Landing and Taking Off properly

[mmn]

You pop it up into the air around 10 feet or so and:
1) you are in a stable hover and can check the LEDs, telemetry, etc are all good.
2) it doesn't wallow around in its own ground effect turbulence causing all sorts of stability issues.

 

[Idbird]

You guys need to give a little throttle get the motors spooling and in sync then go full throttle to avoid tip over .

Not trying to be dense, but would you mind explaining the benefits?

I always use my box or pack for taking off, and it usually isn't perfectly level, but the Phantom lifts straight up.
CSC, then a bit of throttle, then launch! I only use about 3/4 of full throttle, but I have the 9450 props.

 

[Monte55]

When I'm ready to takeoff, I always goose the throttle a bit to be sure it is responsive. As I understand this also sets the home point. Mine is sluggish taking off with just raising the throttle which leads to more tip overs for me. I spool up a bit, flip S1 to manual and it pops straight up and I go back to gps. This happens in about a second. Now you can't do this if S1 lower position is set to failsafe. I will add that all gains etc have not been changed. All stock.

 

[gunslinger]

When I'm ready to takeoff, I always goose the throttle a bit to be sure it is responsive. As I understand this also sets the home point. Mine is sluggish taking off with just raising the throttle which leads to more tip overs for me. I spool up a bit, flip S1 to manual and it pops straight up and I go back to gps. This happens in about a second. Now you can't do this if S1 lower position is set to failsafe. I will add that all gains etc have not been changed. All stock.

Goosing the throttle doesn't set the home point. Patience and satellites set the home point...

I CSC, let it warm up for abot ten seconds, spool up a bit and just thrash the throttle... I get it up to about 10-15 feet and run through my checklist to make sure everything looks kosher...

-slinger

 

[N017RW]

Goosing or not, that's irrelevant. The HP is [actually] recorded/stored at time of motor start.

 

[Monte55]

Goosing or not, that's irrelevant. The HP is [actually] recorded/stored at time of motor start.

That is what I meant to say. Starting the motors sets the home point....after getting proper led flashes....not raising the throttle. I just goose mine to see if all 4 props seem to be at same speed and check response.

 

[gunslinger]

Goosing or not, that's irrelevant. The HP is [actually] recorded/stored at time of motor start.

I thought the first instance of the rapidly flashing green lights signified HP lock... no? :?

-slinger

 

[Monte55]

As I understand and have read, they are aquired but not locked in til motor startup.

 

[N017RW]

The red-green sequence only tells you how many sats. are [currently] acquired.

To be picky... on a P2, nothing actually tells or indicates the time of HP recording/storage.

 

[tgreenstone]

I have been launching from my driveway. It is not the most level but keeps everything clear for take off. As others have said, once i get everything spooling, its full throttle. As for landing, I have used a mixture if holding the throttle down as well as CSC. It helped in those windy moments. My backup for when i go out in the field is a helipad. I am using the side of an old Mac Pro tower, a big aluminum sheet haha. Plus its reflective so i can see the leds better.

 

[gunslinger]

As I understand and have read, they are aquired but not locked in til motor startup.

Ahhhh... Gotcha... I had the cart before the horse...

Thanks guys...
-slinger

 

[Monte55]

As I understand and have read, they are aquired but not locked in til motor startup.

Ahhhh... Gotcha... I had the cart before the horse...

Thanks guys...
-slinger

Hey slinger. In my manual it states to not play with horses when flying the Phantom. At least, that's my take on it.

 

[varangian]

Full Throttle for take offs. I've extended the landing skids about three inches longer in the front but because I can't chop power the props as fast as I'd like, I usually just catch it by a skid. Even then I wish the power would shut down quicker like my other quads.

 

[gunslinger]

As I understand and have read, they are aquired but not locked in til motor startup.

Ahhhh... Gotcha... I had the cart before the horse...

Thanks guys...
-slinger

Hey slinger. In my manual it states to not play with horses when flying the Phantom. At least, that's my take on it.

Play with horses or play THE horses? Actually... don't matter. Either way, I lose...

