Devastated, flight number 124, Phantom 3 at the bottom of the ocean

[Dirty Bird]

Yup just what I said when I first watched the video & saw all the birds.

You were brought down by Night Fury! Zigged when he should have zagged!

I certainly agree with you. There must have been hundreds of birds that lifted off as he passed over. They when he turned back is when something happened. I'm sorry man. I think this guy may be on to something. Bird strike is my guess.

 

[Keith Lampman]

 

[m0j0]

I think that product would be great if you dropped your Phantom in a pool. In a lake / ocean maybe not so much.

 

[Luap]

Looking at the txt log in Dashware you can see a sudden jump in amps and decrease in voltage at end of flight. This can happen when you apply full throttle which will increase altitude but you don't see that in the graphs.
So could mean you hit something.

 

[Dirty Bird]

I tested two Getterbacks in the Chesapeake Bay. 2 tests attached to a 10" dumbbell in water of 30' & 75' depth (100' of 10# test line is inside). Took ~2 mins to surface from 30' & ~5 mins from 75'. The yellow float is bright & easily spotted in moderate waves. Of course we were sitting only a few feet from where we dropped it overboard. Its small so in heavy surf it would be tough to spot unless you have a GPS fix to know where to begin your search. A strobe model would be nice!

 

[Flying Dutchman]

Looking at the txt log in Dashware you can see a sudden jump in amps and decrease in voltage at end of flight. This can happen when you apply full throttle which will increase altitude but you don't see that in the graphs.
So could mean you hit something.

View attachment 39755

@Luap thx for watching my flight. Than maybe I got hit, I do not know anymore. I do remember that when I started to tumble I gave full throttle. The prop could not be broken because that day I flew with carbon fibre reinforced props. Maybe the motor got ripped out. There were some cracks visible. I dont now, but what I do now is that tommorrow a brand new Phantom is being deliverd. And that I can fly again. Prices for the phantom went down on the right time. Thx again @Luap for checking my flight.

 

[Flying Dutchman]

Sorry for your loss, it really sucks I'm sure. There's always this possibility when flying RC, even advanced and sophisticated ones like the P3 are subject to crash from so many different causes... it's really just something that happens to ACs. But I hope you get a good deal from DJI and get back to flying soon.

I'm with the proponents of motor or prop failure. There must be a breaking point to motors, they're good but there are better ones. I've found no reliable info about maintenance or change schedules but I'm starting to think about changing mines (got 4 new "old" ones as spare) or even upgrade anytime soon as prevention. There are some mean options out there for the P3 but that may demand change of props and I really really like DJI's. I'll see about that...

I have 3 batteries for my P3P and it's not uncommon that I do 3 separate (usually short) flights from one charge on the same battery, until it reaches around 30%. I also take off with pre-charged (3 or more days) batteries at around 95-97% (also bellow 4300mAh) and never had a single problem from batteries. But then I never fly in cold temps, here it's usually around 17-20C (62-68F) or above, so I'm not sure how much that affects battery performance.

Also keep an eye on voltage during flights, because you can detect patterns for different situations and with time you get a feeling for it - each battery, every situation and weather, etc. Like, ascension usually puts a lot of stress on the batt/motors as it drains a lot/fast and heats up the motors quite a lot. Same for fast changes in direction and speed. All that shows in voltage variations during flight, of course assuming the monitoring is accurate which is hard to tell for sure but we have no option so I use it to gauge battery drainage and general AC behavior.

Two of my batteries show a deviation in the 1st cell that HealthyDrones says is normal, though only once I had a couple of "major deviations" listed in one flight. But in general HDs show them all to be in good condition after ˜200 flights and hundreds of hours. I've been using LiPo batteries for many yrs in different applications (RC models, bike headlights, etc.) and there's usually deviations in cells 1 or 4 or both, they're like that. And while I find it good to take good care in general, I don't over-obsess with it. Just keep them charged and in regular use, hardly ever go bellow 20%, only cold-charge them, stuff like that.

That's to say I prefer to take off at 97% or even less even after days from charge, than keep topping them up every time or going through cycles all the time. Never had a failure with any LiPo this way, it can happen of course but if a LiPo is good from factory it usually goes thru its life without problems (unless we screw up somehow that is). The ones that caused problem always did on the first 3 or 4 cycles and we'd get rid of them right away.

I am using the batteries the same way you do. Always did, never had problems. I'll keep loading them after flight. After they are cooled down offcourse. And never go under 20 procent. Its often bad weather here in Holland and if I want to fly than I dont want to load my batteries first. They have to be ready. Thx for your answer @AlexSP

 

[Flying Dutchman]

I'm sorry to read about your loss. I don't know whether the battery is the reason here, but I noted that you always charge the battery immediately after you're done with flying, and that you keep the batteries fully charged until next time you go for a flight.

