Fly Away Incident

Ian Fraser · Feb 8, 2015

This not a negative rant ok...

I did some flying over the weekend Saturday was a good day I got few flights in I only have 1 battery so I had to wait for charges. I got to 120m and a reasonable distance away.

Sunday wasn't so good I had 2 flyaway incidents the first one I regained control and landed. We moved locations and I did pre flight stuff including Compass calibration the status was safe to fly.

I went up about 25m and the Inspire 1 just took off backwards. It would not respond to forward control. It was responding to reduced power and it ended up in tree. The end result 2 dead motors.

Looking back at the 2 days of flying i did do something diffrent.

Day 1 on each take off I went to 2m and did control checks the Inspire 1 was rotated 360 in flight left bank right bank back and forth. Happy with the way it was handling I went flying without incident.

Day 2 On both flights I din't do the control checks at 2m I just went up to around 25m and after about 30 seconds the fly off's happened.

My take from this is the Inspire 1 hasn't got a proper GPS lock even if the status reports ok. I believe it taks a a bit longer for a proper GPS lock so while I was doing the control checks on Day 1 it was able to get a Proper GPS Lock Day 2 just leaping into the air it clearly hadn't got a proper GPS lock even if it was reporting so.

I currently have a support case running with DJI I will let you know the outcome.

Tahoe Ed · Feb 8, 2015

Ian it appears that the FC needs to warm up as well. The GPS gets lock very fast and sometimes I think that the FC has a hard time catching up.

Shakyamuni Films · Feb 8, 2015

Ian Fraser said:
This not a negative rant ok...

I did some flying over the weekend Saturday was a good day I got few flights in I only have 1 battery so I had to wait for charges. I got to 120m and a reasonable distance away.

Sunday wasn't so good I had 2 flyaway incidents the first one I regained control and landed. We moved locations and I did pre flight stuff including Compass calibration the status was safe to fly.

I went up about 25m and the Inspire 1 just took off backwards. It would respond to forward control. It was responding to reduced power and it ended up in tree. The end result 2 dead motors.

Looking back at the 2 days of flying i did do something diffrent.

Day 1 on each take off I went to 2m and did control checks the Inspire 1 was rotated 360 in flight left bank right bank back and forth. Happy with the way it was handling I went flying without incident.

Day 2 On both flights I din't do the control checks at 2m I just went up to around 25m and after about 30 seconds the fly off's happened.

My take from this is the Inspire 1 hasn't got a proper GPS lock even if the status reports ok. I believe it taks a a bit longer for a proper GPS lock so while I was doing the control checks on Day 1 it was able to get a Proper GPS Lock Day 2 just leaping into the air it clearly hadn't got a proper GPS lock even if it was reporting so.

I currently have a support case running with DJI I will let you know the outcome.

Please keep us updated. Sorry for the trouble. Did you lose your bird completely? Andrade you in range of pylons?

johnmont250 · Feb 8, 2015

that sucks ian. mine does it also. when its first launched, its common to have a compass error that will make you lose gps, and switch into atti mode and drift with the wind. the word is they are aware of it, and are working on a new fw fix. it needs to be soon though, if you are not ready for it, it can catch you off guard.

Ian Fraser · Feb 8, 2015

I did recover the Inspire 1

I did catch the first fly away. The second ended in a crash as I said 2 dead motors is all that happened.

InspiredOne · Feb 8, 2015

Tahoe Ed said:
Ian it appears that the FC needs to warm up as well. The GPS gets lock very fast and sometimes I think that the FC has a hard time catching up.

Sorry for my ignorance (newbie). What does "FC" stand for?

How long of a warm up does it need?

Quadpilot · Feb 8, 2015

FC stands for flight controller, the brains of the outfit that ties it all together. 20-30 secs should do it to give the craft some time to figure out its position. I always takeoff and let the Inspire hover near me for a few moments to verify that it can hold position before flying it away from me. If you notice the "Toilet Bowl effect" give it a little time to stabilize.

InspiredOne · Feb 8, 2015

Thank you, Quadpilot. Flight controller crossed my mind, but I've learned the hard way not to assume.

Good advice! I appreciate that.

nick1606 · Feb 9, 2015

Before I ever take off I make sure I have good GPS signal

thumpinhard · Feb 9, 2015

i had a fly away last weekend and did the compass cal. and even imu cal. i did hover and fly forward and back a bit. then i moved in a circle about 50 ft. and hovered..then it took off when i looked at the screen and touched the exposure controls. mine ended up in a tree near the ground. i was near power lines (150 ft. away) this time..but the bird was ok and it flew fine after that. there IS an issue and it seems like doings calibrations each time and giving it a minute at least to stabilize helps,but i have seen a few fly aways even where there seemed to be no explanation. my opinion is be prepared to switch into atto and take control..practice looking often at the app to confirm direction as well..you may only have one or two seconds to make the right choice and fly in the correct direction. the little red arrow could save your butt,especially if you did what i did and look down to adjust something..then before you look up,check the arrow.

Ian Fraser · Feb 9, 2015

nick1606 said:
Before I ever take off I make sure I have good GPS signal

So do I and the status was green safe to fly.

Haze1 · Feb 9, 2015

Ian Fraser said:
This not a negative rant ok...

I did some flying over the weekend Saturday was a good day I got few flights in I only have 1 battery so I had to wait for charges. I got to 120m and a reasonable distance away.

