Careless crash using the Litchi app - PILOT ERROR

[Mikeg]

After several practices with my Mavic pro I decided to experiment with the litchi waypoints– I carefully plotted my route paying special attention to the heights of the various waypoints. I then experimented with a short mission – successfully.
With a great deal of trepidation I set my MP to carry out a longer mission. I made sure to set the heights all above 40 m so that I would not crash into trees. Despite what I thought was a great deal of careful planning my MP crashed into a tree. Fortunately using Google maps and my mini iPad's GPS I was able to recover my MP. Whilst recovering it I realised my big mistake. I had set the waypoints altitude to 40 m (as I knew none of the trees were above 35 m in height). What I didn't take into account was that some of the 35 meter trees were on fields over 30 m above my home point and therefore I crashed into the trees at a height of about 5/10 m. Whilst flying I noticed the ground seemed remarkably close and I should have simply taken control of my MP and ascended to 80/90 m and I should've sent my RTH altitude to 90 m NOT 40m. Silly me. Fortunately the damage was minimal (I don't know if the propeller guards helped reduce the damage) - two broken props.
The only sensible thing I did was to keep the gimbal guard on.

I thought I would share this with you all so that you can avoid making the same mistake.


Sent from my iPad using MavicPilots

 

[BD0G]

Thats a scary one for sure! I bet the pucker factor was huge! LOL

When using Lichti I have my finger on the Sport Mode switch so that I can flip it an take over flight manually immediately.

Best to fly your mission that way first and then if all the way points checkout and are flyable then repeat the mission and film / capture pics. Camera Bubble on was pretty smart as I bet that saved your gimbal and camera.

 

[MRussell110]

Hi, Don't have a MP as yet, but thanks for sharing.. I have much to absorb during the painfully long UK Stock shortages.

 

[CC Rider]

Wow, what a close one! All things considered, you walked away from the crash without too much loss, which is a plus. What a drag to have happen, especially after all of the forethought you put into your efforts. But your story demonstrates how one simple, understandable oversight can have seriously bad ripple effects, so thanks for the lesson and reminder to us all to be as perfect UAV pilots as we can be everytime we fly. And when it comes to automating your flight, I guess the lesson to be learned is kind of similar to the rule good carpenters use: Measure TWICE and Cut ONCE, aeronautically speaking.

 

[ElGuapo]

I am sorry, that sucks.

I am an experienced Autopilot & recently Litchi user. Basically there are 2 ways on how to deal with terrain elevations. One of them by manually flying the aircraft to get a real feel for the elevations. The other is with Google Earth on a desktop/laptop computer. You could also use the Litchi hub on a computer to deal with terrain elevations when programming your missions. In the Litchi Fly Hub when you insert way points the apps alerts you of terrain changes.

Mission Hub - Litchi

 

[Anthony Viscomi]

I am sorry, that sucks.

I am an experienced Autopilot & recently Litchi user. Basically there are 2 ways on how to deal with terrain elevations. One of them by manually flying the aircraft to get a real feel for the elevations. The other is with Google Earth on a desktop/laptop computer. You could also use the Litchi hub on a computer to deal with terrain elevations when programming your missions. In the Litchi Fly Hub when you insert way points the apps alerts you of terrain changes.

Mission Hub - Litchi

Very good point...I always use the Mission Hub when planning Litchi routes/missions

 

[leenanj]

Been there! That is why I love FPV Camera app for my waypoint missions.

It gets data elevation from google and compares that to your setting and tells you your actual above ground elevation.

I live in a mountainous area and this has saved my butt many times.

FPV Camera