Solo crash, bent gimbal arm. Occurred on solo app to tower hand off.

[Zulusol]

Hi all, I have made one successful tower run several weeks ago. Tried again last week and as I tried to pass from solo app to tower at about 15' up solo immediately flipped and crashed.

Two broken props and a bent gimbal arm that I only noticed on the next flight when GP was misaligned. Strangely(?) all 4 legs were fine. Solo seemed to have a seizure in midair.

I promptly bought a new gimbal ;-/ and installed, fired up smoothly with no props, gimbal worked fine and I have now flown smoothly with no issues that I can detect.
3 questions:
Can I salvage the gimbal? ( unbend vs new arm)

How did it bend without other damage to solo?

most importantly...

What is the exact procedure for passing solo from FLY in the solo app to a standard tower mission in the appropriate location without auto take off and landing?

Thanks for any help or relevant links, I could not find answers on search or in the tower tutorial.

 

[Nathan Grennan]

I would download the logs and send them to 3DRobotics. Let them have a look. They can give you some insight into the "seizure".

 

[jjjameson333]

I crashed my solo several times and finally bent the arm also. First, it is absolutely amazing to me that this can happen (rigid aluminum) without everything else breaking, but it's true..... After talking with 3dr tech who were truly timely and helpful ( I say that bc it's counter to so many negative reviews, in the beginning anyway), I finally decided to use plyers and a wrench and bend it back...... It took some serious power, but it bent back... And viola.... I have no idea how it didn't break originally or when I applied the tools, but it flies and films fine. No noticeable issue. Remarkable, really.

 

[erikgraham]

Well @jjjameson333 was able to bend it back, so give it a try.

As for the Solo app to Tower handoff... that's the first I've heard of that issue. I'd tell you to experiment, but it doesn't seem worth the risk.

What you can do to play it safe is just use Tower and never launch the Solo app. When you want to use the Solo app, land, power down (Solo and Controller), exit Tower and then reboot the Solo and launch the Solo app. And obviously the same in reverse.

 

[David Weston]

Here's a Pre-Flight checklist I made after I had a 2 similar experiences. I skipped a few steps before which can result in disaster and probably will. I carry this with me in my travel bag and use it every Tower mission. AND, make sure you delete the prior mission from memory as it stays in memory until overwritten. If you make an error it's possible that when you ARM it will try to go to the previous mission.

PRE-Flight Check List for Tower


Tab s ON

Controller ON

SOLO ON

TAB S Connected to SOLO YES

SOLO APP ON

Manual YES (I always take off and land in Manual, switch to fly when airborne and everything looks good.)

GOPRO Camera ON

Video Feed YES

3DR Services Start YES

TOWER Start YES

MAP and GPS Location ON YES

TOWER to EDITOR YES

IMPORT Mission Select Mission

TOWER CONNECT YES

Have WP’s been saved? YES

Switch TOWER to Flight Data YES

Start SOLO to Idle YES

Have WP’s Been Received? Yes

Is Tower Menu available YES

(HOME, AUTO, LAND, etc)

Ready for flight


Good Luck!

 

[SROlmeda]

Hearing problems like this has made me not wanna try the tower app. I bought a Nexus tablet a while ago just for tower but after many successful flights with the solo app, im a bit worried about running into problems with tower during flight. Thanks for the checklist @David Weston , i might give it a shot now since i wasnt sure what was the correct procedure to run the app.

 

[PdxSteve]

You can always hit pause on the controller if you get into trouble. Pause is your friend, regardless of the app you are using.

 

[Zulusol]

I crashed my solo several times and finally bent the arm also. First, it is absolutely amazing to me that this can happen (rigid aluminum) without everything else breaking, but it's true..... After talking with 3dr tech who were truly timely and helpful ( I say that bc it's counter to so many negative reviews, in the beginning anyway), I finally decided to use plyers and a wrench and bend it back...... It took some serious power, but it bent back... And viola.... I have no idea how it didn't break originally or when I applied the tools, but it flies and films fine. No noticeable issue. Remarkable, really.

Thanks jjj. Did you disassemble the gimbal at all aside from removing from solo or bend as is?

 

[Zulusol]

You can always hit pause on the controller if you get into trouble. Pause is your friend, regardless of the app you are using.

Unfortunately solo reacted with no time to hit anything. I'm sure I did something wrong in the set up or transition. Thanks to @David Weston for the Tower checklist.

