It’s important to know how to quickly SHUT OFF your drone propellers by catching your drone and flipping it. This is especially important in emergency situations OR in specific environments such as flying a drone from a boat.
Two Ways to Emergency Stop Your Drone
There are two primary ways to shut off your drone propellers. The first is by flipping your drone over and the second is by using your controller sticks.
1. Flipping your drone to shut off the motor
When a drone is flipped over the propellers will immediately turn off and stop rotating. In times in which you are flying from a boat, or if hand catching your drone in difficult environments (such as windy days or tight landing areas), it becomes important to know how to do this technique.
How to safely flip over your drone:
- Fly the drone near you within an arm’s reach
- In one fluid motion firmly pinch the center of the drone and flip it over
Done slowly the drone may fight you or jump away from you (especially if obstacle avoidance is on).
For a full demonstration of what this looks like (and more tips) jump to 53 seconds of the video below:
2. Stop your drone propellers with your control sticks
In the event of an emergency, it may be necessary to stop a drone immediately to prevent it from causing harm or damage.
There are two unique movements on your controller that will stop your drone propellers (after a few seconds)
- Pulling the sticks down and together
- Pulling the sticks down and out
By holding them in this position for a few seconds, the propellers will automatically turn off.
After an emergency stop is initiated, the drone’s motors will stop spinning and the drone will immediately fall to the ground. It’s important to be aware of the drone’s surroundings and make sure that the emergency stop does not cause any harm or damage to people or property.
But wait! What if I “accidentally” shut off the drone propellers while flying?
– exclaimed the cautious new drone operator
This is significantly harder to do than you think and is not a natural movement for the drone when you are flying. However, there is an additional safety precaution you can take within the advanced safety settings of your drone.
Under “Emergency Propeller Stop” the default setting is “Emergency Only”. Leave it this way. This means it takes extra time for the drone to stop the propellers and it will jump into a normal “landing” with beeping and the ability to cancel your landing before the propellers turn off.
A full demonstration of what this looks like can be found at 9 minutes and 41 seconds of the video above.
When to Use Emergency Motor Shutdown On Your Drone
Generally you will want to know how to do this in cases of real emergency or malfunction, however, there are also specific flying scenarios flipping your drone comes in handy. Read on for some examples of these situations…
Situations in which you should flip your drone to shut it off
- Flying from a boat and the landing is not calm (you may be in choppy water or have current and a calm landing is not an option)
- If it is windy and you are trying to hand catch your drone (but the wind is pushing it around and you cannot land it on the ground)
- If you are a tight space trying to hand catch your drone (such as from a balcony)
For more tips on how to drone from a boat, consider reading more in this article or check out the video below.
Situations to use the controller sticks to shut off your drone
- Loss of control: If you lose control of the drone, it’s important to initiate an emergency stop to prevent it from flying out of range or crashing.
- Impending collision: If the drone is heading towards an obstacle, such as a tree or a building, and you’re unable to avoid it in time, an emergency stop can prevent the drone from crashing.
- Malfunction: If the drone is experiencing a malfunction, such as a motor failure or a sensor issue, an emergency stop can prevent further damage or harm.
- Flyaway: In some cases, a drone may experience a “flyaway” where it flies off in a random direction without responding to controls. An emergency stop can help prevent the drone from flying too far away or crashing into something.
It’s important to note that emergency stopping your drone will cause it to fall out of the sky immediately. Make sure that the area around the drone is clear and that it won’t cause harm or damage when it falls. Also, emergency stopping the drone may cause damage to the drone or the propellers. Be sure to inspect the drone for any damage before attempting to fly it again.
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Bottom Line
Most pilots realize they wish they knew how to emergency shut off their drones after they’ve been in a situation that needed it. By getting ahead and understanding the two ways to do it (flipping your drone or using the sticks to shut off the motors) and understanding the situations it may come in handy, you can fly your drone more confidently