Should Solo be able to descend more rapidly?

spartaHawk · Apr 30, 2017

Solo seems to descend so slowly even with the throttle limits up all the way. Is this a stability limitation? It seems that especially in cases of low battery, a quicker descent is extremely useful.

Jjalred · Apr 30, 2017

Descending too fast through your rotor wash can be catastrophic! I learned this the hard way when I built a pixhawk controlled TBS discovery! You can change the parameter but be cautious of descending straight down. You can maintain much better control in a fast descent if you are moving while doing it, just don't go straight down.

spartaHawk · Apr 30, 2017

Jjalred said:
Descending too fast through your rotor wash can be catastrophic! I learned this the hard way when I built a pixhawk controlled TBS discovery! You can change the parameter but be cautious of descending straight down. You can maintain much better control in a fast descent if you are moving while doing it, just don't go straight down.

So what happened? Was it not able to recover stability? Were you not doing it with a lot of altitude?

Jjalred · Apr 30, 2017

Plenty of altitude, started to throttle up at about 50 feet and could not arrest the descent! Hit the ground hard!

pyrate · Apr 30, 2017

use the kill switch
it will rocket down

spartaHawk · Apr 30, 2017

Jjalred said:
Plenty of altitude, started to throttle up at about 50 feet and could not arrest the descent! Hit the ground hard!

Seems like you'd want at least 100-150 feet to get stabilization.

Maxheadspace · Apr 30, 2017

spartaHawk said:
Solo seems to descend so slowly even with the throttle limits up all the way. Is this a stability limitation? It seems that especially in cases of low battery, a quicker descent is extremely useful.

As stated, descending fast straight down can result in vortex ring state, in which you lose lift. Have had it happen to me with a DIY drone. Dropped straight down with motors running full speed, full throttle. I now know if that happens to roll or pitch out if there's enough space. Solo was probably designed to avoid that by using a slower descent.

Vegasrobbi · Apr 30, 2017

If I must descend rapidly - left stick aft and right stick forward. I either fly in a straight line or a circular spiral downward, never decend in your prop wash.

Solo sheds altitude faster than my P3/P4 and much faster than my H.

Maxheadspace · Apr 30, 2017

Vegasrobbi said:
If I must descend rapidly - left stick aft and right stick forward. I either fly in a straight line or a circular spiral downward, never decend in your prop wash.

Solo sheds altitude faster than my P3/P4 and much faster than my H.

Yes, and it is a factor of speed. Slow descents lower the risk. Hence all RTH or RTL modes use a straight descent, but relatively slow rate.

SPP · May 1, 2017

Jjalred said:
Descending too fast through your rotor wash can be catastrophic! I learned this the hard way when I built a pixhawk controlled TBS discovery!

Thank u, new learning

SPP · May 1, 2017

Vegasrobbi said:
If I must descend rapidly - left stick aft and right stick forward. I either fly in a straight line or a circular spiral downward, never decend in your prop wash.

Solo sheds altitude faster than my P3/P4 and much faster than my H.

I got all these 4 drones.... thank u Vegas, another new learning

dmyhill · May 1, 2017

There are a number of videos, this one works, though. It shows how a Vortex Ring State looks when flying a quad and how to get out of it.

SPP · May 1, 2017

Thanks DMY

Dash Hewes · May 4, 2017

dmyhill's post is quite good, it explains a lot of "why did my SOLO do that".
I recommended viewing to all the new SOLO pilots.

KoofPoof · May 5, 2017

dmyhill said:
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There are a number of videos, this one works, though. It shows how a Vortex Ring State looks when flying a quad and how to get out of it.

You sir, saved my new (refurbished) solo from a catastrophic end tonight (its first night in my hands too). Got one without the gimbal, so obviously had to finally try out the more advanced modes. Still too chicken to try acro yet... maybe someday.

Anyhoo, was cruising around the backyard in Stabilize since its an un modded Rev A board that's having trouble getting lock. Cranked the performance up and let er rip. I was about to come in for a hot landing to more or less, show off my Solo to my roommate when suddenly I saw the wobble, and its descent picked up pace. Having just watched your video not even a full day ago, I followed the advice of the presenter, applied full throttle, and full forward pitch. Recovered with less than 1 foot to spare, and made it look like just another badass move the solo can do. Thank you.. seriously.

dmyhill · May 5, 2017

BTW, I didn't have any part in making the video (so no credit to me). It is a series that guy made up about quads, I think. I am glad that the reputation (and frame) of Solo was kept intact.

Very happy you avoided a crash!

Pedals2Paddles · May 5, 2017

Under what circumstances are you seeing it descend slowly? You say you put the sliders up all the way to full rabbit? The descent rate you achieve at medium to fast on the sliders is very fast. The descent rate in RTH is a fixed value not changed by the sliders.

KoofPoof · May 5, 2017

dmyhill said:
BTW, I didn't have any part in making the video (so no credit to me). It is a series that guy made up about quads, I think. I am glad that the reputation (and frame) of Solo was kept intact.

Very happy you avoided a crash!

All the same, I probably wouldn't have given the wobble much thought if I hadn't seen the video you posted. Normally, with my first solo with the gimbal, if I absolutely have to make a rapid descent, I'm essentially doing a vertical slalom. This time for whatever reason I decided to just drop, and it was about to be a costly mistake.

Xavier Arthur · May 6, 2017

Can My Solo Land Faster?
I hit that fly button when Solo is taking its time to land & pull the down on the stick myself......Solo comes down rapidly.......like i will smash the ground rapidly.......then i stop around 8' & bring him down slowly..........did you get the best buy message yet......it sent me into panic mode....lol
It was freezing cold & the Lipo drains super fast!
Anyway i feel super confident & my Solo just feels more stable with the mRo chip.....i wouldn't recommend you fly like me without it!

Jameson · May 6, 2017

Descent speed should be limited because of a lot of reasons, but mainly due to the max available thrust to recover from VRS, time to recover and the pid controller settings.
Too fast descent would not be healthy