Crash!!!

[Mako79]

I always just hold the left stick down for 3 seconds to power off but is the confusion that you have to first pull left stick down, then while down slide it to the corner while doing the same on the right stick? Are people just landing, letting it idle with the sticks centred then pulling straight down to the corners and this is causing the Phantom to spin around?

Holding down is the best

I'm not a hand catcher as I like the skill of softly landing on the ground and if I do hand catch its once in a while when I cannot find a clear level spot to land safely.

But is part of this tale not another example of why hand catching is potentially quite dangerous as it only takes a gust of wind, slip of the hand or a failure of some sort to have those spinning propellers coming at you? I'm not criticising, just wondering whether people consider it when deciding on the hand catch option.

Everything is potentially dangerous. You just need to be educated and aware of the risk and assess the scenario with pros and cons. The hand catch method is very safe if you practice and take precaution. I've heard where the ground landing has cause the phantom to cartwheel near a pram. The CSC kill motors should NEVER be used unless its an emergency.

Think carefully about the CSC movement (most do this in 1 quick movement) - its telling the phantom to down thrust/yaw right/move back left = tip left backwards = cartwheel.

I'm glad that the user was hurt and no bystanders or animals. This I why I hand catch, so I hurt myself and not others.

Using a lanyard and hand catching forces you to use the left hand to pull the stick down for 3 seconds as the right hand is catching the leg.
I have never ground landed and always caught from day one and have never lost a prop.
* Use prop guards to practice. Remove when you are proficient.
* Watch your surroundings - rocks, kids, pets, trees.
* Catch downwind (wind behind you and phantom in front). If a gust hits, the phantom will move away from you. The P3's Vision positioning system should make catching the phantom a breeze.
* Turn the phantom so you can see the back of the battery - helps with orientation.
* Keep above head and in arms reach. Walk up to the phantom and grab back left leg. Hold left stick down.
And remember, if in doubt, throttle out. Push the stick up!

 

[GAP308]

I too have an eaten up hand. Mine was STUPID!! I was showing a friend the GPS hover and how if you pull it away it returns to home.. Mind you I was showing him by PUSHING it away so naturally the blades leaned towards me trying to RTH. Then I gave it a shove which put the thing into anger mode and decided to meat grind my hand. This was 2 weeks ago and I still have healing scares on my hand where the webbing is between my thumb and index finger. Even better.. When it hit my hand it shut the blade down so the P3P went drifting straight into my car and gave the front right fender a few scratches of its own. The sh#t we learn the hard way..

 

[louforgiveno]

I too have an eaten up hand. Mine was STUPID!! I was showing a friend the GPS hover and how if you pull it away it returns to home.. Mind you I was showing him by PUSHING it away so naturally the blades leaned towards me trying to RTH. Then I gave it a shove which put the thing into anger mode and decided to meat grind my hand. This was 2 weeks ago and I still have healing scares on my hand where the webbing is between my thumb and index finger. Even better.. When it hit my hand it shut the blade down so the P3P went drifting straight into my car and gave the front right fender a few scratches of its own. The sh#t we learn the hard way..

lol just about the exact thing happened to me except I tried holding a leg and physically move it over like 5 feet and man that thing revved up and ate my arm....which thank god I had on a jacket but it still drew blood and made a lump that took over a week to recede.

 

[GhostMaster]

Forget carbon props, who said they are better? And why?

 

[sdharris]

have never ground landed and always caught from day one and have never lost a prop

LOL Mako79, i think the concern is losing a finger ;-)

GAP308 and louforgiveno, hope your healing!

 

[Serpent]

When trying to land the P3 Pro, i successfully grounded it and pulled in on the sticks to power down. Powered down for a sec and started back up! Flew into the side of a dumpster

Wait a second.. If i'm reading this right your drone started to power down and then went up in the air again (when the sticks were in a downward position)? If this is the case then it's similar to what i experienced. Can you confirm if it went up like this: http://www.phantompilots.com/threads/p3-unexpected-loss-of-control-upon-landing.42395/
Sorry to hear about your injuries. Those props are like spinning knives at high speed. take care!

 

[Rider82]

Firstly, Shatty? I did the same thing last evening - (apart from the attempted amputation of your hand)
I landed on the lawn and my beloved P3P cartwheeled along the ground.

So I take on board what Kman and others have said about the method of just holding down left stick 3 seconds.THANKS!

However, two contradictions,
The manual does state, the standard CSC as we know it is accepted method of shut down.
AND performing a CSC in midair will stop motors?

So guys dont wave the finger and say "ya should have read the manual" if its pertinent is in fact
wrong!

