- Joined
- Oct 15, 2016
- Messages
- 10
- Reaction score
- 4
- Age
- 67
Hi all
I'm fairly new to drones, and much of what follows will reflect that. I'm sure the more experienced pilots here will read this and think "Yep, that's obvious." But maybe some of the other newcomers will learn from my experience.
A few weeks ago I flew my THP for the first time. The first two batteries were flown at a dry lake bed not far from here and were uneventful. The H performed flawlessly and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
I decided to use my third and last battery to get video of some cottonwoods in full fall color along a local river. I hovered the drone, activated collision avoidance, and started flying. After several minutes I flew the H into the top of a tree on the far side of the river. Normal flow in the river this time of year at this location is barely a trickle, but I was flying just a couple of days after a three day long rainstorm, so the river was too high to cross safely. Google Earth showed a dirt road on the other side so I drove to where I could access that road, only to find that it was blocked by locked gates and No Trespassing signs on both sides of my drone. Long story short, it was a week later before I was able to borrow a friend's kayak and go hunting for my drone.
I found the H on its side with two broken arms and coated in mud. The camera was nowhere to be found, and the battery had popped out when the drone fell out of the tree. The way the drone and battery were sitting made me think that it had landed in water when it fell out of the tree.
I called CS and was issued an RMA to send them the drone and battery. After examination of my H they informed me that the drone was beyond repair but that they were going to replace it under warranty. The new H Pro shipped today and should be here in a few days.
Not being able to fly for a couple of weeks has given me plenty of time to think about what happened, and I've distilled a few lessons that maybe will help someone else.
Lesson #1: The techs at CS told me that RealSense works only when the landing gear is retracted, which is something I had never heard. If you are relying on RS for a particular flight, be certain that you raise the gear. Also be sure you take the time to make certain the indicator on the ST16 is green before you fly. I thought I had done that, but I suspect I saw what I expected to see rather than what was actually there.
Lesson #2: Know the area. If something happens and your drone goes down, are you certain you will be able to retrieve it? There are times when it may be worth the risk to fly over water or whatever, but it never occurred to me that I wouldn't be able to reach the opposite bank of the river. A more thorough risk analysis will be part of my flight planning in the future.
Lesson #3: Use the screen. The H is not my first drone, but it is the first I've owned with video feedback. Not being used to having the screen I was flying LOS at the time of the crash, and I simply misjudged my position. When I reviewed the video stored on the ST16 it was very clear that if I had been flying FPV it would have been very easy to avoid the accident. I know we're required to fly VLOS, but if I'm anywhere near any obstacles in the future I will be watching the screen.
Last, but nowhere near least, Lesson #4: When buying a drone, be certain it is one manufactured by Yuneec. They have given me one of the best customer service experiences I have ever had, and I cannot imagine that any other manufacturer would come anywhere close to what Yuneec has done.
Sorry for the length of this post - thanks for reading.
I'm fairly new to drones, and much of what follows will reflect that. I'm sure the more experienced pilots here will read this and think "Yep, that's obvious." But maybe some of the other newcomers will learn from my experience.
A few weeks ago I flew my THP for the first time. The first two batteries were flown at a dry lake bed not far from here and were uneventful. The H performed flawlessly and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
I decided to use my third and last battery to get video of some cottonwoods in full fall color along a local river. I hovered the drone, activated collision avoidance, and started flying. After several minutes I flew the H into the top of a tree on the far side of the river. Normal flow in the river this time of year at this location is barely a trickle, but I was flying just a couple of days after a three day long rainstorm, so the river was too high to cross safely. Google Earth showed a dirt road on the other side so I drove to where I could access that road, only to find that it was blocked by locked gates and No Trespassing signs on both sides of my drone. Long story short, it was a week later before I was able to borrow a friend's kayak and go hunting for my drone.
I found the H on its side with two broken arms and coated in mud. The camera was nowhere to be found, and the battery had popped out when the drone fell out of the tree. The way the drone and battery were sitting made me think that it had landed in water when it fell out of the tree.
I called CS and was issued an RMA to send them the drone and battery. After examination of my H they informed me that the drone was beyond repair but that they were going to replace it under warranty. The new H Pro shipped today and should be here in a few days.
Not being able to fly for a couple of weeks has given me plenty of time to think about what happened, and I've distilled a few lessons that maybe will help someone else.
Lesson #1: The techs at CS told me that RealSense works only when the landing gear is retracted, which is something I had never heard. If you are relying on RS for a particular flight, be certain that you raise the gear. Also be sure you take the time to make certain the indicator on the ST16 is green before you fly. I thought I had done that, but I suspect I saw what I expected to see rather than what was actually there.
Lesson #2: Know the area. If something happens and your drone goes down, are you certain you will be able to retrieve it? There are times when it may be worth the risk to fly over water or whatever, but it never occurred to me that I wouldn't be able to reach the opposite bank of the river. A more thorough risk analysis will be part of my flight planning in the future.
Lesson #3: Use the screen. The H is not my first drone, but it is the first I've owned with video feedback. Not being used to having the screen I was flying LOS at the time of the crash, and I simply misjudged my position. When I reviewed the video stored on the ST16 it was very clear that if I had been flying FPV it would have been very easy to avoid the accident. I know we're required to fly VLOS, but if I'm anywhere near any obstacles in the future I will be watching the screen.
Last, but nowhere near least, Lesson #4: When buying a drone, be certain it is one manufactured by Yuneec. They have given me one of the best customer service experiences I have ever had, and I cannot imagine that any other manufacturer would come anywhere close to what Yuneec has done.
Sorry for the length of this post - thanks for reading.