Aaahhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!

[Tomstoy2]

Just totaled my Hexa!

Film at 11.

[sutty]

Oh pants.

[Tomstoy2]

Friggin carbon fiber prop threw and took out the prop next to it. WKM can handle 2 motors out, but not side by side.
Should have stuck with APC's. Was thinking I wasn't very happy with them and wanted to change them back.

It broke every single carbon fiber piece on the airframe. Shorted out 2 esc's, broke 4 props and broke my new gimbal.

Was just checking, I made her in January 2012. I would give a conservative guess of 500+ flights.
She's suffered 4 wrecks. I use to brag how cheap it was to put back together. The real issue was the time it took to do it.

I put a lot into it, upgrading it to the point I wanted, as usual. The addition of those friggin carbon fiber props was the very last step in upgrading the frame.

Shouldn't really blame the cf props. Remember the pumpkin patch wreck? That was with APC's.

She flew like a dream, was super dependable. 13 minute duration. Never did find a reason to replace it before.

Got to think about it, what to replace it with. Really like the 550 size KongCopter quad. Maybe do an x8 configuration.

Anyway, here's the final vid from the Hexa,

May she long rest in peace, (pieces at least now ).

death of the Hexa 3 5 16 (4 min 42 sec)

[sutty]

Oh Tom, how annoying is that.

If that's the new gimbal, isn't that always the way. I hope it can be rescued. It seemed to go in upside down, so maybe when you've had a chance to look at it in more detail, perhaps it's not quite as bent up as at first glance?

I know from first hand experience just how hard they are to level up and re-balance after a mishap, but I hope you can.

Just shows how important it is to consider what you fly over, don't you think? Since I knew there was a crash coming, but not when, there were multiple occasions when I was thinking, dear God, not now, not now!

[Tomstoy2]

Day 1 without my Hexa. What am I to do?

[copterboy]

ouch! Nasty death roll at the end

Does this mean the Phoenix will not rise from the ashes? Or does this fateful event make way for something new I wonder?

[Tomstoy2]

No, she's toast. 10,600mah's of batteries, which were mounted on the bottom flipped over on top and totally pancaked the the frame.
Still working out what's ruined. One battery ruined, my new gimbal, lc filter, 2 shorted esc's.
Fortunately, the WKM was pretty buried in the frame. It survived. The frame pretty much crushed around it.

The frame isn't made anymore, just like the Belt. Unlike the Belt, there are no aftermarket parts available.

I got her all stripped and am mounting everything on a DJI f450 quad frame I have never used. This is just temporary.

The replacment,,, been toying with the idea of making a tri-copter. People swear by how a tri fly's, so much superior to a quad. Faster, smoother.
HK has a 550 size for just $60. For that price I could buy 2, have spares.
My WKM does not support just 3 motors, but it does a Y6, so a 6 motor tri should have no trouble with a freak prop loss.
Even if a thrown blade takes out the one next to it, all energy is being expelled horizontally. Even deflecting energy direction, debris should clear the other motors mounted on the arms.
The gimbal sucks. It may be recoverable, haven't looked at it. Might just get another and then use the old one for spare parts.

I keep glancing over at the counter top where she sat, like all the time. Just tugs at my heart.

[copterboy]

Oh maaaan, I'm not surprised you feel a little deflated. You had her a while and had some good times together. But then again, wasn't she always gonna be a sort of sacrificial flagship in the fleet of dark arts?

So you definitely deserve a treat, to make yourself feel better. It wasn't your fault the prop threw, even if you decided to replace them sometime. Look forward to seeing whatever you settle on

[Tomstoy2]

Funny you mention sacrificial. Yes, she did start out that way.

My first indeavor into the dark arts, if you remember was my Gaui x330. It had a flight controller that was barely capable of flight, but it did work, for a while.
Fpv was relatively new, also.
I tried to upgrade the x330, but that turned out to be a real expensive mess.
DJI had just came out and I picked up their WKM, a revolutionary industry changer. Expensive, but worth every penny I spent.
That was when I picked up the Hexa.

It's not like she has never crashed before. Remember, the epic pumpkin crash? That was the first time it threw a prop.
Or, how about the time I bounced her on some power lines?
Plus, there were a couple times I had to just turn off the motors in flight because DJI's new firmware did not work correctly?
She survived all of these.
She was cheap to put back together.
She evolved.

She evolved with DJI, turning from a test ship to a flag ship!

Even if X/Aircraft still made this frame, I wouldn't be buying another. It's time to evolve, again.

Actually, the link I submitted to the tri, I kind of really like that thing! Especially since all I really need to do I buy a couple esc's I burnt out and I'm back in business.
I especially like that it won't need a gimbal. It's time to make something fast and agile, something that can be flow down low and very far out. Something that I can explore with.
Yeah, I kind of like that tri.

[Tomstoy2]

Shit!

Just found a replacement, x-cam KongCopter y600.
Got it from another source for $55 and free shipping!

http://www.fpvmodel.com/x-cam-kongco...-kit_g621.html

[sutty]

Ah, a trip down memory lane. I remember all of that Tom, and remember it well. Pumpkin field.

Yes, she served you well, and now it's time for another adventure. Be interesting to see what you come up with next.