Drone Down!

[pdmike]

So I'm flying it great, back and forth out in front of me, up and down, forward and back, always keeping it headed into what was a pretty stiff wind at times. I was even yawing it around to keep the rear facing me. I was laughing and scratching. Then, I thought I would venture a little farther afield. I moved it to the left, pushed it out, moved it up a bit - and the wind got it. Now, it's moving faster than I want it to, away from me. I ran the controls as best I could but it didn't seem to have any effect. Boom! Right into a huge, eucalyptus tree about 40 feet up and about 150 yards away from me.

Due to fences and distance, I had to make a car retrieve, so I got into my car and drove to where I had seen it go into the tree. Nothing on the ground. I looked all over. Nothing. I figured it was stuck up the tree somewhere. The leaves were too thick to allow me to see where it was.

I was about to give up when I thought, wait a minute - the quad is still on, I'm sure. I got the controller out and activated the motors. Sure enough! I could hear it up there somewhere, props whirring. To be sure, I turned it off. The whirring stopped. So now, I figured maybe I can fly it out of there. At first, it didn't work but after four or five tries, Boom! Here it comes, out of the tree as nice as can be.

However, now it is flying away from me, with the wind once again, and it's headed for another grove of trees. I had to stop it. I tried to land it but ran into a bit of trouble there. It came down faster than I wanted it to (I was in a bit of panic mode at that point) and, sadly, it was over asphalt at the time. When I retrieved it, one of the prop legs was disconnected from the body and I'm afraid I won't be able to get it back on.

So that was my day. Lesson learned. Don't let 'em get away from you in the first place and if you lose 'em in a tree, fly 'em out! Oh, yes - one more lesson learned: don't spend the big bucks on your first drone. This one was only $91.00. Think I will keep in that price range for a while until I get the full hang of this thing.

 

[mozquito1]

It's drone flying but you got the tree climbing achievement. way to go.

 

[pdmike]

It's drone flying but you got the tree climbing achievement. way to go.

Thanks. I had written my quad off, but now I see that I can get the upper and lower body parts for a mere $6 each. That's the good news. The bad news is, I just spent an hour or so trying to take my present one apart. 1,400 screws later, I did get it apart but I see that, if I order the upper and lower body parts, it isn't just a matter of putting the two parts back together. Looks like I am going to have to do a complete re-wire of the entire quad. I'm not sure I have the ability, the desire or the time to try that. Maybe I will just get another one. Ya think? Or am I making too much of a repair here?

 

[mozquito1]

The guts should be able to come out in one piece once if the lids off. And unscrewed the fcb. What have you got?
Sound light as the wind whipped it up.
Had a couple of toys myself & done transplants. Just be careful if they are brushed motors. They break easy.

 

[pdmike]

Easy enough to get the guts out, but wires run from the guts out to each of the four props and there's where the messy re-wire takes place. I'm shopping for a new one. Looking for a mid-size with headless mode and a camera for under $100.00.

 

[Jackson]

and if you lose 'em in a tree, fly 'em out!

With brushed motors especially, that's a good way to ruin them. Many quads have a motor stop feature that kills power to the motor when undo resistance is felt.

 

[yay]

The bad news is

amateur i've already lost three to wind and i've put days into my fourth which is grounded. fix that sucker. it's empowering, you'll be putting better stuff together for a third the price. or put it in a box and send it to me!. in my experience these things fly with more damage than you might initially think. get some time out of it.

 

[mozquito1]

That's another downside to toys.
WIND
one fart & it's gone.

 

[Rick M]

Any appreciable wind isn't your friend when you're learning. Windless days and flying inside your house in the very beginning can save you a lot of heartburn.

Oh, and Jackson is right: flying a stuck quad out of a tree will very rarely succeed, but it will very often succeed in burning out one or more motors. I love that it worked for you this time but honestly, you got really lucky.

 

[pdmike]

Any appreciable wind isn't your friend when you're learning. Windless days and flying inside your house in the very beginning can save you a lot of heartburn.

Oh, and Jackson is right: flying a stuck quad out of a tree will very rarely succeed, but it will very often succeed in burning out one or more motors. I love that it worked for you this time but honestly, you got really lucky.

