Vanishing point

[sturgm]

Vanishing point
I had finally got my quad into a near perfect setup.  No trim on ACRO and no trim in LEVEL.
After weeks of balancing, testing, setting and aligning and many, many test flights in the garden I was ready to take it for its maiden flight.
When hovering on a calm day it really just sits there in mid air awaiting commands I am truly happy with the result.
I am fortunate enough to live surrounded by farmland so I have air space over acres and acres of vast open spaces in which to fly.
So at the bottom of my garden with a fully charged 5000 mah battery and a fully charged Tx I took off and flew over the fence into the freedom of space.  The fields are separated by the usual hedges with the odd large mature tree at about 50ft high.  The closest to me was about 200 meters away.
All in all a near perfect place to really see what my quad could do.   I started quite carefully as this was the first time I have had to fly a quad in these surroundings so I was a bit nervous and yet still eager for the adventure.  After a few minutes of hovering and testing the flight conditions I returned the quad to land and checked that all was well. 
Off I went again this time with more gusto.  Like a bird released from it's cage off it flew higher and higher then swooping down towards the ground whooshing backup banking hard right then hard left, powering up again and then diving back towards the ground with no sense of fear just exhilaration.  Time stood still for me as I tried to control this hungry creation that just demanded more and more of my skills.  The world around me just started to fade as I put more and effort into piloting the craft to greater and greater extremes.
BANG!  I had crashed back to reality!  I had lost my orientation.  Suddenly Delirious enjoyment had been replaced by panic.  The sweat of effort was instantly replaced with the cold sweat of fear.
I quickly flicked the switch to level mode and let go of the sticks to allow it to level then stared vainly as where it floated in the air to try and get some idea of direction.  I then also noticed the slightly more obvious tail wind that was slowly but surely taking my quad away from me.  I had to do something, but what ?
I had read about RTH but as yet had not enabled it.  Likewise HEADFREE.  As every second ticked by my quad was drifting further away.  I tried the sticks in all directions but it was becoming so small it was virtually impossible to gauge any change in direction.  It was getting smaller and smaller and there was nothing I could do.  How long would the battery last?  How far could it go before I lost radio contact?
I was desperately trying to stay calm and think.  My heart was beating so fast I thought it would jump right out of my chest!  What could I do, staring at an ever decreasing dot with a feeling of utter despair and impotence?  My hands were shaking and I was having trouble thinking logically.  All I kept saying to myself was 'I have lost it, I have lost it.....'.
I had to break out of this stupor.  This speck on the horizon must be facing in some direction but which way. Think. Think, think.
All this time I had been able to keep the height ok so I tried each stick in turn for not too long but hopefully just enough to see movement.  I was hopeful for some movement sideways as this I could see. Whereas forward or backwards I could not distinguish.  Time ticked by.  Further and further it seemed to go.  Deeper and deeper became my despair.  I felt drained with effort and no reward in sight. 
Then it happened the dot had moved right ever so slightly.  I leapt at this thin possibility of a life line that had been offered to me.  The stick movement that had produced this ray of hope was as a result of left movement so it must be facing me.  I quickly pulled the stick towards me carefully and waited.

The seconds seemed like minuets while waiting for any sign of the dot growing.
Yes! Yes! Yes!  It was slowly getting larger and larger.  I was however drifting more to the right so a bit more left stick was required and I had to concentrate on the height as well.  Time dragged on by as the dot was slowly getting larger. 
Then a new black thought surfaced.  Would I make it back before the battery died?  I pushed it away. Concentrate on getting it back, that was something I could do.  But it lingered. Nagging away silently in the back ground.  Every time the quad started to descend it sprang to the fore.  'Battery, Battery' it would cry.
It had at last got to the penultimate field away from me.  It was about 50ft in the air and then I heard it.  The battery warning beeper was sounding.  For how long this had been on I did not know.  All I could hear was the pitiful little cry for help from my ailing quad.
I decided that I had to get the quad down I had no time to waste.  It could minutes left or just a second.  I eased off on the throttle and tried to gauge a good landing.  It disappeared behind a tree and never reappeared.  I disarmed the quad, jumped over the fence to where I thought the stricken craft had ditched.  It was about 300 meters away.  I ran as fast as I could.  What would I find?
My mind raced as images of destruction flowed though like a torrent of a river in flood.  I jumped over the next hedge.  I was in the field where it was.  I heard it before I saw it.  The pitiful little beep still calling to me.  I rushed over holding back the terrible thoughts that had plagued my desperate run.
There is was.  Upside down in the recently ploughed field.  Trying to process the scene was at first difficult as I wanted to look at everything at once.  After a quick assessment all seemed quite good except for some mud.  It appeared as though it had landed heavily with some forward motion and then flicked over onto its back.
What lessons have I learned here?   Well, HEADFREE has been added to my Tx and I am trying to get RTH to work.
Lastly I would like to thank my 5000mah Turnigy battery for its sterling performance and my £400 WFly 9 channel Tx's range.  I could not have done it without them! Finally I must give an offering to whatever deity there is that looks down on Quad pilots.

