Hello everyone,

Today i had the most terrifying experience with the inspire1. I was out shooting a video for transportation company with the inspire. After i take off, inspire 1 got out of control, i could not control it with the remote. it suddenly started to go left and spin around. Anyways after two minutes , struglling to control the inspire while it was going crazy in the air, i have finally landed. Nothing happened to it. I could say i was very lucky i did not crash into buildings. I was wondering why it happened. it never happened to me before. This is the very first time. I had the GPS lock. it was NOT on atti mode.(im sure). im guessing it could be frequencies that walky talkys make. Because operators had maybe 10 of them and it could mess with the inspire 1 , i guess.

Anyways plz tell me if you have any info about this situation. im going on a flight this tuesday again. Dont want it to happen again.

What messes with the dji inspire 1 that it gets crazy. i know i wont be that lucky next time.

Thanks in advance.

Here is the footage of the craziness.

http://youtu.be/yIFKg1cYKOI

Did you take off from an area that had a lot of metal? That can mess up the compass and cause something like you discribed.

yeah it did. It had a lot of metal. They were carrying a tank which was metal also the place was a shipyard.  The place im gonna shoot on tuesday is a seaport. Its gonna have a lot of containers and such.i forgot to calibrate the compass before i take off. What do you guys suggest.? what should i do to prevent such things.?

Video at the first post. Watch it.

Yeah that is what I thought.

You just need to avoid taking off from anything metal or if there is a lot of metal very close to the Inspire.  Once you are airborne it is ok to fly near metal but try not to get too close. I have flown near metal many times.
Just remember never take off from a metal surface.

Befor you do your next flight do a full IMU calibration and a compass calibration. Then you should be fine.

Dave

So you r saying it has nothng to do with the walkie talkies ?

If you were taking off from metal then I think that was it, however I have seen warnings  that walkie talkies can interfere. So the walkie talkies could be a problem also.

Check your props too.  Place the inspire on a table, start the motors, level your eye with the propellers, watch carefully as they spin and make sure you only see one tip.  Ie, make sure the props are following one another.
I wonder if one of your props is failing and is changing shape intermittently under load; the slightest variation in shape will cause a spinning effect which the Inspire will try and counter

But in the mean time punch the air and give thanks to our good lord Frank Wong; your I1 had a serious issue but it held together and you got it down in one piece. I would replace the props and take off again and stay low and slow for a while.

Safe flying

I do believe its the metal.  The Same thing happened to me when I took of from my equipment building which is all metal.  (and so is my equipment)

Well this is good to know. Don't take off from metal.

DJI-Dave Posted at 2015-8-23 04:26
Did you take off from an area that had a lot of metal? That can mess up the compass and cause someth ...

Happened to me. I took off in between 40" containers and it went mental.
Luckily I kept it down even before it finished raising the landing gear.
A few scratches and a bruised confidence (it happens a lot with I1, it seems) but all good

after watching your vid, all I can say is.... GOOD SAVE.
kept your posture , didn't panic and brought it back home.
Awesome.

Assuming this is a gps/compass issue, if ibosafa had taken off in atti mode would the metal still have been an issue? If not would have switching to gps mode after clearing the metal still have induced the craziness? What would the distance from the metal need to be to avoid this issue?

I am wondering if there is a way to take off in a metal environment that doesn't induce a issue with gps/compass issue.

DJI-Dave Posted at 2015-8-23 06:36
If you were taking off from metal then I think that was it, however I have seen warnings  that walki ...

@"Don't take off from a metal surface"

I just returned from a trip through the Australian Outback (WA/Pilbara) and I constantly took off from my Landcruisers engine bonnet to avoid blowing up dust. I had no problems at all. I was very careful with  compass calibration though. I always moved away from any possible magnetic fields (car) when calibrating the compass and only re-calibrated the compass when I traveled more than 500km. But taking off and landing on a metal surface never made any problems.

Also from the physics point of view the above statement is too vague - different metals have different properties when it comes to magnetism.

I hate so say it (because I can't really prove it in a scientific way) but I think a lot of the recent crazy flying stories might be related to bad and probably unnecessary IMU or compass calibration. FYI: I have never calibrated the I-1 IMU - not even after firmware upgrades and have no plans to do so unless the Pilot App tells me to.

