Recommendation: Turn Off Motors After Landing

[Andrey320]

So I guess I'm not the only one this has happened to....

Warning: leaving the motors running after landing or trying to take off again landing (without shutting down / restarting) may cause a tip-over or crash.

 

[Hughie]

So I guess I'm not the only one this has happened to....

Warning: leaving the motors running after landing or trying to take off again landing (without shutting down / restarting) may cause a tip-over or crash.

I guess the real issue here, is that if you stall a motor the drop in back-EMF is likely to damage the ESC. Usually it is instantaneous, but there is no reason to assume that damage has not been done to an ESC which appears OK after an incident, it could then fail at a later time.

It has been suggested that the same is true if a motor stalls in flight (for example by making abrupt changes in direction), i.e. it could be possible to damage or destroy an ESC whilst in the air.

I too suffered a tip over on my first or second flight. Luckily for me the ESC was fried so I did not have the option of attempting another trip with it.

Note that stalling the motor and taking out the ESC is an inherent design issue of the hardware and is not considered to relate to the recent ESC/motor upgrades.

 

[N017RW]

Not may cause but will cause a tip over.

Sorry you found out the hard way, I did the same thing soon after purchasing my P2 in June '14.

Except I was able to stop it as I was experimenting with idling thus watching it closely.

 

[Andrey320]

Why is this important precaution not in the manual?
Why is this not in any of the "beginner guides"?
Why hasn't DJI fixed this?

 

[aartsf]

Why is this important precaution not in the manual?
Why is this not in any of the "beginner guides"?
Why hasn't DJI fixed this?

You are right, it should mentioned clearly in the manual.
A technical/design fix is more complicated and therefore more expensive though.

 

[Monte55]

Really? Does every common sense thing have to be in type? Why would one land a Phantom and not shut the motors down...no reason not to in my opinion. When I stop my car, I turn the motor off. When I was flying my C150 and parked it, I shut down the engine. I'm not cooking now so my stove is off. People seem to have a hard enough time now just reading the manual. If DJI added all the dumb things you shouldn't do to the manual, it would probably have to be shipped in a different box. DJI may have their problems but let's stop blaming them our ignorance.

 

[dptcalvin]

Really? Does every common sense thing have to be in type? Why would one land a Phantom and not shut the motors down...no reason not to in my opinion. When I stop my car, I turn the motor off. When I was flying my C150 and parked it, I shut down the engine. I'm not cooking now so my stove is off. People seem to have a hard enough time now just reading the manual. If DJI added all the dumb things you shouldn't do to the manual, it would probably have to be shipped in a different box. DJI may have their problems but let's stop blaming them our ignorance.

I wouldn't consider this common sense. I've always shut off the motors after landing by habit, but not because I knew the potential risks and harm I could have done by not doing so.

 

[Andrey320]

Really? Does every common sense thing have to be in type? Why would one land a Phantom and not shut the motors down...no reason not to in my opinion. When I stop my car, I turn the motor off. When I was flying my C150 and parked it, I shut down the engine. I'm not cooking now so my stove is off. People seem to have a hard enough time now just reading the manual. If DJI added all the dumb things you shouldn't do to the manual, it would probably have to be shipped in a different box. DJI may have their problems but let's stop blaming them our ignorance.

How is this common sense? Do you turn off your car at a light because it may accelerate away if you don't?
Why can't I land and then take off again without shutting down?

 

[Monte55]

I got my first Phantom in April 2014. I knew that after my first landing by just watching the quad and how the motor speed can start to increase with no real input. Add a breeze to it and it is very easy to tip over especially if not on a hard flat surface.

 

[aartsf]

I got my first Phantom in April 2014. I knew that after my first landing by just watching the quad and how the motor speed can start to increase with no real input. Add a breeze to it and it is very easy to tip over especially if not on a hard flat surface.

I guess, not everyone is as brilliant as you are. [emoji12]

 

[Fplvert]

Landing and taking off with any aircraft is where accidents usually happen. That's why successful pilots practice care when performing these manuvers.

I too, had a couple of tip-overs when I was learning. Since June 2014, I've not crashed once due to two very simple procceedures:
1) Always launch from a stable, level surface. I use my case or backpack.
2) Always hand catch, and pull the throttle all the way down to stop the motors.
MHL,
Fplvert

 

[Monte55]

Really? Does every common sense thing have to be in type? Why would one land a Phantom and not shut the motors down...no reason not to in my opinion. When I stop my car, I turn the motor off. When I was flying my C150 and parked it, I shut down the engine. I'm not cooking now so my stove is off. People seem to have a hard enough time now just reading the manual. If DJI added all the dumb things you shouldn't do to the manual, it would probably have to be shipped in a different box. DJI may have their problems but let's stop blaming them our ignorance.

