Tilting over of my H

braveheart1 · Mar 20, 2019

I took off on level ground and did the flight taking real estate photos and at the end just as my first alarm sounded I directed the H to return all was fine gear went down and it hovered at about three feet. I took over as it seemed strange but brought it down to ground level. That’s when the trouble started, the ground was not quite level, it was not by any means mountain goat country or anything but once it was on the ground I held the down stick until I heard the pitch change as I have done hundreds of times before indicting all good to let go and then shut down. Suddenly the motors throttled up and it tried really hard to lift off again but because it was on a tilt it started to pitch over. The only thing I could do without being chopped up by the blades was hold down the cut out button and thankfully the blades stopped this time. The previous time this happened it tilted right over and I had to rescue it before it went swimming in the customer pool. Has this happened to anyone else and do the members here think it was because of the slight unevenness of the ground. Appreciate your help.

AH-1G · Mar 20, 2019

Uneven ground can cause this. You may want to start hand catching.
At what degree do you think the ground was?

braveheart1 · Mar 20, 2019

Possible 5 degrees no more but it was also uneven lumpy which may have changed the gyro I assume.

AH-1G · Mar 20, 2019

I've had this happen, when the grass was uneven, a landing gear would bury its self while the other stayed on top of the grass.

Phaedrus · Mar 20, 2019

AH-1G said:
Uneven ground can cause this. You may want to start hand catching.
At what degree do you think the ground was?

Yep. Hand catch. Plus it keeps the camera away from all the dust getting blown around.

Ty Pilot · Mar 20, 2019

I agree with AH and Phaedrus, especially in strange areas such as real estate jobs where you've never flown, hand catching is a good tool to have. You never know what lays beneath or around the landing area. Also when landing, make sure the rate slider is at full so when you pull the throttle to idle, it really goes to idle and be ready to hit the kill switch at the same time. 5 degrees should be no problem though.

Eagle's Eye Video · Mar 20, 2019

braveheart1 said:
I took off on level ground and did the flight taking real estate photos and at the end just as my first alarm sounded I directed the H to return all was fine gear went down and it hovered at about three feet. I took over as it seemed strange but brought it down to ground level.

While RTH is an available option, I suggest that you practice flying the aircraft in angle mode the entire time... RTH should be reserved as primarily an emergency landing mode, not SOP.

braveheart1 said:
That’s when the trouble started, the ground was not quite level, it was not by any means mountain goat country or anything but once it was on the ground I held the down stick until I heard the pitch change as I have done hundreds of times before indicting all good to let go and then shut down. Suddenly the motors throttled up and it tried really hard to lift off again but because it was on a tilt it started to pitch over. The only thing I could do without being chopped up by the blades was hold down the cut out button and thankfully the blades stopped this time. The previous time this happened it tilted right over and I had to rescue it before it went swimming in the customer pool. Has this happened to anyone else and do the members here think it was because of the slight unevenness of the ground. Appreciate your help.

Please go over the links in the following post for the available options when landing...

Landing Difficulties / Options

PatR · Mar 20, 2019

Also helpful is never reaching for a drone or getting up close and personal with one unless and until the propellers have stopped and the system is disarmed.

Hand catching is an exception to that as most people assure the props are above their head when they hand catch. Just don’t lower one after catching until the props have stopped.

FlushVision · Mar 21, 2019

5 degrees is no problem but lumpy ground can be. If the area around you is lumpy then hand catch. I generally like to land on the ground if the ground is even (not lumpy) and not too much slope. 'Turns out, though, that most places where I fly the ground id often lumpy.

Here is an example of a smooth ground landing

Mrgs1 · Mar 21, 2019

Phaedrus said:
Yep. Hand catch. Plus it keeps the camera away from all the dust getting blown around.

Landing mat is a very good item to have, whenever I'm on grassy, dusty area, even a bit stony.

Fred Garvin · Mar 21, 2019

Mrgs1 said:
Landing mat is a very good item to have, whenever I'm on grassy, dusty area, even a bit stony.

Necessary item with every flight. I like having a clean, designated spot to land/take off from. My Mavic Air can absolutely nail the RTH function if I allow it to do a Precision Home Point at take off. It uses the camera in addition to the GPS to get an image of its Home Point. Wherever it is you can trigger RTH and it’ll come back and land on the pad. It’s pretty impressive.

I also have 3 extra big orange ones I take to the park when I’m flying for fun or training. I place them out randomly, 50’, 100’, 150’ away....then I try to land on them. It’s great depth perception and pin point landing practice. Try to not use the camera at all.....it’s okay at first while you’re learning, not using it to land but to help getting lined up with quick glances.....but once you start getting good try to do it all visually. It’s harder than it sounds.

Phaedrus · Mar 21, 2019

Mrgs1 said:
Landing mat is a very good item to have, whenever I'm on grassy, dusty area, even a bit stony.

I have a large rubber door mat I use for take off in dusty, sandy, etc. areas. I still prefer to hand catch. To each their own.

Ty Pilot · Mar 21, 2019

If you are experienced at hand catching, the Plus actually does a superb hand launch as well if you're in a dusty, wet, hilly or tall grass area.

Eagle's Eye Video · Mar 21, 2019

Fred Garvin said:
Necessary item with every flight. I like having a clean, designated spot to land/take off from. My Mavic Air can absolutely nail the RTH function if I allow it to do a Precision Home Point at take off. It uses the camera in addition to the GPS to get an image of its Home Point. Wherever it is you can trigger RTH and it’ll come back and land on the pad. It’s pretty impressive.

I also have 3 extra big orange ones I take to the park when I’m flying for fun or training. I place them out randomly, 50’, 100’, 150’ away....then I try to land on them. It’s great depth perception and pin point landing practice. Try to not use the camera at all.....it’s okay at first while you’re learning, not using it to land but to help getting lined up with quick glances.....but once you start getting good try to do it all visually. It’s harder than it sounds.

Wondering if I can get a custom landing pad with the following ?

Today's physics lesson:

If you and the aircraft attempt
to occupy the same space at
the same time, it will not end well.