Explore the ALTA X at https://freeflysystems.com/alta-x Andy Forensic Software & sUAV / Drone Analyst : Photographer : Videographer : Pilot (Portland, Oregon, USA): Trees=2, Ground=1, Props=11. The Ground Is The Limit™ ---------- Forensic Drone Analyst : Forensic sUAV Analyst : Forensic Unmanned Aircraft Analyst : Forensic Drone Expert
This is a cool machine! payload 15kgs impressive @Freeflysystems can those new activeblade autorotate in case of emergency? if you lose a prop/motor on a quad you gonna have a expensive crash on your hands
Thats my fear too. Had motor burn out before, not fun with 8 motors, way worse when you only have 4. Freefly I'm asking this the most respectful way. How can you be sure the Alta X will be dependable? I know these DJI motors are tough, but in my oppinion in desert they will die very quickly. But this is only my oppinion, please tell me if I'm wrong.
In the last 4 years between myself and my fellow pilot we have had 6 esc failures (and yes they are flying well within spec). 1 of which was 15m in front of 2 international rowing 8s. Had we been flying a quad not only would we have lost our kit to the drink and quite possibly hit one of the boats but we would have almost certainly hit national and possible international headlines given the prominence of this regatta. Instead the aircraft just twitched for a moment and carried on flying perfectly and we brought it back into land under full control including yaw. So I am very surprised at this approach by Freefly. I know quads are very reliable on the whole but so too are certified aircraft yet they fail too. More over if the aircraft is over 25kg then there is a whole part of the world ie Europe where you need or will need to effectively write a safety case to use such a machine. It is very hard to convince the authorities that a heavy quad can be flown at an acceptable level or risk. I am sure Freefly have their data, reasons etc for taking this approach but I still don't understand the move. Calling it the toughest drone also seems odd given that there is no redundancy.
Yikes! What is KDE saying about that? That sounds like a terrible track record. 1 would be bad - but 6?! How are you able to still trust them?
Yeah, not a great record but those failures are over a long time and many hours of flying. No failures for a while and the aircraft can easily handle the esc failures. New aircraft now on the drawing board and it won’t have KDEs on it!
we had similar issues with an octo with KDE motor and esc combination. About 2 or 3 years ago we were flying an arri mini over the water in about 15knt winds. a motor had stopped spinning. Flight controller was a naza! the flight controller handled the situation beautifully didn't even notice a difference in flight performance. Was able to bring her back in without issue (didn't even start yawing not bad for a $250 controller). upon closer inspection we saw that one of the wires going into the motor had come loose from the motor side. we had the same issue with 3 other motors that had less than an hour flight time on them. We were able to solder it back into place and it flew just fine. In KDE's defense they were very responsive and helpful. With that said, I would like to see how reliable the ALTA X is with a motor out (ESC failure) These things do happen. even to alta 8. Haven't been able to find any info on it online or a video demonstrating what the alta X would do with different payloads if it did have a motor out. Hoping to see something soon. Cheers