Typhoon H GPS Lost! Fly Away! My story!

[Moldy_Noldy]

Last saturday, June 25th, around 4:45pm I went to my favorite open area to fly my Typhoon H. I started the ST16 first then the Typhoon H. Waited to get initialized then I suddenly noticed that the CGO3+ camera had a live feed way before the satellites on the Typhoon and ST16 did...my thoughts was like..."Wow! That's new!" Still satellites "Acquiring". Then came the "Ready" status. Checked all the satellites one more time... I have about 19. Turned on the motors... then I ascended to about 200ft. Everything was going well until, "VROOM!!!" My Typhoon H started flying away... and it was fast! Then the ST16 vibrated, "GPS Lost! Manual flight only!" PANIC TIME!!! "FLY AWAY!" Tried controlling it and it was not responding. Horrified! Still trying while moving the left and right stick...then I noticed the H was heading far away. OH NO!!! I told myself I better do something and quick. I turned the left stick again and suddenly very little I noticed it responded but was flying very wild. Tried again... and again... and again. And little by little I felt I was starting get more control. The H started to move towards me... but swaying very badly. Then I slowly lowered it down while trying to minimize the swaying until it finally landed. I shut the motors right away. Phew! My nightmare was over..Thank god! I checked the ST16 status and it never recovered the GPS. I checked the aircraft for any damage and there it was a hairline crack on the top cover caused by the violent movements in the air. The gimbal also sustained a tiny crack where the 4k cover resides due to my emergency landing in the dirt. Overall my Typhoon H was fine and we both survived the horror.

Fast forward today, With my telemetry as my back up, Yuneec told me that they will take care of me.

Moral of the story, always fly in an open space away from people because you'll never know when technology will fail. Also, if GPS is lost while flying you can still control it manually but it won't be easy. Don't give up and keep trying! You also have the telemetry on your ST16 as a record and your proof!

 

[QuadBart]

Geez, glad this had a good ending and wasn't a tale of loss... I'm sure they won't tell you what actually happened, but glad its being taken care of...

 

[Dezzzy.D]

glad to know if I lose the gps it'll still fly. .scary stuff

 

[snerd]

........... Moral of the story, always fly in an open space away from people because you'll never know when technology will fail.........

Words of wisdom right there.

 

[glider]

I've been using this method for years (like in decades). It's the way to get back a copter or plane when you lose orientation; not saying it would have helped in this situation, but it works well.

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[Moldy_Noldy]

Geez, glad this had a good ending and wasn't a tale of loss... I'm sure they won't tell you what actually happened, but glad its being taken care of...

Yeah, I told Yuneec I want a new GPS because I don't want another incident...I might not be as lucky the second time around. Yuneec said that they will.

 

[Moldy_Noldy]

I've been using this method for years (like in decades). It's the way to get back a copter or plane when you lose orientation; not saying it would have helped in this situation, but it works well.

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Thank you for this video! I need to learn this skill.

 

[Eric Arnaud]

Lucky!! could think of nothing worse than your TH flying away!! I still to date have not had a solid gps lock on mine!! been flying with GPS off and no response from Yuneec. Your story has now made me nervous!!! Motors wont start without this lock and I could not wait any longer to fly. Have also experienced brief telemetry and video signal loss.
Hope all these issues get ironed out before a lot of these units get damaged.

 

[Moldy_Noldy]

Flying with the GPS off is really something I am considering mastering once I get my H back. You should call Yuneec to get your GPS fix.

 

[QuadBart]

Just a recommendation, maybe buy a cheap drone that doesn't have GPS to begin with and practice flying with no GPS on that first. Before I bought my first AP drone, I bought a Traxxas Alias to learn to fly. It had no GPS, so it would wander and it was quick. I crashed it a bunch of times, but it was so light and small, I rarely broke anything. When I finally got my first AP drone, a DJI P3A, it was breeze to fly and even seemed slow by comparison...

I know its not exactly the same flying a little drone vs, the "H", but its a good start... Just a cheap thought!

Flying with the GPS off is really something I am considering mastering once I get my H back. You should call Yuneec to get your GPS fix.

