Anyone have advice on wobbly descents

[Mark P]

My Phantom is perfect in every way but one in flight. I can't seem to get it to descend from a high altitude with out wobbling/rocking back and fourth which really destroys some of the best footage I have taken. Has anyone tried a full cut to throttle and ramp the throttle up to save it from burying into the ground at 50' off the ground, Im too scared I will snap a prop or something.

Also, does this thing do rolls and loops well and if so how do you pull it off? I have planes if I really want these but would really like to just use this Phantom even though its fairly slow compared to a plane

 

[Eik]

If you descend directly down, ie, not touching the right stick, and just lowering throttle, you will be "falling" into your own turbulence, which will cause wobbling. (You'll rarely (never?) see helicopters to that irl)

If I'm high up, i usually pitch forward, and hold the rudder sligthly to one side, the phantom then flies in big circles while descending. It's better, but still not perfect.

Any other tips would be great for me too

PS, throttlecut isnt adviced, if I understand the manual correctly, the motors will disarm(stop) even in the air if you leave throttle 'off' for 3seconds.

 

[Mark P]

If you descend directly down, ie, not touching the right stick, and just lowering throttle, you will be "falling" into your own turbulence, which will cause wobbling. (You'll rarely (never?) see helicopters to that irl)

If I'm high up, i usually pitch forward, and hold the rudder sligthly to one side, the phantom then flies in big circles while descending. It's better, but still not perfect.

Any other tips would be great for me too

PS, throttlecut isnt adviced, if I understand the manual correctly, the motors will disarm(stop) even in the air if you leave throttle 'off' for 3seconds.

good point and yes they do disarm which is bad news, can that be changed in the Naza assistant I wonder? I never thought of that, Im surprised I haven't buried it because of this

 

[TickTock]

Also, does this thing do rolls and loops well and if so how do you pull it off? I have planes if I really want these but would really like to just use this Phantom even though its fairly slow compared to a plane

I haven't tried, but supposedly in Manual Mode (have to enable it with the sw) you can do acrobatics. This disables the attitude correction. A follow-on question, then, is if you are practicing stunts and you can't get out of a tumble, can I switch it back to Atti or GPS mode and have Naza stabilize it for me (before it hits the ground).

 

[metrowave]

Just a thought but if you've flown a numerous times, you may need to calibrate it again using the software supplied on DJI site. It's better than see it hit the ground on its sides.

 

[Mark P]

Just a thought but if you've flown a numerous times, you may need to calibrate it again using the software supplied on DJI site. It's better than see it hit the ground on its sides.

Actually it has wobbled in descent since the first flight and during all flights, it has to be that it is fighting it's own turbulence like EiK stated. I do the manual gyro calibration before each flight just because Im a little **** about things like that

 

[Mark P]

Also, does this thing do rolls and loops well and if so how do you pull it off? I have planes if I really want these but would really like to just use this Phantom even though its fairly slow compared to a plane

I haven't tried, but supposedly in Manual Mode (have to enable it with the sw) you can do acrobatics. This disables the attitude correction. A follow-on question, then, is if you are practicing stunts and you can't get out of a tumble, can I switch it back to Atti or GPS mode and have Naza stabilize it for me (before it hits the ground).

This I would like to know, can it be flipped into manual, do a loop, then flipped back to Atti. if so this would be very sweet but sort of scary the first time trying

 

[Eik]

You can go from manual to atti to make it correct itself, however I don't know how well it will work if the phantom is upside down when you try it..

On a side note, I've gotten bored of atti and flew some manual the last few days. Just got back after trying a loop, which ended in a faceplant. (Got cocky and did it at way to low altitude)
Video and damage assessment will be posted sometime during the weekend if I can be arsed.

 

[Sac D]

You can go from manual to atti to make it correct itself, however I don't know how well it will work if the phantom is upside down when you try it..

On a side note, I've gotten bored of atti and flew some manual the last few days. Just got back after trying a loop, which ended in a faceplant. (Got cocky and did it at way to low altitude)
Video and damage assessment will be posted sometime during the weekend if I can be arsed.

Somewhere in here, some good advice was posted the other day... whenever you try a new maneuver or anything risky, do it at a fairly high altitude so that you will have time to make a saving correction.

