what kind of flying causes stress cracks...?

[ribjig]

Asked after reading reports of stress cracks by others;
me: year old P4P+, mostly straight up to take still shots & then down;
but if I do fly horizontally to better frame a subject, I often move full
speed from stationary without gradual acceleration -- would this
promote stress cracks??? Thanks...

 

[Meta4]

Asked after reading reports of stress cracks by others;
me: year old P4P+, mostly straight up to take still shots & then down;
but if I do fly horizontally to better frame a subject, I often move full
speed from stationary without gradual acceleration -- would this
promote stress cracks??? Thanks...

It's not that simple. No-one has ever been able to link cracking to any sort of flying.

 

[macoman]

This is just speculation but I read before that landing the aircraft hard could cause the cracks. You don't have to believe it but just flight careful and when landing try to do it as softly as you can.

 

[Fester]

I don’t know if the ones reporting cracks have flown in very cold weather, but the hull plastic (polycarbonate?) would become more brittle in cold or extreme cold weather.

 

[With The Birds]

I don’t know if the ones reporting cracks have flown in very cold weather, but the hull plastic (polycarbonate?) would become more brittle in cold or extreme cold weather.

The shell is polystyrene. The battery will fall to power the AC before you have issues with the shell in extreme low temps.

 

[Meta4]

This is just speculation but I read before that landing the aircraft hard could cause the cracks. You don't have to believe it but just flight careful and when landing try to do it as softly as you can.

All or most of the many causes that have been suggested are speculation and most are probably not involved at all.

 

[ribjig]

All or most of the many causes that have been suggested are speculation and most are probably not involved at all.

You do not know cause?
But you are probably certain most
with actual cracks don't know either...?

 

[N017RW]

You do not know cause?
But you are probably certain most
with actual cracks don't know either...?

Correct.

No DOE has ever been performed to determine causation.

 

[Pete Leare]

All or most of the many causes that have been suggested are speculation and most are probably not involved at all.

+1. I believe the majority consensus is that cracking is most likely a result of the assembly process (motor screw torque) and has nothing to do with the type of flying done. It’s completely random..

 

[Meta4]

You do not know cause?
But you are probably certain most
with actual cracks don't know either...?

I know that there have been lots of different suggestions including, strong winds, dynamic braking settings, landing stresses, flight speed, vibration, temperature, etc.
These are all guesses and there is plenty of evidence that Phantoms that have not been subjected to these have still cracked.
There is no smoking gun evidence to tie shell cracking to any of these guesses at a cause.
Flight speed and acceleration is probably the least likely as there are many, many flyers that fly hard without ever finding any cracks.
If it was down to flying speed, most Phantoms would show cracking and they don't.

The suggested causes that best fit the available evidence is either poor plastic material or moulding technique and screw tightness, possibly a combination of the two.

 

[Bad Brad]

I rally the crap out of my phantom every single trip out... no cracks I do believe it’s a case of faulty plastic, only real explanation for the cracking only on some phantoms and not others.