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Typhoon H flyaway

Joined
Oct 12, 2016
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Age
65
I was reluctant to post this in the forum for fear of what I might find out.
But I wanted to see if anyone knows what I might expect from Yuneec for a lost drone flyaway.
I was at the coast for the last few days flying and photographing seascapes.

Yesterday I fired up my Typhoon H and raised it up about 8 feet and got an immediate warning to land immediately and re calibrate the compass. But before I could do anything, the message disappeared and the drone took off straight down the coastline at full speed. None of the controls worked. I completely lost connection as I watched it fly out of site. I switched from angle to smart mode and tried manipulating before switching to home. After several minutes it was obvious that it was history. The screen said trying to establish GPS connection for awhile and at that point I was at a loss for what to do.
I've read of this happening to others. I was just getting ready to pull the trigger on a second Yuneec drone. Probably the Tornado but, if I run a risk of a complete loss at any given time through no fault of mine, I would rather avoid being in that position.
Has anyone had a similar experience? If so, what might I expect from Yuneec?
Thank You
 
I was reluctant to post this in the forum for fear of what I might find out.
But I wanted to see if anyone knows what I might expect from Yuneec for a lost drone flyaway.
I was at the coast for the last few days flying and photographing seascapes.

Yesterday I fired up my Typhoon H and raised it up about 8 feet and got an immediate warning to land immediately and re calibrate the compass. But before I could do anything, the message disappeared and the drone took off straight down the coastline at full speed. None of the controls worked. I completely lost connection as I watched it fly out of site. I switched from angle to smart mode and tried manipulating before switching to home. After several minutes it was obvious that it was history. The screen said trying to establish GPS connection for awhile and at that point I was at a loss for what to do.
I've read of this happening to others. I was just getting ready to pull the trigger on a second Yuneec drone. Probably the Tornado but, if I run a risk of a complete loss at any given time through no fault of mine, I would rather avoid being in that position.
Has anyone had a similar experience? If so, what might I expect from Yuneec?
Thank You
I feel your pain. Not trying to make you feel worse but I was able to recover and am repairing my H. I feel bad that you could not recover yours. I hope you can recover your flight logs from the ST16 to send to Yuneec. My flight logs did not record for the fly away flight so they could not help me even though I wasn't looking for a warrantee, just an answer to the cause. I am not giving up on the Typhoon H. After the flyaway I ordered a replacement drone. No problems thus far. I do hope this does not keep happening to others or us again. Maybe Yuneec will see a pattern here and resolve this issue. If you look at my post, there were some suggestion as to how to possibly resolve this problem from members. I plan to take their advice. Long story - short I know how you feel. Keep 'em flying
 
I was reluctant to post this in the forum for fear of what I might find out.
But I wanted to see if anyone knows what I might expect from Yuneec for a lost drone flyaway.
I was at the coast for the last few days flying and photographing seascapes.

Yesterday I fired up my Typhoon H and raised it up about 8 feet and got an immediate warning to land immediately and re calibrate the compass. But before I could do anything, the message disappeared and the drone took off straight down the coastline at full speed. None of the controls worked. I completely lost connection as I watched it fly out of site. I switched from angle to smart mode and tried manipulating before switching to home. After several minutes it was obvious that it was history. The screen said trying to establish GPS connection for awhile and at that point I was at a loss for what to do.
I've read of this happening to others. I was just getting ready to pull the trigger on a second Yuneec drone. Probably the Tornado but, if I run a risk of a complete loss at any given time through no fault of mine, I would rather avoid being in that position.
Has anyone had a similar experience? If so, what might I expect from Yuneec?
Thank You
One additional thought- How far from home were you, at least from the last place you did a compass calibration? I've heard conflicting max distances, but I'm sure it matters. I was only 3 miles from home when it happened to me. I know your supposed to be able to go further than that.
 
Flyaways happen with all brands and models. They are, however, extremely rare with Yuneec products but it does happen. You can find many other posts here of similar problems because that is the nature of this forum. Pilots come here to explain their issue and look for solutions.