That is not a good strategy to keep your batteries healthy. Actually it's a recepy to kill the battery much faster than necessary.

It's not good for this kind of batteries to be stored fully charged, not even for shorter periods. Therefore the P3 battery has a built in discharge function that kicks in pretty fast, to bring the voltage down. That's why some has noticed less than 100 percent, even if they fully charged the battery just short time ago.

It is smart to charge the battery after a flight, but only to 50-70 percent. Batteries should not be fully charged before the same day you need them. If you bring a fully charged battery and don't use it - and you're not going to use it the same day or the day after, discharge down to 60 percent by running the quad at idle for some minutes (indoor preferable without props). The auto self discharge is not very efficient and should be regarded as a safety precaution if the operator fails to store it at the recommended charge.

Don't forget to discharge down to 8 percent every 20 cycles, and perform a full charge.

Thx radar, maybe your right, but I always load them directly after flight, never had battery problems. Its simply not handy here that when I want too fly I have to load my four units. Thx anyway for your answer

 

[Flying Dutchman]

I believe you DO have your DAT file in the DJI Go app logs. There is a copy right in the app that you can play back & retrieve.

I searched to be 100 procent sure, but I cant find them, yes the flightlogs they are there but the .DAT are saved on the aircraft.

 

[TheRealNick]

how deep is it there? Any chance at getting it?

 

[Keith Lampman]

I think that product would be great if you dropped your Phantom in a pool. In a lake / ocean maybe not so much.

That is true. "something is better than nothing" is the logic I use while I keep my fingers crossed

 

[Dirty Bird]

You see your crash flight in the Go app flight log? If so there has to be a log on your device & you should be able to retrieve the data from the device. I'm not an expert on where the log is located on the device but someone here will know. Be sure to sync your flights so it's stored.

I searched to be 100 procent sure, but I cant find them, yes the flightlogs they are there but the .DAT are saved on the aircraft.

 

[kphantom]

I am, ore should I say was, the proud owner of a Phantom 3 Advanced. I began flying Phantoms in 2012 , started with the number one and worked my way up to number three. And what a machine that is. The technology took a big leap the last few years.

Last week I went for a flight. I did not fly for a week because of the weather here in Holland. But it cleared so I went out for a fly. I have four batterys and I had already used three so I was into my last flight for the day. Prior to the flights I had updated my firmware to the latest version v1.6.0040. Calibrated the MUI and compass after updating. I always fly with the original DJI app (2.4.3) and I take good care of my airplaine. Check the Phantom and her props between flights, never take off with a battery lower than 100 procent and change the props if nessesary. As far as I now, I really did nothing wrong.

So I took of and everything looked fine, no strange warnings. No buildings, no interference. But suddenly after 7 minuts and 6 seconds the airplane went bizarre and crashed. Black screen, pushed the RTH but I already new, I lost my phantom. Unbelieve, angry all kind of different emotions I went threw. And now I am sad. Very sad. I now it can happen, always be prepared loosing your Phantom, but so fast after I bought it. I cant send it back to DJI because its on the "bottom" of the sea. This part of the waddensea fells dry with low tide but its like quicksand, I really tried but its to dangerous.

I hope DJI is gone help me, its fuc.. up to go home with only your RC.

Here is the flight:

Dropbox - 2015_12_29_12_23_52.mp4

And here is:

HealthyDrones.com - Innovative flight data analysis that matters

Wow. Sorry you lost the aircraft. The compass seemed to go crazy at the crash area.

 

[KyleMaxxUAV]

New or old style of motors ??


Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots mobile app

 

[charley1234]

I would not have handled the situation with the same aplomb as you. I would still be weeping and stamping my feet. Hope you can work something out with DJI, and please keep us updated. Hope you're up, up, and away again soon.

 

[Flying Dutchman]

And there we go again, maiden flight. Lets hope its stays up.

 

[Flying Dutchman]

Old, now I have new. Lets see if I spot the difference.

 

[KyleMaxxUAV]

Old, now I have new. Lets see if I spot the difference.

So you sent in your old motors phantom and they replaced it with new motors phantom ??? Awesome to see you back in the air !! safe flying !!!!!

Edit: I just remembered yours was a total loss ... Sorry !! But still safe flying with the new bird!!

Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots mobile app

 

[happydays]

Jammer mijnheer!

Good luck with the new P3A and happy flying.

I'm also with the bird strike theory. Sorry.

CBS

 

[ksavoie]

While hovering at 160 feet my P3A went spiraling out of control and crashed into a tree then the ground. See my link below. I do not have video but I was able to get my .dat file thanks to @BudWalker He is not 100% sure what happened but thinks it may be something is up with the motor or ESC.

P3 went spinning out of control and crashed! | DJI Phantom Forum