Parallax Elev-8 V3 - third flight - cautions
3rd flight with ELEV-8 - Wind avg 5mph, gusting to 11mph, 28 degrees F, density altitude -1566'
Altitude < 20 ft, distance from radio < 100 ft
I'm still not comfortable with orienting by the running lights - this will require a lot more practice. Combined with the wind, had several hard landings and one flip - with no damage to the aircraft
CAUTIONS --
1. When arming I failed to keep the throttle at zero when returning. As a result the aircraft literally JUMPED 15 feet into the air. Once again the practice I've had with quadcopters kept this from becoming a disaster (I'm still a very new pilot < 10 hours). But I shouldn't have had to depend on piloting skills to recover from this kind of unforced error.
2. While the hard landings didn't damage the craft - the battery was coming loose from the straps (ended flying at this point). The battery straps were very tight when I started. This is the second time I've noticed the battery straps coming loose after hard landings.
3. I put the DX7 transmitter into 'Range Test' mode. The system passed. But while in this mode the DX7 did not track the time of the flight.
I've got about 45 minutes flight time with the ELEV-8 now.
Altitude < 20 ft, distance from radio < 100 ft
I'm still not comfortable with orienting by the running lights - this will require a lot more practice. Combined with the wind, had several hard landings and one flip - with no damage to the aircraft
CAUTIONS --
1. When arming I failed to keep the throttle at zero when returning. As a result the aircraft literally JUMPED 15 feet into the air. Once again the practice I've had with quadcopters kept this from becoming a disaster (I'm still a very new pilot < 10 hours). But I shouldn't have had to depend on piloting skills to recover from this kind of unforced error.
2. While the hard landings didn't damage the craft - the battery was coming loose from the straps (ended flying at this point). The battery straps were very tight when I started. This is the second time I've noticed the battery straps coming loose after hard landings.
3. I put the DX7 transmitter into 'Range Test' mode. The system passed. But while in this mode the DX7 did not track the time of the flight.
I've got about 45 minutes flight time with the ELEV-8 now.
Comments
(1) You're suggesting that you were able to arm the V3 with both sticks inward, but not downward - is this correct?
(2) Do you have soft foam between the chassis and battery? If not, add some. This allows a bit of compression that evens the strap pressure across the battery, holding it much more securely compared to being sandwiched between the rigid bottom plate and strap.
(3) Not sure about this one. The radio design from Spektrum have changed too fast for me to keep track of their functions. Since we started shipping ELEV-8s I think I've seen at least six Spektrum Tx models.
Keep us posted on your activities, and wear those safety goggles. Keep your distance, too.
Ken Gracey
Thank you for sharing your experience. I'm obviously concerned by the incident, and have a few questions that I hope you will answer so that I can better understand what occurred, to see if any corrective action is appropriate. I have sent you a direct message with my phone number. If you are able to call to discuss this matter, that would be greatly appreciated.
It sounds to me like after arming, you moved your throttle/yaw stick to center, center instead of sideways to bottom, center. This would have cause the throttle to increase, depending on how far up you moved it, possibly enough to cause liftoff, as you explain occurred. While this behavior/response is "standard" for most model aircraft and at least some drones, I suspect other newer drones on the market may have more advanced logic that prevents this from occurring. So if you (or anyone else) come to the ELEV-8 after using or practicing with said feature, you would not necessarily have the same habits as those who start with the ELEV-8 or model aircraft. I was not aware of any drones that had this feature, but I've only been able to review/fly a handful of other platforms. I'll wait to hear from you before jumping to too many more conclusions.
-Kyle
It sounds like he simply armed it, then bumped the throttle and it jumped. It might be worth calling out in the documentation that once it's armed, the throttle is quite sensitive. Everything I read when learning to fly a model helicopter was *very* clear about that too.
@macirish - " I shouldn't have had to depend on piloting skills to recover from this kind of unforced error" - You more or less did the equivalent of stomping on the gas pedal while the car was in gear. One of the suggestions currently in Git is an option to limit how fast the throttle can change. Seems like that might've helped in this case, but I'll need to flight test it to make sure it doesn't have any unexpected side effects.
Yes, arming was normal - both sticks inward and down.
The flaw was pilot error - I didn't focus on keeping the throttle at zero as I let go of the sticks.
In trying the sticks - I realize now that I have to hold the throttle in minimum position as I come out of arming.
The last couple of months have been my first experience with RC equipment - and it's showing.
KenMc
Hopefully auto-level worked well during the high-speed ascent.
Jason's colorful summary seems to fit the experience "you did the equivalent of stomping on the gas pedal while the car was in gear".
Don't feel badly. Just be careful, keenly aware of your environment and plan, sensible, and tuned in at all times.
Ken Gracey
Yes - practice with the sticks when nothing is connected to it. Go slow and easy when arming - no reason to rush releasing the sticks.
I'm pretty sure this one won't bite me again.