My P4 kept loosing altitude slowly during my test pre-flight. The, while trying to fly, I lost control and it rose slowly to 250 FT. I hit RTH and it responded. Unfortunately, once over the GPS home it descended rapidly. I assumed that the vision system would slow the decent, but it suffered a high-speed bounce that went up about 10 FT. It broke my gimble guard. Now I've lost confidence.
Another Strange Incident
- Thread starter tom76017
- Start date
You may have an issue with the VPS, needs calibrating perhaps- that might account for the hard landing.
It's hard to know what exactly happened here (a screen shot from airdata doesn't provide much insight) however the increasing altitude where you panicked might be attributed to you entering waypoint mode.
No need to loose confidence. This incident could have been avoided by cancelling RTH and landing manually.
We all get caught out by the unexpected early on in the hobby but it is worth persevering. Once you understand the performance characteristics and behaviour of the AC all will be good.
It's hard to know what exactly happened here (a screen shot from airdata doesn't provide much insight) however the increasing altitude where you panicked might be attributed to you entering waypoint mode.
No need to loose confidence. This incident could have been avoided by cancelling RTH and landing manually.
We all get caught out by the unexpected early on in the hobby but it is worth persevering. Once you understand the performance characteristics and behaviour of the AC all will be good.
Two things raise a flag here, gimbal guards are known to screw up VPS, also push gently on the left stick and you can slow or raise your craft in a auto descent or better yet cancel like With The Birds said when it's coming down (I always land my craft manually) The birds run pretty well, it's our personal confidence with our acquired knowledge we need to continuously hone. I have done some pretty goofy things with my craft and lucky me it was only real close calls (so far), some more hours behind the sticks will make your confidence come back. I have flown a few miles short of 1000 miles so far and over 300 flights and you don't need a gimbal guard, I have never hit my gimbal yet, land it yourself, it's easy and very smooth with a little practice. Keep on flying!
Unfortunately, I agree 100% with With The Birds and pointing a finger at the gimbal guards.... Have had friends that put them on, and their bird behaved erratically on the first flight when landing or low altitudes.. The thought and concept of the gimbal guard is a GREAT one... But with VPS, they don't work well with each other (at least with my experience and watching friends)... Its unfortunate, but when its registering how close it is to the ground, and there is something that is telling it that there is no movement, confusion sets in..
Try the same flight without the guards... Process of elimination, might help get your confidence in the bird back..
Good luck, keep us posted..
Try the same flight without the guards... Process of elimination, might help get your confidence in the bird back..
Good luck, keep us posted..
Lots of variables. I calibrated the IMU and VPS the next day. No issues on a 15 minute flight. This morning, I did the firmware upgrade and recalibrated the IMU. I know the gimbal guard is controversial, but I Amazoned a replacement. I seems cheaper than a camera. Hope to fly again on Saturday in a wide open area near the Everglades. Hope the winds and alligators cooperate.
Thanks all for your thoughts.
Thanks all for your thoughts.
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