High winds at 4000 feet and related crash

[rconradvt]

I have been working on a mountain top at 4000 feet lately and shooting video of my work. The winds sometimes try to take my MPP away, so I flip to sport mode and bring her back. Last weekend I tried to get some nice shots of the fall leaves behind my wood shed and forgot it was in sport mode and relied on the sensors too much (that were deactivated in sport mode) and crashed it hard from 10 feet AGL into the side of my woodshed. Broke the metal plate the gimbal attaches to! But all the cables are fine. The moral of the story is to reset all settings to normal after and before all flights. Also, don’t get cocky on the simple 10 AGL flights.
I replaced the metal bracket and she is flying like a champ again. I have two, to avoid down time from my own stupidity.?
I love my platinums! ?

 

[Starz]

Some lessons are tough to take.
One that I learned some time ago was altitude and its advantages.
Hope it flys again.

 

[Patrickgood]

Nobody is without mistakes.

 

[peterc4]

never used crash mode and probaly never will, glad to hear your all good again

 

[SpitFire]

Thanks for sharing. We all can learn from each other.

 

[Barbara]

Ooopsie....preflight checklist anyone? Used to use one when I first started flying my Spark. Got out of the habit as I got more comfortable flying it. The M2Z is a much bigger chunk of change and I've been caught out a few times already with minor settings. Perhaps I should make up a new checklist.

 

[peteryder01]

Actually, a preflight checklist would be really useful. Anyone have one to share?

 

[Repaid1]

Ooopsie....preflight checklist anyone? Used to use one when I first started flying my Spark. Got out of the habit as I got more comfortable flying it. The M2Z is a much bigger chunk of change and I've been caught out a few times already with minor settings. Perhaps I should make up a new checklist.

Checklists are fine, but in this instance a preflight check list wouldn't circumvent a "Flipped" switch while in flight. But I over check aircraft and settings the night before. It cuts down on stress when one wants to get up and catch "that shot" when a event presents itself. To each their own

 

[Lets Fly]

Sorry about the crash, but like I that photo, what a nice place to fly.

 

[rconradvt]

Checklists are fine, but in this instance a preflight check list wouldn't circumvent a "Flipped" switch while in flight. But I over check aircraft and settings the night before. It cuts down on stress when one wants to get up and catch "that shot" when a event presents itself. To each their own

That may be what happened, I often slide in the case and rub the switch to crash mode. Now I have the sport mode disabled in the settings. ?

 

[rcourtney671]

Thanks for sharing and I like your attitude about the whole thing. I don't have anything to add except be careful if you're using the autonomous flight modes too. I almost slammed my MA2 into a tall tree while shooting a POI in circle mode. Fortunately it was a slow circle so I had time to stop it from flying sideways into the tree.

 

[Flynz]

Sorry to hear about your crash.

I use sports mode on a MP for dealing with high winds or if I get bored flying home from a mission. Always hover at altitude and get back to normal mode and quietly check everything out including which way I am pointing before descending into the danger zone of surrounding obstacles.
Thanks for posting.