$1500 just flew away and kept going

[IIIDaemon]

Ok, I finally got the video done! Oh... The things I do to retrieve my crashed drone.

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...Dr.Tones, how bout posting that FlightLog File..?
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Thanks
IIIDaemon
www.GasRecovery.net

 

[Dr.tones]

its in the thread here somewhere

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...Dr.Tones, how bout posting that FlightLog File..?
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Thanks
IIIDaemon
www.GasRecovery.net

 

[IIIDaemon]

its in the thread here somewhere

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...DrTones, OK, found the LINK to the Converter, got the FlightLog from there, thx...
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IIIDaemon
www.GasRecovery.net
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...BTW that particular converter is pitifully inadequate these days, if you haven't already I'd advise Healthy-Drones...

 

[Stealthmatt]

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...DrTones, OK, found the LINK to the Converter, got the FlightLog from there, thx...
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IIIDaemon
www.GasRecovery.net
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...BTW that particular converter is pitifully inadequate these days, if you haven't already I'd advise Healthy-Drones...

I disagree, it shows more info and second by second. Also allows you to export it so you can import it into healthy-drones if you so like.

You tell me how you can use healthy drones to get time by time detailed information.

 

[sar104]

Ok, I finally got the video done! Oh... The things I do to retrieve my crashed drone.

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Nice story, and a good lesson. That was one nasty pile of choss that you scrambled up to get to it, but glad that you found it, and basically intact.

 

[Malcolm Reynolds]

This is awesome, I can't wait to see the recovery efforts and the video. The video will show what it did.

Don't format that card, if you cant read the video file on the drone there is quick software to repair the corrupted video files. Let us know if you have trouble getting the video.

Can I get the name of the repair software?
Dave

 

[GMack]

I read some NOTAM (Notice to Airman) from the FAA in July about China Lake Navel Weapons Station scrambling the GPS signals above ground on 4 different test days that month. All aircraft were advised to go on manual control, radio, and visuals on those test days and it was a wide coverage that included all of CA up into Oregon. Speculation it is to mis-direct incoming missiles and steer them off course.

Here: http://gizmodo.com/faa-warns-of-gps-outages-this-month-during-mysterious-t-1780866590

 

[sar104]

I read some NOTAM (Notice to Airman) from the FAA in July about China Lake Navel Weapons Station scrambling the GPS signals above ground on 4 different test days that month. All aircraft were advised to go on manual control, radio, and visuals on those test days and it was a wide coverage that included all of CA up into Oregon. Speculation it is to mis-direct incoming missiles and steer them off course.

Here: http://gizmodo.com/faa-warns-of-gps-outages-this-month-during-mysterious-t-1780866590

This incident did not occur during one of the test periods.

 

[Richard24]

UPDATE WITH RECOVERY VIDEO! Well, it happened. She flew away. I was out in the middle of the desert trying to get an "epic shot" of a mountain. I didn't have "data" on my cell at the time. I went through pre flight which included compass calibration (away from the truck), GPS acquisition (19 satellites acquired), RTH point updated and confirmed, etc. etc... I launched with no complications. I even hit RTH and the aircraft returned and began to land in the proper location without incident. I canceled the operation and switched to sport mode and flew to my destination. At a distance of 9823.5 ft and an elevation of 787.2 ft I lost video feed and received an error message and chimes "aircraft disconnected". 15 satellites acquired at the time of disconnect. I hit the RTH button... nothing... I could see the drone begin to travel north (my left) at a consistent elevation, blinking yellow and red. I switched to ATTI mode.... no response... I had 9min 22 sec of battery left. We attempted to hop in the truck and chase it in hopes of reconnecting... nope. Severely disappointed in the failure of the "fail safes". Before you get all up in arms about stuff I coulda, shoulda, woulda, please just try to be helpful and tell me theres a way to find where she went down? WHY DIDN'T IT COME HOME!!!!!!!! 100's of miles from no where so I'm pretty sure that reward sticker means absolutely nothing. Last recoded location was the place it lost signal and became disconnected. Thanks. Bummed.
Oh... The things I do to retrieve my crashed drone.

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I would of paid for helicopter to take me their?

 

[IIIDaemon]

I read some NOTAM (Notice to Airman) from the FAA in July about China Lake Navel Weapons Station scrambling the GPS signals above ground on 4 different test days that month. All aircraft were advised to go on manual control, radio, and visuals on those test days and it was a wide coverage that included all of CA up into Oregon. Speculation it is to mis-direct incoming missiles and steer them off course.

