DanBennett Posted at 2014-10-3 04:25
Have sent in a Phantom 2 with Zenmuse gimble to B&H over 8 weeks ago for repairs and they say you  ...

Do you have a case number or RMA number we can help you track?

jjwags Posted at 2014-10-3 04:39
Well I'm glad to see a support forum.  I too have had sudden drops from the sky, and until today hav ...

Which version did you updated to?

johnwarr@live.c Posted at 2014-10-4 07:27
The DJI staff do seem to have gone missing lately from here.......

Sorry guys, it was a national holiday...

Guys a little perspective here.  There are many reasons for fly aways from yes, pilot error, to interference, to solar flares, to equipment failures.  It was stated here that most users do not post on a forum to tell everyone that they have had many happy flights and no issues.  People post because they have had a problem and want to vent.  I understand that.  When I saw the OP's post and then he later noted that he had added CF props and was using prop protectors, it raised questions to me.  JS was correct in stating that we only recommend that you use the 9443 and 9450 DJI props.  They are tuned for this system.  Also, the prop guards are fine when you are first learning but once you get proficient please remove them.  In my personal opinion they alter the flight characteristics of the Phantom.  I only use them when flying indoors where people are present.  

The unexplained descents are more of an issue for me.  DJI recommends that you cycle the batteries down to 8% every 20 cycles before charging.  Assistant will give you the number of cycles on your cells and if you are at 20 or more please review and follow the procedure.  Check your battery for any puffing.  This would be seen on the sides of the cell.  If you note that, please do not use the battery and contact your dealer.  DJI warranties the battery packs for 6 months from date of purchase.  Check the condition of each of your batteries in Assistant.  Make sure that you do not have any bad cells.  Large variances between cells, not in the 100th's of a volt but .5v or more.  If so contact your dealer as above.   

I monitor multiple forums including this one and most users are very happy with their Phantoms.  Worldwide there are many, many units in the hands of happy owners.  If they do have a problem, DJI requests the opportunity to examine the unit before determining an appropriate course of action.  I have 4 phantoms, from the original Phantom 1 to the Phantom 2 Vision +.  I have never crashed one or even broken a prop.  I follow DJI's recommended pre-flight check list, calibrate my compass regularly, do the advanced IMU calibration after every upgrade, reset the settings to default after every upgrade and then enter my values.  I also calibrate my Tx while I am at it.  I live within 5 miles of an International Airport in a very urban environment.  I have not experienced any issues.  I also fly within my abilities and if something does not appear right I land and don't fly again until I figure out what I was missing.  If you need any specific assistance, please PM me and I will be happy to assist.

DJI sells several hundred of these phantoms every single day, with thousands of people flying every day!
And every flyaway seems to make it to these threads, and even considering that there's very few!

Not to mention a large number of those appear to be self-inflicted. No less painful for having happened, but the term "flyaway" has become substituted for "lost control".

  I've personally, recently, had what I thought was a flyaway but after calming down and thinking about exactly what happened I realized it was my user error. I have a fair amount of experience in this area. I have been flying DJI for about 2 years now and have been flying RC for 18 years. In the 2 years of flying DJI I have only had 2 crashes ( I fly every week multiple times per week). One of my crashes looked like a flyaway but was not. I was flying at night and far away from myself, I got disorientated so I switched my IOC on to homelock and pulled back on the stick. I was flying in Atti mode. Well unfortunately I forgot homelock does not work in Atti mode, only in GPS mode. And even more unfortunate for me, my Phantom2 was facing me when I pulled back on the stick, so it flew away from me at a high rate of speed (Atti angle of attack is steeper and its speed is much faster than GPS). I tried switching homelock off and GPS on but it was too late.  It ended up in a tree. So it really did look like a flyaway especially because it "flew away" and especially because I tried several things to correct it, with nothing working. I also could not believe it was my fault at first because I have been flying so much for such a long time. And with only one other crash in the last 2 years!   If I can do that to myself, imagine how a new pilot might experience (and report, here) a so called flyaway. And then those comments get picked up, and reported by other people as examples of "a flyaway," then the internet magnifies it completely out of proportion. But as mentioned just above, thousands and thousands of people fly these every day and have no trouble at all. And they're all too busy having fun and getting work done to post here every time nothing happens.

