What was your first / best crash?

zippyus went on a bit of a rant said Tue, May 26th 2015 at 2:37pm ET

After maybe 10 outdoor flights, I finally crashed my Meh DJI Phantom 1.1.1 – not destroyed it, it's a tough sucker, but definitely a crash. This is my first quad, and if I were writing up an FAA report of the crash the factors leading it would be: obstacles in the launch/landing area and pilot disorientation (copter facing me, pushed right when I shoulda pushed left), made worse by a particularly gusty day.

Coming in for a landing, I hit a concrete support at what I'd guess was 3 - 4mph horizontal, at a height of 3'. The impact ripped the basic GoPro mount and my cheap GoPro clone off and applied some good sideways force on one of the landing struts, ripping a screw out and pulling the bottom and top shells slightly out of alignment. Looks like I can pop them back in place once I unscrew the two halves.

It was thrilling, but also a reminder of how easy it is to get turned around while flying. I'm thinking of setting up an obstacle course with cones soon and flying the quadcopter through it in various orientations.

6 comments, 7 replies
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dave said Tue, May 26th 2015 at 2:47pm ET:

Makes sense, I bet that's the most common cause. I feel like I'd want a couple dozen hours flying around a cheap-o quadcopter just to feel like I got the orientation down. Glad it wasn't destroyed, though.

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- I've flown Meh's $25 quadcopter a bit, and it's such a different experience, I now have an appreciation for why pilots talk about the number of hours spent behind the controls of a particular airplane.
  
  zippyus said Tue, May 26th 2015 at 3:32pm ET
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nltownsend843 said Tue, May 26th 2015 at 2:48pm ET:

Ive slammed my colective pitch helicopters in the ground a few times lol

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djslack said Tue, May 26th 2015 at 9:14pm ET:

First: noseover on takeoff in wind, scuffed prop edges but not bad.

Worst: came in hot, descending and moving forward, going to flare my approach like a traditional heli, when the ground rose up to meet the landing skids and another front flip. Was closer to a hill than i realized. Still no real damage.

Those are also my only two crashes (so far). Both of these would have been non-incidents if you didn't have to hold down the throttle for 3 seconds to shut off power, but that's a small price to pay for the flight control system the phantom has.

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- @djslack both stick down and in or down and out (same way you start) will also shut it down, and I think it's a faster shut off.
  
  Ignorant said Tue, May 26th 2015 at 9:51pm ET
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- @Ignorant
  It does seem a little faster that way ,but i usually get some sideways trust too when i put the Sticks in the corners.
  
  nltownsend843 said Tue, May 26th 2015 at 10:01pm ET
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fultonmartin said Wed, May 27th 2015 at 10:33am ET:

I started with the Syma X5C, and have lost 3 of them: wind took one, other two disappeared behind some houses, and I was too embarrassed to knock on doors to see if I could find them.
I've built several, and they're comparatively scary--the props are buzzsaws compared to the Syma--but they're more wind-proof. I've crashed a lot, sometimes with camera attached. (https://www.youtube.com/user/fultonmartin/videos)
It's taken me a long time to get half-way smooth and coordinated, and I still haven't got the orientation thing down.
The DJI's very different--in GPS mode it doesn't take a lot of skill to fly. If you get discomboobulated, just let go of the sticks and it'll hover where it is. But I've only flown it behind my house; I need to haul it out to some open space and practice the orientation thing. (I don't have a car, so transporting it is a problem.)

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- @fultonmartin I like your Mission Bay video. I lived in San Diego for a little over four years (la jolla/mira mesa) and love the area. What quad are you running in this video? Have pics of it?
  
  garyhgaryh said Wed, May 27th 2015 at 2:58pm ET
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- @garyhgaryh The reason those pictures are so impressive is because it got away from me--the FC has a 'baro' mode, but the barometer is supoosed to be covered so wind doesn't affect it. I had inadvertently turned it on and the thing just took off--I couldn't bring it down. Finally, it /did/ start to come down, and I finally noticed the switch, and turned it off.
  
  fultonmartin said Wed, May 27th 2015 at 8:41pm ET
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- @garyhgaryh Oh, and there are pictures of some of my builds at http://fulton.smugmug.com/Hobbies/Quads. That particular one was the OPQ
  
  fultonmartin said Wed, May 27th 2015 at 8:58pm ET
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- @fultonmartin Love your foam landing gear! :) Nice quads!
  
  garyhgaryh said Thu, May 28th 2015 at 7:36am ET
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zippyus said Wed, May 27th 2015 at 8:02pm ET:

"just let go of the sticks and it'll hover where it is."

So hard to remember when you can see the quad heading for an object. The instinct to do something is so strong!

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ruouttaurmind said Wed, May 27th 2015 at 11:33pm ET:

Most of you have seen this already, but it was my first flight of the P1. And I got away without so much as a scratch, so I was thrilled about that. :-)

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