Make sure to update the Title following the format “Jan 01, 2020 Flight Test”
📋 Flight Preparation
Requested by: | Anthony Luo |
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Required Sub-teams |
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Requested Date |
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Location and Time | 1800-2000, Waterloo Region Emergency Services Training Center |
Summary & Goals | Test Transition Flight |
Approved? | Yes ✅ / Pending 🟨 / No 🛑 |
👥 Required Persons During Test
Name | Phone # | Role | Reason |
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Anthony Luo | 613 618 5547 | Flight Test Lead |
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Anthony Luo | 613 618 5547 | Pilot in Command |
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Ayoung (tentative) | Safety |
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Aidan Bowers | Flight Engineer |
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Alison Thompson | Mechanical Rep |
👥 Other Attendees
Name | Role |
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🚗 Drivers & Seat Arrangement
Driver | Vehicle Type | Passenger |
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📊 Success criteria
Tests | Success Criteria | Requirements | Outcome |
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⏲️ Testing Timeline
Date/Time | Action |
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Mon & Tue | Aircraft Assembly If aircraft assembly is complicated, outline dates of various milestones that should be met to ensure we don't rush to complete work at the last minute. |
Tue 8-10PM | Pre-flight Preparation Feel free to not come at 9 if you don’t have a lot workload. During this time get snack if needed |
Wed 1700 | Required persons for preflight preparation show up at bay Flight test lead breifly assign task for preparation work |
Wed 1730 | Flight brief from flight test lead |
Wed 1730 | Loading onto the Car Take your water bottle with you. Go washroom before we leave! |
Drive to the test ground | |
Wed 1800 | Flight Testing |
Debrief |
🧯 Aircraft Incident Procedures
Incident | Procedure |
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Crash | Outline the procedure for who will go to handle the aircraft in the event of a crash, what should be done, were emergency equipment is, etc. |
Flyaway | Outline the procedure for flyaways. List relevant contact information for local authorities and plans of action to recover control of the aircraft |
Configuration Error | Outline steps to take in the event of a configuration issue with the aircraft |
Injury | |
Property Damage |
🔧 Week-Before To-Do List
🔧 Day-Before To-Do List
↪️ Pre-Departure Checklist
🚩 Pre-flight Safety Checklist
😎 Post-Flight Checklist
Item | Owner |
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| ALL MEMBERS PRESENT |
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Flight Test Post Mortem
Pilot with LOS
FPV camera angled lower
More flying experience
Data&LOG Analysis:
Watch recording https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgXb6C16Qt0 if you need full information of the debrief
< flight path overview >
In general, from our flight path:
took off at the gravel pad BELOW the skid-pad because formula motorsports (gas) was using the skid pad and we had agreed that we would take off off the track.
flew out in quad mode a bit, and then proceeded to transition
Transition was not fully completed until after we had turned back towards the skid pad
Orientation was difficult to judge for all parties, and the drone was identified as “heading towards us very fast”, which is when we transitioned back to QLoiter
At some point in the transition, a motor failed and the drone entered a flat spin, drifting with the wind until it landed in a nearby water reservoir.
note drop in current after transition complete, and stabilization of current draw when in transition.
< altitude/pitch analysis >
Desired pitch not controlled by the autopilot until transition done
large gap between transition airspeed reached and transition done? Nathan Green
Pitch is controlled by the quad motors until transition airspeed is reached, when the quad motors will then power down. and no longer provide levelling.
After the quad motors shutoff, there is a fairly large moment pushing the nose of the aircraft down.
Notice that with a spike in desired pitch, the aircraft does respond to the autopilot & also pilot input
(not shown, RCIN was requesting almost full nose up. Seems that desired pitch is software limited?)
< motor graph >
< brief thoughtdump from anni >
Push motor drawing 40A (20A last flight test)
Max airspeed reached around 24m/s (while decending)
Pitch/Roll has positive correlation
Elevator deflicting to 900 when transition QLoiter → FBWA
Elevator deflecting to 1800 ish when max angle in FBWA
Max desired pitch limits to 20 in FBWA (software limit?)
Transition airspeed reached → transition done had (5s?) delay ← unsure please check me
Motor 4 (BR) was being commanded to full throttle on QLoiter transition but was not reacting.
Multiple flatspins on final descent.
Landed in the water.
< to insert charts if possible >
All persons are unharmed and safe
Transition was marked as complete (adequate airspeed)
Relocation of pusher motor showed marked improvement (both in measured current draw and measured airspeed) - indicating that relocation gave more airmass for movement.
Airframe survived 5Gs of deceleration when used as an airbrake during the transition from FBWA → QLoiter
Commanded pitch/roll and autopilot desired pitch/roll corresponding positively to actual aircraft attitude change. This indicates our software system is good.
Video was clear during the entire flight, with minor rolling banding when quad motors are spinning and brief (<1s) breakup near the start.
Flight engineer had difficulty finding data.
data layout was not consistent between flights & this was not checked prior to flight
Visual observers had difficulty tracking the vehicle as it flew into the glare of the sun.
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Did not follow aircraft operating manuals for what to do in the event of emergencies.
Site survey was rushed - the team did not adequately consider possible emergency scenarios.
Flightline procedures were not clear
The team was unsure as to what to do and there was minimal coordination after the crash.
The team did not know what information needed to be passed around and whose job it was to pass that information around
We crashed
No communication with the other design team that was testing above us.
Preparations for the flight test were not thorough. → this led to rushed preparation before flight window.
The drone was flown on sunday in the same configuration, and many systems were overlooked as they have not been touched and were assumed to be working.
Day before procedures were not followed, items that could have been fixed on previous days were not fixed.
Saw a motor fail to start during initial motor test sequence. Motor spun on subsequent tests and the issue was not further investigated
Harness on ESCs were a potential point of failure. TBD depending on RCA, but:
Motor 4 / Motor B is now crunchy
Front left ESC is blown up
Rear left motor had signal issues
RCA for Red Items
Create a RCA and keep it as a child page.
Action Items
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Water Dmg. Breakdown
