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Planned mid-air shutdown? Anyone tried it?

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While it seems all should be ok, anyone performed a planned UAV shutdown of engines hovering (or not) and what happened? Did the re-start recover the UAV? Any tumbling if from a hover, etc.
 
Bad juju......

I wouldn't shut down the motors on any aircraft unless I was sitting inside of the cockpit........
 
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Here is what an inflight shut down looks and sounds like. This was with a GoPro on an original Phantom 1. As soon as I started it, it went to full throttle uncommanded. You can hear I almost got it restarted before it hit the ground :)

 
Again, has anyone actually attempted and can relate a planned midair shutdown and restart?
 
While it seems all should be ok, anyone performed a planned UAV shutdown of engines hovering (or not) and what happened? Did the re-start recover the UAV? Any tumbling if from a hover, etc.

Just make sure you have enough battery left. This was shot in the ol' Phantom 1 days (for you millennials, that means NO telemetry data). Battery capacity was measured using a stopwatch.


D
 
Check YouTube for drone videos done years ago, when folks were flying them up to extremely high altitudes. One of the tricks they used was to shut off and tumble down from 10k + to 2k . By the time they’d reached the altitude they were attempting, battery would be down to 20% or less, so they’d shut down, then restart at a much lower altitude to have a powered landing before the battery died. It was a pretty common tactic.
 
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Hey JP
If i lied and said my case was indeed on purpose, would it make a difference? Because i really doubt youll find somebody willing to do this on purpose, and if so its usually a moment of "F it" but to do it planned, like if you had total confidence that its all in the piloting skills
If this isnt enough, ask these 2

Just make sure you have enough battery left. This was shot in the ol' Phantom 1 days (for you millennials, that means NO telemetry data). Battery capacity was measured using a stopwatch.


D
very interesting... But I would disagree about being nostalgic about the good old days because if there's one thing that I have to say has piss me off with every single DJI drone I've seen and flown is the way that it manages the battery requirements to safely return home. It gages how much you have left to come back home with so much bias its predictable what to do to stay in control. for me the biggest frustration is putting a very heavy emphasis on altitude rather distance. calculating the power used to go to the furthest point away from home, compare that to the Baseline (factory or through machine learning) readings in perfect weather no wind, that will give it ahint if it was going against the wind or not and certainly enough data to calculate needed battery.

But having a drone go 3.5km away at 500m up and trigger a RTH still on the way there with something like 66% battery remaining. it was going with the Wind on the route back and it decides to Autoland LITERALLY the second after getting on the trip back. That brings the redest redneck you ever seen because instead of flying at 50 kilometers an hour I'm limited to 23 and with that i have to fight the landing which cannot be overridden and even with all that wasted power, if i didnt ignore the RTH more than once i always land with over 15%, in worst cases I land at zero still at home but with possible battery damage...
 
very interesting... But I would disagree about being nostalgic about the good old days...."

I didn't editorialize. I just stated fact that I had to use a stopwatch back then. Truth be told, I absolutely like getting telemetry data MUCH better than not.



...because if there's one thing that I have to say has piss me off with every single DJI drone I've seen and flown is the way that it manages the battery requirements to safely return home. It gages how much you have left to come back home with so much bias its predictable what to do to stay in control. for me the biggest frustration is putting a very heavy emphasis on altitude rather distance. calculating the power used to go to the furthest point away from home, compare that to the Baseline (factory or through machine learning)...

Two words: ATTI mode.




...readings in perfect weather no wind, that will give it ahint if it was going against the wind or not and certainly enough data to calculate needed battery.

Determine wind direction prior to flight and adjust accordingly.



But having a drone go 3.5km away at 500m up and trigger a RTH still on the way there with something like 66% battery remaining.

ATTI mode is your best friend. As long as your RC is still in range of your AC, you should be able to fly as far and fast as you wish in ATTI mode. I'll remind you that this is the Inspire forum, so I assume you're flying and discussing your Inspire. If not, you're in the wrong forum and should move your comments to the correct forum.



it was going with the Wind on the route back and it decides to Autoland LITERALLY the second after getting on the trip back. That brings the redest redneck you ever seen because instead of flying at 50 kilometers an hour I'm limited to 23 and with that i have to fight the landing which cannot be overridden and even with all that wasted power,

ATTI mode.




if i didnt ignore the RTH more than once i always land with over 15%, in worst cases I land at zero still at home but with possible battery damage...

DJI recommends you discharge Inspire 1 batteries down to zero percent every 10th charge. I have been doing this with great success for a couple years. Presently, I have about 80 flights on 4 of my 5 original batteries. 1 of the batteries started showing errors, so I retired it.

If you're going for distance, just correspond your distance flight to your 10th charge.

D
 
Dude, ATTI mode isn't the same on all drones, I specifically were talking about the Spark and Mavic Air. ATTI mode isn't a switch to flip to, it's a potential flyaway---as I had in my baby days as a new pilot and its not something you're taught how to deal with when the user manual refers to it under the troubleshooting section and not the controller flight modes
 
Dude, ATTI mode isn't the same on all drones,

Actually, it is. Starting from the Phantom 1 and moving all the way through every version of every line, "ATTI Mode" is exactly the same on all DJI products.




I specifically were talking about the Spark and Mavic Air.

Then you should move this out of the "Inspire Pilots" forum.





ATTI mode isn't a switch to flip to, it's a potential flyaway---

I don't understand. Clarify. ATTI mode is a perfectly viable way to bring your drone home when your drone defaults to an Intelligent Flight Mode.



as I had in my baby days as a new pilot and its not something you're taught how to deal with when the user manual refers to it under the troubleshooting section and not the controller flight modes

Again, I don't know what you mean here. Please clarify.

D
 
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Dude, ATTI mode isn't the same on all drones, I specifically were talking about the Spark and Mavic Air. ATTI mode isn't a switch to flip to, it's a potential flyaway---as I had in my baby days as a new pilot and its not something you're taught how to deal with when the user manual refers to it under the troubleshooting section and not the controller flight modes
If you are talking about the Spark and Mavic Air there are dedicated forums for those aircraft.
As mentioned by Donnie - Atti mode is the same on ALL DJI aircraft, with the exception that some have the option to manually switch to atti, some only auto switch.
However, Atti mode functions identically on all aircraft.

Are you actually flying an Inspire series or only a Spark or Air?

I would suggest you limit your Spark/Air discussion and questions to the appropriate forums.
 
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But having a drone go 3.5km away at 500m up and trigger a RTH still on the way there with something like 66% battery remaining. it was going with the Wind on the route back and it decides to Autoland LITERALLY the second after getting on the trip back. That brings the redest redneck you ever seen because instead of flying at 50 kilometers an hour I'm limited to 23 and with that i have to fight the landing which cannot be overridden and even with all that wasted power, if i didnt ignore the RTH more than once i always land with over 15%, in worst cases I land at zero still at home but with possible battery damage...
Not really interested in comments like the one above on the forum at those sort of distances and altitudes..........

Save it for the distance/adrenaline idiots.
 
I guess I do not understand why anyone would attempt a planned UAV shutdown of engines. but that's just my thoughts
For emergency reasons.
eg - your aircraft has thrown a prop and is spinning uncontrollably towards a school/busy road/heavily pedestrian populated area.
 
Again, has anyone actually attempted and can relate a planned midair shutdown and restart?
I've seen a vid a while back. A guy shut down a P3 and filmed it with another P3. Got it restarted and everything was fine. Cool vid. May still be on YT!
 

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