Joined the flyaway club

[bob neal]

i was helping a friend document construction of his new condo complex with my year-old Air when it suddenly took off On its own. I received an interference error message and I hit return to home but it didn’t respond. Then I lost video and it began yawing to the right and took off in a strange line. According to the log it also increased altitude to exceed the limit. Final message I received was motor obstruction before loosing contact. Video contact was never regained. I was able to track it into some woods with the flight log and after tracking around with my iPhone in 90+ heat found it apparently undamaged. Looking for advice. The Condo’s are behind a large steel building and we’re coated with foil Insulation, but I have flown here before without problems.

 

[Meta4]

Looking for advice.

Your flight data is necessary to be able to see what actually happened.
Can you describe the spot you launched from?

 

[bob neal]

I took off beside a large building where I had flown the same route before.

 

[Meta4]

I took off beside a large building where I had flown the same route before.

We need to see numbers .. lots of numbers.
Go to DJI Flight Log Viewer | Phantom Help
Follow the instructions there to upload your flight record from your phone or tablet.
That will give you a detailed report on the flight data.
Come back and post a link to the report it gives you.

What was the surface you launched from?

 

[bob neal]

We need to see numbers .. lots of numbers.
Go to DJI Flight Log Viewer | Phantom Help
Follow the instructions there to upload your flight record from your phone or tablet.
That will give you a detailed report on the flight data.
Come back and post a link to the report it gives you.

What was the surface you launched from?

Concrete pad

 

[Meta4]

Concrete pad

Looks like we're not going to see your flight data, so we can't tell anything for certain.

But launching from a reinforced concrete surface has been responsible for the loss of many drones due to yaw errors.
There's a good chance that's what happened to yours.
Launching from a reinforced concrete surface is just asking for trouble.

 

[Deleted member 3792]

The user manual says you should NOT be near concrete because of the metal in the construction.

 

[Meta4]

The user manual says you should NOT be near concrete because of the metal in the construction.

The manual should warn against launching from reinforced concrete surfaces ... but it doesn't.
The word concrete is nowhere in the manual.

 

[bob neal]

Flight Record

 

[bob neal]

Flight Data. Sorry It took me a while to get this off the phone and into the Mac and then here.

 

[bob neal]

What can you see from the flight data? I can’t read it on my Mac.

 

[drewdrones]

The manual should warn against launching from reinforced concrete surfaces ... but it doesn't.
The word concrete is nowhere in the manual.

Page 47.

Flight Environment Requirements
2. Fly in open areas. Tall structures and large metal structures may affect the accuracy of the on-board compass and GPS system.

Doesn't say much about reinforced concrete, but from spending some time on this forum and this thread specifically, you will figure out quickly that concrete / reinforced concrete are both no go's for take-off spots.

 

[Mav1c]

@sar104

 

[sar104]

@sar104

I guess I'm doing forensics this evening - I was already delinquent on four other cases that need looking at.

 

[Mav1c]

I guess I'm doing forensics this evening - I was already delinquent on four other cases that need looking at.

Is it bad that hunt for flyaway/crash posts in the daily emails and then look for your analysis? It’s like watching forensic files and air disasters..

 

[Bigbird48]

you said you hit RTH you know you have to hold down on the button for 3 or 4 second for it to kick in if you just press and let go most the time it won't work.

 

[Thomas B]

you said you hit RTH you know you have to hold down on the button for 3 or 4 second for it to kick in if you just press and let go most the time it won't work.

One of the reasons why I like my CS. RTH is a standard on screen “button”. ( option to use the controller still works though)

 

[sar104]

As far as I can see the aircraft behaved normally, and did what you instructed. The movement to the NW was caused by the application of right aileron at 72 seconds. The two IMUs, compass and GPS all agree very closely on what happened. It appears to me that you flew it into a tree.

 

[Mav1c]

As far as I can see the aircraft behaved normally, and did what you instructed. The movement to the NW was caused by the application of right aileron at 72 seconds. The two IMUs, compass and GPS all agree very closely on what happened. It appears to me that you flew it into a tree.

View attachment 82752

View attachment 82751

 

[Gryphon962]

Dear readers, if you lose control of your drone your first action is to switch to Sport mode. That is usually sufficient to recover control.