Non-level surface landing issues.

[JulesTEO]

Hello guys, a few days ago a discussion arised about the H not idling motors when landing. Someone sugested that landing on a non-level surface might be one cause for this issue.

Today I decided to go ahead and test this myself; I improvised a small ramp at about roughly 25º. Took-off and landed a few times.

Take-off is not a problem but, as one would expect, the aircraft will tend to move on the direction the propellers are facing.

Landing was far more interesting. Most of the times the H would just seem try to idle just to rev up for several times, some times it would idle after a while, and some times it wouldn't.

I recorded this to share the results with you guys, I just left 3 different take-off/landings.

The 3rd landing on the video was the most interesting; It wouldn't suprise me if this is exactly what several users have experienced. I don't know if it was the small breeze that blew at the moment, but the H became extremely unstable so I decided to abort landing and send the aircraft up again. If caught off guard this scenario can turn very bad very fast.

Maybe the most experienced of you already knew this, but there's still a lot of new people like me who learn from every flight.

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

Greetings!

 

[Rubik]

Excellent demonstration Jules. Thanks for posting.

 

[Steve Carr]

That's an interesting demo. It shows everything I would expect including some unstable hovering after takeoff. It's actually amazing that it flew as well as it did. As far as landing on a tilt, I have suggested for at least 2 years that the best method is to kill the motors close to the ground and just let it drop. I've had to land in some very bad places and I've never had any damage doing this. You did a very nice recovery on no. 3 and that is precisely what a pilot should do. Abort the landing.
Nice work.

 

[m5zealot]

I never worry about landings because I hand catch mine 100% of the time. My skill (or stupidity) seems to impress by standers alike. I even got a "Now that's how a pro lands a drone!" comment from a kid watching me the other day. Thanks for the test though!

 

[FlushVision]

I never worry about landings because I hand catch mine 100% of the time. My skill (or stupidity) seems to impress by standers alike. I even got a "Now that's how a pro lands a drone!" comment from a kid watching me the other day. Thanks for the test though!

I was taking off from an incline similar to that in the above video the other day. Now, on the H I never hand catch (my Phantoms, on the other hand [excuse the pun], are almost 100% hand caught), but the other day I decided to hand catch the H after both flights. It was rough ground, a disused rubbish tip ready for landscaping so I though that on this occasion a hand catch would be prudent.

 

[BobW55]

Like they say, a picture is worth a 1000 words.
Well done Jules.
You can really see the H is struggling to find level. All the more reason to use a landing pad.

 

[prathbun]

Thanks for the post, Jules!

Maybe this was asked/answered but I didn't see it: Did you initialize the aircraft on the incline, or put it on the incline after initializing on a flat surface?

 

[ChadCloses]

You've got some balls I'll give you that!! Lol. And hopefully a lot of extra propellers if you keep trying that.

 

[Luftdrone.dk]

Very interesting test, I can see that this it the Advanced version w/o RealSense (same as mine ) but I wonder how the IPS will react when trying the same landings? I think it would attempt to correct at landing and thus forcing an unexpected situation.

 

[Rayray]

I tested the angle surface takeoff and landing today several times. As noted takeoff is no problem. Landing on more than a 10 degree incline is not a good idea because the TH sensors may try to override the shutdown. On a 10 degree incline the craft rotors would spin down but took a longer than normal time holding the left stick all the way back. Important not to panic.

 

[JulesTEO]

Thanks for the post, Jules!

Maybe this was asked/answered but I didn't see it: Did you initialize the aircraft on the incline, or put it on the incline after initializing on a flat surface?

After a weird gps issue resulting in a crash I always turn it on at takeoff position, so yes I put it on the incline and then turned it on

Greetings!

 

[prathbun]

After a weird gps issue resulting in a crash I always turn it on at takeoff position, so yes I put it on the incline and then turned it on

Greetings!

Thank you, Jules.

I've been wondering if — once the accelerometer's been calibrated — it cares whether or not its startup/take-off point is level, and that answers it. Very good to know, and thanks again for your research!

 

[Rayray]

I recorded this to share the results with you guys, I just left 3 different take-off/landings.

Good test, Jules. I just now watched the video a couple times. On the screen at landings, it says "Throttle 100%" several times. Did you actually mean 0% (left stick all the way back)?
Or did you mean it was set on "Rabbit" all the time?

 

[prathbun]

Good test, Jules. I just now watched the video a couple times. On the screen at landings, it says "Throttle 100%" several times. Did you actually mean 0% (left stick all the way back)?
Or did you mean it was set on "Rabbit" all the time?

Looks to me like negative 100%...

 

[JulesTEO]

Good test, Jules. I just now watched the video a couple times. On the screen at landings, it says "Throttle 100%" several times. Did you actually mean 0% (left stick all the way back)?
Or did you mean it was set on "Rabbit" all the time?

Looks to me like negative 100%...

Yes I meant negative 100% meaning it was all the way down on rabbit; on turtle speed the stick all the way to either direction outputs only about 40%.

0% would be neutral position

Greetings!