Is it possible to cut the motors mid-flight, in an emergency?

Yes just make a csc command. But your drone will Crash!

Yes.  And your drone will fall to the ground like a stone and shatter into pieces.  Will that make you happy?

knarfboy Posted at 2015-10-5 17:18
Yes just make a csc command. But your drone will Crash!

Yeah I don't expect to ever need to cut the motors, but it's good to know how to do it anyways just in case.  

I just looked this up on youtube

Is there a scenario when you're flying and accidentally shut off the motors using one of the commands n the video?  It seems that it could happen.

superfunkmojo Posted at 2015-10-5 23:11
Yeah I don't expect to ever need to cut the motors, but it's good to know how to do it anyways jus ...

Yes....  If you move the sticks in that way during your flight it WILL TURN OFF THE MOTORS!  Even if you don't mean to do it.  You cannot disable that, you just have to be very careful with your stick movements.

dji.blitzk Posted at 2015-10-5 20:15
Yes....  If you move the sticks in that way during your flight it WILL TURN OFF THE MOTORS!  Even  ...

There is almost no possibility of doing a CSC in-flight by accident. The stick positions required to perform a CSC are ones that would never be used in flight under normal flying conditions.

This is a very bad example. These things will not occur during typical flight. If they do, the pilot needs a beginner's class on common sense and RC flying.

Boinggggg!  I think my brain just stripped a gear...  

Can you paint for me the scenario where cutting the motors in mid flight is the better action in an emergency?!?  I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around the Phantom sacrifice  option.
My first thought in a tight spot I'd be hearing Goose in my head saying: "Come on, Mav, do some of that pilot sh*t!"

Wow, I didn't think that was possible during flight.
Thanks for posting this thread. I'll be a bit more careful of my actions when evading magpies.

silverxrider.me Posted at 2015-10-5 23:25
There is almost no possibility of doing a CSC in-flight by accident. The stick positions required  ...

As someone that has been flying 3D for many many years, that stick combination could be used for sure.  Having a stick combination that will "suicide" your phantom is just dumb.

I usually cut my motors just before breaking the sound barrier. it makes the bang a little less loud.

gil Posted at 2015-10-6 05:53
Boinggggg!  I think my brain just stripped a gear...  

Can you paint for me the scenario where cutt ...

You're at the beach, just launched your Phantom and it heads out directly away from shore. (Hopefully, it's a lake - apparently salt water will pretty well destroy your Phantom - or any other quad.) If the RTH doesn't work either, retrieving the Phantom close to shore seems somewhat better than watching it just fly off into the distance.

If it runs away over land, you might get lucky. I crashed a quad once during my learning process. I was flying in a wind too strong for me - should not have been flying at all - and it started to get away from me. I corrected in the wrong direction and it actually sped up - still going away from me. In a panic, I stopped the motors. The quad fell through several limbs, leaves and moss, and crashed into the street. Amazingly, there was some damage to the quad but the camera survived. The craft was obviously over a tree and about 40 feet up when I cut the motors.

Also, it would seem if you're over a big field and some sort of "runaway/flyaway" event started and RTH didn't work, I'd a lot rather it crashed in the field near me instead of heaven knows where.

Those are both "stretch" scenarios. Just saying.

Art Burke - N4PJ
Leesburg, FL

dji.blitzk Posted at 2015-10-6 09:36
As someone that has been flying 3D for many many years, that stick combination could be used for s ...

Agreed on flying "3D." But the Phantom 3 is a camera platform, not a 3D aerobatic quad. Common sense hopefully dictates that you wouldn't be trying to do acrobatics with your P3.

Art Burke - N4PJ
Leesburg, FL

At least theres one stick combination that i see easily being used in flight that the motors shut the motors down.

lets say you are high up and a bit far away. Lets say you want to take a video shot where you are swooping down fast and moving back at the same time. In that case you would be holding both sticks straight down!
isn't that a very likely stick input while in flight?

now i know, only the left stick down during mid flight wont trun the motor off as long a descend is detected.

dji.blitzk Posted at 2015-10-6 06:36
As someone that has been flying 3D for many many years, that stick combination could be used for s ...

