P3P Flyaway

[hot11119]

i always calibrate compass and imu before launching.
beware of large metal structures nearby to avoid interference.
anything else to avoid flyaways?

 

[m0j0]

A Flyaway is a thing in the context of the drone world. It is a term used to describe an incident where a persons aircraft is not under user control despite efforts to control the aircraft. So IMO it's used here as a noun. As it describes a person, place or THING. It is a common term that is used and understood by most RC pilots and I guarantee that just about everyone on this board understands exactly what is being talked about when they read "add another phantom to the Flyaway list."


Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots mobile app

 

[kirk2579]

If you consider that there are millions of Phamtons out there flying. I'd say the odds are you won't have an issue.

+1
yep on this , long time owner!

 

[HWCM]

No, but your selection of where to fly may have a large impact on the outcome. If you're under the false impression your phantom is anywhere near as reliable as a manned aircraft, you're prone to do stupid things. Like flying 3 feet above your teenage kids. Treat it like the inherently unreliable consumer toy that it is, and chances of causing real damage will be dramatically reduced.

As for the "genuine malfunction"; I put it to you that not even a hardware malfunction can plausibly explain these kinds of fly aways. A malfunction of primary flight sensors (gyro and accelerometer) would most likely cause your quad to wobble and flip like a madman, and crash in seconds. It would have to be some really freaky sensor malfunction that would allow it to maintain a level attitude and altitude, let alone pull off a controlled landing miles away. A hardware malfunction or environmental issue with the secondary, navigation sensors (compass and GPS) can and should be handled in a way that doesnt involve flying 3 miles away from its take off position.

The only plausible explanation I see is soft/firmware issues, and since we tend to fly with the same firmware, its just a matter of when those bugs will bite you.

I had a compass on a APM quad go bad, It was on a Walkera QR X350 PRO, piece of crap. Anyway, It flew okay one day, then the next time I flew it and switched out of stabilized mode to loiter, it took off as fast as it could go east. Luckily I was able to switch back to stabilized and bring it back. I tried calibrating the compass but it would not show up in Mission Planner, I had to replace it, then it worked and flew correctly. It flew away exactly like the guys in the log video.
Don't argue with Met4, he/she is very negative and will not accept any corrective criticism, therefore never wrong.

 

[HWCM]

Ive noticed recently after the last update there has been an increase in compass errors mid flight, I have had one myself. I have noticed more complaints about it here on the forum. its like the last update made the GPS compass very sensitive. Add another worry to our list, first the battery voltages and now this.

The GPS does not have a compass, the compass is on the leg.

 

[HWCM]

i always calibrate compass and imu before launching.
beware of large metal structures nearby to avoid interference.
anything else to avoid flyaways?

Do not do the compass and IMU calibration before every flight. Do it once and leave it alone. Unless you fly hundreds of miles away from your last flight. Doing calibrations before every flight raises the risk of introducing errors.
The instructions to calibrate before each flight should be revised or removed. It is rubbish.

 

[sergekouper]

i once had a flyaway with my p2 at the beach. I ran and chased after it as it flew away, then i realized I was chasing a seagull I mistook for my drone. My drone was hovering in position the entire time.

That is as close as I got to a flyaway and Ive been flying phantoms for 3 years.

Recently Ive been noticing that the GPS compass would fail but lock back on, I think the latest FW is overly sensitive

Lol! it happened to me too, I confused it with a plane in the distance and put the phantom in a tree...

 

[sergekouper]

Humm, I guess i'm surprised no one has mentioned the fault that caused my fly-away. And I guess there will be debate on if this is a true fly-away or operator error, but here goes.

I was flying my P3P when I clipped a tree branch and after it hitting the ground and me brushing it off some, I lifted off only to watch my drone spun south and fly off out of site, nothing I tried had any affect. I stood there trying to think of how I was going to tell my wife, my $1000 toy just few away, when I heard the whir of my beloved toy and spotted it about 1/4 mile east of me, north bound and descending it the woods. First came the big bang, then the search, then $50 for a new shell and a job I never want to repeat.

After investigation I decided the cause of my "fly-away" was the fact that one of my props had lost its tip when it hit the tree branch. I then decided I would never fly with a damaged prop, even if it was only a small piece broken away.

IMO the shock with the ground broke something that cause the phantom to become uncontrollable.

 

[Gliding Drone Pilot]

If the very thought and watching video's of Drones flying away " Freaks you out ", I would suggest that you do not even open the box and instead sell it and buy yourself a Good Gaming console like a PS4 or XBox and a heap of games!
Make sure they're not scary games though. Sonic, Abe's Oddworld etc etc. Really good calm games.

Best of luck.

 

[m0j0]

I have not had anything close to an uncontrolled flight in what is approaching 300 flights on my Phantom. I have had one compass error that lasted about 3 seconds. I flew the AC back landed and checked the sensors. Did not recalibrate... Flew again at a different spot and have had 0 issues. The bigger problem happened when I was flying a few weeks ago. I noted that the AC kept flipping from GPS to ATTI..... There must have been some significant interference because it stayed there for a long period of the flight. The problem was compounded by the wind which was probably around 15mph gusting to 24mph and it was dark (9pm). I flipped it into ATTI mode so the controls would be consistent and flew it back. The real issue I have is the tendency to look at the AC and not the telemetry. That was a problem because i couldn't really make out the orientation the AC was about 900 feet away at the other end of the park. Well it took a couple of seconds to realize I needed the telemetry to bring it in. By then it was about 50-100 feet off course. No real problem but I could see how someone new to flying could really panic and end up crashing or flying the bird out of sight.