Farmer is on the money here guys, the manual (v1.0_en) gives two methods for stopping the engines, including CSC. If you want to tell someone to RTFM, you might want to know it yourself first!

 

[rmfa]

I never go 100% full left stick down. I always descend slowly.

If you look at the motors in each arm on the P3 you will see them tilted slightly. This is so you CAN hold down the left stick all the way and not get the vortex ring...

 

[windexh8er]

Hand catch ....

For those of you who routinely hand catch have any of you had VPS jump the bird back up when attempting? I've watched a few of the videos where a hand under the sensor will shoot it up erratically.

 

[bbfpv]

For those of you who routinely hand catch have any of you had VPS jump the bird back up when attempting? I've watched a few of the videos where a hand under the sensor will shoot it up erratically.

Yes. Hand catch on the front leg(s)

 

[JayB]

For those of you who routinely hand catch have any of you had VPS jump the bird back up when attempting? I've watched a few of the videos where a hand under the sensor will shoot it up erratically.

I have switched mine off at the minute due to the reported problems, I have noticed that it isn't as stable when low. I never had any problems hand catching when it was on.

 

[Wayne Parris]

I never go 100% full left stick down. I always descend slowly.

You can pull it all the way back. It will only descend at a rate predetermined by the manufacturer, which I think is 1/2 the climb rate or thereabouts. It won't fall out of the sky by any means. You can always slow down the descent rate closer to the ground.

 

[aburkefl]

You don't pull both sticks. You only pull down the left 1 for about 3 seconds once landed. This sounds like user error. The way you describe the scenario sounds exactly like what would happen if you use both sticks to power down or what happened is it did power down and you holding the sticks in the CSC position caused it to power back up. I never heard of using CSC for landing. Definitely sounds like user error.

The "early" information was you could use one of two methods to stop the props. DJI eventually started stressing pulling back on the left stick and ONLY that method. On page 46 of the original manual for the P3, they show three ways to stop the motors. Ultimately, they've changed their tone (but not the manual, as far as I know). At least some of these nasty landings are most likely the improper use of the CSC - pulling both sticks either in or out.

Personally, I've never used the RTH, never used the auto-land and never had a landing problem. While you can't make it accidentally stop the motors by pulling back on the throttle (as long as it's still in the air), pulling back on the throttle all the way while it's in the air makes for a pretty exciting (really fast) landing speed. When my P3 is about 5 to 10 feet off the ground, I throttle back seriously and set it down very, very gently. I've yet to have it even come close to tipping over.

 

[F6Rider]

I think people are releasing the left stick to soon, not waiting for all of the props to STOP before letting the stick go. I let it go once a little to soon and the motors started back up and the bird bounced a couple of times before sitting there with the props running. I tried again and this time I held the stick down for a couple of seconds AFTER the props stopped and all was good. I don't want to test this to much as I don't want it to shoot into anything. I may be wrong but why take a chance, I normally hand catch but sometimes land if the area is clear and not dusty.

 

[N017RW]

Once I touch down the left stick is held full-down until complete stoppage + about 1 sec.

 

[Canyon Mike]

Ahhhhhh. I guess thats why it happened. With the P2 that is the way to power down. Question....If I am landing while in the air 50ft and i hold down the left one, will it shut off in the air? Does it know that it isnt descending? You know what I mean?


My f up. I remember seeing that but I guess Im used to the P2

Yea. The left stick will lock down down if you pull it all the way. So only do that once you're on the ground, or have a good grip on it. Do it in the air and....gravity happens.

 

[Marlin009]

So much bad info.....

 

[N017RW]

Can't be helped.

 

[Charles Vo]

I just checked both manual and quick start and they both say both sticks down and towards the inside or outside corner to power up or to shut down motors. This exactly how I've powered down the motors as I'm new and know of no other way until now. Manual also recommends that you do not power down during flight which implies that pulling both sticks down and in/out for 3 seconds will shut down the motors while in flight and that it is not capable of determining if you are still in flight or descending. I'll have to let you more proficient flyers prove this point.

 

[cpetku]

I know this is an old thread and I'm a new pilot.

Had two cases today where the P3P did a bunny hop when landing. Sort of tilted as it touched the ground and started moving aggressively towards us or sideways (touching down the leg then throttle up and touch a prop as I held the left stick down). In both cases all four props were still spinning and on the second case I throttled up and it shot straight up into the air. Is there a way to review the flight log to verify what I did wrong in the landing. I'd swear I tried to do a CSC when it first fell over, but it didn't take.