My Solo Crashed HARD = Always keep an eye on that battery level, period!

[Chip Luck]

I am done with all of this... see you all somewhere else maybe, this has turned into a load of bullshi*

No more updates from me from now on. As Gunny' would say 'what a bunch of jackwagons'. New posters, even though you may mean well... = go and pound sand!

As far as I am concerned, this thread is now DEAD!

C' ya later, gator...

No cheers...

 

[GoodnNuff]

Sounds like he had a Chip on his shoulder. With any Luck he'll have an attitude adjustment.

 

[Chip Luck]

Sounds like he had a Chip on his shoulder. With any Luck he'll have an attitude adjustment.

Thanks for sealing the deal, your demeaning statement is enough for me. Go pound your own sand...

Much later...

 

[LuvMyTJ]

C'mon guys. Reel it in a bit.

 

[GoodnNuff]

I was just trying to be punny and add a little levity.
Dog gone it.

 

[Chip Luck]

C'mon guys. Reel it in a bit.

I am DONE with this BS period. Again, I'm have been a flight simulation engineer for 25+ years and have wrote more code that you can even think about. Really pisses me off, when someone jumps in, and instead of supporting - acts like a complete jackwagon. I'm AM really DONE with all this BS.

Per a personal request to you: Can you please at lest, DELETE this thread?

 

[mcneely19]

I am DONE with this BS period. Again, I'm have been a flight simulation engineer for 25+ years and have wrote more code that you can even think about. Really pisses me off, when someone jumps in, and instead of supporting - acts like a complete jackwagon. I'm AM really DONE with all this BS.

Per a personal request to you: Can you please at lest, DELETE this thread?

I am really tired of the flight simulation engineer comment. You aren't the only engineer here man. I'm an engineer; a real one, with a PE license and many years in the military prior to that. I don't use that to justify stupid decisions. Quit using this career to justify an ill planned mission with your quad. I'm not trying to piss you off or personally attack you. Just trying to share my opinion.

Sent from my VS985 4G using Tapatalk

 

[Acroduster]

Three "I'm done" posts. Interesting.

I do think the thread should remain, though. Although it has been a little testy of late, there's a lot to learn from it.

 

[Marich]

Chip, I really do understand how you feel. Seriously, though...
...this whole s:%?storm can be laid directly at the root cause: faulty information, going both ways!
If you'd just start over - explain in detail what you where attempting to accomplish, how you were going to do so, and then report - in great detail - the results.
That's the whole ball game right there! From your posts, and if you don't remember them very well I suggest a reread - and you'll see why most of us are scratching our heads and going whaasatt?
Just take the OP and fresh it out so we know the facts really are!

 

[DodgeP]

Bro. You have the tact of a sledgehammer. I hope you don't talk to people like that in person. Because your trolling for a beating. That being said. I disagree with nothing you said in your post.

Sent from my VS985 4G using Tapatalk

I'm most often in Philadelphia but also in NY and Boston so if you're handing out beatings, let me know when you're in one of those areas and I'll try to make it my business to be in the vicinity.

 

[DodgeP]

Maybe not disrespectful, but it'd be hard to describe your post as friendly.

The main criticism of your post - safety, would be entirely justified if your assumptions were correct. In this case, however, they are not. He states that he contacted the local airport and had clearance for his flight. He was in a remote location, not above people other than him and his friend. You've shown videos flying over Philly... what would have happened if a motor or ESC failed on your bird? Did you have clearance to fly over a city? Did you ensure that the streets below your intended flight path were clear of people? I'm thinking not. In that respect, him exceeding the flight capabilities in the location he flew posed a lesser risk of injury than your flights over a city.

FYI - when this dude first posted and it may well be changed now WHAT I TOOK AWAY FROM HIS POST WAS THIS: I flew my battery to 0% and it fell out of the sky. If he has since changed his statement, more power to him. I'm not going back and re-reading his corrections.

If flying to zero battery is a "calculated risk". It's one that I've never taken. If flying above 400' is a calculated risk. It's one that I've never taken. Do you know what the UAV rules are in America? Point the rule violations in my video(s)?

Be back in a few days. Since my life doesn't revolve around posting on a website every hour of every day or moderating one.

Thanks.

 

[User Name]

.....WHAT I TOOK AWAY FROM HIS POST WAS THIS

And therein lies the problem - what you took away from his post was riddled with assumptions, both in terms of the danger his flight posed to others and the degree to which he ignored the failsafes built into the Solo. It was later stated that his flight was planned, authorized and conducted to not endanger anyone, and he in fact did NOT circumvent or ignore the failsafes - the controller/connection failed long before the Solo would have entered failsafe mode.

If you're man enough berate someone on an assumption, you should be man enough to take the criticism when your assumptions turn out to have been incorrect and thus your criticisms unfounded. No doubt many of us, myself included, had the same thoughts as you in mind, but we held judgement pending further information. You did not.

IDo you know what the UAV rules are in America? Point the rule violations in my video(s)?

