Lost a propeller during flight

[Honker47]

I was flying at around 400 feet the other day in some gusty winds in the 18-20 mph range I'd guess, filming a ancient oceanic volcano. I took off with about 6 minutes of battery left is all so I got the low battery warning so I did a Vietnam helicopter descent and stopped short of a hard landing into a hover, then dropped in the last couple of feet fast to avoid excessive dust. I notice the control of the drone was difficult aside of my intentional rapid descent but attributed that to the wind gusts.... Nope, I look and i have a propeller gone missing. Not broken off, unscrewed and gone. I was bummed loosing a five dollar propeller that I snugged up when I put them on. I didn't just whirl it on and leave it at that. Aside of the missing prop no damage what so ever. So we took off in the pickup and then I seen something that looked like my missing propeller in the middle of the road. Sure enough, it was my undamaged missing propeller. From now on I'm going to check every time and do a pre flight check list of everything before taking off! Never trust that after a few flight the things are still good to go. All I can figure is it came un snugged during 6 previous flights and at some point of hovering the motor temporarily auto rotated and the wind detaching the prop.... Best guess I have..... This is known as Boars Tusk in SW wyoming, USA my home sweet home!

 

[Phobos]

Hi Honker! You landed a Karma with only 3 props left? I didn't know yet that this is physicaly possible because the balance is gone. I would expect the drone to flip and fall out of the sky. I saw at least two videos of Karmas with a detatching prop during flight and they all performed an imidiate DD (DroneDrop). Maybe the propeller came off when you touched the ground and it got airborne and landed onto the street where you found it.

Nice picture!

 

[Honker47]

Hi Honker! You landed a Karma with only 3 props left? I didn't know yet that this is physicaly possible because the balance is gone. I would expect the drone to flip and fall out of the sky. I saw at least two videos of Karmas with a detatching prop during flight and they all performed an imidiate DD (DroneDrop). Maybe the propeller came off when you touched the ground and it got airborne and landed onto the street where you found it.

Nice picture!

I think if I had known I was flying minus a prop I would have crashed LOL I don't have a clue when it went missing! It was really gusting and rough flying but I was on top of it. The battery said land right now! and sounded very excited and kept repeating itself like oh oh!!! Thus the quick descent. When I was a firefighter we flew with Vietnam pilots who had flashbacks and they would drop us out of the sky so fast you thought your guts were going to come out your eyeballs, this is how I came in then a quick up elevator to stop the fall fast then hovered at about 2-3 feet before lowered it a little and dropped it fast to the ground to get motors to shut off fast so not scare up a ton of dust. Miracle to find the prop, it was about 50 yards away right in the middle of a two track road. I thought perhaps the two foot landing drop maybe but we were in sage brush that covers the ground and it was 50 yards away or so, no way it went that far from being that close to the ground and it was around a turn on another dirt road we came in on. Got darn lucky somehow!!!!

 

[Honker47]

I think if I had known I was flying minus a prop I would have crashed LOL I don't have a clue when it went missing! It was really gusting and rough flying but I was on top of it. The battery said land right now! and sounded very excited and kept repeating itself like oh oh!!! Thus the quick descent. When I was a firefighter we flew with Vietnam pilots who had flashbacks and they would drop us out of the sky so fast you thought your guts were going to come out your eyeballs, this is how I came in then a quick up elevator to stop the fall fast then hovered at about 2-3 feet before lowered it a little and dropped it fast to the ground to get motors to shut off fast so not scare up a ton of dust. Miracle to find the prop, it was about 50 yards away right in the middle of a two track road. I thought perhaps the two foot landing drop maybe but we were in sage brush that covers the ground and it was 50 yards away or so, no way it went that far from being that close to the ground and it was around a turn on another dirt road we came in on. Got darn lucky somehow!!!!

Another thing. I thought the wind was making keeping it stable was the issue and killing my battery fast from 2 minutes and less. I didn't panic and hit the self land or anything, I kept physical control of the drone. I see allot of people hit the return or self landing buttons and then all hell breaks loose. I didn't know I lost the prop until it was sitting motionless on the ground.

 

[Ironspear]

Wow mate amazing landing it with only 3 props!

Well done.

Well saved.

Keep on flying.

 

[Honker47]

Wow mate amazing landing it with only 3 props!

Well done.

Well saved.

Keep on flying.

Beginners luck I think LOL!!! Today was totally still calm and shot 4 incredible video's of the old west and our oasis in the desert. Here's a couple screen shots for eye candy. All done from the drone. SW Wyoming USA

 

[Shon]

Beginners luck I think LOL!!! Today was totally still calm and shot 4 incredible video's of the old west and our oasis in the desert. Here's a couple screen shots for eye candy. All done from the drone. SW Wyoming USA

Honker, my guess is you lost the prop on landing. I’ve done it twice. Once it wasn’t noticeable, and found the prop some distance away, boomeranged around a building. Another time I actually saw it fly off, almost landed in a lake No damage to my drone, prop just screwed off on impact.

If you were actually flying when you lost a prop, your drone would have crashed.

 

[Shon]

For reference, this is what happens if you lose a peop mid-flight:

This is why it is always a good idea to check your props before and inbetween every flight, and to replace worn or damaged props.

 

[Honker47]

For reference, this is what happens if you lose a peop mid-flight:

This is why it is always a good idea to check your props before and inbetween every flight, and to replace worn or damaged props.

Oh, I don't know, just glad I didn't crash. I did let it drop from about 2 feet off the ground though to get the motors to shut down instead of blowing dust up into the motors super bad. I have a 3 foot square card table I left the legs folded on but the wind was to rough to manage a soft controlled landing on it so I elected to do a dirt landing in a bigger area.

 

[Honker47]

Usual

Oh, I don't know, just glad I didn't crash. I did let it drop from about 2 feet off the ground though to get the motors to shut down instead of blowing dust up into the motors super bad. I have a 3 foot square card table I left the legs folded on but the wind was to rough to manage a soft controlled landing on it so I elected to do a dirt landing in a bigger area.

Usually I don't challenge the battery life and keep my flights a bit shorter so I'm not in such a hurry to land but I really took it to the limits on this one!

 

[Shon]

Oh, I don't know, just glad I didn't crash. I did let it drop from about 2 feet off the ground though to get the motors to shut down instead of blowing dust up into the motors super bad. I have a 3 foot square card table I left the legs folded on but the wind was to rough to manage a soft controlled landing on it so I elected to do a dirt landing in a bigger area.

I’m both cases when I lost a prop, it was in “hard landing” situations liken this. The prop grazed the ground and instead of breaking, flew off the drone.

Glad your drone is in one piece!