I have flown 3d many years and have never done CSC. This is an aerial platform not a 3d heli. The csc commands would never be used on aerial quad.

alirz1 Posted at 2015-10-6 08:25
At least theres one stick combination that i see easily being used in flight that the motors shut th ...

Even both sticks down wont do a csc. You would also have to give full rudder and full aileron. Sorry not going to happen under normal flying conditions.

draadkar Posted at 2015-10-6 10:54
I usually cut my motors just before breaking the sound barrier. it makes the bang a little less loud ...

For some reason the sound effects from a Road Runner cartoon popped in my head when I read that comment.  You know, one of those scenes where the Coyote ends up in midair over a very, very deep canyon after running off the cliff

gil Posted at 2015-10-6 19:33
For some reason the sound effects from a Road Runner cartoon popped in my head when I read that co ...

Ha ha ha ha spot on!! that is the bang and we can see the coyote did not cut his motors ha ha ha

Crazy. Does really both stick moving back will stop the engines for sure? I can imagine situation, when I want to go back and descent in the same time. The  DJI P3P manual delivered with my P3P does not mention this type of CSC.

jkocir Posted at 2015-10-6 20:01
Crazy. Does really both stick moving back will stop the engines for sure? I can imagine situation, w ...

it will only cut the motors when the craft is on the ground. I have already tried it. however do not pull them back and sideways, or back and to the center as i think that will cut the motors in flight

DJI-BladeStrike Posted at 2015-10-6 12:08
I have flown 3d many years and have never done CSC. This is an aerial platform not a 3d heli. The  ...

To have the ability to put your aircraft in "suicide mode" by just using the sticks, and not being able to turn that function off, is dumb....    Obviously there is a need for a "kill motors" mode but it should either be a long press of a button or a button/stick combination.  IE:  tap the RTH button on the RC 3 times or hold full down power and press RTH.....etc....

I have never done a CSC on accident while flying my phantom, but I have to consciously think about it while flying so I don't do it.

dji.blitzk Posted at 2015-10-6 22:25
To have the ability to put your aircraft in "suicide mode" by just using the sticks, and not being ...

yeah it is scary, but you can immediately restart them again

Hmm...I can think of $1300 reasons not to want to attempt a motor shutdown mid-flight

dji.blitzk Posted at 2015-10-7 08:25
To have the ability to put your aircraft in "suicide mode" by just using the sticks, and not being ...

I agree. Something that doesn't involve the sticks would be a better option.

draadkar Posted at 2015-10-7 05:37
yeah it is scary, but you can immediately restart them again

if u kill motors in flight, TRUST ME, YOU WONT BE ABLE TO RESTART AND SAVE YOUR P3!!!

rayrokni Posted at 2015-10-7 14:42
if u kill motors in flight, TRUST ME, YOU WONT BE ABLE TO RESTART AND SAVE YOUR P3!!!

I have owned other 350 quads.., and killed the engine during flight on purpose.
The drone just did a flip upside down and stayed that way.
I saw this and thought.., ok just turn the motors back on.

They came back on.., but all it did was stay upside down and fly faster down.
All attempts to manually flip were futile.

I wasn't aware that DJI kept this setting. Perhaps this should be made clear in the manual. Other drone manuals explain this right next to the start-up procedure.
But.., This is such an old school setting that needs a review.

Kit Walker Posted at 2015-10-7 11:59
I have owned other 350 quads.., and killed the engine during flight on purpose.
The drone just did ...

kit,
my very first thread on this forum was regarding the use of CSC in mid flight. I too, believe this is such a bad bad bad........ idea! but hey, what do we know?

rayrokni Posted at 2015-10-6 22:03
kit,
my very first thread on this forum was regarding the use of CSC in mid flight. I too, believe ...