 

[PatR]

People that buy expensive camera drones that lack the ability to fly without GPS have some decision making problems. Noobs to flying and those lacking manual control experience should start out with small, inexpensive quads that lack GPS functionality and learn how to fly, becoming at least somewhat proficient in attitudes, orientation, and control functionality. Our aircraft fly and maintain altitude just fine without GPS but many users can make a lost GPS situation much worse if they lack manual control ability. GPS is not 100% reliable and in aviation we should always be prepared to deal with such a failure.

 

[glider]

People that buy expensive camera drones that lack the ability to fly without GPS have some decision making problems. Noobs to flying and those lacking manual control experience should start out with small, inexpensive quads that lack GPS functionality and learn how to fly, becoming at least somewhat proficient in attitudes, orientation, and control functionality. Our aircraft fly and maintain altitude just fine without GPS but many users can make a lost GPS situation much worse if they lack manual control ability. GPS is not 100% reliable and in aviation we should always be prepared to deal with such a failure.

What happens when the copter refuses to take any commands from the controller?

Yuneec relies heavily on GPS; it is the primary mode. Only by fumbling through the screen can it be turned off, and I'm not sure that can be done in flight. Maybe so. It should be a switch IMO, but it was dumbed down to the lowest common denominator.

Companies should never advertise their flying robots as "easy to fly".

 

[Burntpixel]

Last saturday, June 25th, around 4:45pm I went to my favorite open area to fly my Typhoon H. I started the ST16 first then the Typhoon H. Waited to get initialized then I suddenly noticed that the CGO3+ camera had a live feed way before the satellites on the Typhoon and ST16 did...my thoughts was like..."Wow! That's new!" Still satellites "Acquiring". Then came the "Ready" status. Checked all the satellites one more time... I have about 19. Turned on the motors... then I ascended to about 200ft. Everything was going well until, "VROOM!!!" My Typhoon H started flying away... and it was fast! Then the ST16 vibrated, "GPS Lost! Manual flight only!" PANIC TIME!!! "FLY AWAY!" Tried controlling it and it was not responding. Horrified! Still trying while moving the left and right stick...then I noticed the H was heading far away. OH NO!!! I told myself I better do something and quick. I turned the left stick again and suddenly very little I noticed it responded but was flying very wild. Tried again... and again... and again. And little by little I felt I was starting get more control. The H started to move towards me... but swaying very badly. Then I slowly lowered it down while trying to minimize the swaying until it finally landed. I shut the motors right away. Phew! My nightmare was over..Thank god! I checked the ST16 status and it never recovered the GPS. I checked the aircraft for any damage and there it was a hairline crack on the top cover caused by the violent movements in the air. The gimbal also sustained a tiny crack where the 4k cover resides due to my emergency landing in the dirt. Overall my Typhoon H was fine and we both survived the horror.

Fast forward today, With my telemetry as my back up, Yuneec told me that they will take care of me.

Moral of the story, always fly in an open space away from people because you'll never know when technology will fail. Also, if GPS is lost while flying you can still control it manually but it won't be easy. Don't give up and keep trying! You also have the telemetry on your ST16 as a record and your proof!

Welcome to the "I flew my H in manual mode" club. Exciting wasn,t it.

 

[Skypicswa]

What happens when the copter refuses to take any commands from the controller?

Yuneec relies heavily on GPS; it is the primary mode. Only by fumbling through the screen can it be turned off, and I'm not sure that can be done in flight. Maybe so. It should be a switch IMO, but it was dumbed down to the lowest common denominator.

Companies should never advertise their flying robots as "easy to fly".

I brought this exact question to the Yuneec guy visiting from HK. His reply to not having a manual flight switch is consumers can't fly it and will cause issues. The ST24 has the switch but can't be used on the H. It's my main concern that no switch was provided so I guess I'm no GPS on take off but can't use the sonar. So catch 22

 

[Yuneec_Usa]

Hello Moldy_Noldy

Thank you for taking the time to notify us of your unsatisfactory experience with your Typhoon H. We are taking every action possible to make sure that this problem is rectified and we are able to provide the best solution possible to your inconveniences. Please call tech support for assistance at 1-844-898-6332 / [email protected]

M-F 6am-5pm PST
Sat. 8am-4:30pm PST

 

[Moldy_Noldy]

Hello Moldy_Noldy

Thank you for taking the time to notify us of your unsatisfactory experience with your Typhoon H. We are taking every action possible to make sure that this problem is rectified and we are able to provide the best solution possible to your inconveniences. Please call tech support for assistance at 1-844-898-6332 / [email protected]

M-F 6am-5pm PST
Sat. 8am-4:30pm PST

Thank you for reading my story, Yuneec! I already spoke with customer care technician and my H is in service repair.

