Just a heads up for landing procedures -- when 3DR says a level take-off and landing location, they mean it.

Was on a site with very little level ground and was pushing the limits on where the Solo would take off and land. I took off from one location that had a slight tilt to it (no warning from the controller) and landed ("manually" in FLY mode) at another steeper location at a slightly lower altitude.

Instead of the typical beep and motor shutoff, Solo apparently didn't detect the landing and tried to compensate aggressively when it tilted (landing gear touching down on one side). Since I was standing up hill, that meant it headed straight for me striking the ground again. I responded on the controller by pushing away and down. Solo flew down and away skipping across the ground but still didn't detect a landing. I tried the Pause button without luck before it caught in tall grass and bogged the motors. 

Lessons:

  1. Land on a level surface (or at least as level as you took off from)
  2. Be ready on the shutoff override (what was that key sequence again?)
  3. Pause may not work near the ground (with limited space to stabilize)
  4. 3DR needs to improve crash detection and add automatic motor shutoff

No visible damage from the crash, but the motors were very hot after having been stopped for 5-6 seconds before I could get to Solo's power switch. Hoping I haven't shortened their life too much.

Eric

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Replies

  • and since return to home could be as far as 16 feet from the actual take off location...you need a level 32 foot diameter landing pad.

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