So I was on my 4th flight with the new Inspire that was delivered last Wednesday.  Every flight had gone beautifully, handled like a dream and I was very impressed.  4th flight...Fully charged battery and remote, full GPS lock, compass calibrated, flying in beginner mode still, no camera attached.  Everything setup by the book.  After about 4-5 minutes of flight, the Inspire was in a hover about 12 feet off the ground with the arms in flight mode.  Suddenly and without warning the props just stopped spinning and it fell like a brick.

I had no control over the craft once the props stopped.  Upon inspection I found one of the shock absorbers broke in two and the part that connects the main arms to the mechanism that raises and lowers the arms had broke on both sides from impact.  Battery was still fully inserted, and the Inspire spun the props right up on command like nothing had happened.  Have no idea how or why it just suddenly shut down in mid flight.  Luckily I was flying in a field on our ranch so it landed in some tall grass and not on concrete.  I was actually surprised just how much damage it had from the fall, witnessing it first hand the impact was pretty soft.

So now I not only have to ship off the Inspire (which is supposed to be making me money right now), but I have to worry about the thing falling from the sky for no reason.  Anyone else had a similar issue or heard of this?  FYI:  I am an experienced pilot with over 15 years experience flying multiple aircraft including nitro 3D helps and quads.  First time I've had anything like this happen.

I think this can happen if you hold both sticks on the controller down and or inward & down... Maybe you don't want to say because you're afraid to void the warranty, but hopefully it's remotely possible you did just that - because otherwise there's a HUGE FREAKING problem here. BTW - sending back to China is going to suck. I already hate DJI "support." Glad I bought mine from a local Tier 1 dealer that does repairs and has parts.

DJI are dicks about returns/repairs/shipping/delays/timelines...

armyturtle Posted at 2015-2-15 09:27
I think this can happen if you hold both sticks on the controller down and or inward & down... Maybe ...

Certainly was not holding the sticks in that position.  It was in a hover, not moving at all and no input from sticks when it happened.  It's pretty heartbreaking to watch $3,500 fall to the ground when you have no control...
Also I would really hope that the motors wouldn't be allowed to shut off while in flight, 12 feet off the ground while arms are in flight mode no matter what position you are holding the sticks.  If they are, that is a separate but almost equally disturbing issue.

I am hopeful that the flight recorders will help determine the cause.  Surely it will tell show controller inputs and course.  Unfortunately I have no fear of voiding warranty, it's a real issue that happened EXACTLY as described.

ScottGunn Posted at 2015-2-15 09:32
Certainly was not holding the sticks in that position.  It was in a hover, not moving at all and no ...

Mine is now grounded until next FW!!
Please Update here if you find problem


Andi Christiansen.

scott what do you mean by holding both sticks down? If I'm descending and moving backwards then both sticks are down (not fully but still down) This could break the inspire? seems very odd

Wow! that's bad. very bad.
someone from Dji?
If there is a chance for every inspire out there to behave like that that's a huge issue and should be investigate urgently! this thing could have crash on a person or property!

@Fawkem911
This is what armyturtle mean but it has been like this on every drone from DJI, so this is not a fault by them if you power of the motors mid air, but an error from you not reading the manual..

But i do not think this is the reason scottgun's I1 fell from sky as he said he didn't touch the RC

Very sorry to hear that. I know you weren't touching the RC, but have you calibrated the RC sticks?

Hope you sort it ASAP.

Where does it tell me how to calibrate the RC sticks??   I know I calibrate it on my A2 but just went through the manual and did not spot it.

vonbaron1 Posted at 2015-2-16 01:03
Where does it tell me how to calibrate the RC sticks??   I know I calibrate it on my A2 but just wen ...

Under RC settings - RC control settings - RC calibration

"Fully charged battery and remote, full GPS lock, compass calibrated, flying in beginner mode still, no camera attached."

NO CAMERA ATTACHED?!!....Am I missing something?

Figured this would be the result , damage to other parts of the bird upon crashing especially the combo landing gear motor arms design , the worm drive part etc... The possible impact doing other damage to the inspire , always thought they should have made the landing gear seperate like DJIs s 1000 ...
Transforming thing is cool but I also saw that it vibrated in the very first ads , thinking this would get worse the more the gear system is used possibly  , it could be the bushings etc . This didn't stop me from purchasing one though .

daver/m Posted at 2015-2-16 02:39
Figured this would be the result , damage to other parts of the bird upon crashing especially the co ...

No camera attached ? No flight video ? Hmmm.....

Koavog Posted at 2015-2-16 02:26
"Fully charged battery and remote, full GPS lock, compass calibrated, flying in beginner mode still, ...

No camera attached because I was practicing to get a good feel for the unit.  I was just flying, not capturing video, why would I risk the camera if not using it?  Thank God it wasn't attached or it would be destroyed right now...
The only thing it would have caught is ground.  I do have several witnesses though, and the flight recorder hopefully will shed some light on what the cause was.

lrwskyfilms Posted at 2015-2-15 21:04
Very sorry to hear that. I know you weren't touching the RC, but have you calibrated the RC sticks?
...

