner who knows nothing of our chosen hobby/commercial enterprise.