Possibility of Flyaway

[Ian Fraser]

I have had sixty something flights and mine as never just flown away. I get the compass error a lot but after a few minutes it settles and goes away. This just forces you to go into atti mode which is not much of a fly away situation as much as it is a loss of gps help. Any wind or momentum will send your quad flying but it can always be stopped and brought back. Usually the errors we have seen are more with return to home sending it in a weird direction or low and fast. These are being tested for the next firmware update as we speak.

Thats a pretty standard expert response.

On the day A1-001 ended its life it had 2 of these events the first one it actually responded to control input it flew backward for around 25m. The second time the distance was 64m and it would not respond to any control input.

Now you would think if I could catch and recover in 25m then a 64m distance would be no problem.

So while the experts ponder what us mortals can do remember you were not there.

 

[Mazz]

Thats a pretty standard expert response.

So while the experts ponder what us mortals can do remember you were not there.

Actually it was more of an answer to the OP when he said;

I really want to put her up in the air but what is the chances of flyaway?

If you have not figured it out, it means it is unlikely if you have it properly set up and have a little bit of experience. There are way more people here who have never had an issue than there are people who have. Unfortunately most people do not like to admit that when their bird flies away it that it was likely their fault. Not always, but usually Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but fly- aways are just not an issue for most of the people that know what they are doing.

 

[trey ward]

seems to happen with some degree of regularity for me, I've flown it about 10 times, and about a minute after takeoff, I'll get the compass error and it flips to atti mode. It usually lasts for 30 seconds, then it corrects itself. Before I knew about this, it caused me to fly right into a tree, where my Inspire was caught 20ft off the ground. Made it away with only a broken prop (lucky).

 

[Mazz]

Thi

seems to happen with some degree of regularity for me, I've flown it about 10 times, and about a minute after takeoff, I'll get the compass error and it flips to atti mode. It usually lasts for 30 seconds, then it corrects itself. Before I knew about this, it caused me to fly right into a tree, where my Inspire was caught 20ft off the ground. Made it away with only a broken prop (lucky).

This is not an example of a fly away. It is an example of what I said which is a flip to atti that the pilot can not control. Mine also flips to atti but that does not make it "not controllable". If you can not fly in atti in the conditions, do not fly in gps mode.

 

[kc@uav-outlet]

If you're honestly worried about a tracking option, check out Trackimo, we have them in stock at the shop. We're playing around with them now, will put up a solid review of them soon, have seen several people curious about this kind of product.

 

[Mazz]

I have a trackimo on mine as well. Fortunately I have never had to actually use it in a lost quad situation but in tests it worked well. Can even be fun to play with.
After having real fly away issues with my phantoms I was generally worried as well, don't get me wrong, and the possibility is always there with a new firmware update or other change. As it stands right now, I do not worry TOO much about it.

 

[Ian Fraser]

I got an iPad air 2 last night for my second controller. I have been playing with the sim and trying different wind speeds at 10-15ms wind the Inspire 1 is controllable and I can get it to return to the home point in atti. I tried 19ms and it pretty well replicated the crash no amount of forward stick would bring it back and even switching back to GPS mode wouldn't bring it back at 19ms

On the day of the crash there were mild winds at ground level it would seem that at 25m on that day there is a possibility that I hit a gust of wind of around 15-19ms.

So what do I take away from this and what would a more experienced flyer do?

Do you go for height and try and find clear air & less wind and wait for GPS to come back (providing the wind speed is lower enough) or do you try and get it down and hope you can avoid trees.

Note at 15-19ms thats 50-70klm/h ground speed so stuff is happening quickly.

 

[The Editor]

I got an iPad air 2 last night for my second controller. I have been playing with the sim and trying different wind speeds at 10-15ms wind the Inspire 1 is controllable and I can get it to return to the home point in atti. I tried 19ms and it pretty well replicated the crash no amount of forward stick would bring it back and even switching back to GPS mode wouldn't bring it back at 19ms

On the day of the crash there were mild winds at ground level it would seem that at 25m on that day there is a possibility that I hit a gust of wind of around 15-19ms.

So what do I take away from this and what would a more experienced flyer do?

Do you go for height and try and find clear air & less wind and wait for GPS to come back (providing the wind speed is lower enough) or do you try and get it down and hope you can avoid trees.

Note at 15-19ms thats 50-70klm/h ground speed so stuff is happening quickly.

I have flown the Inspire in 30-33mph winds (15m/s) - measured on the ground with an anemometer.
I was astounded at how well it flew and how stable it was in those sorts of conditions.

Let's put it this way..... I DO NOT want to fly in anything stronger than that !!!

 

[Ian Fraser]

So the question is everything is nice at ground level you take off GPS drops (shouldn't happen) and you hit winds of around 19ms what does an experienced flyer do? Can you control your Inspire 1 in 19ms winds in atti mode.

Try it in the sim and let me know.

 

[Meta4]

So the question is everything is nice at ground level you take off GPS drops (shouldn't happen) and you hit winds of around 19ms what does an experienced flyer do?

19 m/sec = 37 knots - a very strong wind.
Technically it's a gale - Beaufort force 8.
Trees would be bending over, small branches breaking and the wind through trees would be quite loud.
It wouldn't be pleasant to be outdoors in it.
If it's blowing 37 knots you'd know it and definitely wouldn't even consider flying.
Wind at height can be more than at ground level but you're not going to encounter 37 knots by surprise.
If there is a concern about losing sat lock, the important thing is to not be anywhere that drifting on the wind will cause problems. ie. well away from trees, buildings or other obstacles.

 

[Skyline]

I just did a crazy flight at the field today, I have give a thumb up for Inspire. It rock solid and performance outstanding. Im Happy

LG G3

 

[Tpoze41]

My flight today!

 

[Highrpm955]

I'm around 80 flights in, and have never had a hiccup.(knocks on wood). The first time it switched channels far out kinda freak me a little, but otherwise, she is rock solid and does every command precisely. Happy so far, but I guess anything can happen. Checklists, checklists, checklists.... And don't fly on a kp9 day

 

[Skyline]

Im happy for all of us. Happy Flying

LG G3

 

[Skyline]

My flight today!

Love ur Vid, crazy dance lol

LG G3

 

[Tpoze41]

Love ur Vid, crazy dance lol

LG G3

Completely out of control, all that worked was up and I hammered on it, The only thing that saved it..