No I have not calibrated the sticks, they were functioning fine and the craft was amazingly stable and flew great.  It was not floating on me or need any trim adjustments.

andi.witech Posted at 2015-2-15 20:04
@Fawkem911
This is what armyturtle mean but it has been like this on every drone from DJI, so this i ...

As I said, the sticks were not in the start/stop position and I'm pretty sure the flight recorder will prove it when they go to try and deduct the cause.

But it would be nice to know if the Inspire would shut off mid-flight if the sticks were indeed put in that position while flying.  I mean if the machine is registering that it is several feet off the ground and the arms are raised should there not be a fail safe to prevent them from shutting down while using the sticks to fly?  Kinda common sense imo.  

The props also shut off if you hold just the throttle down for more than a second when landing.  Does that also mean if you hold the throttle down in flight it will shut off?  That situation could happen to any pilot just by trying to lower the crafts altitude if it is the case...hopefully it is not.

andi.witech Posted at 2015-2-15 20:04
@Fawkem911
This is what armyturtle mean but it has been like this on every drone from DJI, so this i ...

This info should be a sticky thread!!

Don't worry when in flight.   CSC only works when the copter is landed.

One great feature that DJI has added in the Pilot app is that the flight history now includes stick movement information and this could help clarify this situation and see if ScottGunn turned of the inspire mid air by mistake or not...

hvilorio Posted at 2015-2-16 05:11
One great feature that DJI has added in the Pilot app is that the flight history now includes stick  ...

That is great news for me!  I was hoping it logged this information.  But I am hearing from elsewhere that when in flight the stick position cannot (or should not) stop the motors anyway, only when arms are down and craft is on the ground.
I will post some pictures later of the damage, and pics of the camera which doesn't have a scratch.  Hopefully that will prove to the doubters that the camera was not attached, out of common sense.  Bad enough to have this happen without having to read comments making assumptions that you are lying...

michael-dicker. Posted at 2015-2-16 05:07
Don't worry when in flight.   CSC only works when the copter is landed.

Thats is not correct!! it do work in flight you just have to do it in one motion

Colonel Angus Posted at 2015-2-16 05:00
This info should be a sticky thread!!

Its in the manual that followed the inspire 1 when you buy it

ScottGunn Posted at 2015-2-16 04:45
As I said, the sticks were not in the start/stop position and I'm pretty sure the flight recorder  ...

The motors will not shut off if you only hold the throttle down as it knows how high it is via gps that only works when on the ground.. but csc does indeed shut down engine if you pull them down to the middel or down apart.. because you have to be able to grab it in mid air if you are in rough terrain or wanna do a hand take off

Blimey.....  Must remember to always fly forwards and up, rather than backwards and down.........................  I would prefer that this method of shutting down the motors was disabled with the gear up, personally!  

Even if you want to dare doing a hand catch, you would surely want to do that with the gear down else you can't even put it down once you've caught it without knackering the camera!  

crazy!

Roastie

michael-dicker. Posted at 2015-2-16 05:07
Don't worry when in flight.   CSC only works when the copter is landed.

Thx for that info !
Who's the first to test this theory if it works or not.. I'm scared as I noticed this weeks go when the bird was on the ground minor throttle stick adjustments could shut down the motors ,but in flight?? Got my attn. quick and I vowed not to use fast throttle stick movements in flight just for the reason of what I observed when breaking in the motors without props on!

Hmmmmm... Whos gonna test this as see if the motors cut out when the left stick hit bottom of its range while in flight.
Will it kill the motor of just throttle down ?

Killed the motors on the ground in front of me wonder if it does it in the air?

Anyone?

Bueller??


Oh snap .....
Last edited by andi.witech In 2015-2-16 05:23 Editor



ScottGunn Posted at 2015-2-16 04:45
As I said, the sticks were not in the start/stop position and I'm pretty sure the flight recorder  ...

The motors will not shut off if you only hold the throttle down as it knows how high it is via gps that only works when on the ground.. but csc does indeed shut down engine if you pull them down to the middel or down apart.. because you have to be able to grab it in mid air if you are in rough terrain or wanna do a hand take off

andi.witech Posted at 2015-2-16 05:19
Its in the manual that followed the inspire 1 when you buy it

I know I read it in the manual I cant help but wonder how many others did ) Great info to post here on this subject !

Colonel Angus Posted at 2015-2-16 06:28
I know I read it in the manual I cant help but wonder how many others did ) Great info to post h ...

It is some good info posted on the subject, hopefully all of it isn't the correct info as it should never be able to shut down mid flight because of stick position.  That's just insanely stupid if it can.

However, none of this explains what could have happened during my flight since the controller sticks were in none of these positions when this happened.  It would sure be nice if a DJI rep jumped in and gave some input...

andi.witech Posted at 2015-2-16 05:22
The motors will not shut off if you only hold the throttle down as it knows how high it is via gps  ...

Well I can tell everyone for sure! That once the inspire leaves the ground and goes flying and it comes home and has landed on the ground motors running that pulling the throttle lever down will shut off the inspire! But once turned on and hasn't left the ground just pulling the throttle lever won't shut down the motors. It will take csc to shut them down!