I know - but I had a choice; abandon the quad somewhere up in the tree or try and fly it out. I almost got away with it. I had a chance to control it once it flew free of the tree but blew it. Come to think of it though, maybe I didn't. Maybe, as you say, I burned out one or more of the motors before it came out. I originally turned it on just to locate it. Once I had done that, I began thinking about trying to fly it out. So I began turning it on and then trying to move it out. When I did that, the motors would shut down. On about the fifth try, they didn't shut down and it came out. As I speculate - possibly with a burned out motor or two.

 

[pdmike]

That's another downside to toys.
WIND
one fart & it's gone.

What's the difference between a "toy" and a legitimate quad? I didn't view mine as a toy. It was about 15" from prop tip to prop tip and substantially built. Take a look at it on the link in my sig.

 

[Elapid]

They don't have to cost a lot to be good and just because they cost a bunch doesn't make them good. JMO

 

[Rick M]

What's the difference between a "toy" and a legitimate quad? I didn't view mine as a toy. It was about 15" from prop tip to prop tip and substantially built. Take a look at it on the link in my sig.

"Toy" grade isn't intended to be a criticism - it's simply a method of classifying quads into groups. Many of us own and love quads that we would classify as toy grade. I fly a Syma X5 frequently and enjoy the heck out of it. There would probably be some disagreement about the criteria for a toy grade quad, but one starting point is brushed motors.

I also completely agree with Elapid's comment. There are a lot of great toy grade birds out there, and there are some expensive ones that are utter crap.

 

[pdmike]

"Toy" grade isn't intended to be a criticism - it's simply a method of classifying quads into groups. Many of us own and love quads that we would classify as toy grade. I fly a Syma X5 frequently and enjoy the heck out of it. There would probably be some disagreement about the criteria for a toy grade quad, but one starting point is brushed motors.

I also completely agree with Elapid's comment. There are a lot of great toy grade birds out there, and there are some expensive ones that are utter crap.

Funny you should mention Syma. I have just ordered a Syma X8SC as the replacement drone for my late, great, XK X300W.

 

[Jackson]

Syma X8SC

That's too bad.

 

[pdmike]

That's too bad.

Why? It seemed like a good idea at the time.

 

[QuadKid]

Toy" grade isn't intended to be a criticism

This is true, most Toy grade quads have a 300" radius from the controller, some less, some more, hobby grade quads using PPM, S-Buss, Frsky receivers and the like will typically get 800-1500" Radius from the controller, ( Maybe not so for video transmission ). Lost a few "toy" drones to wind at higher altitude, wind maybe 5 mpg at ground level but at 200' altitude it will take you out of your range of control in an instant, then all you can do is watch to see if it floats like a butterfly or stings like a bee !!

 

[pdmike]

This is true, most Toy grade quads have a 300" radius from the controller, some less, some more, hobby grade quads using PPM, S-Buss, Frsky receivers and the like will typically get 800-1500" Radius from the controller, ( Maybe not so for video transmission ). Lost a few "toy" drones to wind at higher altitude, wind maybe 5 mpg at ground level but at 200' altitude it will take you out of your range of control in an instant, then all you can do is watch to see if it floats like a butterfly or stings like a bee !!

Holy prop guards! As Johnny Carson used to say, "I did not know that." And I didn't. Now I think I know why I lost my drone yesterday. It was easily more than 300 feet away from my controller when I became unable to bring it back and the wind grabbed it. No wonder that happened. Nuts! So range is an important factor, right? Sure seems that way to me. I would most certainly want even a beginner drone to be able to fly more than 300 feet out from the controller. Am I analyzing this properly?

 

[pdmike]

"Toy" grade isn't intended to be a criticism - it's simply a method of classifying quads into groups. Many of us own and love quads that we would classify as toy grade. I fly a Syma X5 frequently and enjoy the heck out of it. There would probably be some disagreement about the criteria for a toy grade quad, but one starting point is brushed motors.

I also completely agree with Elapid's comment. There are a lot of great toy grade birds out there, and there are some expensive ones that are utter crap.

What would your definition of a toy grade drone be? OK - brushed (as opposed to brushless?) motors? Would range figure into it? Anything else?

 

[yay]

i wouldn't get too confused about it.. it's a flexible vernacular, more for ease of communcation than written in stoner. most people saying 'toy quad' probably delineate it slightly different in models.. but i think the best definition for the purposes of this thread is the one where it was brought into play...

..a *toy* quad is one that disappears when the wind blows off