Also A guy I know on a different forum who is also a very experienced pilot recently posted this.
I quote...

" Flyaway!

Or, that's what I suspect a lot of people might think if they'd experienced the (completely self-inflicted) loss of control and wipe-out I just had.

I was so engrossed in watching the action I was recording on a GoPro (executing a long, slow, high climb as I slowly pitched the gimbal down on the scene) that I didn't notice I'd left the throttle just above centered.

Once you get to a certain height, the fact that you're still climbing isn't clear from the slow change in the perspective seen on the video downlink. Yes, the iOSD-mini's telemetry DOES tell the observant that the climb is still happening. No, I wasn't paying attention to that little detail, and wasn't using my usual spotter.

So of course the bird ran into my pre-set height limit, and Naza faithfully began the RTH sequence. On the downlink, this was first observed as the machine's view wheeling around 180 degrees, and then heading off in what seemed like it's own direction - all while, by design, ignoring stick commands.

No good! Why? Because I'd also pushed the LiPo during that unintentionally long climb, and it used up most of what was left as it raced home and started a long trip down under GPS control through dirty air. This was made worse by the fact that Mr. Phantom was loaded to the gills, with AUW of around 1400g. The trip down was alarmingly fast, for lack of juice.

So I thought better to sacrifice that battery and ask the most possible of it. But I only had seconds ... and switched to ATTI a little too late. Got throttle maxed out just in time to somewhat gracefully bounce the quad off the ground, and watch all of that new thrust send it back up about 40 feet ... just in time for the voltage to drop below operational, causing it to then fall like a rock.

The only obvious damage was to the gimbal mount and one prop. Tough little machine, in the scheme of things (and landing in soft soil helped).

So: I know exactly what happened, why it happened, and why my clumsy attempt at using the dregs of the LiPo's capacity as a parachute to slow down the underpowered RTH maneuver turned into a circus and a crash. But I guarantee that someone who isn't familiar with what was happening would have called it a "flyaway," and others would have then said, "See? Another flyway!"

No, this isn't how or why every Naza-related LOC happens. But it's a perfect example of how a newbie would report it as another example of something that it definitely was NOT. If I didn't know what was happening, I'd have concluded that the Phantom suddenly turned, raced off in the opposite direction I'd had it pointed, and then before I knew it, crashed. Many people would have described it exactly as such. But this one was all my fault."

I have to agree with the positive experience posts on this thread.
Admittedly, I do product testing and forum support for DJI.
Please don't think that jades my opinion.
In doing what I mentioned above, I probably fly more DJI products, more frequently than most pilots.
The few crashes I've suffered were my fault, and a few years ago (even before DJI had GPS on their FCs).

The risk of crashing has always been a factor in RC flight.
Newcomers may not realize how much that risk has been reduced by companies like DJI.
But, unfortunately, the risk is still there.
And there will probably always be a very small percentage of crashes that can never be explained.

So, don't be so naive as to expect there to be no risk.
It is just a fact of the RC flying life.
We all accept that risk, or we don't fly...

I know it doesn't get as many headlines but I've had a Vision since launch, I also have a Naza-M-V2 equipped F450 I built, a Phantom 2 with H3-3D and a Vision+. In 12 months of flying these aircraft I've never had a flyaway, uncommanded descent, climb or run for the horizon. The only issue I had was in the early days when I stupidly calibrated the compass right next to my car to get out of a cold wind. Funnily enough 30 seconds into the flight the thing went a bit nuts - it was only due to already having some flying skills with smaller quads that I was able to wrestle it home (nose-in). Re-calibrated in the clear and flew like a champ.

Bearing in mind the numbers of Visions, P2s and Vision+ sold if there was a fundamental problem why haven't we all had it? I have a YouTube channel with over 4000 subscribers and I'm not getting contacted about hoardes of aircraft dropping from the sky. I'm not saying flyaways don't happen - any electronic system can glitch (just google "Walkera Flyaway", "Arducopter flyaway" or even "AR Drone flyaway") but I don't believe it's even remotely as common as the vocal minority on the internet would have you believe. I'm not sure a video entitled "I've not had any problems with my Phantoms and they all fly well after a year" would get very many hits compared to one with the title "OMG Phantom Flyaway Death Drop Crash Caught on Camera".

