Who has NOT crashed Solo despite using it many times?

spartaHawk · Dec 19, 2016

Who here has flown their Solo many times and had zero crashes? Are you just lucky or careful?

I'm new to drones and of course the Solo. If I am careful can I just about guarantee no crashes? How careful is THAT careful though. How much are you confident in doing without being risky?

pyrate · Dec 19, 2016

Crashing is flying, I have crashed but it was my fault. I have also avoided crashes due to gps loss. The key is knowing your machine and your skill level.

CheapoHeli · Dec 19, 2016

Here's the thing.

Can you use your solo 100 times and not crash? Absolutely.

But after the 25th time you'll start getting more confident and start playing with the other modes and pushing the envelope because although its a simple camera drone it is capable of flying like a jet fighter.

Keep your mind on getting great smooth video and leave the sliders from high speed, dont activate advanced modes and you'll never crash.

Cpt Tylor · Dec 19, 2016

My crashes have all taught me something important. Fly:Manual is your friend.

Acroduster · Dec 19, 2016

Early adopter (well over a year now) with no crashes and many, many flights. I do have a decent length of experience in RC before this aircraft, though.

Oh - and TaylorR137 is right - Fly:Manual is your friend...

spartaHawk · Dec 19, 2016

Acroduster said:
Early adopter (well over a year now) with no crashes and many, many flights. I do have a decent length of experience in RC before this aircraft, though.

Oh - and TaylorR137 is right - Fly:Manual is your friend...

That's impressive.

In your signature, you say to set both A and B buttons to Fly:Manual to help when in trouble. Why both buttons instead of just one of them?

Thanks everyone for the perspective.

Jubalr · Dec 19, 2016

I'm not going say for 2 reasons. 1) I may jinx myself. 2) @RichWest will accuse me of bragging..

PdxSteve · Dec 19, 2016

I've crashed 2x in 15 months, both within the first month, both my fault. No real damage done except props. I haven't changed props since then.

Robert Rose · Dec 19, 2016

I have crashed once in a year of flying the Solo. It was while flying manual while it was windy. It was my fault; mixed up the controls and flew into a palm tree in slow motion. It was like watching a flying weed wacker trying to chop down the tree. Shortened the front blades about an inch.

RichWest · Dec 19, 2016

Jubalr said:
I'm not going say for 2 reasons. 1) I may jinx myself. 2) @RichWest will accuse me of bragging..

LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLOL! You're jinxed now Mr. Perfect...

Crashes are accidents...I accidentally setup Solo on an incline, on concrete, two foot from my truck. Nose dive into the neighbor's driveway, I got lucky.

I agree that over confidence is where we get into trouble. Second we have a responsibility to insure our birds are fully air worthy. Like I told my son, Y'alls fault, her fault, it's still your fault.

Just so many variables for why crashes happen. Fly, learn, crash, learn and repeat. Solo is a durable bird, takes a licking and keeps on ticking.

Don H. · Dec 19, 2016

One crash on the first Solo which 3DR replaced under warranty. No crash since on the replacement. Been flying it since July.

Maddog · Dec 20, 2016

No crashes in 15 months of Solo ownership. Logged about 100 hours flying Syma X5 and X8 before touching Solo.

Learned about flight safety while flying fixed and rotor wing for a major metropolitan police department.

User Name · Dec 20, 2016

I have between 40 to 50 flights on my Solo (winters and work always gets in the way), and I've not had a crash, or even a single in-flight glitch or twitch. Never lost GPS, flew beyond controller range on several occasions and it's always RTL'd, it's never flipped on landing and unlike my DIY quads, the Solo hasn't even drawn blood!

I chalk my experience up to not taking off without sufficient satellites and low HDOP, being very cautious in general and having not bought/flown the Solo until I felt I had the experience on smaller DIY quads to handle unexpected situations. Even after I got the Solo, I still fly a little DIY quad around home for practice to keep my reactions up.