 

[Solo58216]

I bent mine in a fall from about 30 feet.... I was able the straighten it, almost all the way with 2 large wrenches. tested fine, but on retrying to make it line up perfectly I sliped and damaged the ribbon cable that runs inside the chanel. At the time 3DR told they do not fix or sell parts for it, It's R&R

 

[Mike Boland]

Just bent mine a couple days ago.
Pilot error, did not check the flight path and hit a tree.
Fell from about 5m up (15ft) and only bent the gimbal and chipped a couple of props.

Same thing by the sound of it, that one alloy arm.

 

[jjjameson333]

Thanks jjj. Did you disassemble the gimbal at all aside from removing from solo or bend as is?

I all I did was remove it from solo (the 3 screws and the wires). After speaking to 3DR who said they don't really service the Gimbals ( I volunteered that I had crashed multiple times so it wasn't a warrantee issue) they'd just replace it and I'd pay either servicing or new, so I figured if I broke it no big deal at that point. It bent back and WAS working fine. On my last flight it acted up a fair amount toward the end of my 2nd battery. It was all cockeyed off to the side and the leg that was in the image before I bent it was back in the frame. Oddly, when I reviewed it on the ground everything looked normal. I'm wondering if its just beat up and/or if a significant amount of wind may have been the culprit. I'm still going to get a new Gimball and take it much easier in the future.

 

[Chadillac]

Really appreciate this thread and your reply @jjjameson333 about bending the gimbal arm back. I had a big fall after getting stuck in a tall tree and the main arm is bend just like everybody has mentioned. I plan to remove it and attempt to bend it back as you've suggested. Fingers crossed!

 

[13nikos62]

Hi all, I have made one successful tower run several weeks ago. Tried again last week and as I tried to pass from solo app to tower at about 15' up solo immediately flipped and crashed.

Two broken props and a bent gimbal arm that I only noticed on the next flight when GP was misaligned. Strangely(?) all 4 legs were fine. Solo seemed to have a seizure in midair.

I promptly bought a new gimbal ;-/ and installed, fired up smoothly with no props, gimbal worked fine and I have now flown smoothly with no issues that I can detect.
3 questions:
Can I salvage the gimbal? ( unbend vs new arm)

How did it bend without other damage to solo?

most importantly...

What is the exact procedure for passing solo from FLY in the solo app to a standard tower mission in the appropriate location without auto take off and landing?

Thanks for any help or relevant links, I could not find answers on search or in the tower tutorial.
View attachment 2454

I did exactly the same to my gimbal. I used a pair of pliers to bend it back. Works perfectly fine. ...Luckily! I hope the same for you!

 

[Chadillac]

So far so good. I was able to bend the gimble arm back using vice grips to secure the base arm and my hands on the other. I will try ASAP to test to see if everything will work as expected but the initial "hang test" appears to show promise.

 

[Chadillac]

Super excited to report the gimble is repaired and is working as expected following the primary arm-bending correction. I held the base of the arm closest to the electronic base plate with a wrench and then bent the other side of the arm (which holds the go pro) with my hand.

So far so good and I just saved myself $200 by listening to @jjjameson333 and giving the manual adjustment a try. Thanks!

 

[LarryF]

Strange reaction for Solo app and Tower. I've used them both (and also sometimes DronePan) at the same time on numerous occasions without issues. I did nothing special when switching back and forth. However lately, I usually fly with one or the other. There's not much reason to fly with both apps running.

 

[fpvsteve]

Don't switch between Tower and Solo app mid flight.
This may cause issues and unpredictable behavior if both apps have recorded different gps home points.
Land, disarm, close one app, start the other, then takeoff again.

 

[Jubalr]

Don't switch between Tower and Solo app mid flight.
This may cause issues and unpredictable behavior if both apps have recorded different gps home points.
Land, disarm, close one app, start the other, then takeoff again.

Myself and others do this all the time. The apps don't record the home position, solo tells them what the home position is so they are the same. That's why you can turn the tablet off mid flight and keep flying or RTH if you want.

 

[fpvsteve]

Myself and others do this all the time. The apps don't record the home position, solo tells them what the home position is so they are the same. That's why you can turn the tablet off mid flight and keep flying or RTH if you want.

Yes swapping between Tower and Solo app may work well a dozen times but - I had once a similar crash as the OP. I am speculating, but my lesson learned from that crash was simply not to swap apps mid flight.