Love the P3P but lost control on take off and crashed - probably my fault

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I am new to DJI quadcopters. My only experience with quadcopters was with the parrot ar drones. Anyways I had a small crash. It happened after about 5 short flight. I think what happened is that i took off without getting the ready to fly indicator (not positive if i had the indicator or not). It went up couple of feet and started to veer left pretty fast. It crashed but everything was ok exception of little scuffs on the quadcopter and propellers. The wind was blowing left (not sure about the speed but it was windy). Now I am on my 20+ flights and no problems.
 
Glad it wasn't catastrophic I'm nearing 20 flights myself. I have 16 videos. So far, no crashes. But I baby it on take offs and landings by hand catching.
 
Mine did that the first time I flew but I realized quickly that I was such in a rush to fly that I didn't calibrate the compass. Luckily I was able to land safely. No problems since.
 
Other than that one time, take off and landing were easy. I am still curious about what happened. I lost total control. I thought even if I didnt have gps, the vision control system would have kept it steady and not went crazy like that.
 
my compass was calibrated. Not sure what happened except that I didn't check the safe to fly indicator.
 
If you have a fly away like that what's the best way to cope with the situation, flip it to a certain mode?
 
If you have a fly away like that what's the best way to cope with the situation, flip it to a certain mode?
Practice flying in Attitude mode until you can fly in a chosen direction no matter which direction the drone is pointed, until you can do it without thinking...for consistency, I orient my Phantom the same way every time (East) so Course Lock is always the same. Finally, practice "What If" scenarios in safe, open spaces....this was my approach...

Practice, practice, practice....
 
yup I read the manual and watched tons of youtube videos. I think the problem was that it was too easy to fly the first few times, I got little careless.
 
I take my time and make sure everything is set properly for take off. I haven't tried hand catching but I do a slow and steady landing.
 
All your calibrations need to be in check on a level surface and away from strong magnetic fields.

And as you said, wait for he Ready to Fly status message.

The only mishap I had was trying to do a CSC after landing to cut the motors. This is not recommended. My P3P went nuts and flipped over on the grass but it only raised up a half a foot from the ground. Instead just use the left stick, throttle, down and hold for 3-5 seconds after landing.

Some hand catch but I'm not gonna risk the P3P going bonkers when I'm trying to hand catch it. Stranger things have happened and all it takes is a malfunction to hurt you.
 
My guess is that MOST experienced pilots hand catch....it's really no big deal. Just catch above your head.
 
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My guess is that MOST experienced pilots hand catch....it's really no big deal. Just catch above your head.

Safest way to handcatch is not above your head. It is out in front of you, hovering in place, while you walk to it, grab the side of the skid closest to you with your right hand, while holding the transmitter in your left hand, with your left thumb on the throttle, and pull the throttle all the way back for 3 seconds. Much safer this way! :cool:
 
I had a small crash. I think what happened is that i took off without getting the ready to fly indicator (not positive if i had the indicator or not). It went up couple of feet and started to veer left pretty fast. It crashed but everything was ok. The wind was blowing left (not sure about the speed but it was windy).
If you have a fly away like that what's the best way to cope with the situation, flip it to a certain mode?
There's not enough information to be certain but if you tool off before getting GPS lock, the Phantom would be in atti mode ... it should hold altitude but not horizontal position. It will be subject to drifting with the wind.
There is no mode to switch to that would assist in that situation.
I would avoid using the term flyaway unless your Phantom actually flew away .. took off and went somewhere on its own despite your attempts to control it.
It's not clear whether it was zooming away or just hovering and being blown away?
Did you do anything to get control or just let it go?
The best action may have been to get it up higher, away from the ground - it's an obstacle too.
If it was in atti and subject to wind, you should have been able to control it and if you were away from obstacles it shouldn't have been much to worry about.
 
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Safest way to handcatch is not above your head. It is out in front of you, hovering in place, while you walk to it, grab the side of the skid closest to you with your right hand, while holding the transmitter in your left hand, with your left thumb on the throttle, and pull the throttle all the way back for 3 seconds. Much safer this way! :cool:

I have to disagree with this, the only way for it to go wrong when catching above the head is if for some reason is decends rapidly, even then you hand will be there to stop it. Hand catching with the drone out infront of you leaves your eyes/throat very vunerable if the drone decides to go crazy.

I bring mine in to a hover level at arms reach, then step underneath and reach up - Adam
 
I have to disagree with this, the only way for it to go wrong when catching above the head is if for some reason is decends rapidly, even then you hand will be there to stop it. Hand catching with the drone out infront of you leaves your eyes/throat very vunerable if the drone decides to go crazy.

I bring mine in to a hover level at arms reach, then step underneath and reach up - Adam
I think we are essentially saying and doing the same thing, which is stepping towards the hovering drone, which is already steadily hovering above and out in front of us, instead of flying it completely to us directly over our heads, which would be far more dangerous.

The minor differences are that I reach my hand out above the height of my head, with my arm fully extended at a 45-75° angle to the ground, but I don't actually ever stand underneath the drone, as you do, which would require extending my arm up at a 90° angle to the ground. I simply find it easier to hold and control the transmitter in the other hand, when standing adjacent below it, rather than directly underneath it, because I can better see where I am reaching, and can also still step back if I need to, and reposition the drone for a better grab.

I should have been clearer initially. The safest way to handcatch is not flying it directly above your head, but is hovering it out in front of you, above your head, where you can walk to it.
 
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Never understood hand catching and in 250+ flights, I have never had to.

Landing takes practice, but a gentle descent on a glide slope into wind will bring the quad down very smoothly. Once you are a foot or so above the ground, just decrease power, using the right stick to counteract ground effect. If it's so windy that it blows the quad over on landing, then seriously consider if your flight really was safe in the first place.

Having flown with people who hand catch, they all seem to come in at very high speed, with abrupt stick movements. Learn to fly gently, as if the quadcopter did not have computer control to help you. It really is very satisfying :)
 
noiseboy72, the main reason I handcatch is to protect the gimbal, camera, and most importantly, the lens filter attached to the front of the lens, from all the dirt, dust and debris generally kicked up off the ground when landing on the ground. If you are landing on the ground, and not hand catching, take a look at the bottom of your P3, and I'll bet you'll see all sorts of accumulated dust and dirt. The built-in lens of your $600 camera is only as good as the clarity of the lens filter in front of it. Sandblasting the lens filter with sand, dirt, and debris kicked up off the ground by landing on the ground isn't going to help! Handcatching protects the camera lens filter from scratches, and also guarantees no broken props from random tipovers, due to occasional rough landings in windy conditions. Even experienced commercial pilots have occasional rough landings.
 
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Never understood hand catching and in 250+ flights, I have never had to.

I hand catch because 90 percent of the time I am landing in the desert. I just dont want to put the bird down in a cloud of sand, dirt and or debris. I can land it just fine I just don't want anything to get into the lens, motors, electronics etc.
 
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I hand catch because 90 percent of the time I am landing in the desert. I just dont want to put the bird down in a cloud of sand, dirt and or debris. I can land it just fine I just don't want anything to get into the lens, motors, electronics etc.
A clean bird is a happy bird! :D
 

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