-slinger

 

[SteveMann]

There is no "synch" of the motors. You take off briskly because when you lift off "wussy" style, one or two props are generating lift while the remainder are not. So the A/C tips over. The IMU can't add more lift to the lower props because you limited the throttle. When you lift off briskly, the IMU has plenty of throttle margin to handle the lift asymmetry.

 

[morph000]

Have the same issue with landing. Overbalances very easily so pays to land on low cut grass and not hard surfaces
I catch by hand these days too although I favour a slightly overhead hover so a wind gust won't throw it into your face.

 

[IflyinWY]

Goosing or not, that's irrelevant. The HP is [actually] recorded/stored at time of motor start.

I thought the first instance of the rapidly flashing green lights signified HP lock... no? :?

-slinger

I'm pretty sure home point lock is actually activated when the two slippers have clicked heels for the third time. Or when you start the motors.

So what happens if you let the pre-start sequence complete and then move the Phantom to another location for start? I was (still am) pretty new at this, but I did just that (maybe I even started the motors then decided to stop them and move -that part I don't recall) but when I throttled up for take-off at the new location, it flipped over towards where it had achieved 2 sets of 20 flashing greens. That was fun to watch. I turned it over and tried again. Second time isn't so funny. Pulled the plug, started from square one and all was well.

I experimented a bit this afternoon with taking off from different locations and found no particular favoritism as far as which way it tries to tip on takeoff. It's not necessarily towards the front where the GoPro is hanging. Could it be that the GPS thinks it knows where it wants to be but isn't fine tuned to the inch? I'm thinking YES.

For takeoff: Goosing the bird to get it away from "points of impact" seems to be the best way to go.
For landing: As much as I hate to admit this, catching can solve an awful lot of landing issues.

I'm going to keep my welding gloves and butterfly net handy.

 

[N017RW]

Goosing or not, that's irrelevant. The HP is [actually] recorded/stored at time of motor start.

I thought the first instance of the rapidly flashing green lights signified HP lock... no? :?

-slinger

I'm pretty sure home point lock is actually activated when the two slippers have clicked heels for the third time. Or when you start the motors.

So what happens if you let the pre-start sequence complete and then move the Phantom to another location for start? I was (still am) pretty new at this, but I did just that (maybe I even started the motors then decided to stop them and move -that part I don't recall) but when I throttled up for take-off at the new location, it flipped over towards where it had achieved 2 sets of 20 flashing greens. That was fun to watch. I turned it over and tried again. Second time isn't so funny. Pulled the plug, started from square one and all was well.

I experimented a bit this afternoon with taking off from different locations and found no particular favoritism as far as which way it tries to tip on takeoff. It's not necessarily towards the front where the GoPro is hanging. Could it be that the GPS thinks it knows where it wants to be but isn't fine tuned to the inch? I'm thinking YES.

For takeoff: Goosing the bird to get it away from "points of impact" seems to be the best way to go.
For landing: As much as I hate to admit this, catching can solve an awful lot of landing issues.

I'm going to keep my welding gloves and butterfly net handy.

This info regarding the HP storage timing is in the documentation.

The docs. are not clear if it occurs every time you start or restart the motors. But it certainly does the first time you start them after cycling the power.

 

[voodoo]

Have the same issue with landing. Overbalances very easily so pays to land on low cut grass and not hard surfaces
I catch by hand these days too although I favour a slightly overhead hover so a wind gust won't throw it into your face.

You should never ever have the Phantom anywhere but above your head when the props are spinning. If a prop chips or anything goes wrong, you could be hit in the face / eyes.

 

[KevinH]

I don't have a Phantom (yet), hopefully very soon, but having flown R/C for a long time I haven't heard anyone talk about wind factor. Seems to me that this machine would act like any other R/C craft, thus your best bet is to be pointed into the wind for takeoff and landings. This holds true for real aircraft as well.

I really haven't heard too many people talk about using an approach for landing (again into the wind). Most of the time like 95% rotor wing aircraft make an approach for landing. Sure they come to a hover a few feet off the ground before landing, but typically not hundreds of feet.