Mike

Sorry didn't finish reading Colonel Angus post before commenting but he mentioned it at the end of his post. As far as what it does in the air I haven't tried that lol I usually fly by myself and didn't wanna end up But could be easlily tested if someone had 2 people, One to catch the inspire if they did shut off...

I'm confused as well. How can you fly without a camera?
I can't even connect to the bird unless my camera is attached?

And I don't know if the motors actually shut off from csc, from experience.
But the manual clearly says it can, from whoever posted the picture above.

very confused.
Can someone clarify?

ScottGunn Posted at 2015-2-16 07:16
It is some good info posted on the subject, hopefully all of it isn't the correct info as it shoul ...

I so agree its a horrible thing to back track after such a horrible event.
Sparked my concern and many others Im sure ,any word of repairs?

shakyamunifilms Posted at 2015-2-16 08:07
I'm confused as well. How can you fly without a camera?
I can't even connect to the bird unless my c ...

If you can't connect to the inspire without the camera attached, you have some issues to resolve.  

Colonel Angus Posted at 2015-2-16 08:20
I so agree its a horrible thing to back track after such a horrible event.
Sparked my concern and  ...

No word on repair.  I sent a ticket into DJI USA and one to DSLRPROS which is where it was purchased.  Since it was delivered to me new on Wednesday, from what I read on the DJI warranty it should be eligible to just be replaced as a defect.  Even if they do replace it I still want to know what happened, an explanation to help my confidence in the machine.

Of course DJI is closed for Presidents' Day tomorrow.  And the 24/7 live chat...it doesn't exist lol.  Click on it and it just shows you where to send emails or who to call, it's automated.  For some reason I am not surprised.

michael-dicker. Posted at 2015-2-16 05:07
Don't worry when in flight.   CSC only works when the copter is landed.

This is ABSOLUTELY WRONG. Please remove your original post before someone tries this and it results in an accident. If you do a CSC in mid-flight, the bird will crash like a stone. Try it in the flight simulator mode.

I think the original poster has a faulty bird with a bad wiring connection from battery to motherboard. Anyway, flight logs should tell

Mike-the-cat Posted at 2015-2-16 08:48
This is ABSOLUTELY WRONG. Please remove your original post before someone tries this and it result ...

If you are correct, and it will cut power in mid flight 20 feet off the ground with the arms up just by the sticks being in a certain position - the same sticks USED TO FLY IT - then that is either a gross oversight by DJI or complete stupidity by the engineers.

That would be similar to your car shutting down while going 70 mph on the highway because you pressed the brakes and changed lanes to the right.  It makes no common sense for any reason.

I was wondering, when flying it there was a pretty good breeze.  I have about 1 minute of video of the flight taken on a friends cell phone.  Unfortunately it was right at takeoff, but the video shows me taking off and hovering at about ten feet.  I stopped and showed him how the Inspire was holding position without any controller inputs, it was obviously at an angle against the wind direction with my hands off the controller.  I was wondering, would the aircraft show stick inputs while it was automatically doing corrections to hold position even if there were no manual stick inputs?

What I'm saying is that if while I was hovering before it lost power, if it had to correct itself for the wind automatically in the same direction as if I was doing it manually with the controller and it translated that into the down stick and inward like the CSC on/off command would it shut down the power?  

Back when I flew Nitro 3d helis, the auto corrections made by the gyro translated into controller trim adjustment "bursts" sent out to the servos by the gyroscope.  The adjustments were only like a millisecond.  I am not totally sure how the electronics in this aircraft communicate with each other, but if they use the same concept the aircraft could easily translate auto adjustments as the trim on the sticks, which is basically the same thing as stick inputs...

If you combine that with the fact that I was flying in beginner mode, which drastically reduces the reaction of the aircraft per distance the stick travels, and you could easily get to 100% stick travel in the appropriate position for a simple auto-correction.

Now I recollect the Phantom has the same protocol and warned not to toggle both sticks into the CSC mode or motors will stop in flight.

This warning should be in red text in the manual and in bold type!!
Not like it make's sense but now I seem to remember this to be an issue for some with the phantom as well back in the day.

To the OP Scott figure they are on down time keep the faith man you'll get this figured out and be back in the air soon enough.
Please keep us posted!

Colonel Angus Posted at 2015-2-16 10:18
Now I recollect the Phantom has the same protocol and warned not to toggle both sticks into the CSC  ...

Thanks bro, I'm trying!!

I will of course keep posted on anything I find out.  Last thing I want to do is cause concern for owners without reason.  This one just has me perplexed.

I feel your pain as we all do keep on DJI like a pitbull

shakyamunifilms Posted at 2015-2-16 08:07
I'm confused as well. How can you fly without a camera?
I can't even connect to the bird unless my c ...

Shakey, I'm confused too. How do you calibrate compass, start motors, do anything without the camera being attached? When I get home I'll configure without camera just to confirm, but I'm fairly sure you can't get airborne without the camera - Please correct me if I'm wrong!

I flew today without the camera.. you just get a blank screen. So I toggled the map.

This whole CSC in mid air is a bit concerning. Isn't there a chance you may need to send the craft into those positions (maneuver?)