Of course if it's happened to you then it's gutting, but to say you are cancelling orders or frightened to fly over this on the back of a rather unrepresentative sample does seem rather overkill to me.

I would have to agree with the last few post...If there was truly a major issue with the p2 / p2v/ p2v+ we would see MANY more complaints. Then take in the account we have people considering themselves EXPERTS with only a few hundred flight with the Phantom I would like these same experts to explain what type of maintenance they have done with that same craft after the few hundreds flights? We have people changing to CF props when there is no need and more importantly this can cause major issues.  We have people still flying a craft once it has misbehaved, this is USER ERROR. If the craft did something you can not explain and then you continue to fly it, that is on you IMHO.  You should have grounded the craft until you figured out what happened or until someone else could help diagnose the issue.

It all boils down to, these are hobby grade craft. Sometimes components fail, if you cant afford to loose a craft then you're in the wrong hobby. That being said I have flown DJI since 2011, Not once have I had a so called fly away over MANY NAZA, WKM, A2's and Phantom FC's, is this just luck, I don't think so.. It's called proper maintenance and having a complete understanding about the craft that I am flying.

VIRG Posted at 2014-10-4 19:00
Hi Everyone!  Found this forum and understood I am not alone with a recent problem of not being able ...

I had the same experience, except with not-so-happy ending. CRASH.

DJI-JS Posted at 2014-10-8 09:23
Actually we don't recommend to replace the stock propellers to carbon fiber. The reasons being are ...

Had my Vision 2 since october and loved it. I am by no means an expert at flying copters but have been playing with them for a couple years. Went to my parents house with plenty of land and no large cell towers of power lines.....kinda in the country. Let me state before hand I did not calibrate the compass for this flight. I am not trying to hide anything so I figured I would get it out there. Hard to say if thats what caused my issue. Took off the ground in the back yard and flew it around a bit, I took it up to about 200ft and let it sit so I could see if it was windy (ground was light to no wind). Very little movement so it seemed like a light wind. There was a low fog deck so I wanted to take it up above and get some shots above the fog. Parents are in a little  valley so its normally not very high to get over the fog. Just started to get over the fog and my video link started to drop out. I did what I ALWAYS do...turn off the controller and let it come back home. I had 74% battery life left so I was not very concerned...in the past it has always returned home with no issue. I did not see any erratic flight going up so I figured it would regain video feed in a few seconds. Well that turned into minutes and then despair. Without the video feed and the fog I have no clue where it went.
Ok I understand I lost visual sight of the copter and I did not calibrate the compass. I trusted the products failsafes to the extreme and got burned. I hope this will save someone else the pain of losing something they spend hard work saving for (about 3 months for me )

I have seen the newest models with the shielded compass and upgraded features so maybe in a few months I will look into another but I wanted to share my experience to hopefully help others and help me with heal from my loss.

teedo757@yahoo. Posted at 2014-12-14 02:35
Had my Vision 2 since october and loved it. I am by no means an expert at flying copters but have  ...

Every time you take off from a new position, use the S2 switch and calibrate the compass.

Gerry1124 Posted at 2014-12-14 02:41
Every time you take off from a new position, use the S2 switch and calibrate the compass.

I saw there is an option in the app now to calibrate as well......I was literally on the screen and thought it should be fine. I just went 3 miles down the road and I'm always careful to keep it away from anything metal. I got comfortable only doing it every few times out. I guess that was a mistake.

teedo757@yahoo. Posted at 2014-12-14 03:59
I saw there is an option in the app now to calibrate as well......I was literally on the screen an ...

Flip the S2 switch 5 or more times, then do the compass dance calibration at the takeoff spot when you move to a new location.  Magnetic variation can change within a few feet of each other.

DJI-JS Posted at 2014-10-8 09:23
Actually we don't recommend to replace the stock propellers to carbon fiber. The reasons being are ...

