Typhoon H would not land; had to cut off the motors; crashed broke arm, propellers, camera housing...

HOBBYMAN45324 · Sep 22, 2018

Icarus-50 said:
So after 2 years of flying the Typhoon H today the copter would not land. It hovered at about 20 feet above the ground and everything I did, would not bring it down to land. I tried ascending and then descending, I tried Angle Mode and Smart mode, to no avail. So eventually I opted for my son to press the red start/stop button: the motors stopped and it fell down. I tried to catch it but couldn't. Broke one arm, the camera dislodged breaking the connecting edges that slide into the body of the copter, broke two propellers - that is all I know. What a shame after 2+ years of wonderful flying. As the copter was hanging up in the air, I called Yuneec to realize they no longer provide support on Saturdays. Did not know what to do, other than bring it down as I was afraid it would fly away. Any ideas out there.

I HAVE NOTICED THAT NO ONE HAS MENTIONED WHAT HAPPENED TO ME SHORTLY AFTER I GOT MY H. IT WOULD NOT LAND BUT WAS CLOSE ENOUGH FOR ME TO GRAB IT AND TURN OFF THE MOTORS SAFELY. AS I LOOKED AT THE CONTROLLER I NOTICED THAT THE CAMERA WAS SET TO "FOLLOW" SETTING. I BELIEVE THAT WAS THE REASON IT WOULD NOT LAND. I HAVE NOT HAD THE PROBLEM SINCE.

John Dube · Sep 22, 2018

I had a similar incident last year. They H would not come down, or if it did it was barely moving. I used the RED button to bring it down. It turned out to be a bad POT on the accelerator. Check your controls on the Remote in the maintenance screen to see if there is any response. The POT sometimes will become loose and so the POT itself moves not the internals, so you get no response to the sticks.

Icarus-50 · Sep 22, 2018

ricmitch said:
I was having a problem similar, I would try to decend and it would lurch up about 3 feet then very slowly decend.It was only happening occasionally, at first then more frequently, Also I was having the toilet bowel effect on occasion. I eventually replaced the gps board and have not had a problems since.

Thank you RicMitch. Did you replace the GPS yourself and how easy is that?

Icarus-50 · Sep 22, 2018

HOBBYMAN45324 said:
I HAVE NOTICED THAT NO ONE HAS MENTIONED WHAT HAPPENED TO ME SHORTLY AFTER I GOT MY H. IT WOULD NOT LAND BUT WAS CLOSE ENOUGH FOR ME TO GRAB IT AND TURN OFF THE MOTORS SAFELY. AS I LOOKED AT THE CONTROLLER I NOTICED THAT THE CAMERA WAS SET TO "FOLLOW" SETTING. I BELIEVE THAT WAS THE REASON IT WOULD NOT LAND. I HAVE NOT HAD THE PROBLEM SINCE.

Thank you for sharing. I will check that when I get my Typhoon repaired. I wonder if the log would show that.

cbecker125 · Sep 25, 2018

Icarus-50 said:
So after 2 years of flying the Typhoon H today the copter would not land. It hovered at about 20 feet above the ground and everything I did, would not bring it down to land. I tried ascending and then descending, I tried Angle Mode and Smart mode, to no avail. So eventually I opted for my son to press the red start/stop button: the motors stopped and it fell down. I tried to catch it but couldn't. Broke one arm, the camera dislodged breaking the connecting edges that slide into the body of the copter, broke two propellers - that is all I know. What a shame after 2+ years of wonderful flying. As the copter was hanging up in the air, I called Yuneec to realize they no longer provide support on Saturdays. Did not know what to do, other than bring it down as I was afraid it would fly away. Any ideas out there.

Hello Icarus-50. I have had similar symptoms and I have tentatively concluded that the GPS is having trouble - first by having trouble acquiring aircraft GPS, then once it's airborne, often will have trouble landing with the left stick input. Anyone else concur?

PatR · Sep 25, 2018

Dr Delta said:
Maybe you mean Steve Carr?
This is one of the few threads where I do not see (or I may have have overlooked) PatR's wise words.

Probably Steve as I’m not a fan of using the arming button to land.

ricmitch · Sep 26, 2018

Icarus-50 said:
Thank you RicMitch. Did you replace the GPS yourself and how easy is that?

I did replace it myself it was not difficult. I think the board was about 40.00 or less GPS module

rdonson · Sep 26, 2018

Icarus-50 said:
Thank you RicMitch. Did you replace the GPS yourself and how easy is that?

I replaced mine as well. If you take your time its pretty straighforward. Removing the top shell for the first time can be a bit unnerving but if you watch a video of it being done before hand you can reduce the stress.

cbecker125 · Oct 26, 2018

Follow up to no-landing issue: Replaced the GPS/Compass unit with an OEM unit - no change to symptoms Pshaw! I have a phone appointment with Yuneec support on Oct 31.

Icarus-50 · Nov 26, 2018

Hi everyone, I reported on September 16 that my H would not land, hovering about 20 feet above ground, forcing me to use the red stop engine button, resulting in a crash with broken arm etc. I got my Typhoon repaired and back from UR Technologies, NY and flew it yesterday, after calibrating the accelerometer and the compass. . Again the same problem. It would not land, hovering about 15 feet above ground. This time, since I was close to a hill I flew the H to the higher grounds where its distance from the ground reduced to about 4 feet and caught it by hand. Don't know what the problem is; afraid to fly it again. I though when you send in a drone for repairs, explaining what had happened they would check all the parts. So if the GPS is malfunctioning, they would let me know. Nothing was reported. They requested my ST16 after I had sent it the drone to "test fly it", which I assume they did without any issues. Will have to follow up with them. I looked at the logs after the first crash and it did say that the altitude was -20 feet at the point when the engine was cut (I cut the engine myself at that height). Have to look to see what the telemetry says this time. Any new ideas? Thank you.

