Just How Tough is The SOLO? Well, Let's see.......

Jubalr · Jan 29, 2016

Since Solo started shipping last summer, we have seen several posts describing incidents that indicate the Solo is a better built machine than other MRs out there. But I thought this was a nice example of that...

pyrate · Jan 29, 2016

Yep
try that with a phantom

Dash Hewes · Jan 29, 2016

Nice posting Jubair.
There is always something to learn from this forum, and learning from others mistakes.
always, plan ahead.

Chuck · Jan 29, 2016

Man, Jubalr, what a testament to the Solo's durability. She is one tough bird. Were you able to clean out the motor pods, or did you replace them? Thanks for sharing your experience.

Jubalr · Jan 30, 2016

Chuck said:
Man, Jubalr, what a testament to the Solo's durability. She is one tough bird. Were you able to clean out the motor pods, or did you replace them? Thanks for sharing your experience.

Wasn't my flight. But the description at the end says he had no further problems.

gregsh · Jan 30, 2016

Jubalr said:
Since Solo started shipping last summer, we have seen several posts describing incidents that indicate the Solo is a better built machine than other MRs out there. But I thought this was a nice example of that...

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Awesome story and video. I've had similar instances like Solo vs light pole that sheared the props off. My Solo is flying just fine today too. Thanks for sharing!

Troy Brako · Feb 16, 2016

Chuck said:
Man, Jubalr, what a testament to the Solo's durability. She is one tough bird. Were you able to clean out the motor pods, or did you replace them? Thanks for sharing your experience.

Hey Chuck, that was my video so I'll respond. No I didn't have to replace the motor pods. They were siezed up or very crunchy, but after taking them apart and clean out all the sand I could they were 95% better. They make a little bit more noise, but it's minimal. I actually sent it back to 3DR just to be sure, and they didn't say anything needed to be addressed. Solid bird.

Yeah the biggest risk with flying these is the return home height. I would make sure and set yours to at least 95ft to get above manmade objects, and address the environment in case more elevation would be desirable, such as this video demonstrates.

Cosber · Feb 16, 2016

Troy Brako said:
Hey Chuck, that was my video so I'll respond. No I didn't have to replace the motor pods. They were siezed up or very crunchy, but after taking them apart and clean out all the sand I could they were 95% better. They make a little bit more noise, but it's minimal. I actually sent it back to 3DR just to be sure, and they didn't say anything needed to be addressed. Solid bird.

Yeah the biggest risk with flying these is the return home height. I would make sure and set yours to at least 95ft to get above manmade objects, and address the environment in case more elevation would be desirable, such as this video demonstrates.

Happy you're still flying. Also really nice video. I've been wanting to fly the cliffs in La Jolla, but I haven't built up the courage yet. Couple questions: Where were you when the cliff blocked the signal? It also didn't look like it climbed much when it did the RTH, though that could be just an illusion. Did it climb?

Adimuzio513 · Feb 16, 2016

Wow, I knew it was tough but that's ridiculous and then its still holding smooth as silk. Can't believe even the gimbal and hero came out ok. My only issues have been a rough landing and flip from a first week gps glitch and I got tangled in some balloons a few weeks ago doing an indoor favor shoot for my uncle and she came down. No issues either time, both were only at maybe 15 feet so no surprise after seeing things like this. My phantom would have been done for even at 15 feet for sure and the zenmuse, well we all know that wouldn't have survived the hard landing issue. I like both birds, but they are definitley on opposite ends of the spectrum material and build wise.

Nice video Troy and thanks for posting Jubalr, inspires confidence and will probably let me get into spots I'd be scared to with lesser birds after seeing this.

EyeWingsuit · Feb 16, 2016

Troy Brako said:
Hey Chuck, that was my video so I'll respond. No I didn't have to replace the motor pods. They were siezed up or very crunchy, but after taking them apart and clean out all the sand I could they were 95% better. They make a little bit more noise, but it's minimal. I actually sent it back to 3DR just to be sure, and they didn't say anything needed to be addressed. Solid bird.

Yeah the biggest risk with flying these is the return home height. I would make sure and set yours to at least 95ft to get above manmade objects, and address the environment in case more elevation would be desirable, such as this video demonstrates.

Our experience is essentially the same. Hit a twig, which put the Solo into the tree, which dropped it into a deep puddle of water (melted ice rink). Motor 01 and 02 completely filled with mud. Entire hull filled with water. GoPro half submerged, gimbal entirely submerged for approx 5 mins. Perhaps the saving grace was the battery releasing on second bounce. I removed battery tray, hand-wiped most of it, removed motor pods and let gentle warm air pass over them. Then brushed them out, vacuumed with computer key vac, brushed it out again.
Either way, she's flying, have sent logs to 3DR and they find nothing wrong. Two flights today, and both were as expected.

[edited to add video link] A couple asked if I had video; here it is again.

Troy Brako · Feb 18, 2016

Cosber said:
Happy you're still flying. Also really nice video. I've been wanting to fly the cliffs in La Jolla, but I haven't built up the courage yet. Couple questions: Where were you when the cliff blocked the signal? It also didn't look like it climbed much when it did the RTH, though that could be just an illusion. Did it climb?

Yeah it climbed, but it's hard to tell because it was already just about the same height as my set return home height. So it's important to set the RTH height based on the environment around you. The reason it lost signal is because I was behind the bluff more then I realized. Generally if you can still see the bird you should be fine. You can hit the FLY button to recover the signal usually around 600' or more.