A flyaway happens when an aircraft is no longer being
controlled by its pilot. Common situations where pilots have lost control are: equipment failure, pilot error, electrical/radio interference, weather (wind) and
others conditions and situations. A flyaway can be local, say crashing into a
tree or long distance, crashing a half mile away in traffic.
Here are some common reasons why flyaways happen and what
you can do about it:
1) Instructions. You
didn't read the instructions. Yeah, I'm talkin' to you!
2) Dead Or Low
Battery. Low battery voltage will decrease the range of the transmitter/receiver.
No signal? The aircraft (quad/drone/helicopter/airplane/etc) can just continue to
fly until out of range until the batteries die and then crash. Weak batteries
always seem to go dead at the wrong time.
3) Wind. Can you
see the trees move near you? If so, too much wind - don't fly. The smaller the
quad, the more pronounced the winds effect will be on the quad. Wind can
literally "blow" a quad away from you no matter what you do. Too much
wind can make a small drone hard to control and by that I mean the drone can be
"pushed sideways" or even straight up or down without notice. Generally,
wind direction(s) and speed changes at altitude increases. The wind on the
ground may be totally different 20 feet up. Within seconds the drone can be out
of range. You first flyaway :(
4) Water / Water Vapor
/ High Humidity. Your drone's transmitter and receiver operate at 2.4 GHz. These
2.4 GHz radio waves are in the microwave range of 0.3 GHz to 300
GHz. All microwaves are affected (absorbed) by organic material: plants,
trees, grass - as all contain varying amounts of water. The water in free air will absorb
some of the signal. If it's raining, the rain may absorb ALL the signal.
5) Line Of Sight.
GHz radio waves cannot effectively penetrate concrete, steel, automobiles,
aircraft, etc. This means if you fly behind a tree or behind a building the
signal to the receiver will usually become weaker. Microwaves operate at "line-of-sight".
They prefer a straight, unobstructed signal from the transmitter to the
receiver. Anything between the two will tend to weaken the transmitted signal.
6) Specifications. Say
your drones' specifications say the radio range is xxx ft. Yeah - maybe. Under
what conditions was this measured? Optimal, no doubt. Are you flying under
optimal conditions? No, probably not. Allow for it. My small UDI U818A quad
says, "Controlling Distance: 100 meters". That's a little over 100
yards which is the length of a football field. I've checked my U818A. It looses
the signal at about 40-60 yards at ground level. I fly on a grass field (park)
lined with tall trees. Allow for it. 40 yards is 120 feet. I keep the drone
within 75-100 feet.
7) "Walk Check".
You didn't do a walk check. Wuzzat? Check the actual operating distance of
the radio equipment while on the ground. This will be not be the maximum when
the drone is at altitude but it will be the maximum when drone is near the
ground.
METHOD #1 ) Have another person hold the drone (powered up) such
that when the blades turn, their fingers do NOT get damaged :) You operate the
transmitter. Walk away about 25 feet. Turn around and face the person holding
the drone. Turn on the transmitter and flip the throttle lever up and back to
check the motor (spin the blades). The blades on the drone will spin if the
drone receiver is in range.
The person holding the drone then says (or yells) ,
"BLADES". Walk 25 feet further away. Turn around and repeat the motor
check. Listen for the "BLADES" message. Anytime the person holding
the drone sees you turn around they will know you are testing the range and
will shout "BLADES" when the blades turn.
This indicates the radio
range distance. Keep doing this until the person holding the drone stops saying "BLADES".
This is the limit of the transmitters range. Count the number of step you take
while walking back to the drone. Estimate you average pace length in feet. Not
sure? Use 1.5 feet. 50 paces out? That's about 75 feet.
METHOD #2 ) Get a
small piece of wire - about 12" long. Form it into a U-shape. Bend the U-shaped
wire so it will hold the drone while letting the blades turn. Attach the wire
to a telephone pole or some other object that's fixed. Try not to use anything
metal such as a car. No trees, either. Do the same walk check. The pole will
hold the drone.
You can see the blades turn as the drone is hanging by the
wire. I did this using a telephone pole and got about 45 paces away before the
drone automatically shut itself off. A non-published feature of the UDI U818A drone
is that if the transmitter is too far away and transmitting, the drone receiver
will cut power to the motors. At least it won't flyaway :) CAUTION: not all drones have this feature. A walk
check will tell you.
8) Prevent A Flyaway.
Each of these tips can help you prevent a flyaway. However, consider this: ALL
these tips or conditions can apply at the same time. This means if its early
morning (damp) and the battery are weak, and the wind is strong, and you fly
too high - you may experience a flyaway. But, you say... "I was only 40
feet away!" A flyaway can occur at any time. A gust of wind, a signal from
another microwave device interferes, etc. It's going to happen.
9) Inspect The Drone.
Each time you fly and again after every unscheduled landing (crash) inspect
the drone. Look for loose rotors. Fixed wing pilots call them propellers or blades,
drone pilots use the correct term: rotor(s). Same as a helicopter pilot does.
Check for bent rotor blades from previous crashes and loose electrical
connections.
I've seen a drone crash so hard it ejected the battery. A bad
battery connection during flight can send the drone into a tree of the pavement.
Not technically a flyaway, but it has about the same results. The drone is lost
or unable to be retrieved, etc.
10) Take Other People's
Advice. You didn't take everybodys most excellent advice and buy that $50+
drone to learn on. Instead you bought a DJI Phantom 2 with all the features, and
that, plus your lack of flying experience will usually be the cause of the
flyaway.
The is NO substitute for experience. NONE.
And even though flying a
high end drone is easier than a $50 starter drone, the experience gained from
the starter drone will most likely save you ever time you begin to get into
trouble.
Memorize This.
If you ever loose complete control, you have ONLY one, basic
emergency procedure to stop a flyaway. Chop the throttle. Cut power to the
rotors. The drone will drop. Before the drone hits the ground, say, 20-30 feet
up, hit full throttle to "cushion" the crash.
If you are lucky, you
will regain control and there will not be any damage. Worst case is you will
bend or break a rotor or landing gear on impact. You did buy extra rotors,
right? The "chop the throttle" maneuver is last resort, and you DO
NOT have a lot of time to think about it.
In a few seconds, a flyaway drone can get out of range and even
chopping the throttle may NOT work. During the first few hours of training
yourself to fly a drone, you will crash that drone many, many times. This is normal.
Everybody crashes their first drones. Everybody. Plan on it. Sometimes you'll
crash when landing, and sometimes you'll crash on purpose to avoid a flyaway. Minimize
damage to the drone by flying out of a grassy or sandy field. The grass or sand
will absorb most of the impact. Avoid concrete/asphalt surfaces. They WILL damage
the drone and WILL break rotors or worse.
When you have about 5-10 hours or so in your pilot's logbook
(you do have a logbook - right?), and you can take off and land in a light wind,
and you can fly the drone backwards around in a circle, then consider buying
that Phantom 2.
Keep the starter drone, though. When your friends ask to "fly
the Phantom", ask them fly the starter drone first. If they can't fly it,
they would have crashed the Phantom for sure.
