5 days of Hard Flying.... I experianced all sorts of issues.

Jeremyconk · Jun 30, 2014

First let me say a blanket sorry for all the times I posted thinking that I knew the answer to common problems, but I had never experienced them....

I went on a camping trip this past weekend... My brother and I both had P2V+'s... We flew at least 10 flights per day, and I'm happy to report we both left with our birds in hand, and tons of great pics & video's....

BUT.....

I experienced the dreaded black screen of death during a couple flights... I had all the telemetry data and active radar, just no FPV.... I landed swapped out the battery, and went back in the air with no issues... I did notice the couple times it happened, It was cold.... around 50f on the ground and maybe 40f in the air.... We were at a high mountain lake.. 5000' elevation was the lake... We were flying 500-1000' up....

I also experienced twice where the battery hit 25%, and the bird went into an auto-land like state... I had no power to lift it into the air... I could fly it around and it would hover... Just not climb... This was ok because I was able to get the craft back over the land, but it kinda freaked me out... It's also interesting to note that this was always at the end of the flight, and I was in a hover around 20-30' when it happened.

I'm NOT COMPLAINING HERE !! I LOVE MY DRONE... Just wanted to share what I found after several flights....
With stock P2V+'s we were easily flying 2500' - 3500' distances with the PBooster App....
I also figured out how to launch and recover from a kayak.. No small feat, but it got easier the more I did it

Here are a couple pics from the trip....

gecarey · Jun 30, 2014

Re: 5 days of Hard Flying.... I experianced all sorts of iss

Sounds like you had a great weekend of flying.....

Your battery issue info is here.....

viewtopic.php?f=19&t=17324

A large number of us are experiencing the same issue..... Lots of good info for you in the thread above...

Jeremyconk · Jun 30, 2014

Re: 5 days of Hard Flying.... I experianced all sorts of iss

I should have put on my last post that the problems I experienced stopped once I landed and swapped out for a new battery, and then took off again.....I never had back to back issues where I could pinpoint and replicate the cause of the problem..
I never felt the craft was in danger of a "fly away"... It's just kinda scary that $1300 is cruising around up in the air, and still kinda experimental...

A few more pics

wattsn · Jun 30, 2014

Re: 5 days of Hard Flying.... I experianced all sorts of iss

Stunning images. Even more so as you were controlling from a kayak. Nerves of steel

Thanks for sharing.

Phantom_Menace66 · Jun 30, 2014

Re: 5 days of Hard Flying.... I experianced all sorts of iss

Awesome pictures, it looks like a beautiful place. You said you were camping, may I asked how you recharged the batteries? I have often thought of how to achieve this if in a remote location.
Brave indeed launching off a Kayak! I have noticed that my bravado improves with each brew consumed... Ha ha!
It is a little unnerving watch $1300+ flying around, takes a bit of getting used to.

Just one little criticism....Can you not refer to them as 'drones'? Were copping enough flack as it is...lol

Happy Flying!

syotr · Jun 30, 2014

Re: 5 days of Hard Flying.... I experianced all sorts of iss

Nice images. I am sure you got some great video. If you are having any issues you should not fly over water until you have them resolved. You were lucky this time. Also launching from a kayak means that if the Phantom goes into a RTH mode, it will try to land where it recorded it's home position which was the location of the kayak when you launched. Your kayak may have drifted during the flight or the bird may miss it's launch point by a few feet. Either way, it's in the water.

cemerton · Jun 30, 2014

Re: 5 days of Hard Flying.... I experianced all sorts of iss

Great photos.

BJames · Jun 30, 2014

Re: 5 days of Hard Flying.... I experianced all sorts of iss

Holy smoke.. as a kayaker, I would love to fly from my yak, especially at some of the events we do where we get a sizable flotilla. I prefer to paddle ocean kayaks and no way would I take that gear along unless I was on a Hobie or big rec boat.
You got me thinkin about it though..