Crashed my inspire today, inoperable now.

AerialJerseyDevil · Jan 11, 2015

So, I went to a baseball field about 7 miles from home. Went up (second flight) and all was beautiful. Apparently the field owners (local township) strung fishing line from home plate backdrop to the outfield lights (maybe for holiday lighting?) but went up about 20' and a prop hit and got tangled in the line and she went down FAST!! Not sure what's gonna happen next.. Luckily I "forgot" my lightning cable, so I didn't bother hooking camera up. Hoping new arm is easy to either replace or have fixed inexpensively.. I'll keep you updated.

perryseyes · Jan 11, 2015

Very sorry to hear about your crash bud . Hopefully it can be fixed soon!

AerialJerseyDevil · Jan 11, 2015

perryseyes said:
Very sorry to hear about your crash bud . Hopefully it can be fixed soon!

Thanks perry, what are the chances in wide open field that there was a fishing line strung across the whole length, AND I hit it. Ridiculous.. Wish mine was still on back order ,

BaldEagle · Jan 11, 2015

Very sorry to see this and hear about this! I was just reading a few things online about fixing carbon tubing breaks. Looks like a lot is on bicycles where they might care about strength but changes in weight are not as important. I'm curious - do the two ends "fit" into each other cleanly?

turbodronepilot · Jan 11, 2015

Sorry AJD..don't let it get u down..it happens to the best of us.. (well not some pilots on here,there too good ) I'm surprised the carbon fiber broke..I thought it would be stronger. .

turbodronepilot · Jan 11, 2015

AerialJerseyDevil said:
Thanks perry, what are the chances in wide open field that there was a fishing line strung across the whole length, AND I hit it. Ridiculous.. Wish mine was still on back order ,

I was wondering AJD if you had a chance to use your dominator's ? Can you confirm that they work with the inspire 1? ?

Ultra310x · Jan 11, 2015

I'm not surprised it broke look at witch carbon fiber arms he has. Sucks about your crash hope you get it fixed quickly. there are alternatives to carbon fiber replacement as well.

AerialJerseyDevil · Jan 11, 2015

turbodronepilot said:
I was wondering AJD if you had a chance to use your dominator's ? Can you confirm that they work with the inspire 1? ?

Didn't get a chance, this was second flight and was planning on using camera on third flight,

AerialJerseyDevil · Jan 11, 2015

BaldEagle said:
Very sorry to see this and hear about this! I was just reading a few things online about fixing carbon tubing breaks. Looks like a lot is on bicycles where they might care about strength but changes in weight are not as important. I'm curious - do the two ends "fit" into each other cleanly?

Not very clean, I know of mending products but they need space on both sides to use. One side break is right at the arms T connection which is diff material. Not an easy one but I appreciate the help.. Gonna see what DJI says tomorrow....

turbodronepilot · Jan 11, 2015

Ultra310x said:
I'm not surprised it broke look at witch carbon fiber arms he has. Sucks about your crash hope you get it fixed quickly. there are alternatives to carbon fiber replacement as well.

So he doesn't have the woven ones?? Oh I see he doesn't. .wonder if that's why they broke ??

Ultra310x · Jan 11, 2015

yep version he has will have way less flexural strength they are stronger over all but have less give. there carbon also look very dry hard to tell from the pic though.

Tahoe Ed · Jan 11, 2015

AerialJerseyDevil said:
So, I went to a baseball field about 7 miles from home. Went up (second flight) and all was beautiful. Apparently the field owners (local township) strung fishing line from home plate backdrop to the outfield lights (maybe for holiday lighting?) but went up about 20' and a prop hit and got tangled in the line and she went down FAST!! Not sure what's gonna happen next.. Luckily I "forgot" my lightning cable, so I didn't bother hooking camera up. Hoping new arm is easy to either replace or have fixed inexpensively.. I'll keep you updated.

I am sorry to tell you but the entire arm assembly must be replaced. You cannot even replace individual motors without rebalancing them. DJI LA has the parts. Please contact them tomorrow. They will be able to help you.

Ultra310x · Jan 11, 2015

are they stocking both styles of carbon ?

Tahoe Ed · Jan 11, 2015

Joola said:
This is actually really interesting information. Hypothetically, if we had a motor fail and were out of warranty, we'd have to replace the entire arm?

I don't think so but you could not just replace the motor unless you balance the motor.

Russianfront · Jan 11, 2015

Ouch. I thought carbon fiber was supposed to be stronger than that!

shockwave199 · Jan 11, 2015

Terrible. Very sorry. This sounds like my dumbass luck. Look at the bright side- you got the crash over with. The chances of you hitting fishing line again are one in a million! Trees, that's something else. I'm sure it will work out. I do remember seeing a demo video with Eric in which he said the inspire is NOT crash friendly. That truly did give me pause hearing that. But, we press on. When you must have it, you must have it!

thumpinhard · Jan 12, 2015

really sorry for your crash..ouch!
i hope you can replace the arm yourself..but i hav my doubts..i get the feeling it has to be done by dji and you will need to send it in.
in any case,it could have been worse. good luck and please keep us posted with cost,time etc, if you don't mind.
this could have been any one of us..we feel your pain.