 

[Typhoon Charlie]

Same thing happened to m me, except I could n not regain control. Yuneec took care of it, I should have it back Friday. They told me they could not find what caused the fly away but replaced some electronics and the broken parts. I may put it tlup for sale when I greet it back, don't really trust it now.

 

[Moldy_Noldy]

Glad Yuneec took care of you. I still really like my H and Yuneec has been extremely great with their warranty backing up their product. I can't wait to get my H back! I've also researched that DJI has their share of glitches and crashes with their P4 as well... so I've concluded that drone technology will never ever be perfect.

 

[Leo Kresbach]

Last saturday, June 25th, around 4:45pm I went to my favorite open area to fly my Typhoon H. I started the ST16 first then the Typhoon H. Waited to get initialized then I suddenly noticed that the CGO3+ camera had a live feed way before the satellites on the Typhoon and ST16 did...my thoughts was like..."Wow! That's new!" Still satellites "Acquiring". Then came the "Ready" status. Checked all the satellites one more time... I have about 19. Turned on the motors... then I ascended to about 200ft. Everything was going well until, "VROOM!!!" My Typhoon H started flying away... and it was fast! Then the ST16 vibrated, "GPS Lost! Manual flight only!" PANIC TIME!!! "FLY AWAY!" Tried controlling it and it was not responding. Horrified! Still trying while moving the left and right stick...then I noticed the H was heading far away. OH NO!!! I told myself I better do something and quick. I turned the left stick again and suddenly very little I noticed it responded but was flying very wild. Tried again... and again... and again. And little by little I felt I was starting get more control. The H started to move towards me... but swaying very badly. Then I slowly lowered it down while trying to minimize the swaying until it finally landed. I shut the motors right away. Phew! My nightmare was over..Thank god! I checked the ST16 status and it never recovered the GPS. I checked the aircraft for any damage and there it was a hairline crack on the top cover caused by the violent movements in the air. The gimbal also sustained a tiny crack where the 4k cover resides due to my emergency landing in the dirt. Overall my Typhoon H was fine and we both survived the horror.

Fast forward today, With my telemetry as my back up, Yuneec told me that they will take care of me.

Moral of the story, always fly in an open space away from people because you'll never know when technology will fail. Also, if GPS is lost while flying you can still control it manually but it won't be easy. Don't give up and keep trying! You also have the telemetry on your ST16 as a record and your proof!

Well, I had the exactly same problem, but I wasn't able to control my TH. It simply crashed into a house which I was 1 km away

 

[jboddy]

So I've been having a ton of what I think are RF interference issues and also the realsense module has been going on and offline ever since day 1 out of the box. I have crashed her 2x from 3 feet off the ground but luckily only tore up the rotors and got a few scratches. The first time she went crazy I had to grab the drone and it shredded the side of my forearm. I have since then reflashed back to base firmware, recalibrated EVERYTHING, and even gone as far as measuring resistance for the full 360 degree rotation of each brushless motor. It still wobbles in the air and drifts wildly all over the place.....At this point I'm terrified of flying it and do not want my $2000 investment to fly away or smash violently into the ground. So far after 3 mos I'm very impressed with the physical Engineering......BUT Yuneec cut a lot of stupid corners to save $$$. One of the batteries has already failed after a half dozen uses so I assume the smart charger is not smart enough, Rotor guards should have come stock, Antennae for telemetry on the drone should be High gain built Inside the landing gear(Hollow tubes guys!) and not "3 pieces of wire, and there should be a redundant failover for the GPS module, and the wizard remote....lol it's so intuitive an Engineer like myself can even get confused and loose control. AND I purchased the Skyview which feels clunky, hurts your nose, the screen looks like a tiny pixelated picture frame in a fat border with no ability to adjust focus.
I may just need to have Yuneec send a replacement before I feel comfortable flying it again.

Thanks for taking the time to read my rant guys!
any advice is more than welcome.