Ok, MY crashes :upset:
Somehow though it is cathartic to 'fess up and admit when you got it wrong, so this is my tail of.... redemption.
I went flying at the weekend and took both my Phantom and my XA650.
Several other people were there flying and it was a lovely day. I started with my Phantom which I like to use as my warm-up craft. It is great and just scuds around the sky like a puppy. I often fly it in manual rather than GPS and just practice control and manoeuvres. I was also doing some RTH tests. I would switch off the Tx and watch it make its way home and land. Simple things please me and it always brings a small smile to my face to see it land just about exactly where it took off from and then power down.
.
Time for the X650 and my first real use of my new Fatshark goggles and FPV system. Man that is a bit disconcerting at first. I would fly for a short while but then have to pull the goggles off and check my location. It was good but will certainly take some getting used to. Also, despite having the Attitude goggles with adjustable IPD, my eyes must be wide because I cannot get it so I can clearly see the height and distance OSD readings without the rest of the image being blurred. Anyways, landed (without goggles) and all was well.
Back to Phantom and more RTH etc.
Back to X650 and this is where it goes a bit Pete Tong (wrong). Again FPV but this time I tried to maintain it for longer. Before I knew it I was getting disoriented and so off with the goggles to see this tiny speck way in the distance. EEEEK !!! I could not orient and before long had decided to do RTH for real. So I switched off the Tx.... and I saw my x650 fall out of the sky like a rock into long grass. I could not believe it and stood there for a few seconds dumbfounded because I had, on an earlier weekend, tested RTH and it was fine. Then it finally struck me. For the X650 RTH is NOT triggered by Tx power down but by a switch throw.
STUPID STUPID ME !!! I had been confused by all the earlier RTH testing with the Phantom. My own fault at the end of the day.
I and a fellow flier walked out into the distance to try and find it but after the first 45 minutes or so he left me to continue my search alone. I asked dog walkers and anyone I saw.
Long story short one stranger I asked stayed with me for the next 2 hours (!!) looking in the long grass. We walked for miles and miles continually criss-crossing the long grass. The FPV was still on but only showed grass but eventually we narrowed the search area a bit by wearing the goggles and rotating to see which way provided the best signal. Finally, at the point when I was ready to give in, he spots it and I tell you, you could have walked within 6 ft of it and missed it completely in the long grass.
Fortunately it had landed on its back so the canopy shell took most of the impact. It did break an arm and all the load hangers but at least the new T-Motor props I had just bought were completely unharmed.
I never did get the man's name, but I thanked him profusely and counted my lucky stars.
So it was me being stupid. but it raises the question of whether I can set up a failsafe mode that triggers an RTH just like if I had thrown the switch that is already programmed to initiate RTH.
Finally and looking on the bright side, the broken arm forced me to pretty much dismantle the x650 which presents an opportunity. When I bought it, it included a free build service and so arrived to me RTF. However, I am a bit of a neat-freak when it comes to wiring my models etc. and so this now gives me the opportunity to do pretty much a complete re-build as I would like it to be.
Whew, lesson learned... faith in humanity thanks to a good and kind man (and his dog!!) truly restored and a chance to resurrect my x650 better than ever.
Thanks for reading,
Jonathan
Somehow though it is cathartic to 'fess up and admit when you got it wrong, so this is my tail of.... redemption.
I went flying at the weekend and took both my Phantom and my XA650.
Several other people were there flying and it was a lovely day. I started with my Phantom which I like to use as my warm-up craft. It is great and just scuds around the sky like a puppy. I often fly it in manual rather than GPS and just practice control and manoeuvres. I was also doing some RTH tests. I would switch off the Tx and watch it make its way home and land. Simple things please me and it always brings a small smile to my face to see it land just about exactly where it took off from and then power down.
.Time for the X650 and my first real use of my new Fatshark goggles and FPV system. Man that is a bit disconcerting at first. I would fly for a short while but then have to pull the goggles off and check my location. It was good but will certainly take some getting used to. Also, despite having the Attitude goggles with adjustable IPD, my eyes must be wide because I cannot get it so I can clearly see the height and distance OSD readings without the rest of the image being blurred. Anyways, landed (without goggles) and all was well.
Back to Phantom and more RTH etc.
Back to X650 and this is where it goes a bit Pete Tong (wrong). Again FPV but this time I tried to maintain it for longer. Before I knew it I was getting disoriented and so off with the goggles to see this tiny speck way in the distance. EEEEK !!! I could not orient and before long had decided to do RTH for real. So I switched off the Tx.... and I saw my x650 fall out of the sky like a rock into long grass. I could not believe it and stood there for a few seconds dumbfounded because I had, on an earlier weekend, tested RTH and it was fine. Then it finally struck me. For the X650 RTH is NOT triggered by Tx power down but by a switch throw.
STUPID STUPID ME !!! I had been confused by all the earlier RTH testing with the Phantom. My own fault at the end of the day.
I and a fellow flier walked out into the distance to try and find it but after the first 45 minutes or so he left me to continue my search alone. I asked dog walkers and anyone I saw.
Long story short one stranger I asked stayed with me for the next 2 hours (!!) looking in the long grass. We walked for miles and miles continually criss-crossing the long grass. The FPV was still on but only showed grass but eventually we narrowed the search area a bit by wearing the goggles and rotating to see which way provided the best signal. Finally, at the point when I was ready to give in, he spots it and I tell you, you could have walked within 6 ft of it and missed it completely in the long grass.
Fortunately it had landed on its back so the canopy shell took most of the impact. It did break an arm and all the load hangers but at least the new T-Motor props I had just bought were completely unharmed.
I never did get the man's name, but I thanked him profusely and counted my lucky stars.
So it was me being stupid. but it raises the question of whether I can set up a failsafe mode that triggers an RTH just like if I had thrown the switch that is already programmed to initiate RTH.
Finally and looking on the bright side, the broken arm forced me to pretty much dismantle the x650 which presents an opportunity. When I bought it, it included a free build service and so arrived to me RTF. However, I am a bit of a neat-freak when it comes to wiring my models etc. and so this now gives me the opportunity to do pretty much a complete re-build as I would like it to be.
Whew, lesson learned... faith in humanity thanks to a good and kind man (and his dog!!) truly restored and a chance to resurrect my x650 better than ever.
Thanks for reading,
Jonathan