Lost my drone today and realized that the failsafes are not features. I used the return home function all the time. Worked great for months until it didn't. Did something go wrong with the phantom that caused it not to return home...yup. Had 9 satellites when I took off, if the compass caused the issues it would seem to me that a little programming could take care of this issue. How often does your phone or garmin gps/ compass need to get calibrated? I am not new to computer programming and can tell you that there should be some better coding to take care of these fly always. I realize some people have never had an issue but there are enough of us that have.

teedo757@yahoo. Posted at 2014-12-14 14:00
Lost my drone today and realized that the failsafes are not features. I used the return home funct ...

Sorry that you lost your drone, teedo.
I agree that we shouldn't depend too much on "return to home". Indeed, it works fine most of the time... until it doesn't. "Return to home" usually makes me nervous.  If the drone doesn't have the proper GPS coverage, this feature may fail.

There are many factors involved there: possible obstacles, winds, bad GPS reception, etc.  For example, if the "return to home" altitude is 65 feet and there's a tree taller than that, then the drone will have a problem (it can't avoid obstacles, as far as I know). Or if it loses GPS signal and there's wind pushing the drone into a tree or some other obstacle...
Maybe Inspire will perform better with its cameras and ultrasound sensors.

How do you think DJI can improve "return to home" software in Phantoms?

ciprianboboc@gm Posted at 2014-12-14 14:46
Sorry that you lost your drone, teedo.
I agree that we shouldn't depend too much on "return to hom ...

It seems like there is an issue when the gps and compass disagree on the phantoms. On DJI website the video demonstration of calibrating the compass the guy purposely puts a magnet to the compass until he can see the reading are far enough off the cause an issue. If there is a know value outside the bell curve of working correctly the software should flag the drone as needing compass calibration.

I know they have since started shielding the compass but it seems like the software should be able to see any issues and alert the user. If my drone loses gps it should let me know so I can switch to atti or make other adjustments.  I'm just saying there is room for improvement to help solve some of these issues.

teedo757@yahoo. Posted at 2014-12-15 00:17
It seems like there is an issue when the gps and compass disagree on the phantoms. On DJI website  ...

Yes, the app doesn't provide as much info as needed in some cases... It doesn't even tell you the flight mode.
In my opinion, it should use audio for warnings (weak GPS reception, flight mode changes, return to home started, lost connection, etc). When we fly the Phantoms in line of sight, we may not pay attention to the phone screen and audio warnings/notification should help.
I understand that they open their SDK, but there are limitations (e.g. the SDK doesn't give altitude info).

+1 totally agree ciprianboboc

I'm supporting airphlix (Mike). This has been widely talked about, and I know the DJI-supporters out there continue to deny it.

I've done about 200 successful flights on my Vision+, and thought that a mandatory checklist, compass calibration and common-sense flying would prevent flyaways.

But I almost lost my Vision+ recently, and I don't believe it was operator error.

Short description
While doing some still photography today I found an unexplainable loss of control that resulted in the aircraft going down.


Detailed description
I have had about 200 successful flights on this Phantom over 7 months. Previous flights were all successful and no abnormalities were found.

I performed my normal pre-flight checklist and did a compass calibration while standing in an area away from metal objects.

The incident happened about 15 minutes into the flight. I was finishing up some still photography work.

The Phantom was within 100 metres of me and was within line-of-sight when the loss of control happened. Phantom altitude was around 30 metres.

The aircraft flew uncontrollably opposite direction to me and at 90 degrees to the direction of wind, and lost altitude while tilting extremely to one side.

I was completely calm and noted that S1 or S2 remained in GPS-ATTI and aircraft orientation. I did not note anything strange on the controls.

There were no obvious nearby high voltage power lines or transmission towers.

When the aircraft started to lose control I saw that I had 9 satellites locked and no visible warning about compass/IMU error. Again the aircraft was in GPS-ATTI mode and never left this mode.

The aircraft lost altitude from 30 metres in a matters of seconds hitting some bushes on a flight angle. This was not because of wind conditions.

Judging from the trajectory towards some vacant land, I decided to let it crash in a safe manner. The aircraft was within line of sight and I saw the aircraft fly towards the ground in a fixed orientation (e.g. the aircraft was not spinning uncontrollably).