Outside unforeseeable mechanical/software issues, I think the vast majority of mishaps are caused by simple inexperience or just bad judgement.

spartaHawk · Dec 20, 2016

User Name said:
I chalk my experience up to not taking off without sufficient satellites and low HDOP, being very cautious in general and having not bought/flown the Solo until I felt I had the experience on smaller DIY quads to handle unexpected situations.

Assuming you're careful and just avoid proximity to trees and buildings in general, what are the unexpected situations that come up while flying the Solo? Or has that not happened yet, and you're just making sure you're prepared? Do you fly manual or advanced modes at all?

User Name · Dec 20, 2016

spartaHawk said:
Assuming you're careful and just avoid proximity to trees and buildings in general, what are the unexpected situations that come up while flying the Solo? Or has that not happened yet, and you're just making sure you're prepared? Do you fly manual or advanced modes at all?

By unexpected, I mean glitches where Solo will either drop or need to be switched to manual. I've flown fairly close to trees, cliffs and in some tight areas. I always drop to manual when the sky is obstructed (when landing/taking off from tight locations). I do fly in manual regularly with the Solo, and almost always with my practice quads.

In general, I think the advice I follow is to be prepared for the worst, and conservative enough to not likely encounter it.

Acroduster · Dec 21, 2016

spartaHawk said:
That's impressive.

In your signature, you say to set both A and B buttons to Fly:Manual to help when in trouble. Why both buttons instead of just one of them?

Thanks everyone for the perspective.

That's just for the panic mode you'll be in when you need to switch. It has to be done quickly and you then quickly have to evaluate the bird's current motions and counteract them before it hits something. Having both buttons set means that a thumb swinging over to the general area and pressing assures you get Manual mode and nothing else.

Mauiwind · Dec 24, 2016

I haven't crashed my latest Solo. The other three either had some sort of hardware failure or got cocky. I've sort of changed my headspace about flying like a maniac. These days, I fly solo with a mission in mind every time. I prepare by looking at possible obstacles from many different perspectives and I'm clear on what to expect. Knowing what to expect can only happen by trial and error. Mostly, I'm physically close to the flight pattern, and in a place where i can best see the tough spots from the critical line of sight perspectives. With all that carefulness, I'm still tempted to go into acro mode and try a few endos. Altitude is your friend.

Gary Burch · Dec 24, 2016

I have crashed one time in sport mode. Flew over a building and landed and hit a tree. It only broke my props. This thing flies like a jet in sport mode ,be careful. Happy flying. I have used tower app many times and follow me mode, no problems. This is a great machine to experiment with and it is the best for photography. I have been flying for many years. Good luck.

emilio mendoza · Dec 24, 2016

spartaHawk said:
Who here has flown their Solo many times and had zero crashes? Are you just lucky or careful?

I'm new to drones and of course the Solo. If I am careful can I just about guarantee no crashes? How careful is THAT careful though. How much are you confident in doing without being risky?

I dont know what people mean by its normal to crash it. I have used solo since release i even follow my own car while i drive with no gps. In manual mode at 55mph maybe 10 feet away from car. And i have NEVER crashed. Only a motor fail that took my drone down in the ocean. Check out my instagram @droneworksnewyork

Scott McCloud · Dec 24, 2016

Too many flights to count. Zero crashes. I practice weekly with small acrobat quads. Manual on the Solo is easier because it is slow. Finger/muscle memory on sticks is what I am after. However, I didn't use any smart shots for the first 6 months of flying. The Solo app bugged out too many times (IOS and Droid). The Solex app and smart shots are much more confidence building and I have been flying them quite a bit.

Also, I am a solo pilot that likes to mod the Python scripts, hack the hardware with companion computers, etc. Before I fly a modded bird, I prefer to have secure knowledge of my pilot skills. But with cheap Solos, who really cares anymore. Fly the damn things.