I am relatively new (about 9 months) into Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) but I have been around aircraft in maintenance related matters since 1965 (Yes 51 years). I live in Perth, Western Australia. Purchased my Inspire 1 Pro a few weeks ago now. Had P3 since July 2015. The thought of losing either with no warning is a major concern even though both are well insured.
The basic question I would like to get my head inside is "Is it possible to better define how to mitigate the risk of crashing by some type of preventative maintenance program?".
Aside from the bleeding obvious - flying into trees, houses, power lines etc what are the key risks for the Inspire 1 RPA?
a) Engine failure
b) ESC failure
c) Propeller failure
Can we mitigate the risk for these?
In a normal aircraft one relies heavily on the various equipment manufacturers for such key data as "Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF)" and "Recommended Lives". But as stated in several other areas, for electrical components this can be a tad tricky.
Now to date I have been singularly unsuccessful in engaging DJI techs on such mundane things as MTBF's. If anyone might have a clue, based on sales of spares and reported crashes I would have thought DJI would.
So be it. Is there another solution to tracking/collecting these failures? Well I think there is. If suppliers and users could easily contribute to one data collection source perhaps over time some meaningful stats could be seen. Data needs to be tabulated so that it is good and easy to understand reports can be used. Is this forum the place for such a feature or would any readers feel interested in such a database if one were available?
In the short term I plan to commence the following data collection on both my RPA's.
a) Engine/ESC condition:
i) Within 1 min of last flight, measure and record each engines temp using an infrared thermometer. This is in addition to checking by hand for temp and ease of turning.
ii) Every routine inspection check engine rpm again using an infrared rpm gauge.
Q. At what temp and/or rpm should the engine and/or ESC be replaced. To leave it "On Condition" is just asking for serious trouble at some future point.
b) Propeller condition (Regardless of type):
i) At each removal check with extreme care for any cracks or other defects, including the attachment mechanism. Paying particular attention to the hubs and leading edges. If in doubt - chuck it out. Cheap option compared to a failure.
In both cases record the event in the RPAs maintenance log.
The basic question I would like to get my head inside is "Is it possible to better define how to mitigate the risk of crashing by some type of preventative maintenance program?".
Aside from the bleeding obvious - flying into trees, houses, power lines etc what are the key risks for the Inspire 1 RPA?
a) Engine failure
b) ESC failure
c) Propeller failure
Can we mitigate the risk for these?
In a normal aircraft one relies heavily on the various equipment manufacturers for such key data as "Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF)" and "Recommended Lives". But as stated in several other areas, for electrical components this can be a tad tricky.
Now to date I have been singularly unsuccessful in engaging DJI techs on such mundane things as MTBF's. If anyone might have a clue, based on sales of spares and reported crashes I would have thought DJI would.
So be it. Is there another solution to tracking/collecting these failures? Well I think there is. If suppliers and users could easily contribute to one data collection source perhaps over time some meaningful stats could be seen. Data needs to be tabulated so that it is good and easy to understand reports can be used. Is this forum the place for such a feature or would any readers feel interested in such a database if one were available?
In the short term I plan to commence the following data collection on both my RPA's.
a) Engine/ESC condition:
i) Within 1 min of last flight, measure and record each engines temp using an infrared thermometer. This is in addition to checking by hand for temp and ease of turning.
ii) Every routine inspection check engine rpm again using an infrared rpm gauge.
Q. At what temp and/or rpm should the engine and/or ESC be replaced. To leave it "On Condition" is just asking for serious trouble at some future point.
b) Propeller condition (Regardless of type):
i) At each removal check with extreme care for any cracks or other defects, including the attachment mechanism. Paying particular attention to the hubs and leading edges. If in doubt - chuck it out. Cheap option compared to a failure.
In both cases record the event in the RPAs maintenance log.