Fortunately I was able to recover the crashed aircraft in one piece, due to the GPS tracker that I installed and contacted security to recover the aircraft.

Here is what I found on the Phantom:

- All propellers were intact.

- The aircraft is banged up, but all four motors still spin normally. The ESCs function OK. I just did a test flight with fresh propellers and it still flies.

- The camera and gimbal are still working, however one cable from the Phantom to the gimbal (grey ribbon cable with four data leads) got ripped out and needs recrimping (if I decide to repair).

- The battery seen via Phantom Assistant has 35% charge, all three cells are balanced and still healthy.

- Phantom Assistant reports that IMU looks OK, and no calibration needed.

This was the first time that I have experienced this kind of loss of control on the Phantom after many fights. Luckily I had a GPS tracker to help locate the aircraft.

I have the aircraft right here as proof, and it still flies however I'm considering this unit not flight worthy and will be using my spare Vision+.

I have contacted my dealer and will be contacting DJI. I'm willing to pay for repairs, but if I get zero service I will definitely be much less inclined to buy future products from DJI and I'm not shy to tell others about my experience.

joeztan Posted at 2014-12-15 17:09
I'm supporting airphlix (Mike). This has been widely talked about, and I know the DJI-supporters out ...

What GPS tracker service did you have? If I ever find mine or buy another I am going to want something.

DJI should create a log file of flight data so if something goes wrong we can submit a log report. Then we would know whats really going on with these.

I just had a work friend who has been flying copters for the last 15 years buy a new V3 vision plus. I asked him if he could come over sometime and look for my lost drone using his. He is very critical when it comes to flying, maintenance and check lists. Today he had an issue with it. He calibrated the compass and waited for GPS lock before taking off. It flew fine until he came in to land, the phantom sharply tilted to the left toward some trees. He regained for a few seconds and then again sharply tilted and hit some tree branches before landing in a leaf pile. Luckily there was no damage but he said the thing totally went rogue. Like i said he has been flying for a long time, before GPS stabilization and all the other bells and whistles.

I guess this means the newest vision drones still have the same issues.....

teedo757@yahoo. Posted at 2014-12-16 12:06
I just had a work friend who has been flying copters for the last 15 years buy a new V3 vision plus. ...

Did he try to switch it to ATTI or manual mode? Was his Phantom configured to use NAZA mode?

Hi,

I thought I was the only once faced this horrible situation. I had to watch $1500 crashing few seconds after taking off. I'm from Singapore and was a very happy user of Phantom 2V+ for few weeks now. Flew it around 8 times without a hitch but last night when I flew it, after few seconds it just tilted to a side and dove right onto the ground, It was at least 100 ft.

I'm not sure what the dealer would say when I take it to them. I lost faith in DJI after this. A gadget that costs you around $1500 bux should give you some sort of a reliability than crashing down for no reason.

Let's see if DJI will do the right thing by replacing the unit.

joeztan Posted at 2014-12-15 17:09
I'm supporting airphlix (Mike). This has been widely talked about, and I know the DJI-supporters out ...

Joe, it's good you recovered your Phantom. It was wise to have a GPS tracker on it.

I'm not sure what you mean by GPS-ATTI mode. If you're configured in NAZA mode, you can use 3 different flight modes: GPS, ATTI or manual.
I've experienced a flyaway (and recovery) in Phantom mode only 3 days after I got it. I still don't know what caused that and it puzzled me a while. I learned later that there was a solar storm on the day I was flying. Analyzing my own video, I'm pretty sure it was a "rogue return home" (where "home" was not really home): my Phantom kept flying in one direction and rotated itself in the process. Later, when I performed a test "return home", I saw a similar flight pattern (go straight in one direction and eventually rotation at the same time).
If it had been a transmitter interference, I doubt I would've seen a rotation. Therefore, I think this points to software bugs. There's software on 3 different devices (or maybe four): Phantom, remote, phone and extender. Also, let's not forget that there's some wear and tear of the drone itself - even the hardware or mechanics may misbehave.

