How do you guys recover from flying a non-lock GPS???

[abonto]

Hi guys,

Sometimes, due to excitement, I end up flying my Quad without making sure the GPS and it's heading is lock-on. After a while, I noticed that the quad will start flying on it's own & I couldn't control it, then I panic. Now the way I recover from this is I put it to manual mode. Sometimes I can recover it, but on windy conditions and lost orientation, I end up crashing it. I just want to know if anybody experience this and what method you use to recover your quad or hex. Thanks!

 

[Tomstoy2]

Albonto, when asking questions like this, please include relavent information, like what flight controller, to help us out in answering your questions.

However, it's probably more common than you might think for this to happen. It's happened to me often enough, along with other issues in laps of memory, like turning on or off the camera.

What have learned is to write out a preflight checklist. I go thru the list until it gets inbread in my brain and becomes second nature.

Old farts like me need lists. Too many times I've rushed out to get to where I'm wanting to fly only to discover I forgot something, like the radio. So, I have a list for what I need to take along also.

As far as realizing that gps has not been locked before lift off, I return, land and reboot.
I fly fpv. So, being out beyond LOS without gps lock for a RTH is a giant no-no for me.

My suggestion, do as I did.

 

[ChrisViperM]

Old farts like me need lists. Too many times I've rushed out to get to where I'm wanting to fly only to discover I forgot something, like the radio. So, I have a list for what I need to take along also.

.

+1 ....oh man, how true. Nothing more annoying than driving to to a spot you want to film, just to find out you forgot something and head back home. If the Missis asks you: Darling, how was it ? ....all you can say is: F * C K it..... :tennis:




Chris

 

[billmac]

Tomstory2
Don’t worry some of us young farts 50+ forget as well.

 

[Hartz]

Now the way I recover from this is I put it to manual mode.

Why don't you recover/hover in attitude mode instead of manual? Wait for good GPS signal lock and then switch back to GPS mode.

 

[Tomstoy2]

Doing so is ok, but then it thinks home is in the air at gps full lock point. This will induce toilet bowl as it hunts for the ground. Seen a few other oddities from this, also.
Home is locked when the throttle is advanced for the first time after lock. Locking home in a hover must be done manually if you do this in a hover. With WKM, this then thinks it's in POI mode, not RTH.

 

[abonto]

Albonto, when asking questions like this, please include relavent information, like what flight controller, to help us out in answering your questions.

However, it's probably more common than you might think for this to happen. It's happened to me often enough, along with other issues in laps of memory, like turning on or off the camera.

What have learned is to write out a preflight checklist. I go thru the list until it gets inbread in my brain and becomes second nature.

Old farts like me need lists. Too many times I've rushed out to get to where I'm wanting to fly only to discover I forgot something, like the radio. So, I have a list for what I need to take along also.

As far as realizing that gps has not been locked before lift off, I return, land and reboot.
I fly fpv. So, being out beyond LOS without gps lock for a RTH is a giant no-no for me.

My suggestion, do as I did.

Ooops! Sorry I have a Naza. Yup! That's what I'm thinking also, create a flight check list, but sometimes we're just so excited that we forget.

 

[abonto]

Why don't you recover/hover in attitude mode instead of manual? Wait for good GPS signal lock and then switch back to GPS mode.

I tried to do this one time, but the quad wouldn't go down, and my throttle is already so low, also think that the pitch & roll is not responding. Just like Tomstoy2 said, it might think that it's alreaady on the ground.

 

[abonto]

Doing so is ok, but then it thinks home is in the air at gps full lock point. This will induce toilet bowl as it hunts for the ground. Seen a few other oddities from this, also.
Home is locked when the throttle is advanced for the first time after lock. Locking home in a hover must be done manually if you do this in a hover. With WKM, this then thinks it's in POI mode, not RTH.

This actually happened to me, my throttle is already down, and the quad won't go down, so I went manual mode, and the quad went down like a brick, and I couldn't recover so that was my first crash.

 

[Hartz]

I tested this yesterday afternoon and it worked great.

To set the home position to a current location, hover (or land) and flick your home lock switch on/off (or between home lock & course lock if you have a 3 position switch) 3-5 times quickly. The Naza LED will flash green repeatedly for a few seconds to tell you that the home location has been updated.

Check the Naza manual page 23: Step 1 Record home point for more details.
http://download.dji-innovations.com/downloads/naza/en/NAZA_User_Manual_v2.0_en.pdf

You should have at least 6 satellites locked to do this (1 red flash in 8 seconds, or 0 red flashes). Note

So you should be able to pull up in attitude mode, reset your home position using the above method, then continue on your merry way in GPS mode with home/course lock.

 

[DucktileMedia]

I think you shouldnt be flying in gps mode all the time to begin with. it's too easy. lose the training wheels and learn the hard way, then use the handicaps as needed. DJI has almost made it too easy to fly. My friend who just got his first f450/naza flies 500+' away LOS in 25mph wind. I;ve seen the videos. I asked how he does it as I would lose sight of the little thing at that distance. he said he always flies in intelligent orientation and just hits RTH when he cant see it anymore. I explained to him that this doesnt always work as planned. But what are you gonna do? I fly hoverfly which flies extremely smoothly and predictably but thankfully we have none of these fancy GPS features to spoil us.

 

[Hartz]

I think you shouldnt be flying in gps mode all the time to begin with. it's too easy. lose the training wheels and learn the hard way, then use the handicaps as needed. DJI has almost made it too easy to fly. My friend who just got his first f450/naza flies 500+' away LOS in 25mph wind. I;ve seen the videos. I asked how he does it as I would lose sight of the little thing at that distance. he said he always flies in intelligent orientation and just hits RTH when he cant see it anymore. I explained to him that this doesnt always work as planned. But what are you gonna do? I fly hoverfly which flies extremely smoothly and predictably but thankfully we have none of these fancy GPS features to spoil us.

Yes and no Iris. You don't learn how to ride a bicycle without the training wheels. The flight controller gives us newbies a safety net which we can disable when we are ready.

Personally I like to fly Atti and GPS. I have only just started playing with home lock and have only ever used failsafe for testing or showing off. I love all the features Except manual - that still scares the **** out of me even with the slightest breeze.

 

[Rehost]

My suggestion is to practice before getting used to stabilization aids. Take precautions before you fly and consider yourself a noobie until you can fly nose in without aids.

Don't fly on windy days
Practice at 5-10 feet in the air
Never let the craft go too far
Don't lose orientation: keep craft facing away
Practice figure 8 patterns, and always maintain forward orientation

Once you mastered that, practice nose in.

You can't rely on the Naza. Naza only goes good when everything is working, it's like putting a 15 year old in an Airbus. Show him the buttons, no problem. But when the **** hits the fan, you're going down. That's why experience gets you to fly, not the schooling.

Have fun!
Dan