A Close Call and a Warning

[Myha]

Taking off from a balcony almost never ends well.

I have a clear take off horizontally and nothing above me. My question was really whether the VPS will override any anomalous readings from the Compass? It sounds like the VPS will have priority, but it would be good to have a reference somewhere. Anyone no of such a reference?

 

[bimmer7]

I think that if these drones cost us a million dollars, we'd all read the manual several times, hire a drone flight instructors, and all be certified. BUT, for less than a $1K, most or some of us can afford the experience of lessons learned.

 

[RFaust]

You also missed that if your controller stops working for some reason, your drone is landing on top of your covered patio.

I always reset my HP midair after takeoff from my covered patio. I also keep the sonar off so as not to confuse it, but that's mainly for hand catching.

 

[RFaust]

Now be EVEN SMARTER: never launch underneath ANYTHING and you won't have a problem.

I would almost agree, except I usually launch from my upper covered deck because it gives me a clear view and signal above the trees. I always reset the HP after takeoff. So far, so good.

 

[RFaust]

I have a clear take off horizontally and nothing above me. My question was really whether the VPS will override any anomalous readings from the Compass? It sounds like the VPS will have priority, but it would be good to have a reference somewhere. Anyone no of such a reference?

The compass doesn't have anything to do with the VPS does it? That said, if your compass is complaining, don't takeoff from that location (IMO).

 

[Taylor1430]

Ouch! That is painful to watch. Hope your aircraft was OK. It looks like it hit branches several times, and kept "almost" recovering, only to hit more and more branches until it finally succumbed.

It came out fine with the exception of 2 props. More scary than anything and a lesson learned about RTH.

 

[bimmer7]

I had a moment of hair standing when under 15%, the drone is 3 feet in front of me and 5 feet high, and I left stick down to land. It would not land. The warning noise actually distracts me from looking at my phone or the controller, and I did not want to take my eyes off the drone because it had attempted to ascend for the RTH once. When I did look down, the phone was asking me to confirm that I want to cancel RTH. For about 30 seconds to 1 minutes, the drone was in grabbing distance, and I was so tempted to just grab it.

Make sure you know how to cancel RTH or enable it from the controller only. Know it like the back of your hand. Mock play scenarios. Don't rely on your phone because if you are in some sort of panic mode, you can only rely on your instincts.

There are two types of drone pilot. One the has crashed before, and one that will crash.

 

[RFaust]

I had a moment of hair standing when under 15%, the drone is 3 feet in front of me and 5 feet high, and I left stick down to land. It would not land. The warning noise actually distracts me from looking at my phone or the controller, and I did not want to take my eyes off the drone because it had attempted to ascend for the RTH once. When I did look down, the phone was asking me to confirm that I want to cancel RTH. For about 30 seconds to 1 minutes, the drone was in grabbing distance, and I was so tempted to just grab it.

Make sure you know how to cancel RTH or enable it from the controller only. Know it like the back of your hand. Mock play scenarios. Don't rely on your phone because if you are in some sort of panic mode, you can only rely on your instincts.

There are two types of drone pilot. One the has crashed before, and one that will crash.

I've found the red pause button on the controller is my best friend. And there is no confirmation necessary--it just works!

 

[Myha]

I think that if these drones cost us a million dollars, we'd all read the manual several times, hire a drone flight instructors, and all be certified. BUT, for less than a $1K, most or some of us can afford the experience of lessons learned.

I agree and I have read all the documentation and watched many videos.
I have been flying drones for nearly 5 years and I can say that I have only had one crash ( 4 years ago) and that was after taking off from a balcony using a P2 - hence my question.
The crash was caused by magnetic interference - causing the FC to become unresponsive.
The documentation in those days was considerably more limited than it is today. I could not have done anymore 4 years ago given the material available at that time.

Also to come back to your point, if these drones did cost a million dollars then they would have a lot more fail safe and dual redundancy than they currently have, but they don't, so we have to be aware of the limitations of what can be provided within the cost bracket of $1k.

 

[JoBri]

I'm seeing great insight here. thanks!