Phantom 3 went bonkers..Controller Cal Saved Me!

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Guys - just wanted to alert everyone to what happened to me the other day;

So about a week/week and a half ago I did the full Compass/IMU/Controller Calibration process before storing my Phantom 3 away, knowing I would not be flying for at least a week (business trip and then the Cleveland Air Show TFR through Labor Day Weekend)..

So anyways, on my first flight out I went through my entire pre-flight check list, everything looked good (9-10 satellites) so I launched; Drone was acting INSANE, never had it act like this before. Basically, everytime I pushed the right stick left it drifted hard right, and everytime I pushed the throttle up it would bounce in the air (like it was having a hard time getting enough lift)...basically the thing was uncontrollable.

Being in a sparsely populated area with nobody around, I still didn't want to chance getting it up in the air, so I brought her down into some nasty tall reeds/grass/weeds. No damage at all to the quad.

Went and did a fresh compass Cal, relaunched, still flying EXTREMELY ERRATICALLY. No warnings, no Calibrate IMU notification, still 10 satelittes and flying in P-Mode the entire time.

So I figure maybe there is an issue with the controller after my previous calibration, so I do another controller calibration. SUCCESS! Upon my very next launch the thing flies/responds to commands as smoothly as it always had.

My question is, WTH happened? Could leaving it in the travel case for that week have thrown off the controller that much? Or maybe my previous controller Cal was bad? Just wondering if I need to start calibrating my controller as part of pre-flight everytime now?

Any opinions are much appreciated...
 
Guys - just wanted to alert everyone to what happened to me the other day;

So about a week/week and a half ago I did the full Compass/IMU/Controller Calibration process before storing my Phantom 3 away, knowing I would not be flying for at least a week (business trip and then the Cleveland Air Show TFR through Labor Day Weekend)..

So anyways, on my first flight out I went through my entire pre-flight check list, everything looked good (9-10 satellites) so I launched; Drone was acting INSANE, never had it act like this before. Basically, everytime I pushed the right stick left it drifted hard right, and everytime I pushed the throttle up it would bounce in the air (like it was having a hard time getting enough lift)...basically the thing was uncontrollable.

Being in a sparsely populated area with nobody around, I still didn't want to chance getting it up in the air, so I brought her down into some nasty tall reeds/grass/weeds. No damage at all to the quad.

Went and did a fresh compass Cal, relaunched, still flying EXTREMELY ERRATICALLY. No warnings, no Calibrate IMU notification, still 10 satelittes and flying in P-Mode the entire time.

So I figure maybe there is an issue with the controller after my previous calibration, so I do another controller calibration. SUCCESS! Upon my very next launch the thing flies/responds to commands as smoothly as it always had.

My question is, WTH happened? Could leaving it in the travel case for that week have thrown off the controller that much? Or maybe my previous controller Cal was bad? Just wondering if I need to start calibrating my controller as part of pre-flight everytime now?

Any opinions are much appreciated...
Need to try it again, I have only calibrated the controller once, just to see the routine.

Rod
 
I've had to calibrate my controller once so far and I've only had my drone for 3mts. When I turned on my controller, it keep beeping constantly. Couldn't figure it out until I launched the GoApp and the controller calibration warning message popped up. You'd figure you'd get the warning before being able to take off, no? Glad you weren't 100' up and a KM away in the air when that happened.
 
There has been posts on this before, if one of the controls is not on center, mostly been the left lock down position, creates this error. Its like if a lever is not on center when you power it on triggers the beeping, telling you your remote is not correct to fly.

Rod
 
@Trinimon - You're telling me! Also grateful I wasn't flying a water mission (live right on the shores of Lake Erie so a lot of my flying is done near/over the Lake, would've completely lost the bird)

I didn't get a single warning - no controller cal warning, no GPS signal low warning, nothing. Was the strangest thing.
 
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This happened to me once with my P3S. Up was down, down was up, left/right, fore/aft were all reversed. That was a fun time getting it back down, form only a couple feet high.

I had to do a controller cal.

Once on my new one P3A, I got the beeps. Controller cal. fixed it up again.
 
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