Trouble Landing

OwenDrone'n · May 23, 2016

Hey guys! Have had my Solo for about 3 days now, taken it for a hand full of flights and every time I land, whether with the take me home option or a manual land where I hold fly, right when it lands the motors rev and it flips on its side. The only way around it is by using the emergency kill switch, something I don't want to do every flight of course.

Is this a common issue? I've sent support tickets to 3DR but haven't heard back from them yet, any insight would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks

Owen

Greg Parker · May 23, 2016

I have not heard this one before. Are you holding the buttons down during touchdown? You only need to press and release them; you should feel and/or hear the change in mode.

OwenDrone'n · May 23, 2016

No, hands off the buttons, one flight the drone juts took off and fully crashed (luckily a semi soft landing into some tall grass) I'm thinking it might have something to do with the GPS. Like it doesn't really think it's landed and then tries to compensate because it doesn't think its level? I have re calibrated both level and compass which didn't help either.

Chuck · May 23, 2016

If you have good satellite acquisition, and flying in "Fly" mode, when you press Return To Home, Solo should go up to your preset altitude, and come back and land on its own and automatically shut down. You mentioned "holding fly". You do not need to hold any button in the down position for it to work. The buttons work with a simple press and release. If you are landing in manual mode, you just land and Solo will shut down on its own, or you can shut it down by moving the left control stick down and to the left to shut it down. I hope this helps, and welcome to the forum.

Greg Parker · May 23, 2016

Don't think GPS is a factor, the barometer is what tells the Solo it has stopped descending for long enough to shut down the motors.

If you pull and post your data log off of one of those flights someone might be able to analyze the issue for you. Other step is to send them to 3DR, might want to do that anyway.

LAK-USA · May 23, 2016

Hello Owen,

I think I have a similar issue. If I don't manually shut off the motors on landing, my Solo will attempt to 'stableize' itself - resulting in a flip-over and damaged props. If this is the case, just do what Chuck suggested & shut down your motors immediately after landing.

OwenDrone'n · May 23, 2016

Chuck said:
If you have good satellite acquisition, and flying in "Fly" mode, when you press Return To Home, Solo should go up to your preset altitude, and come back and land on its own and automatically shut down. You mentioned "holding fly". You do not need to hold any button in the down position for it to work. The buttons work with a simple press and release. If you are landing in manual mode, you just land and Solo will shut down on its own, or you can shut it down by moving the left control stick down and to the left to shut it down. I hope this helps, and welcome to the forum.

So I bring down the drone with the left stick, it hits the ground and then I pull the joystick to the left and it shuts down the motors?

I saw in the FAQ that its suggested to land in Manual mode overtime if you can. I am worried about flying in manual right now, seeing as though when it forced me into it i crashed it. I have been trying to find tutorials on flying manual but haven't found many helpful videos. Know of any good resources?

Thanks for the help!

LAK-USA · May 23, 2016

OwenDrone'n said:
So I bring down the drone with the left stick, it hits the ground and then I pull the joystick to the left and it shuts down the motors?

I saw in the FAQ that its suggested to land in Manual mode overtime if you can. I am worried about flying in manual right now, seeing as though when it forced me into it i crashed it. I have been trying to find tutorials on flying manual but haven't found many helpful videos. Know of any good resources?

Thanks for the help!

I personally just hold the left controller stick straight down after landing for a few seconds until the motors shut down. This keeps my Solo from automatically throttling back up and getting into mischief. Down+Left on throttle DeArms the motors. Incidentally, Down+Right Arms the motors (like holding FLY button).

I fly the wings off the 3DR simulator & HIGHLY recommend using it for practice!

RichWest · May 23, 2016

FLY: GPS assisted mode
FLY Manual: NOT GPS Assisted mode.

Land Manual means flying in either of the above modes, rather than landing RTH or an autonomous landing command.

It's a muscle memory thing when landing manually, you're only partially pulling down on the stick to land gracefully. But when the bird makes contact with Terra Firma, lower the left stick ALL the way straight down and hold until the motors stop, which will slow the motors and then disarmed the bird. No need to complicate the disarming command for a landing....

New users tend to go stick right or left without being full stick down....this will flip the bird if you have feet on the ground....

Jubalr · May 23, 2016

OwenDrone'n said:
So I bring down the drone with the left stick, it hits the ground and then I pull the joystick to the left and it shuts down the motors?

I saw in the FAQ that its suggested to land in Manual mode overtime if you can. I am worried about flying in manual right now, seeing as though when it forced me into it i crashed it. I have been trying to find tutorials on flying manual but haven't found many helpful videos. Know of any good resources?

Thanks for the help!

Hey Owen, Welcome. Here is a video I did almost a year ago. In fact, it was shortly after Solo started shipping but before the gimbals were shipping. I just try to go over the manual and stabilize modes for newer pilots. After some practice in an open field and you get comfortable, you find that manual mode is more fun, because it requires you to be more in control. It will build your confidence and you will enjoy the Solo more. As soon as you are comfortable flying in manual, I recommend you do all your take offs and landings in manual mode and not rely on GPS. Others have had issues landing in Fly mode and if the landing surface is not perfectly level, Solo can sometimes have an issue with knowing it has landed. You won't have that issue in manual mode. Just ease the left stick down until the legs are on the ground, then pull the left stick all the way down and leave it.

Here is the video. I recorded it from my cell phone and the wide angle lens made the Solo look a little further away than it was. Sorry about that..

Nick Wollman · May 28, 2016

If it's trying to flip on takeoff you might have a laggy motor pod. Happened to me got it replaced for free.

SPP · May 31, 2016

Owen,
Is your muscle memory from a Phantom DJI for engine kill ?
If so, your Solo will flip.

Rusty Jones · Jun 3, 2016

OwenDrone'n said:
So I bring down the drone with the left stick, it hits the ground and then I pull the joystick to the left and it shuts down the motors?

I saw in the FAQ that its suggested to land in Manual mode overtime if you can. I am worried about flying in manual right now, seeing as though when it forced me into it i crashed it. I have been trying to find tutorials on flying manual but haven't found many helpful videos. Know of any good resources?

Thanks for the help!

How have you been making out with this? Is it still flipping? Did you send any logs to 3DR??
RJ