I agree an accidental CSC is a scary thought for some of us. Someone from Phantom Pilots is 3D printing a failsafe switch (2 position block) that slips over the right stick. Turn it a half turn after startup and you will not be able to use the CSC function until turning it another half turn. He is giving them free to anyone wanting them. Seems like a good idea if you (not you Ray) are worried.

Rnfaust Posted at 2015-10-7 12:31
I agree an accidental CSC is a scary thought for some of us. Someone from Phantom Pilots is 3D pri ...

hey Mr. Faust, nice to hear from you. I have done it once as you probably know by now!! so no im not worried about it any more as i go no where near the extreme corners of the sticks, no sir. $1300 mistake of mine not reading the manual regarding CSC!!!

Take care and have fun!!

Jay_Bit Posted at 2015-10-7 03:04
Hmm...I can think of $1300 reasons not to want to attempt a motor shutdown mid-flight

Lucky you multiply that by two when in Africa.

"You're at the beach, just launched your Phantom and it heads out directly away from shore."...


If you have control to do a CSC why not simply fly your rig back?   If directional/GPS is confused clcik it to "ATTI".

I've done both sticks full down, for a fast descent, and avoiding vortex ring state, even though the phantom doesnt have an issue with it as it doesnt descend fast enough.  

Here is proof that the CSC command WILL shut off your Phantom mid-air, and that the LEFT-STICK DOWN for over three seconds will NOT shut it off.

alirz1 Posted at 2015-10-6 08:25
At least theres one stick combination that i see easily being used in flight that the motors shut th ...

Both sticks down will not do a CSC, they would have to be down and 'in' for that, not a move your example would require.

knarfboy Posted at 2015-10-5 17:18
Yes just make a csc command. But your drone will Crash!

This could be troubling, because someone could be goofing around with their Phantom, say 300 feet up, and just seeng what happens when going to the extremes on the thumb sticks in all directions, holding for 2 seconds, and it would just fall out of the sky?  Or someone could be up high, then decide to go full throttle down, while rotating (yaw) full-right, while strafing back (pitch) and to the left (roll).  Just to see what the video looks like.  Then, wham, it cuts power and drops from the sky.  

But, alas it is probably not that big of a problem or else DJI would have 100's of complains about this and they'd update the firmware.  There must be 10,000+ Phantom 3's out there being used and there isn't an epidemic of them falling out of thes sky.  However I'd still rather see a more involved "cut motors" command that couldn't be activated accidentally.

superfunkmojo Posted at 2015-10-5 23:11
Yeah I don't expect to ever need to cut the motors, but it's good to know how to do it anyways jus ...

one thing sitting on a table, another is in flight!!!

in emergency you can stop the motors.. but crash 100% guaranteed

if unpredictable emergency, we should know this feature.  Crash machine itself better choice than something bad scenario, I think

so im definitely not willing to try it. but what i did to kind of test this out was took my props off and fired it up like normal, and held the quad in my hand as i killed the motors (mid flight) while still holding the quad in my left hand i shook the quad around and moved it up and down quickly keeping it unstable, while doing this i fired it back up...kist like if it was free falling....it fired right up....sooooo idk this might be possible to kill the motors and freefall then kick them back on...

j3rome33 Posted at 2016-8-23 04:17
so im definitely not willing to try it. but what i did to kind of test this out was took my props of ...

There is a simulator in the DJI GO app that your free to test all day long. In the sim it will recover in about 300ft.

The fact that you did not know about the csc command shutting down the motors no matter what indicates that you did not read,  or at least did not fully read and understand,  the flight manual.  There is a lot of good information in there that can prevent a crash or confusion.  But it is useless information if you don't read it.  It would be a shame to crash over something that is clearly described in the manual.
Happy flying and good luck.