I'm not defending DJI - I'm just approach these problems from a technical point of view and try to understand the product and how it can be improved... DJI opened its SDK and I applaud the company for that. But, there's still stuff missing from that SDK. I would personally like to write a logging software (store the telemetry info to analyze it later). I don't know if DJI has something like that or not, but a logging system would probably help to improve their own products.

I can't talk about DJI customer service because I never called them.

In my opinion, there's a very good reason why there's old hydraulic backup systems in very new airplanes which we can normally fly-by-wire. Even very good software may crash (due to unforseen events). The question is: what can we do in those extreme cases?

Personally, I hope that switching to ATTI mode may save me in the future. I may even go all the way to manual mode: push the drone up and hope it will stabillize, until I get a way to recover it.
I also consider the Phantom what it is: a toy. Therefore, I don't like to fly it over houses, cars or people. I had a good share of crashes with my old T-Rex and I realize than when you're flying there's no stop button. Again, if you look at aviation, there are so many checks before any flight. With Phantoms, there's no real diagnotic of hardware, electronics, etc - just a rather simple GPS calibration process (not counting the software calibration itself which is not explained enough).

It is quite interesting to see what's going to happen in the future, especially inside the USA.
More and more drones will be sold. Are they safe enough? What makes them safe? I think it should be a mix of good products, doubled by responsible/prepared users (and a way to overcome possible software bugs).

teedo757@yahoo. Posted at 2014-12-15 23:53
What GPS tracker service did you have? If I ever find mine or buy another I am going to want somet ...

Hi teedo757,

I installed the T-102B tracker. These are pretty cheap, but only buy genuine ones with unique IMEI numbers. There are apparently fakes ones around that don't perform as well.

Used 3M Dual Lock™ Reclosable Fasteners which is five times stronger than standard velcro. However, it will separate during a hard crash though.

PIcs here if you're interested:

http://www.phantompilots.com/vie ... amp;t=30877#p284302

melakamc Posted at 2014-12-16 13:10
Hi,

I thought I was the only once faced this horrible situation. I had to watch $1500 crashing few  ...

Hi melakamc,

I feel your pain, my condolences. I'm about to contact DJI directly as my retailer has not responded for about a week.

Too be honest I expect to get little or no help. Personally while I've had many hours using the Phantom as a serious aerial camera, these incidences cast a lot of doubt on safety. Particularly when DJI don't even acknowledge the issue.

ciprianboboc@gm Posted at 2014-12-16 13:18
Joe, it's good you recovered your Phantom. It was wise to have a GPS tracker on it.

I'm not sure  ...

Hi ciprianboboc,

Yes, I meant GPS when I said GPS-ATTI, I just checked the latest version of the manual. Sorry for any confusion.

I agree with your statement on safety.

Imagine if DJI made cars. Imagine if we had this number of complaints of out-of-control cars in the community?

The manufacturer would have to issue a safety recall and do a serious investigation, and ensure that their products are So Far As Reasonably Practicable safe. We're not idiots, I've taken steps to train myself on how to fly these Remotely Piloted Aircraft responsibly and mitigate foreseeable hazards. But if my aircraft goes out of control beyond foreseeable circumstances, then we have a real problem.

While Phantoms are Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, they do have the potential to cause physical harm.

ciprianboboc@gm Posted at 2014-12-16 12:29
Did he try to switch it to ATTI or manual mode? Was his Phantom configured to use NAZA mode?

Yes he has it in NAZA mode. I asked if he switched it to atti but he said it happened so fast he was confused at what was going on. He was only about 40' when it first happened so with the nearby trees there was little time for him to adjust. I think it's like anything that you experience for the first time, you try to process what's going on and then your brain works on the solution but there is that confusion fog that makes it hard to think. However after you have seen something you develop a natural reaction that you have pre thought out the situation and how to remedy it.

opentoe Posted at 2014-10-4 08:50
Damn, this could be decision factor here. I can't afford to lose that kind of money. If it's 2 peopl ...

With probably a million units sold, even a 1% chance of crash per flight (very low for hobby equipment!) would result in hundreds of crashes per week - maybe thousands.

May I present my 3 rules of Drone Flying???

“If you are not handy and technically and mechanically orientated, don’t enter this hobby”
Even fixing a $4 motor on a $35 quadcopter requires skill – everything from the use of tiny tools and screws to being able to solder, glue, test voltage, understand polarity, etc.