 

[Gizmo3000]

man you guys have balls!
I'd never dare switch into manual mode myself, scary enough flying in ATTI tho I fly near a lot of trees and stuff.

as for switching into ATTI from Manual, yes, it should totally correct itself
i saw one (very brave fellow) in video toss an un-armed Phantom into the air and another person started it up immediately and it took to the air.
but I'll sure as hell never try that!

as for descents, i noticed the wobbles as well.
i think the key is doing it very slowly, and if you can keep it in ATTI that'll help.

 

[jumanoc]

Also, does this thing do rolls and loops well and if so how do you pull it off? I have planes if I really want these but would really like to just use this Phantom even though its fairly slow compared to a plane

I haven't tried, but supposedly in Manual Mode (have to enable it with the sw) you can do acrobatics. This disables the attitude correction. A follow-on question, then, is if you are practicing stunts and you can't get out of a tumble, can I switch it back to Atti or GPS mode and have Naza stabilize it for me (before it hits the ground).

Some contribution around this,
1) Wooble, is caused because self turbulence and Stall (props are rotating slower)
2) When you're using Graupner props, be careful, specially over 4000" ASL (that high, the air is too thin and you won't get enough descent recovery power and if near to ground, may crash). No just wooble... Fall down :shock:

 

[colchester daz]

You can stop the wobble on descent if you come down a lot slower, also the motors wont shut off in manual mode if you power right off, but you run the risk of a crash! I really want to try a flip, but its been windy recently so im waiting for better weather.

 

[pwright]

as for descents, i noticed the wobbles as well.
i think the key is doing it very slowly, and if you can keep it in ATTI that'll help.

I've been flying almost exclusively GPS but I am going to have try some ATTI flying as the descent wobbles can be really bad.

 

[RDTague]

ANY 'copter will wobble on descend, if done too quickly, because the props are in "dirty air"...it's own turbulence. Try: descending slower or pitch it forward/backward slightly.

 

[FangsCPO]

ANY 'copter will wobble on descend, if done too quickly, because the props are in "dirty air"...it's own turbulence. Try: descending slower or pitch it forward/backward slightly.

Great advice on this thread thanks fellas. I've been trying to figure out what caused the wobble. Now I know. Luckily, I did a video the other day that in my opinion I had not jello affect or wobble. So I was pretty proud of myself. I've been expermenting with my VGE Anti-jello mount and placing an additional piece of soft foam in between the two carbon fiber plates. It seems to have helped alot. I'm just having a blast and I still get really scared right before I start flying it. LOL!!!

 

[tanasit]

One can always try the MANUAL mode but keep your finger ready to flip it back to ATTI.
I used to fly my Y6 in ATTI (the other control board called it ACC mode) for months then one day I decided to go for the Manual mode which was somewhat intimidated at first. I stick with the manual mode for months, then one day I tried the ATTI mode and found out that I now can not fly in ATTI mode as smooth as in the Manual mode. This is because whenever I let go the sticks back to the center position, the craft will make a sudden stop or put on the brake to level itself and follow the path as it should be. In windy weather, the ATTI will be required for most of us.
If you want to try to flip, get her up very high and if the flip is not as fast or powerful enough, you can try setting the GAIN. But note also that the VERTICAL gain setting has no effect in Manual mode.
Another caution, just before you flip to manual mode, make sure that the throttle stick is at mid point otherwise you will either go UP or DOWN pretty hard. This is because in ATTI mode, the throttle stick has no effect from 10% up to 90%.

 

[DomKane]

I would say that if you're getting a serious wobble on descent, then you might just be coming down too quickly. The physics of turbulence will cause a little wobble in most descents, but teak it down real slow and it should be barely noticeable.

 

[colchester daz]

I think it depends on what props you also use, I have noticed a massive amount of wobble on decent now im flying with carbon props,

 

[GearLoose]

tanasit wrote: "...in ATTI mode, the throttle stick has no effect from 10% up to 90%."

I'm just learning to fly the Phantom and have been practising in both GPS and ATTI modes. I don't understand the comment above... do you mean there is no change in throttle at all between 10 & 90%? How can that be?

 

[denodan]

What camera setup you using? I tried my GoPro 3 and casing, get wobbles coming down. With the GoPro mount that comes with the Phantom, using that hardly any wobbles. The heavier your Phantom the worse the wobble problem also.

Don't add extra Weight to your Phantom really helps.