What rules did Chip violate? None, as he had clearance to fly at the altitude he did. My point is if your bird suffered a motor or ESC failure, you would have plummeted onto city streets or buildings. You felt justified in berating him over his flight and the danger it posed, yet clearly expose people to danger yourself on the faith in what everyone knows are fallible products. A little hypocritical.

When your busy life allows you to return, you should start with an apology for jumping the gun and berating Chip on faulty assumptions. I'll be interested to see if you're man enough to do so.

 

[mcneely19]

I'm most often in Philadelphia but also in NY and Boston so if you're handing out beatings, let me know when you're in one of those areas and I'll try to make it my business to be in the vicinity.

Not worth my time.

 

[LuvMyTJ]

So if the OP wants to do as Marich suggested and start again please do.

We interrupt this thread for an important message...
Negative attitudes are unwanted here. I was informed by the forum owners that they have taken action today regarding some of the post here. Lets try to help each other out instead of berating each other. There is enough negativity in the general public regarding UAV's, lets not be forced to see it in here as well.
We now take you back to your regularly scheduled thread.

 

[Del]

The End..

 

[EyeWingsuit]

Ditto on the link, thanks.

FWIW, I'd think a pilot vs a UAV operator would know this.
Forward motion generates lift. and prevents props from being in the burble of the body of the quad.
Once the wobble starts, it's imperative to generate forward or backward motion. If nothing else, at least rotate the quad to grab clean(er) air.

This is a good point for people to be aware of. I'm consistently surprised at how little UAV operators know about rotors, vortex', ground effect, shear, sinks....it's a really good idea to learn some aircraft/flight basics (although I think PPL for 333 is ridiculous).

 

[twitchyzero]

even though you may mean well... = go and pound sand!

that's the right attitude; thanks for participating.

inb4 "i'm done" for the 4th time.

 

[Chip Luck]

OK gang, one more time,

FYI and any more negative and non supportive post here will not be tolerated, and I will be DONE. I'm relaying this information to HELP others out, not to be berated. I see a lot of the negatives are from those that have no idea to the FACTS of the crash, so here is the final synopsis of the events.

Other flight on-site flights and video captures were performed with no issues 2 days prior to crash. That day: post pre-flight check list completed, spotters in place, and flight performed at ATC allowed time:

1) Solo controller LCD display back-light turned Orange and all data on the Controller LCD display froze just as Solo reached goal altitude with 60% battery remaining. I still had telemetry data coming in on my tablet = thank God

2) Then the tablet data fields and display appeared just what I would describe as abnormal, not located on the display in the usual area's, in other words a 'jumbled desktop'. Video feed was still coming in

3) I immediately hit Home, then held down Fly to 'land now' and even tried Manual to get Solo back down as soon as possible. Nothing works, even though it appeared to my spotters that Solo was performing a RTH, auto or initiated? I'm not sure at this point

4) When I finally recovered all of my Solo's parts; ejected flight battery, GoPro 30 feet away, GoPro SD card(!), GPS cover, prop parts, etc., and shut everything down and went in for a re-charge and status check of Solo. The Controller showed a completely white back-lit display with no data shown on it when I connected to the charger. I contacted 3DR support on-site as I had more video/work to do, trying to fix this mess. Had a weird alarm tone coming from Solo, even though Solo's LED's showed the usual ready to fly pattern. They were helpful indicating the tones were indicating a GPS module failure (I held the phone next to Solo so they could hear it), but had no idea to exactly what the the rest of the issues were at the current time concerning the Controller status, we tried and 3DR support was great (about 10:30pm EST)

5) So, performed a complete visual inspection on Solo. Pulled Gimbal, top motor bell was spinning on shaft, Gimbal video HDMI cable had separated the connector from the Gimbal, front mounting tab for Gimbal on main body was broken off. No-go on trying to get Solo back in the air to get the job completed with the Gimbal, except...:

5) So, I still tried to get back Solo back in the air with the standard GoPro frame mount. Performed another battery pull on the Controller and the LCD flickered some data, then went back to a white LCD/blank display = then I give up, on-site

6) Once home, I pulled the Controller battery out overnight. The next morning, I was able to get data display back on the controller. Kept charger plugged in, however the Controller would not accept a full charge, and to mention all Controller buttons were all lit while on charge which is not normal

7) Tried to perform complete factory reset on Controller = completed; Solo = a no go, solid orange pair light no matter what I did. Solo GPS failure warning tone was still going off, so I fixed that by repairing/re-seating the Solo main board GPS signal cable connector which was bent from the impact (connector shell destroyed), how I missed that on-site, I have no idea

So, everything has been shipped back to 3DR. The only issue was at first they only wanted just the Controller shipped, and why just that item I asked? Well, support and myself worked through it overall after further emails and explanation of the situation, everyghing I have went back to 3DR, chargers and all.

Anyway, I will let you all know the outcome. Hopefully 3DR will come through and I'm sure they will as my ticket and conversations with support have be spot on, 3DR has a great customer support team. When you have a Controller failure that just happened at the absolute wrong time, it's not good over all, period.

I just want my Solo back, I have a LOT of work to do... so wish me luck.

Cheers