A few owners who have had this type of behavior were able to disable GPS and regain control. The circumstances have to be just right.......enough altitude and time to get the menu open and initiate the command. Find the log of your last flight in the Flight Log file and copy it from the ST16. Then change the file extension to .txt and upload it here. There are several members who might be able to help you interpret the file.
I was reluctant to post this in the forum for fear of what I might find out.
But I wanted to see if anyone knows what I might expect from Yuneec for a lost drone flyaway.
I was at the coast for the last few days flying and photographing seascapes.

Yesterday I fired up my Typhoon H and raised it up about 8 feet and got an immediate warning to land immediately and re calibrate the compass. But before I could do anything, the message disappeared and the drone took off straight down the coastline at full speed. None of the controls worked. I completely lost connection as I watched it fly out of site. I switched from angle to smart mode and tried manipulating before switching to home. After several minutes it was obvious that it was history. The screen said trying to establish GPS connection for awhile and at that point I was at a loss for what to do.
I've read of this happening to others. I was just getting ready to pull the trigger on a second Yuneec drone. Probably the Tornado but, if I run a risk of a complete loss at any given time through no fault of mine, I would rather avoid being in that position.
Has anyone had a similar experience? If so, what might I expect from Yuneec?
Thank You
 
I was reluctant to post this in the forum for fear of what I might find out.
But I wanted to see if anyone knows what I might expect from Yuneec for a lost drone flyaway.
I was at the coast for the last few days flying and photographing seascapes.

Yesterday I fired up my Typhoon H and raised it up about 8 feet and got an immediate warning to land immediately and re calibrate the compass. But before I could do anything, the message disappeared and the drone took off straight down the coastline at full speed. None of the controls worked. I completely lost connection as I watched it fly out of site. I switched from angle to smart mode and tried manipulating before switching to home. After several minutes it was obvious that it was history. The screen said trying to establish GPS connection for awhile and at that point I was at a loss for what to do.
I've read of this happening to others. I was just getting ready to pull the trigger on a second Yuneec drone. Probably the Tornado but, if I run a risk of a complete loss at any given time through no fault of mine, I would rather avoid being in that position.
Has anyone had a similar experience? If so, what might I expect from Yuneec?
Thank You

Which coast? What was your proximity to potential disruption from cell tower etc? It sounds like you flew the same place or different locations? I'm not saying you did anything wrong but the stated behavior of the H when signal is lost is stop or initiate an RTH. A compete loss of sticks means no connection while simultaneously the H was getting different instructions. Perhaps someone decided you've flown along the coast enough? After my experience here in NoCal I definitely would believe that people here would knock a drone out of the sky if they could. It just seems so weird to have everything suddenly go haywire. Even when my H had a questionable IMU, GPS unit and Compass (lord knows Yuneec will never tell me or even perhaps know themselves) and my death spiral loss of control fly away happened I had control over the right stick for altitude. It's so hard when it's going bad to fumble for GPS. We all wish it was on the aux button from what I've read here. If you are under warranty they should honor it. That is not its proper safety procedure in case of disconnection. Your logs should show when it lost its mind.
 
I'm in the same boat as all of you guys. Mine just started heading away on its own last weekend. I tried to correct and retrieve with no luck. I got no warnings or vibes from my ST-16. IT'S GONE! I saw it head north, but when I mapped the last stamped co-ordinates from the telemetry files, it was 1.5 miles south east of me at 367 feet. Called it into Yuneec on Monday and sent them telemetry files. Haven't heard a thing, and their phone support is just as bad as their web site as far as CASE updates goes. I'd like to yank a thousand bucks out of their paychecks and never offer to explain why.
 