Sunday wasn't so good I had 2 flyaway incidents the first one I regained control and landed. We moved locations and I did pre flight stuff including Compass calibration the status was safe to fly.

I went up about 25m and the Inspire 1 just took off backwards. It would not respond to forward control. It was responding to reduced power and it ended up in tree. The end result 2 dead motors.

Looking back at the 2 days of flying i did do something diffrent.

Day 1 on each take off I went to 2m and did control checks the Inspire 1 was rotated 360 in flight left bank right bank back and forth. Happy with the way it was handling I went flying without incident.

Day 2 On both flights I din't do the control checks at 2m I just went up to around 25m and after about 30 seconds the fly off's happened.

My take from this is the Inspire 1 hasn't got a proper GPS lock even if the status reports ok. I believe it taks a a bit longer for a proper GPS lock so while I was doing the control checks on Day 1 it was able to get a Proper GPS Lock Day 2 just leaping into the air it clearly hadn't got a proper GPS lock even if it was reporting so.

I currently have a support case running with DJI I will let you know the outcome.

My tip is on any flight turn on and wait upto 2 min before taking off, (just old habbit from phantom that could take 2-3 min sometimes to get all GPS signals. But the GPS shouldnt make you fly away if no GPS? atti or manual mode does not require GPS. so i would say in my opinion its something else but I dont actually know just guess. sucks man

DjiQuadzilla · Feb 9, 2015

Any videos of these fly-aways? I would figure your cameras were on

just curious of the behavior when it happened Thanks.

The Editor · Feb 9, 2015

DjiQuadzilla said:
Any videos of these fly-aways? I would figure your cameras were on just curious of the behavior when it happened Thanks.

+1

Dropping into Atti does not a flyaway make. It should be TOTALLY controllable in Atti mode albeit will drift with the wind.

Video would be good.

airdrone · Feb 9, 2015

Ian Fraser said:
This not a negative rant ok...

I did some flying over the weekend Saturday was a good day I got few flights in I only have 1 battery so I had to wait for charges. I got to 120m and a reasonable distance away.

Sunday wasn't so good I had 2 flyaway incidents the first one I regained control and landed. We moved locations and I did pre flight stuff including Compass calibration the status was safe to fly.

I went up about 25m and the Inspire 1 just took off backwards. It would not respond to forward control. It was responding to reduced power and it ended up in tree. The end result 2 dead motors.

Looking back at the 2 days of flying i did do something diffrent.

Day 1 on each take off I went to 2m and did control checks the Inspire 1 was rotated 360 in flight left bank right bank back and forth. Happy with the way it was handling I went flying without incident.

Day 2 On both flights I din't do the control checks at 2m I just went up to around 25m and after about 30 seconds the fly off's happened.

My take from this is the Inspire 1 hasn't got a proper GPS lock even if the status reports ok. I believe it taks a a bit longer for a proper GPS lock so while I was doing the control checks on Day 1 it was able to get a Proper GPS Lock Day 2 just leaping into the air it clearly hadn't got a proper GPS lock even if it was reporting so.

I currently have a support case running with DJI I will let you know the outcome.

sunstorm

Ian Fraser · Feb 9, 2015

The Editor said:
+1

Dropping into Atti does not a flyaway make. It should be TOTALLY controllable in Atti mode albeit will drift with the wind.

Video would be good.

I was doing stills at the time. So no video.

It took off and "would not" respond to control inputs! It a bit hard to control something that has gone rouge.

Dena_Drones_2 · Feb 9, 2015

On take off lift to about 20 ft, i let it hover for about a minute then im locked in,not every flight i need to do this but sometimes it will have slight drift before it has a complete gps lock,hopefully new app update will show satellites.

Roastie · Feb 9, 2015

Can someone please confirm that if a "flyaway" event occurs or any other weird drifting, switching immediately to ATTI mode and taking manual control will solve the problem? I mean is this a GPS lock problem and not some kind of fault with the IMU / controller?

(incidentally, I had a weird thing happen yesterday - I had to keep constant pressure on the stick to stay stationary at one point in GPS mode, and then I flicked the switch to go to ATTI, but it went stright through to the other mode, which I never set up. Obviously that was a bit confusing and so I switched immediately back to GPS, constant pressure, and then when I let go the stick to see what happened, it went back about 3m and then stopped as if nothing was wrong. Then I carefully put it into ATTI mode (correctly this time) and noticed an MC Data Error on the screen..... I landed immediately and went home. Performed a full IMU calibration and will try again later to see if it happens again. Does anyone else find it sometimes a bit tricky with the flight mode switch to go just halfway and instead (with cold fingers!) flicking it all the way?)

Heiifyre · Feb 9, 2015

Ian Fraser said:
This not a negative rant ok...

I went up about 25m and the Inspire 1 just took off backwards. It would not respond to forward control. It was responding to reduced power and it ended up in tree. The end result 2 dead motors.

In GPS mode is it possible for the Inspire not to respond to forward controls if there is a compass\GPS lock? Seems to me it would fly in Atti without GPS lock?

Tahoe Ed · Feb 9, 2015

Ian Fraser said:
I was doing stills at the time. So no video.

It took off and "would not" respond to control inputs! It a bit hard to control something that has gone rouge.

Can you send me a link to your Flight Data Log files?