I finally lost my Phantom - not a "flyaway"

[Tomtopping]

I'm guessing the Great White North is a little whiter than usual and you're stuck inside.

May I suggest getting one of these to pass the time?

What is this unit called and where would one purchase one?

 

[eatpasta]

What is this unit called and where would one purchase one?

Thats a Syma X11 but you could refer back to this list here for other options.

There are SO many great micros out there....the Husban X4 and Syma X12 are noteworthy

 

[eatpasta]

I never fly if the wind is over 10 mph. But, that's just my rule of thumb. I've read about several crashes or situations like this due to strong headwind so the way I see it, why take the chance. There are several apps you can get to get wind speed, wind direction and so forth. I check this before I ever leave the house.


Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots

I was flying this weekend in about 10 mph winds and it was something to watch it fighting the wind while staying in place.

I flew a tiny bit and packed it up. I'm with you - it just makes me feel uncomfortable.

These are amazing crafts but certainly not infallible.

 

[GFields]

@Gnormand , my admiration to you for coming on here and taking a few hits, some of them could have been worded a little better but to your credit you stayed on the thread and clarified some unclear points and in the process, we have all learned some valuable lessons.


Ditto!

 

[kirk2579]

A man who had been told by his doctor that he was a diabetic and prescribed medication for him to take, yet the man refused to take the prescribed medicine. A couple years pass and he returns to the doctor complaining that he was having problems seeing, that he thought he may be going blind! The doctor examined him and discovered that his blood sugars have been running extremely high. He asked the man had he been taking the medicine. Sadly, he had to confess that he had not. He hoped he could find a way to blame the doctor. He hoped to find a way to blame his wife. But there were no one to blame but himself.

Having to swallow that bitter pill of “it was my fault” is not easy to do.

I know things happen. But, if one takes the time to 1. Read the Phantom Manual, 2. Look at weather conditions (including temp and wind speed), 3. Do proper pre-flight inspections, 4. Do proper maintenance on the equipment (take the medicine), all this is designed to prevent or help prevent such a loss.

There are many types of doctors. Those who “sugar coat” the situation and others that tell it point blank like it is! Meta4 is the latter. Yet, he is absolutely correct in his assessment and prognosis.

I tip my hat to all who post here so every pilot can learn along with those who suffered their loss.

nicely said!

good luck and have fun flying!

 

[Quamera]

Agree with most points but not "either pilot error or faulty equipment" in can be both and in this case as noted in post #50 IMHO the battery has to take at least a small portion of the blame because it reduced the time the OP had to work out the situation. Its a bit like "Air Crash Investigations", very rarely can an aircraft accident be blamed on one cause, it is usually a combination of things that become overwhelming at the time although in hindsight a solution could have been found.

@Gnormand , my admiration to you for coming on here and taking a few hits, some of them could have been worded a little better but to your credit you stayed on the thread and clarified some unclear points and in the process we have all learnt some valuable lessons.

Something else I didn't know and wasn't mentioned previously on this post (although many operators would probably know all about it from older posts and experience)

The individual cells can discharge at slightly different rates from fully charged (especially if it is an older or abused battery) so even if the overall capacity ends up at 90% after resting for say 5 days, one cell maybe much lower (say 80%) and once it is placed in the Phantom and flying then it is that cell that the intelligent system will use to govern how well and long the Phantom will fly. So it is very good practice to "top up" your battery just before flying (even if it isn't right up to 100%) because the intelligent charger will balance all the cell voltages as it charges and ensure that the capacity reading is even across all cells.

@msinger started a 7 page thread on 27th May 2015 that was very informative on P3 batteries, some points don't apply to P4 batteries but some very valuable info in there for anyone interested. I apologize for not providing a link (I don't know how) and I can't even give you a thread title (because I have forgotten it) although there was definitely "battery" in it. The only reason I remembered the date is because it is an important family birthday (that I have been known to forget!!)