The Second Rule is not far behind…
“Never buy or fly anything you cannot afford to lose”…
Even if you have some disposable income, you’re likely to really feel your heart sink when a $2,000 setup flies over the horizon and doesn’t come back. As with any such rule, this can be overcome – by a fat wallet and/or great care and frugal purchases. If you get by this rule, you’ll then have Rule #3 to contend with.

The Third Rule is….
“These are REAL AIRCRAFT and you, as the pilot and crew chief, have to become familiar with every aspects of flight, including potential emergency situation”….

teedo757@yahoo. Posted at 2014-12-16 12:06
I just had a work friend who has been flying copters for the last 15 years buy a new V3 vision plus. ...

Why didn't he think that it was VRS that caused the crash?

johnwarr@live.c Posted at 2014-10-4 20:55
Thanks, I am not worried at all.
And also thank you for your "professional" compliment, although I a ...

This whole crash story, and many others I read onlline, puts me in mind of the whole "sudden unintended acceleration" issue with Audi years ago. Audi got trashed in the media pretty roundly, promoting the concept that the whole issue was Audi's fault, until it was demonstrated that people were stepping on the accelerator, not the brake.

As to warranty issues...I've been flying R/C a long time. The thought that any of my airplane crashes over the years might have been due to some warranty issue with my radio equipment, or that the mfgr might be responsible for it, would never have entered my mind.

And I agree with you that if crashing a Phantom is going to cause a person that much angst, then it's clear the flying complicated radio control aircraft is not the appropriate hobby.

joeztan Posted at 2014-12-16 14:12
Hi ciprianboboc,

Yes, I meant GPS when I said GPS-ATTI, I just checked the latest version of the  ...

"We're not idiots, I've taken steps to train myself on how to fly these Remotely Piloted Aircraft responsibly and mitigate foreseeable hazards"

Joe, did you get any answer or help from DJI?
When I see reports of "flyaways" from pilots with hundreds of previous flights - I really think that they were not due to "pilot errors" but issues with the Phantoms (or at least, the recent software updates).
I have seen cases when GPS coverage drops from 8 to 6 in under 1 second interval... Maybe my Phantom has an issue with GPS antenna and others are luckier. I don't know. That is in flight experience, and it doesn't matter how many satellites coverage you have at take off. If the software doesn't perform as expected in error cases (wrong GPS readings), then I can see the quads going away by themselves.

And also the reports of apparent lack of customer support are not good. I understand DJI is dealing with a explosive growth, but once the company has revenues of hunded million USD, then I think DJI can afford to pay people familiar with their own products to monitor and answer their own forum most of the time (I have seen responses from some DJI people but I'd like to see more).

this just happened to me and it crashed into my neighbors car
it can be dangerous
i am very upset and want to know what DJI is going to do about it

snewton Posted at 2014-10-8 22:01
I know it doesn't get as many headlines but I've had a Vision since launch, I also have a Naza-M-V2  ...

if you just watched your phantom crash like i did you would be pissed and if i dont get a resolution i will be in court and all over the net tomorrow
joe

teedo757@yahoo. Posted at 2014-12-16 12:06
I just had a work friend who has been flying copters for the last 15 years buy a new V3 vision plus. ...

mine just crashed into a parked car

johnwarr@live.c Posted at 2014-10-4 14:05
Well if you cant afford to lose it then model flying is not the hobby for you.
I don't see any facts ...

when it happens to you , you wont be so certain
this thing could have killed someone

DWA Posted at 2014-10-8 15:02
DJI sells several hundred of these phantoms every single day, with thousands of people flying every ...

let me tell you something . i started the phantom after calibrating and seeing all flash codes fast green then slow green. it took off full speed and went up 300 feet turned to the left and went upside down and powered into the car at my neighbors house

DWA Posted at 2014-10-8 15:06
Also A guy I know on a different forum who is also a very experienced pilot recently posted this.
I  ...

mine took off with a full battery and hit 300 feet veered left then inverted and powered into a car at my nieghbors house
this was NOT my fault and i expect DJI to do the right thing