I'm in the same boat as all of you guys. Mine just started heading away on its own last weekend. I tried to correct and retrieve with no luck. I got no warnings or vibes from my ST-16. IT'S GONE! I saw it head north, but when I mapped the last stamped co-ordinates from the telemetry files, it was 1.5 miles south east of me at 367 feet. Called it into Yuneec on Monday and sent them telemetry files. Haven't heard a thing, and their phone support is just as bad as their web site as far as CASE updates goes. I'd like to yank a thousand bucks out of their paychecks and never offer to explain why.
Did you ever recover your typhoon? My telemetry did not record in my flight logs, so Yuneec couldn't help me or offer any explanations except their guess is it was some kind of interference. They did however respond fairly quickly via e-mail. In my case I could not ask for much more than that. I hope your flight logs help shed some light on what happened. I would like to believe that they would do something for you. I feel these incidents are not pilot errors. Your flight logs should help. I am still flying my Typhoons, so don't give up and good luck.
 
Call Yuneec and open a case. They will request telemetry. Follow their instructions for down loading and send it. Give them a couple days to review and assess. Call back to assure they received the telemetry.

I had one do like the OP's but mine ended up in a very tall tree and was later recovered. Yuneec repaired at no cost. Others have seen theirs replaced if the telemetry indicated a true fly away.
 
For the record Yuneec is awesome!. They've reviewed my flight log and issued a replacement which is on the way.
Chalk that one up to experience but I sure would like to feel like I can avoid this ever happening again.
 
Here's the telemetry flight log converted to .txt if anyone can shed any light on the cause or what to look for.
I was also wondering if anyone would be willing to share a comprehensive preflight checklist.
I'm still learning and anything I can do to avoid a repeat of this experience would be very much appreciated.
Thanks everyone for your help and suggestions.
 

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  • Telemetry_00063.txt
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Which coast? What was your proximity to potential disruption from cell tower etc? It sounds like you flew the same place or different locations? I'm not saying you did anything wrong but the stated behavior of the H when signal is lost is stop or initiate an RTH. A compete loss of sticks means no connection while simultaneously the H was getting different instructions. Perhaps someone decided you've flown along the coast enough? After my experience here in NoCal I definitely would believe that people here would knock a drone out of the sky if they could. It just seems so weird to have everything suddenly go haywire. Even when my H had a questionable IMU, GPS unit and Compass (lord knows Yuneec will never tell me or even perhaps know themselves) and my death spiral loss of control fly away happened I had control over the right stick for altitude. It's so hard when it's going bad to fumble for GPS. We all wish it was on the aux button from what I've read here. If you are under warranty they should honor it. That is not its proper safety procedure in case of disconnection. Your logs should show when it lost its mind.
I was on the NorCal Coast Craig. Stillwater Cove. RTH was one of the first things I tried to no avail. As well as switching back and forth from angle to smart mode.
 
This is the flight path. The launch point is on the left. Final GPS point is on the right.
 

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  • Tele00063 flight path.jpg
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There are indications in the telemetry that raise concern.

First, the battery voltage before starting the motors is 15.3 volts which is storage voltage. Never take off with less than a fully charged battery.
As soon as the motors are started there is a compass error which remains for the entire flight.
A very strange thing occurs immediately after starting the motors. The H enters Follow Me mode and remains until close to the end of the flight when it enters RTH. At that point all hope is dashed because the voltage has dropped to 13.9.

So the result is a combination of equipment fault and pilot error. I suspect Yuneec will replace the unit because of the follow me error. It's not possible to determine why this occurred while the aircraft is still on the ground without examining the ST16 logs.
 
The H enters Follow Me mode and remains until close to the end of the flight when it enters RTH. At that point all hope is dashed because the voltage has dropped to 13.9.

So the result is a combination of equipment fault and pilot error. I suspect Yuneec will replace the unit because of the follow me error

Follow Me mode? I have not looked at the telemetry, but to actually be in Follow Me Mode you must turn on Smart Mode. That's how mine works. Right?
 
I've seen Follow mode display in the screen's right side boxes when in Angle mode. Don't know why or how.
 
Thanks all for the input all. I wish I was able to retrieve the flight path on site. Seeing it end next to highway 1 looks like an easy retrieval. But I had no idea where it ended up. Lessons learned.
 
Just curious Phil, were you able to retrieve it?
No but if I had Steve Carr's flight path attached above It would have been an easy retrieval. It flew completely out of sight and I had no idea where to look. As it turns out it ended up right next to the highway.
 

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