almost crashed; lesson learned

[FCS-04]

Well found out the "almost" hard way that putting your p3p into the truck and driving a mile to a new location will wreak havoc on your compass calibration, never powered down and figured I'd be fine. I got about 80ft up and got a compass error message and the drone started spiralling down to earth, switched over to Atti mode and it snapped back to life and I was able to land, performed a fresh cal on the compass and all was well after that. I would have been bummed out if I turned my 3 day old phantom into a lawn dart.

 

[4wd]

There wouldn't be any need if it was turned off, do you mean you left it turned on in the truck?
Definitely not wise, there is a remote chance of it trying to take off.

 

[FCS-04]

There wouldn't be any need if it was turned off, do you mean you left it turned on in the truck?
Definitely not wise, there is a remote chance of it trying to take off.

Yes left the p3 powered up as I was only heading a mile down the road and didn't want to power down. I'm not sure how it would take off unless the remote somehow pushed the sticks down to start the takeoff sequence. Either way I will be powering down and doing a compass calibration from now on.

 

[envisionabove]

Yep he left it on...dear oh dear oh dear....
Thanks for Manning up!

Good tip!

 

[JohnK]

Good thing you had the presence of mind to switch to ATTI. Glad you made it through to share the lesson!!

 

[Buckaye]

Well found out the "almost" hard way that putting your p3p into the truck and driving a mile to a new location will wreak havoc on your compass calibration, never powered down and figured I'd be fine. I got about 80ft up and got a compass error message and the drone started spiralling down to earth, switched over to Atti mode and it snapped back to life and I was able to land, performed a fresh cal on the compass and all was well after that. I would have been bummed out if I turned my 3 day old phantom into a lawn dart.

Glad it ended well... and glad you recognize your mistake... we all make them now an again (except a few people here who are always right... lol).

 

[envisionabove]

Glad it ended well... and glad you recognize your mistake... we all make them now an again (except a few people here who are always right... lol).

Sammy already apologized for thinking he was an expert. sorry had too...

 

[Recce2]

Another "Lesson Learned" - thanks for sharing.

 

[RedHotPoker]

Love a happy ending...
That could have resulted far differently. With you holding a pile of Phantom pieces. Glad you had the mind set, to spring into action.

Get to fly, another day... ;-)

RedHotPoker

 

[Erik Somoroff]

Good thinking ! ! ! Enjoy it

 

[Foosy]

Correct. No need to re-calibrate the compass unless the distance traveled is > 100 miles.
However, leaving the Phantom on while driving is a big problem. Especially as:
1. The home point does not get updated
2. There is no GPS reception while your phantom is in the car
3. the compass readings while the device is on and changing position without any user input, causes it to lose calibration, at least temporarily.

You want to make sure that the phantom is off while being transported.

 

[DShot4Twenty]

Keep app running and reset home location ever so often. Perhaps that woulda worked.

 

[Wibble]

A bee or a wasp in the car is distracting enough - a P3 buzzing around - OMG!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Erroll]

Well found out the "almost" hard way that putting your p3p into the truck and driving a mile to a new location will wreak havoc on your compass calibration, never powered down and figured I'd be fine. I got about 80ft up and got a compass error message and the drone started spiralling down to earth, switched over to Atti mode and it snapped back to life and I was able to land, performed a fresh cal on the compass and all was well after that. I would have been bummed out if I turned my 3 day old phantom into a lawn dart.

Did the quad not change the color of it's flashing LEDs to yellow or red?

Did the app not warn you very clearly (audible alert and indication on the screen) before take-off that there was a compass problem?