This is a rather long story so keep that in mind if you decide to read on.
I have been flying my DJI F550 for just over a week now. I started off using a FlightPower 4 cell 25C 3700mAh for the most part and picked up a second 4 cell Eflight 3200 to keep me flying a bit longer.
I have my DX8 setup with the Flight Mode as my GPS, Altitude and Manual switch and the gear switch as my Fail safe. I had tested that out 4 times with complete success.
I took my F550 out around 12:00 today; I wanted to get in some flying because it looked like a storm was heading my way. I was flying in a nearby park and took it up maybe 50+metres and was doing some banking turns. There was a steady north west wind at ground level and I seem to notice the same up in the air. After a few hard banks I noticed that I had lost control of my 550 so I tried some hard stick movements but that did not do anything. I was not overly concerned because I was about to hit my fail safe. After that did not work I kept my eye on the trajectory of the F550 it was still headed North West but seemed to be losing altitude. It cleared the houses that border this park and disappeared.
Strangely I did not panic like my buddy but I did hop into my car and we gave chase in hopes that it was still airborne or perhaps had decided to hover at 20m somewhere. After driving around within 3/4 of a Km of the take off area I decided to expand my search and go to the next school park which is beyond what I thought it could go seeing how fast it was losing altitude. At several spots along the way I tried to activate the 550 and hope to see it appear in the air but that proved to be unsuccessful. I drove along the border of the next park and some side streets that seemed to be in general direction of my lost bird. I kept up the activate and hover for several more minutes and then decided that it was best to just call it a day and head by home. As I drove back to my house I noticed my F550 on the ground next to a tree some ~1.5 Km from the initial take off spot. It was upside down and let’s just say I have 3 good arms all white and 4 motors, there is one stuck in the tree with part of the red arm and partial blade attached. I will try to retrieve that one just for my crash analysis.
From what I can tell and recall.
When I initially lost control, I did notice that one or perhaps two of my rear motors were not turning. There was not the usual yellow blinking LED when you activate Fail Safe.
My radio was working properly and the battery was not low.
From the crash site I can only conclude from the debris field (I have always wanted to write that ) that it had landed head first upside down. The crash somehow threw one of the red motor and frame up in the tree. There were parts of the white and red frames and some tie downs off to the left of the tree and into a driveway all the way up to the garage door.
All my speed controllers were still attached even the two that had no motors.
One motor had its driveshaft pushed out so that it stuck out the bottom with the cuter pin still attached. Pushing the pin back seems to make the motor work but I have yet to test it.
Only one full blade remained attached to a motor and it had been somehow separated from the arm so it just had a piece of the frame attached. All the other stock 8" were cracked or broken, 1 missing.
Yes the frame will crack.
.
The GPS was literally ripped from the sticky tape that held it to the mounting bracket. The sticky tape was no longer sticky and was black ?? I will do a recalibration on the GPS Compass to make sure it’s not broken but so far everything seems to be ok.
I can activate the motors on the new rig so my AR8000 is still bound to my radio.
Sorry about the long story, I guess it was just so weird that I had to tell other who fly DJI F550s.
My buddy was amazed that I found it along with everyone at the hobby shop.
I am currently putting together a new F550 full kit. I have tested my Naza and AR8000 and everything seems to be ok
I would like to blame someone but I did notice that two of my solder joints failed one was on the motor I distinctly recall that had stopped turning #6 and the other was in the #2 which could have happened due to the severity of the crash.
I know I will be a little nervous taking the F550 up again but I hope to do a test flight before midnight.
Glasses on and test flew my 2nd F550 build.
GPS locked on to > 6 satellites so I guess its working ok, I did not bother to recalibrate the compass.
It seems to hold a 1m much better than my first build. I did take it up to 5m but still gun shy to go any higher and especially at night.
Its cold and windy out so I don't want to press my luck.
I did notice that either motor #1 or #2 was making a buzzing or vibration blade noise as it was doing extra work to compensate for the gusty conditions. I have not heard that sound before. The 550 seems realy balanced in hover so I don't think its a CG issue. I am guessing its a blade balance issue of some sort.
