Typhoon H Crash

[Don Crowe]

The camera mount has two design issues as I see it. The first is that the wires need to have a connector between the camera and the base. That way if the camera does come off the connector unmates rather than breaking the wires off at the ring as my Typhoon H did. My Blade camera was mounted using a connector. The second are the plastic pins that are suppose to keep the camera from falling off. My use of 4 tie wraps to replace the pins worked well but your idea of small screws and lock nuts sounds much better and professional looking

 

[Eagle's Eye Video]

Using tie wraps or small bolts and nuts precludes the possibility of a breakaway point. Depending on how the aircraft impacts will determine if additional kinetic energy needs to be expended before the H comes to a final stop. If the H ends up tumbling it is the parts sticking out that will fail and break in the process. If the gimbal mount breaks away as designed the camera will only need the disperse it's own kinetic energy, which will be much less because of it's smaller mass... resulting in less damage to the camera.

in the same scenario, with your gimbal mount firmly attached with ties or bolts, the camera will be thrown around like a ragdoll for as many times as the H tumbles to disperse it's own kinetic energy from the crash... possibly several times... likely causing much more damage to the camera in the process. Just remember, jumping off a building doesn't kill you... blunt force trauma upon impact does.

 

[DaveisinIndy]

I don’t think that it really would matter if the break away functions as designed. A crash onto concrete at 25’ is fatal both to the H and to the camera. Been there done that...expensive and I have many broken parts to show for it.

 

[Eagle's Eye Video]

Individual crash conditions will of course, vary. Water, always a total loss... rock or concrete will usually end up with damage extensive enough to be considered a total loss. If the crash occurs in such a way that the Typhoon falls straight onto the camera, separation will not be a factor. My own fall from the sky event in May was straight down over turf, which made the damage much less than if the area was a harder surface.

But other more minor crashes, such as grazing a fence or wall, will still result in the aircraft tumbling to the ground, but when it hits, the camera can potentially separate. If you tangle with foliage you'll go down, but then the foliage will have dispersed most of the momentum and kinetic energy, but you'll either get caught hanging or tumble out of it. It's really only these tumbling type of scenarios, that the strategy of a designed breakaway point comes into play at all.

Even in a more serious crash, if the camera is not initially impacted there is the possibility of the force of the impact, (say on the main part of the body of the H), will exceed that designed breakaway potentially saving the camera (or not). Crashes by nature, are definitely a crap shoot. And at the Typhoon's price point, not worth designing an effective emergency system (which currently designed parachute systems are not, IMHO).

 

[AZSteveB]

Right. They don't fall out of the sky due to GPS. It's due to low voltage.

That's correct

 

[ajlholt]

I had already flowen one battery just fine. I loaded another battery and was flying along just fine, then all of a sudden i get a gps warning and i fall out of the sky. It broke 4 propellers, broke one landing gear module, destroyed the camera and gimbal, broke 2 latches that hold the arms up. luckly it didn't break an arm. I don't know what happened. Any insight with this problem.

I had already flowen one battery just fine. I loaded another battery and was flying along just fine, then all of a sudden i get a gps warning and i fall out of the sky. It broke 4 propellers, broke one landing gear module, destroyed the camera and gimbal, broke 2 latches that hold the arms up. luckly it didn't break an arm. I don't know what happened. Any insight with this problem.

Could it be that the battery disconnected in flight? One time I flew the H and had not clicked the battery in properly. It fell out from about 60' but luckily the H fluttered down into a bush and the battery had a soft landing too. You must check that the battery clicks in properly.

 

[Rubik]

Using tie wraps or small bolts and nuts precludes the possibility of a breakaway point. Depending on how the aircraft impacts will determine if additional kinetic energy needs to be expended before the H comes to a final stop. If the H ends up tumbling it is the parts sticking out that will fail and break in the process. If the gimbal mount breaks away as designed the camera will only need the disperse it's own kinetic energy, which will be much less because of it's smaller mass... resulting in less damage to the camera.

in the same scenario, with your gimbal mount firmly attached with ties or bolts, the camera will be thrown around like a ragdoll for as many times as the H tumbles to disperse it's own kinetic energy from the crash... possibly several times... likely causing much more damage to the camera in the process. Just remember, jumping off a building doesn't kill you... blunt force trauma upon impact does.

There are 2 potential break-away points for the camera. One is at the rubber grommets. The second is at the gimbal slide-in and lock mount. If the rubber grommets and 2 little keepers fail, the camera pulls away from the slip ring, breaking the wires. For me, this resulted in a trip to Yuneec USCS for $75 repair. If the gimbal slide-in mount fails, you can easily replace a couple of cheap parts yourself. So, I've added secondary security to backup the 2 little keepers so that if the camera is pulled off in a crash, it breaks away at the cheap parts. You can use zip ties, screws or, in my case (see photo) line threaded through the holes in the 2 grommets without keepers and tied with knots (instant glued on the knots). What ever you decide to use, make sure it doesn't prevent free movement of the gimbal on the rubber grommets.

 

[Bosse_A]

Through my own loss - I used a new battery without cycling it. The battery was a Venom and after the loss of the aircraft at 125 feet I had called their tech support. It was lights out during a night flight and with little warning the flight was cut short - it was flying approx. 9 minutes not the usual 18 associated with the cycled batteries, I guess you could take the manufactures word that they've been cycled or just be careful as they get 10 or so charges on them..

It is no need ro recycle:

 

[Eagle's Eye Video]

View attachment 7957
There are 2 potential break-away points for the camera. One is at the rubber grommets. The second is at the gimbal slide-in and lock mount. If the rubber grommets and 2 little keepers fail, the camera pulls away from the slip ring, breaking the wires. For me, this resulted in a trip to Yuneec USCS for $75 repair. If the gimbal slide-in mount fails, you can easily replace a couple of cheap parts yourself. So, I've added secondary security to backup the 2 little keepers so that if the camera is pulled off in a crash, it breaks away at the cheap parts. You can use zip ties, screws or, in my case (see photo) line threaded through the holes in the 2 grommets without keepers and tied with knots (instant glued on the knots). What ever you decide to use, make sure it doesn't prevent free movement of the gimbal on the rubber grommets.

You're right in that the rails are definitely another designed breakway point... I've been lucky in that I've had a couple of those occur. One where the rails gave way, and one where 3 of the grommets and one of the pins gave way... but in that brush, there was not enough force to tear away the wires... they were just hanging there, along with the one remaining pin/grommet. I may be reassessing not using some fishing line in those two non-pinned grommets.

Thanks for that input... we all have a different context depending on our own experiences with this platform. What this forum has taught me is that our collective experiences are so much more than what's in the manual... with many pilots like myself who are geographically isolated from other Yuneec pilots... these pages are my University.

 

[Victory Pete]

It sounds like the LIPO wasn't sufficiently 'cycled' all new batteries must be power cycled. Which means charging / discharging several times before being considered 'reliable' ...

Of the 2 batteries I had, one was out of balance. I had previously charged it on the stock charger with no warning. I then cycled it on my ICharger and saw the cells way off. I have a new one coming from Yuneec.

 

[Victory Pete]

Where do you get the information that the batteries have to be power cycled? They've been cycled at factory.

See previous post please.