I did not take off from a metal surface. it was dust all around. It was scary moments for me.. I did not calibrate the compass. Also did not do a IMU calibration since i bought it.( 6 months or so) . Next time im gonna do compass and IMU calibration. And try to get it 3-4 meters up and see if it stays stable otherwise not going more than 3 meters. Its strange I1 does that. its gotta tell us somehow something is wrong with it. i got 15 GPS signals or whatever so i was sure everything is ready  to fly. I have not been doing compass calibration for the past 10-15 flights, maybe thats the reason. However this is how i earn money, if something ever happened to it, i dont know what i will do.

Thanks for any response

Plz keep sharing your experiences.

Another thing though, after that crazy flight, i landed it. then i had to shoot the transportation of that big tank. That was my only chance. I run away from the walkie talkies and take off. REalized it was stable and went for it up to 100 meters.Shoot the video and landed it. So it somehow fixed itself but not sure if its gonna happen again.

Could you share additional info about the inspire and flight conditions?
not mentioned or reported in your post.

Inspire battery type/capacity?
how many times was recharged?
temperature in your flight zone ?
Battery was upgraded?(firmware)
remaining % of the battery ?
GPS reception?
Flight mode?  
Firmware version ?(inspire)
Inspire 1 was compass/IMU calibrated?
calibrated in this area ?
Calibrated  before or  after firmware upgrade?
how old if this inspire 1/flight counter?
proplocks installed?
using the original (DJI Props) ?
Radio (TX) full battery?
Tablet/phone brand?
Tablet/phone OS/Android?
App used ? DJI PILOT or DJIGO?
App version? was upgraded?
distance between HOME (at liftoff)and you ?
RTH was activated?
Cell tower of  some type microwave TX antenna ?  ( 1/2 mille in the operation area)

-Default Battery (comes with the package) 4500 mah
-40-50 times recharged
-temperature was 26 degrees celcius
-It was not upgraded to latest version.  In the app - i get a warning that a new version is available.
-it was 100 % battery when i took off.
-GPS flight mode
-was not calibrated both compass and IMU
-not calibrated in that area
-5-6 months old
-Proplocks installed and original out of the box DJI locks.
-IPAD mini 3
- App is upgraded to latest version.
- 3 meters distance between home and me
-I dont think there was any cell towers. But there were a lot of walkie talkies.

IMHO it is Compass error to blame. If You upgrade to last FW You probably would have seen a message in the App "Compass error swith to ATTI"  or something like that.

marco Posted at 2015-8-23 19:43
@"Don't take off from a metal surface"

I just returned from a trip through the Australian Outback ...

I have seen guys take off from metal before, but it is not recommended, but you are correct, it can be done. I have personaly seen a guy take off form metal and have his Phantom go haywire. He was able to land it and we did a quick compass cal and took off from a different spot and he was ok.

This happened to me last week.  I lifted off of concrete, no metal around.  I've been looking elsewhere on the forums and it looks to be linked to the IMU Calibration.  There were a couple of updates that weren't installed yet, and my Inspire when haywire in midair.  There were a whole bunch of people around, and I had to crash land it in the grass.  The unit wasn't really damaged, but the props got shifted out of alignment.  Now, I can't get through to tech support (not even to leave a voice message), and am pretty frustrated.  I've been afraid to take it out and test it.

Happened to me a couple days ago,  2nd flight that day.  first one was perfect, second one i did the assisted take off,  raised to about 2 feet that shot sideways with a H.S of 2.0mph and climbing.  Started to rotate, tried to get it under control as it was screaming towards a house.  Had to put it down in the grass and watch it flip.  Heart stopped, busted a couple propellers, a few scuffs and broke a landing shock.  Called DJI to inquire about service.  Only took me 12 calls to get a hold of them.  Was told i need to send it in and the current wait was 8 to 10weeks from after they receive it.  Asked if i could just do the simple repair myself if they send me the part. Was told that if i touch it, the warranty on the inspire will be null and void.  This was some of the worst customer service i ever experienced.  Didn't really care to help me.  DJI must be making too much money.  I spent $3000 on this Inspire 2 months ago and i am seriously considering selling it and buying a competitors.   So disappointing with this company.  First impressions last a lifetime!

timkou Posted at 2015-8-26 04:11
This happened to me last week.  I lifted off of concrete, no metal around.  I've been looking elsewh ...

Concrete contains metal rebar. There was likely more metal around than you're thinking.

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