Phantom 2 - CSC in mid flight results in catastrophic loss of altitude...

[RocFlight]

So, I'm new...But a brief search didn't turn up anything, so either I'm looking in the wrong place, or the question I'm about to ask is one of those noob questions...

Here goes: Why on earth does the Phantom 2 have the ability to execute the CSC in mid-flight?! This seems like an increadibly dumb ability. As I understand it, the machine knows how high it is off the ground. Why on earth am I given the ability to execute a CSC at anything about 10 feet?? There are 4 different ways to orient the controls that result in the engines turning off. Last week, my nephew accidentally executed one of them at about 200', and the result was predictable. It dropped from the sky like a stone, and destroyed *everything*...Copter, ZenMuse HD-3, and my Hero3...all kaput. If this thing knows it's in the air, why in god's name is the ability to perform a CSC not just turned off!! I mean, it knows to power down the rotors when it's reached the ground and I've held it there for a few seconds. The rotors don't stop when I hold down when it's 2000' feet in the air!

Any and all help is appreciated, as I'd prefer not to have to send this thing back in for another RMA...

 

[Benjamin Kenobi]

CSC is there to stop the motors in an emergency. It is almost impossible to do one accidentally as your sticks should never be in those positions during normal flight.

I'd say either tell your nephew to be more gentle or don't let him fly it.

 

[harens]

I have to agree with RocFlight. I am having trouble imagining that emergency where you have the time to shut down the rotor to avoid some calamity but give up the Phantom in the process. If it is truly needed maybe but I guess I would love to know of an exampe that really happened. Otherwise if it is a capability that just exists that no one uses, then if I were DJI, I would remove it. Kind of sounds like a feature made for insurance company purposes that is never used in flight.

 

[RocFlight]

CSC is there to stop the motors in an emergency. It is almost impossible to do one accidentally as your sticks should never be in those positions during normal flight.

I don't know that I agree with this, Ol' Ben. Perhaps I'm not controlling flight properly. I should mention that the Phantom was in my possession for less than a week before this happened. It may just be my lack of understanding of flight control that makes me think it's quite logical that some of these combos would be used in flight. For instance, to me, it would seem that, Left-Thumbstick-Down produces a decrease in altitude, while executing a right turn at the same time, creating a tight downward spiral. It therefore feels natural to try to augmented that downward spiral to produce a larger diameter turn by simultaneously pushing the Right-Thumbstick-Down and to the left. Does that make sense? I'm not saying that's what he did, as I've no clue which combo he used, but the fact that this is one of the 4 available to execute a CSC seems to run counter to my intuition. Add to this the fact that the device won't power down, in flight, if I hold the left thumbstick straight down long enough to make it descend from, say 1000', tells me that there's clearly an altimeter registering height and, therefore, preventing it from shutting down the rotors. Why not the same consideration for a CSC combo? I cannot, for the life of me, come up with a compelling argument to *ever* need to execute a CSC when the device recognizes that it's more than 10' off the ground.

Thanks for your response!

 

[IM0001]

The problem is the CSC is at points on the remote that literally should not be held even doing normal flight. Holding the throttle below 10% to descend for any period of time over 4 seconds will also shut down the motors so that should be avoided from the start, All descents with a loaded P2 should be done slowly and smoothly not in a hurry or at a rate you would have both the control sticks in either lower corner at the same time.

Also this goes to another point. Don't let anyone else fly your new "toy" unless you know they are willing/able to pay for it. $1000-2000 is not simple "toy" territory anymore and closer to letting someone drive your car without checking for a license, or any past driving experience.

Nobody is touching my P2 except me for the foreseeable future.

 

[RocFlight]

Hah! Yeah...I've decided that until I can afford a second one, I'm not letting another soul fly it.

The part about holding the throttle below 10% for any period of time over 4 seconds...that doesn't seem to be true for mine! Once it's up past 1000', I hold straight down on L-Thumbstick to bring it back down. I'm *certain* I've held L-Thumbstick straight down for longer than 4 seconds. The engines will not stop until it's safely on the ground and I *continue* to hold the throttle down. Perhaps we're not talking about the same maneuver?

 

[IM0001]

Perhaps it doesn't do it while seeing a Vertical Speed decent, but I would still not hold it all the way down at any altitude due to the risk of flying into your propwash vortex which could cause an uncontrollable descent and crash.

 

[hjls3]

Hey guys, haven't been active here in a while, but feeling its time to chafe that...CSC is there for safety - Like Ben said - IE, lose control for whatever reason use CSC before the craft flies somewhere dangerous...speaking of - what in the world were you doing at 1000'? maybe you meant 100' - I hope so -