Mike

[Balders]

Nice story...

I can probably safely say, we have all been there!

[Rick]

A story told with heart felt emotion!!  Really gets you in the gut when things start going wrong doesn't it!

Good result - well done for keeping your cool and tackling it with some logic to get it back!

[teslahed]

I know the feeling - i once flew a flying wing too far away and lost orientation. After a bit of flying around in messy circles I couldn't tell if it was pointing directly away from me or directly towards me. Fortunately 20 seconds later i heard the engine getting louder so i knew i must have it pointing the right way.
Really gets the heart pounding when it happens though!
And i did once lose orientation with my quadcoper half way around a loop (despite having done plenty before) - only takes half a second to plough the thing into the ground.

[Gaza07]

Very well written post I enjoyed reading it and know exactly how you felt as I have been in a similar situation, as said above I think most of us have been there as these multi rotors can very quickly get away from us before we realise what is happening, although head free / care free did cause me a problem once but also saved me at the same time 

[johnrs]

That's a well told story and it had a happy ending.  I do like happy endings   

[icedfusion]

fantastic!

ice.

[marckatzenmaier]

Great story! Hope not to tell these kind of stories in the future when have finished building my first Quad.

[benchmark]

Wonderful writing skills, you kept me spellbound as this is one of my worst fears especially since the area around me is full of private residences and it will be near impossible to find if it dropped out of the sky into someones  garden, lucky for me i have RTH so if i ever get into that situation i would just shut of my transmitter and hope it gets back safely.

[Brian]

Wow! I was getting a sweat-on just reading that! I have had the same sort of feelings. All I can say is RTH RTH RTH! And don';t forget to add an RTH Failsafe!

What I do (for spectacular AP) is pick a direction (where I want to get some good video) and give maximum lift and forwards and just let the quad go for it! When the quad is just a tiny dot in the sky, I gain more altitude then stop, make sure I';m in a stable hover, touch a little bit of rudder in to make the quad do a slow turn in the sky with GPS hold on. By this point I have no idea where the quad is pointing, so I just flick the little magic RTH switch, roll a fag, and relax! When the quad is overhead I can then decide weather to carry on in another direction, or just to land. Not the greatest piloting skills involved, but it gets the job done with the minimum of crash!

This is what I ended up with...
Quadcopter Flight over Cowes.

New more expensive servo';s on the way to get rid of that horrible gimbal judder...

Have fun mate,
Brian

[mickyt]

Man, you had me sitting on the edge of my seat glad the story ended with a happy ending, I have all this to come once my new hexa is delivered ill be taking small steps but I know it will eventually happen to me it';s inevitable

[Smeagol]

So well written you could feel the sweat dripping off the brow, and the mud on yer boots.

Is this what I have ahead of me ..... maybe I should buy the naza after all.

Very well written, looking forward to episode 2 

[Gaza07]

The naza is and always has been a very good flight controller, it works and very well to

[teslahed]

Very well written, looking forward to episode 2 

I bet sturgm isn';t!

[sturgm]

Thanks to all of you who took the time read my short story of exhilaration, despair and finally relief. As mentioned on one of the post';s I certainly do not wish to write a sequel  ::)
I have at present mothballed my quad till spring as the cold always seems to play havoc with the gyros.  I have however two other';s an MQX and my latest is a fun purchase of a Hubsan. I have had the MQX for a few months now and have enjoyed flying it indoors and out but it really is a tad to big for indoor flying only, even though I am fortunate enough to have an indoor pool which is about the size of a small hall (15m x 9m) but with a low ceiling, it still inhibits fast turns and I have had to dump it onto the pool cover more than once!  Where as the Hubsan is an absolute honey and such fun  .  I have bounced it off of all the walls, ceiling and cover and it still comes back for more.  I can highly recommend this little quad for pure enjoyment.

I also have a copy of the brilliant PhoenixRC Sim that has just recently added the MQX to its list of models so I can fly as much as I want.  However, as with all aids to flying there is a caveat.  I have used a Sim to help with the advanced maneuvers for quite a few years, BUT with no pressure and risk of damage I seem to be able to achieve anything I try.  I can still do inverted flying with some of the heli models and cut the grass at the same time, virtual of course    But when I used to try this with one of my real copters my inverted efforts were dismal.  The fear of crashing was so intense I could not even remember what to do to go inverted let alone do it.  Yet in the Sim is was sooooo easy.  I did eventually manage it a few times but the stress was not worth the reward.
Anyway back to the real world.  If Gaza reads this (and I suspect he will).  I will write a review of the Air studio board soon and perhaps some other snippets as well

Mike

[Gaza07]

Look forward to reading more of your posts Mike 

[XH558]

Isn';t it funny how all our videos seem to start and end with lovely close up shots of grass and daisies and greenery and stuff 

[Brian]

At least mine end up with the grass etc upside down!!

Brian