I got the drone back up and running. It turned out that Mission Planner, the PC software that interfaces with the drone, was loading quadcopter firmware with airplane parameters. It could be that I mistakenly changed a drop down box that selects the default parameter file, or it could be that Mission Planner did not change the parameter file when I reset the drone software from drone to airplane to drone in order to get a "clean load" of drone software (this is the recommended method for resetting your APM/Pixhawk software).
In reflecting on all the hours spent debugging the problem, and the difficulty in identifying the problem, I think the "Drone Industry" is about where PCs were in the late 80's. It is not a perfect comparison, but it is reasonably close, check out my table below:
| Characteristic | Drones Today | Late 80's PCs | PCs Today |
| Off The Shelf Complete Units | Yes (DJI, 3DR..), but many complaints about the white label products | Yes (IBM PC, Apple MAC..), but many complaints about the white label products | Almost all PCs bought off the shelf and work 1st time |
| Hardware | Somewhat standardized, but incompatibilities are common | Standardized, but incompatibilities are common | Plug and Play for almost all hardware |
| Software | Lots of variations, nice user interface over a command line operating system, lots of variables to customize, many bugs | A few variations, nice user interface (Windows) over a command line operating system (DOS), lots of variables to customize, a few bugs | A few variations, nice user interface (Win or OSX), a few variables to customize with wizards to help, few bugs |
| Growth Rate | Very high | Very high | Shrinking as people use more mobile devices |
| Industry Participants | All small companies (DJI, 3DR, Turnigy..), no leader | IBM, Apple, and Compaq are leaders, many small players as well (Packard Bell, Nortel, ..) | A small number of huge well known companies: Apple, HP, Lenovo.. |
Photo credit: Flickr
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