How is this common sense? Do you turn off your car at a light because it may accelerate away if you don't?
Why can't I land and then take off again without shutting down?

That is a totally different thing. When you still have the tx in your control and are paying attention to the quad...you are still flying it. I have seen people land, set the tx down or just start talking to someone not paying attention with the quad still running. When I'm in my car at a light, I'm still in driving mode and responsible for any actions. When I landed my Cessna, I was PIC til it was parked, and shut down properly.

 

[Monte55]

I got my first Phantom in April 2014. I knew that after my first landing by just watching the quad and how the motor speed can start to increase with no real input. Add a breeze to it and it is very easy to tip over especially if not on a hard flat surface.

I guess, not everyone is as brilliant as you are. [emoji12]

you are correct

 

[Andrey320]

I'm not going to argue this point with Monte but I think he reinforced it by saying that he learned it on his first flight. I'd much rather read about it and not have to loose a couple of props (like I did)....

 

[PsychopathRC]

Interesting. I've seen and heard of many crashes and tip overs with no ESC issues. I myself tipped over my Vision Plus and FC40 on their maiden flights. I shut down the motors immediately afterwards and they've been fine since.

 

[Monte55]

I'm not going to argue this point with Monte but I think he reinforced it by saying that he learned it on his first flight. I'd much rather read about it and not have to loose a couple of props (like I did)....

I do think they should not express the fact so much about..Take out of box and fly. So many have thought this was going to be such a piece of cake and they don't have to use their brain. I'm not trying to be rude but if I can get my point across and even if they don't like my remarks...it may stick in their mind and they may pay more attention and not lose or damage their quad or worse, get hurt or hurt someone else. I have been flying flying rc aircraft since 1989. I have learned...anything with radio control can go bad. Seen it many times. I am a bit **** about this stuff. Maybe that's why I still have all the scale aircraft I have built since then and they can still fly. That's how I do things. I don't tell people what to do...I only suggest.

 

[sdtrojan]

I got my first Phantom in April 2014. I knew that after my first landing by just watching the quad and how the motor speed can start to increase with no real input. Add a breeze to it and it is very easy to tip over especially if not on a hard flat surface.

I guess, not everyone is as brilliant as you are. [emoji12]

you are correct

I like to think I am

 

[sdtrojan]

I'm not going to argue this point with Monte but I think he reinforced it by saying that he learned it on his first flight. I'd much rather read about it and not have to loose a couple of props (like I did)....

I am not a smart man, Jenny (Forrest Gump reference) but I always shut down immediately after landing. Not because of anything I read or anything, but because it seemed the logical thing to do considering the next thing I am going to do is power down the battery, switch batteries and go up again. I just like my fingers and flesh, seems like the safest approach to me

 

[Monte55]

I'm not going to argue this point with Monte but I think he reinforced it by saying that he learned it on his first flight. I'd much rather read about it and not have to loose a couple of props (like I did)....

I am not a smart man, Jenny (Forrest Gump reference) but I always shut down immediately after landing. Not because of anything I read or anything, but because it seemed the logical thing to do considering the next thing I am going to do is power down the battery, switch batteries and go up again. I just like my fingers and flesh, seems like the safest approach to me

Agree

 

[Narrator]

Really? Does every common sense thing have to be in type? Why would one land a Phantom and not shut the motors down...no reason not to in my opinion. When I stop my car, I turn the motor off. When I was flying my C150 and parked it, I shut down the engine. I'm not cooking now so my stove is off. People seem to have a hard enough time now just reading the manual. If DJI added all the dumb things you shouldn't do to the manual, it would probably have to be shipped in a different box. DJI may have their problems but let's stop blaming them our ignorance.

I wouldn't consider this common sense. I've always shut off the motors after landing by habit, but not because I knew the potential risks and harm I could have done by not doing so.

I agree. And this is why I've said before, not everything about the Phantom is intuitive. If it were, most of the posts here would be happy snaps.

I'm not going to argue this point with Monte but I think he reinforced it by saying that he learned it on his first flight. I'd much rather read about it and not have to loose a couple of props (like I did)....

I too learned about this by doing. I set it down, intending to take off again, and idled for a minute while my commercial tester asked me a question. Then it tipped over. I won't do that again. (And yes, I passed the test and am waiting on CASA to say I'm commercial.)