Rescue failed, heli crashed

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jjuk
Posts: 305
Joined: Thu 05. Oct 2017 20:06:35

I was just at the field. Flying in controlled circles. With about 2 mins left on the pack (full pack is 4 mins), I then placed the heli into a hover about 50ft up. I was piro'ing slowly when I lost orientation and the heli started to drift, so I hit rescue.

The heli immediately levelled the disc but at the same time, it applied negative pitch and smashed straight in to the ground, skids first.
The heli was drifting tail-first at about 20 degrees when i hit rescue, skids down. Rescue must have thought i was upside down?!

This was not the 1st rescue of the day. I'm not good at flying so use it quite a bit. Its rescued me several times today, including one that was upside down, it gained height, then flipped back skids down. Fantastic.

I used rescue earlier in the flight, and that worked correctly, but this last time, not so lucky. FBL rescue thought I was upside down. :roll:
ZeXx86
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We are very sorry to hear about the problems.

But please check this page carefully:
http://manual.spirit-system.com/index.p ... ise_Rescue

There you can find possible explanations why it failed. After fixing it it should work always correctly.
Unfortunately without any data about your model I can't help you more.

Please let me know if something will be unclear or you need more help.
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jjuk
Posts: 305
Joined: Thu 05. Oct 2017 20:06:35

Thanks. I've read the page. My helicopter has no fan, was initialized flat, the bec test showed no issues during initial setup. Vibes test showed 'OK' on all 3 axis with and without tail blades. All servos were at 90 degrees and the swash was perfectly level. Blade pitch was exactly +- 12 degrees.

The rescue was working perfectly earlier in the same flight.
Multiple times, it rescued correctly in the same flight.

Then on the last activation, it sensed the helicopter was inverted when it was not, and smashed it into the ground skids first.
I suspect this is a software bug.
Last edited by jjuk on Sun 30. Sep 2018 18:10:44, edited 1 time in total.
ZeXx86
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If there is for example wrong settings then it all can work perfectly at the beginning. But with increased flight time the error can pop up, especially if more demanding maneuvers were performed.
So even with big problems it will work usually well at the beginning.

For example there can be wrong position, swashplate type while helicopter can still fly. So it is very important to verify everything.

Did you verified vibrations in the Spectrum Analysis (PC software)?

The rescue is used by thousands of pilots around the world for several years. So software error can be excluded.
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jjuk
Posts: 305
Joined: Thu 05. Oct 2017 20:06:35

OK.

I've finished rebuilding the heli so now it's time to do the setup again.
Can you please help me work out what I did wrong in the setup ?

The heli is a Gaui X3.
jjuk
Posts: 305
Joined: Thu 05. Oct 2017 20:06:35

Please find attached the log file from the flight, and the exported settings. This is a Gaui X3.

Can you please take a look and tell me what in the settings could cause the rescue to think the heli was upside down?

It flew just fine for the rest of the flight before rescue failed.

Also, the log file shows that the flight was exactly 8 minutes in length. Then at the 8th minute, it shows a low battery voltage. I don't actually believe the log; there is no way I flying for 8 mins. The battery is 4:30 max.

I have downloaded another log from my other heli, and the flight time on that is reported at 22 mins exactly, which is impossible.
As a side note, i think it would be a good idea to add something meaningful to the log, like the current battery voltage, and when rescue was used etc. the log is not very informative.
Attachments
spirit-log-2019-01-18-172251.pdf
(67.16 KiB) Downloaded 208 times
gaui x3 #1.4ds
(255 Bytes) Downloaded 168 times
ZeXx86
Site Admin
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Hello,

thank you very much for the log and settings file.

The log length is quite important factor. There are two possibilities why it was 8 minute long.

a) The log was recorded sometime earlier, not the last flight that resulted in crash. If you will not read the log then it is still stored any any new log will no rewrite it. If there is a log in the memory you will see a different swashplate movement during initialization.
b) This is the error - something is very wrong with timing. This could result in potentially bad operation of the whole unit. To make sure it is OK, please update to 2.6.1 firmware and open the Flight log once again (just immediately after update when you are at home). If the first event log contains a message about Backup oscillator then this could be reason for the issue. Then it is clear and we can do the repair.

To test if the rescue will work perfectly it is possible to make the flight as usually - longer the better. Then once landed just engage the rescue (as soon as possible while blades are motionless). If the swashplate is pointing upwards without any deflection all is perfect. And will be almost certainly also any other flight.

Your settings file is looking well.

Generally if there is an error, the rescue is working always good from the beginning. But the bigger is the problem the faster you will encounter any imprecision. So when you will try the rescue at the beginning all can be perfect, but at the end of the flight it could be wrong because it is accumulating through the flight.

Normally it should work always perfectly in any condition. So after your verification after the update we will know more.
Spirit System developer
jjuk
Posts: 305
Joined: Thu 05. Oct 2017 20:06:35

After the crash, the heli has not been flown since. You said the log doesn't show the crash?
Does the log record all flights until it is read/cleared?
Alyon187
Posts: 131
Joined: Sat 14. Nov 2015 8:08:20

It will record then erase the file after being unplugged unless theres a problem. Then it will save that flt until it is read. If you never read it it will stay there and you will see a double pump on the swash until the file is read.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
Bischi
Posts: 17
Joined: Wed 24. Oct 2018 20:26:57

Have you fix the problem?

If so, what was the mistake?
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