Vortex Ring State on my Dji Phantom 2. I was flying along normally, nothing amiss, when my Phantom 2 literally fell out of the sky like a leaf falls in the autumn. After much searching and asking questions, it seems that the Phantom 2 may have been the victim of vortex ring state - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vortex_ring_state or rapid current draw on a diminishing battery
The characteristics of the flight were as follows:
Battery state: Approx 25% remaining charge.
Rapid ascent from around 10 feet to 260 - 280 feet at max velocity.
A 630 degree horizontal rotation.
Bringing the stick rapidly backwards to begin descent.
Almost immediately it can be seen that the Phantom enters a flight state whereby controlled descent cannot be maintained. The flight electronics are trying to compensate but they are either over compensating causing the aircraft to tilt to violently one way then another, or they are simply not responding to the current flight conditions. I was making stick inputs at the transmitter in all directions to try and regain control, but it will be noted from the motor sound on the video that the Phantom was not responding to any input at all other than the alternating power increase from side to side - was this vortex ring state or was it the fact that the battery was at low power before I began a rapid ascent and the Phantom 2 suffered from over current draw trying to maintain stabilised descent as some other people have suggested? Answer is I don't know - do you?