AeroJ · Nov 26, 2018

Icarus-50 said:
Any new ideas? Thank you.

I know exactly how frustrating it is to send something off for repair and then for it to come back doing the same thing - my commiserations there.
But not sure we need any new thoughts on this - I remain fairly convinced that we have already nailed this problem, or at least the cause of it when you first reported the issue. If my initial speculation was right, I predicted that your barometer would be way off on occasions when this happens, and as you report, it looks like your log corroborated this. And that erroneous reading conflicts with the H's staged decent characteristics resulting in what looks like a hard stop at a certain level.

But this is not a fatal issue, and shouldn't stop you flying - there is always SOME way to get it down when it does this, and the more you get used to it, the more confident you will feel about being able to rescue it every time. Mine does this maybe 1 flight in 10, and I have never yet failed to bring it back down using one or more of our previously suggested methods. You don't need to fear it, or consider the machine terminally broken / flawed; you just need to know it can happen sometimes, and all the things to try when it does !

I'd find myself a big empty field, and then do lots of tests at lowish level to try and make it do the error, and then practice the things that solve it...

Icarus-50 · Nov 26, 2018

AeroJ said:
I know exactly how frustrating it is to send something off for repair and then for it to come back doing the same thing - my commiserations there.
But not sure we need any new thoughts on this - I remain fairly convinced that we have already nailed this problem, or at least the cause of it when you first reported the issue. If my initial speculation was right, I predicted that your barometer would be way off on occasions when this happens, and as you report, it looks like your log corroborated this. And that erroneous reading conflicts with the H's staged decent characteristics resulting in what looks like a hard stop at a certain level.

But this is not a fatal issue, and shouldn't stop you flying - there is always SOME way to get it down when it does this, and the more you get used to it, the more confident you will feel about being able to rescue it every time. Mine does this maybe 1 flight in 10, and I have never yet failed to bring it back down using one or more of our previously suggested methods. You don't need to fear it, or consider the machine terminally broken / flawed; you just need to know it can happen sometimes, and all the things to try when it does !

I'd find myself a big empty field, and then do lots of tests at lowish level to try and make it do the error, and then practice the things that solve it...

Thank you, AeroJ. Yes, practicing backup solutions is good. My H never did this before, so I am wondering whether after 2+ years, something is giving way. UR and Yuneec are asking me to send the drone back to UR repair shop.

HOBBYMAN45324 · Nov 26, 2018

AeroJ said:
I know exactly how frustrating it is to send something off for repair and then for it to come back doing the same thing - my commiserations there.
But not sure we need any new thoughts on this - I remain fairly convinced that we have already nailed this problem, or at least the cause of it when you first reported the issue. If my initial speculation was right, I predicted that your barometer would be way off on occasions when this happens, and as you report, it looks like your log corroborated this. And that erroneous reading conflicts with the H's staged decent characteristics resulting in what looks like a hard stop at a certain level.

But this is not a fatal issue, and shouldn't stop you flying - there is always SOME way to get it down when it does this, and the more you get used to it, the more confident you will feel about being able to rescue it every time. Mine does this maybe 1 flight in 10, and I have never yet failed to bring it back down using one or more of our previously suggested methods. You don't need to fear it, or consider the machine terminally broken / flawed; you just need to know it can happen sometimes, and all the things to try when it does !

I'd find myself a big empty field, and then do lots of tests at lowish level to try and make it do the error, and then practice the things that solve it...

SOUNDS LIKE YOU HAVE THE CONTROLS SET FOR FOLLOW ME MODE. IT THAT MODE IT WILL NOT LAND BUT WILL HOVER A LITTLE WAYS FROM YOU. CHECK IT OUT!!!!!

AH-1G · Nov 26, 2018

@HOBBYMAN45324
When you first start and lift off the ground, how high off the ground do you start? Can you first hover at 6 feet or so?
When descending, have you tried using the red on/off button to descend slowly? Tap red button do not hold it down.
Each time you tap it, it descends.

Moderator note:
Bump the red button. Do not hold it in which will shut off the motors.

Icarus-50 · Nov 26, 2018

HOBBYMAN45324 said:
SOUNDS LIKE YOU HAVE THE CONTROLS SET FOR FOLLOW ME MODE. IT THAT MODE IT WILL NOT LAND BUT WILL HOVER A LITTLE WAYS FROM YOU. CHECK IT OUT!!!!!

I do not think follow me is on. But will check next time. Thank you.

Icarus-50 · Nov 26, 2018

AH-1G said:
@HOBBYMAN45324
When you first start and lift off the ground, how high off the ground do you start? Can you first hover at 6 feet or so?
When descending, have you tried using the red on/off button to descend slowly?

Moderator note:
Bump the red button. Do not hold it in which will shut off the motors.

I start right on a flat ground, landing gear on the ground.

AH-1G · Nov 26, 2018

Icarus-50 said:
I start right on a flat ground, landing gear on the ground.

Right you do start on the ground, but when you accelerate the engines can you hover at, lets say 5 feet, 7 feet, or does it jump up to 20 feet on it's own?

Icarus-50 · Nov 26, 2018

Icarus-50 said:
I start right on a flat ground, landing gear on the ground.

I am afraid to use the red button as that is how it dropped from the air lat time, damaging the drone. I will admit I hit the button only twice, stopping the engine completely resulting in a free gravitational fall.

Icarus-50 · Nov 26, 2018

AH-1G said:
Right you do start on the ground, but when you accelerate the engines can you hover at, lets say 5 feet, 7 feet, or does it jump up to 20 feet on it's own?

Yes, I can hover at any height. It does not jump, no.