Night, heading out to see how accurately my new M2 would land on it's H-pad with reflective strips. Going down front porch steps carrying drone, smart controller, helipad and large flashlight, I slipped on ice and of course threw the "least expensive thing" (my M2 - sigh). It had arms unfolded and "flew" about 6' into a block wall and concrete. An inspection showed no discernible damage, so I stupidly decided to fly. Turns out I was wrong about the damage.
Take off was normal, no IMU or other warnings, flew for a few minutes and tried RTH, it worked but was not centered on helipad. Flew for 5 or 6 minutes and the controller display said "landing" even though drone was about 50' up - strange. I increase throttle and it pinwheeled straight down into about 2 inches of snow.
The LF arm was broken about 3/4" from the hinge and that motor was hot to the touch. I'm assuming the arm was failing in flight, and that as it bent slowly upwards, the other motors compensated for as long as they could before the arm failed.
Damage: Broken LF arm with bent hinge pin. RF arm hinge pin sheared (but otherwise undamaged). LR arm torn out of hinge bushing, two props broken, seriously damaged pride. One bruised 75 year old thigh but thankfully no broken bones. Could have been worse. Repair parts were less than $125 (very reasonable I'm thinking) and took a few hours. (I was a Navy ET for 8 years, so am competent repairing stuff.)
Lessons learned. Don't slip on ice when carrying M2. Do a complete inspection (not one in the dark with flashlight) and re-calibrate after dropping. Don't ignore unexpected landing prompts.
Have an hour on it after repair and all is well.
Take off was normal, no IMU or other warnings, flew for a few minutes and tried RTH, it worked but was not centered on helipad. Flew for 5 or 6 minutes and the controller display said "landing" even though drone was about 50' up - strange. I increase throttle and it pinwheeled straight down into about 2 inches of snow.
The LF arm was broken about 3/4" from the hinge and that motor was hot to the touch. I'm assuming the arm was failing in flight, and that as it bent slowly upwards, the other motors compensated for as long as they could before the arm failed.
Damage: Broken LF arm with bent hinge pin. RF arm hinge pin sheared (but otherwise undamaged). LR arm torn out of hinge bushing, two props broken, seriously damaged pride. One bruised 75 year old thigh but thankfully no broken bones. Could have been worse. Repair parts were less than $125 (very reasonable I'm thinking) and took a few hours. (I was a Navy ET for 8 years, so am competent repairing stuff.)
Lessons learned. Don't slip on ice when carrying M2. Do a complete inspection (not one in the dark with flashlight) and re-calibrate after dropping. Don't ignore unexpected landing prompts.
Have an hour on it after repair and all is well.