Well its just good to be flying/hovering again.
I have been flying my DJI F550 for just over a week now. I started off using a FlightPower 4 cell 25C 3700mAh for the most part and picked up a second 4 cell Eflight 3200 to keep me flying a bit longer.
I have my DX8 setup with the Flight Mode as my GPS, Altitude and Manual switch and the gear switch as my Fail safe. I had tested that out 4 times with complete success.
I took my F550 out around 12:00 today; I wanted to get in some flying because it looked like a storm was heading my way. I was flying in a nearby park and took it up maybe 50+metres and was doing some banking turns. There was a steady north west wind at ground level and I seem to notice the same up in the air. After a few hard banks I noticed that I had lost control of my 550 so I tried some hard stick movements but that did not do anything. I was not overly concerned because I was about to hit my fail safe. After that did not work I kept my eye on the trajectory of the F550 it was still headed North West but seemed to be losing altitude. It cleared the houses that border this park and disappeared.
Strangely I did not panic like my buddy but I did hop into my car and we gave chase in hopes that it was still airborne or perhaps had decided to hover at 20m somewhere. After driving around within 3/4 of a Km of the take off area I decided to expand my search and go to the next school park which is beyond what I thought it could go seeing how fast it was losing altitude. At several spots along the way I tried to activate the 550 and hope to see it appear in the air but that proved to be unsuccessful. I drove along the border of the next park and some side streets that seemed to be in general direction of my lost bird. I kept up the activate and hover for several more minutes and then decided that it was best to just call it a day and head by home. As I drove back to my house I noticed my F550 on the ground next to a tree some ~1.5 Km from the initial take off spot. It was upside down and let’s just say I have 3 good arms all white and 4 motors, there is one stuck in the tree with part of the red arm and partial blade attached. I will try to retrieve that one just for my crash analysis.
From what I can tell and recall.
When I initially lost control, I did notice that one or perhaps two of my rear motors were not turning. There was not the usual yellow blinking LED when you activate Fail Safe.
My radio was working properly and the battery was not low.
From the crash site I can only conclude from the debris field (I have always wanted to write that ) that it had landed head first upside down. The crash somehow threw one of the red motor and frame up in the tree. There were parts of the white and red frames and some tie downs off to the left of the tree and into a driveway all the way up to the garage door.
All my speed controllers were still attached even the two that had no motors.
One motor had its driveshaft pushed out so that it stuck out the bottom with the cuter pin still attached. Pushing the pin back seems to make the motor work but I have yet to test it.
Only one full blade remained attached to a motor and it had been somehow separated from the arm so it just had a piece of the frame attached. All the other stock 8" were cracked or broken, 1 missing.
Yes the frame will crack.
.
The GPS was literally ripped from the sticky tape that held it to the mounting bracket. The sticky tape was no longer sticky and was black ?? I will do a recalibration on the GPS Compass to make sure it’s not broken but so far everything seems to be ok.
I can activate the motors on the new rig so my AR8000 is still bound to my radio.
Sorry about the long story, I guess it was just so weird that I had to tell other who fly DJI F550s.
My buddy was amazed that I found it along with everyone at the hobby shop.
I am currently putting together a new F550 full kit. I have tested my Naza and AR8000 and everything seems to be ok
I would like to blame someone but I did notice that two of my solder joints failed one was on the motor I distinctly recall that had stopped turning #6 and the other was in the #2 which could have happened due to the severity of the crash.
I know I will be a little nervous taking the F550 up again but I hope to do a test flight before midnight.
Glasses on and test flew my 2nd F550 build.
GPS locked on to > 6 satellites so I guess its working ok, I did not bother to recalibrate the compass.
It seems to hold a 1m much better than my first build. I did take it up to 5m but still gun shy to go any higher and especially at night.
Its cold and windy out so I don't want to press my luck.
I did notice that either motor #1 or #2 was making a buzzing or vibration blade noise as it was doing extra work to compensate for the gusty conditions. I have not heard that sound before. The 550 seems realy balanced in hover so I don't think its a CG issue. I am guessing its a blade balance issue of some sort.
Well its just good to be flying/hovering again.
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