Here: http://gizmodo.com/faa-warns-of-gps-outages-this-month-during-mysterious-t-1780866590

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...this incident or crash did not occur due to interference, it was simply flown into the ground, lack of altitude.. but thats just 1 of the problems with this particular flight.. they started, based upon the remote access to the Take-Off point, I'd say 2hrs before Lift-Off and that was in the Planning stage.. had he turned around just before the crash there is a good chance it wouldn't have made it back.. thats not to say it would have crashed, but who plans on making a 1/4 - 1/2mi trek to retrieve their drone on purpose.. had he completed the mission which i assume was to fly around and image the mountain.. he would have certainly run out of juice before getting back.. used 40% getting there (to the crash site), only 46% remaining (@10% it shuts off) he had an av14.8mph / gusting to18.6mph tail wind to get there..! several valuable lessons on what Not to Do...
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IIIDaemon
www.GasRecovery.net

 

[Pogopilot]

Check out my Google Earth screenshots above. You can see the OP flew behind a mountain (breaking the remote controller signal) and the Phantom most likely crashed into the back side of the mountain when it was trying to return back to the home point.

Wow, what a great job figuring this out for the OP. I just saw his video on finding the his bird. He owes you one....

 

[IIIDaemon]

Wow, what a great job figuring this out for the OP. I just saw his video on finding the his bird. He owes you one....

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...I'm guessing thats sarcasm, hey.. imo these forums are here for all of us to learn.. and most people learn from mistakes.. I call'em as i see 'em (and BTW that data backs me up).. the title does the community a disservice too.. these drone have a history of going nuts, wiggy out and doing just that.. Flying Away, his title '..$1500 just flew away and kept going..' couldn't be further from the truth.. a better, more accurate title would be something like '..I flew my Brand New drone into the Ground.. and it Stayed there..' or more par for this course '..OMG my drone has fallen and can't get up..' it wasn't meant to be abrasive, just factual, also he didn't use my observations to find the drone.. DJI has come a long way with the P4 and again imo It Is the Pinnacle of the 2nd gen Smart Drones.. and one that i'm sure every other mfg is shooting for...
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IIIDaemon
www.GasRecovery.net

 

[IIIDaemon]

Check out my Google Earth screenshots above. You can see the OP flew behind a mountain (breaking the remote controller signal) and the Phantom most likely crashed into the back side of the mountain when it was trying to return back to the home point.

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...ms, on first glance it does look like that, but the flight log tells the real story, at no time did he loose signal, in fact 'Minor' Signal Errors were in the Single Digits the entire flight..!
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IIIDaemon
www.GasRecovery.net

 

[younggun84]

I set RTH to a high altitude and also only fly GPS mode if I feel likely I might lose signal or line of sight. Flying Sport Mode that turns off obstacle avoidance (even if you aren't flying full throttle) is a recipe for disaster. When in doubt - I've found that straight up is the best first response to trouble, whether that's RTH setting or hitting the stick when trouble looms.


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots

I don't see how. Lots of people flying P3s with no OA and doing just fine.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[sar104]

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...ms, on first glance it does look like that, but the flight log tells the real story, at no time did he loose signal, in fact 'Minor' Signal Errors were in the Single Digits the entire flight..!
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IIIDaemon
www.GasRecovery.net

So you think that from where he flew to (behind that large rock, as shown both by the flight path and where he found the aircraft) the aircraft still had a control connection? That is not even remotely credible. The flight data on the tablet stops when the signal was lost, and flying at speed from direct line of sight into the shadow of a large hill would lead to very abrupt signal loss.

 

[msinger]

ms, on first glance it does look like that, but the flight log tells the real story, at no time did he loose signal, in fact 'Minor' Signal Errors were in the Single Digits the entire flight..!

How exactly do you suppose the OP was able to get a signal when his Phantom was behind that large rock?

 

[Stealthmatt]

How exactly do you suppose the OP was able to get a signal when his Phantom was behind that large rock?

Reflection/bouncing of radio waves. Perhaps even over GPS relay? or aliens.

 

[msinger]

or aliens

You could be onto something there

 

[ericty]

This is the best recovery story ever. Congrats on finding your P4. Lessons learned for yourself and others on this board.

 

[IIIDaemon]

You could be onto something there

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...msinger, I based my conclusion solely on the data, not speculation and not theory.. the data i had avail to me was the link to the Phantom help Online FlightLog Converter.. where i was able to dwnld their copy of the DJIFlightRecord_*.txt file.. That data shows No RTH and Absolutely NO LOSS of Signal right up til the point of impact.. its a tad misleading to describe it as 'Behind That Large Rock'.. when 'Just Over the Crest' would be much more accurate and would infer how it was able to actually Fly to that point without loosing signal at btw 40mph, or approx 18ft/sec, had it not impacted where it did and was able to continue on he may very well have lost signal, but again.. thats simply not what happened...
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IIIDaemon
www.GasRecovery.net