A learning moment.

[harrybub]

Posted for your amusement...

This is a great example of:

1: Not being as smart as you thought you were about the heigth of those trees. And:

2: Allowing yourself to become distracted from the Prime Directive, the Cardinal Rule:

*FLY THE AIRCRAFT*

HB

 

[bLaStErAiD]

My questions are, did you get it back? And what is the damage?

 

[harrybub]

My questions are, did you get it back? And what is the damage?

Yes, and 0 damage. Lots of green on the props but not even a nick.
My firewood guy is also in the tree business. He called one of his climbers who strapped on his spikes and climbed right up to it. Lowered it on a rope. 95 feet.

HB

 

[RedHotPoker]

Hip hip hooray for Timber Kings!! ;-)

RedHotPoker

 

[bLaStErAiD]

Yes, and 0 damage. Lots of green on the props but not even a nick.
My firewood guy is also in the tree business. He called one of his climbers who strapped on his spikes and climbed right up to it. Lowered it on a rope. 95 feet.

HB

Good to hear a good ending to your story, and hope you fly a little higher next time

 

[shorttimer]

Yes, that is as cheap of a lesson as you will ever have - no damage. Glad it made it through the crash in fine fashion.

 

[normr]

Another new feature needed for the Phantom 4, forward facing sensors to stop forward motion


Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots mobile app

 

[Jbundy63]

Very lucky! Glad all worked out[emoji4]

 

[Ralph M]

Objects in the FPV may be closer than they appear...

 

[Mark The Droner]

I think a good rule of thumb is that you should be able to see the distant horizon without any high tree branches between you and that horizon. If you see tree branches, bring your aircraft up until all you see is the unobstructed horizon line.

 

[shorttimer]

Objects in the FPV may be closer than they appear...

Funny.
Somewhat related to the forum...

 

[Solar Deity]

There is also an overlay in the app that places a center circle on the video feed. I use that to determine if I'm going to be close to striking an object. If that center circle is touching anything in your view, you will hit it, providing you have the camera parallel to the ground.

I also will use the center circle to find the height of the highest trees around. I keep about 50 feet back and ascend until the center circle 'touches" the tips of the tree. I look at the telemetry and make a mental note of the trees/object and fly at least 25 meters higher than that. I also set the Failsafe RTH Altitude 30 meters higher than that as well.

But, that was really too low and not enough buffer zone between you and the tallest object. Glad there was no damage and you had a tree climber in your rolodex.

SD

 

[harrybub]

There is also an overlay in the app that places a center circle on the video feed. I use that to determine if I'm going to be close to striking an object. If that center circle is touching anything in your view, you will hit it, providing you have the camera parallel to the ground.

I also will use the center circle to find the height of the highest trees around. I keep about 50 feet back and ascend until the center circle 'touches" the tips of the tree. I look at the telemetry and make a mental note of the trees/object and fly at least 25 meters higher than that. I also set the Failsafe RTH Altitude 30 meters higher than that as well.

But, that was really too low and not enough buffer zone between you and the tallest object. Glad there was no damage and you had a tree climber in your rolodex.

SD

Good suggestions all but I'm putting the climber in my speed dial.

 

[CCDD]

I always ascend to at least 150ft before venturing over any trees. This allows for a large margin of error should the telemetry not be accurate.

 

[shorttimer]

Good suggestions all but I'm putting the climber in my speed dial.

Probably better put the DJI store in speed dial as well as next time you probably won't be so lucky. The forum is full of threads of people getting into a tree and major damage. But it is always good to hear stories like yours and how it suffered no damage. You should get a lottery ticket.

 

[Wolfiesden]

Posted for your amusement...

This is a great example of:

1: Not being as smart as you thought you were about the heigth of those trees. And:

2: Allowing yourself to become distracted from the Prime Directive, the Cardinal Rule:

*FLY THE AIRCRAFT*

HB

 

[RedHotPoker]

Everything is closer than it appears, in your eyes or mine?
While always Keeping VLOS in mind.. Hahaha

RedHotPoker

 

[Mark The Droner]

I always ascend to at least 150ft before venturing over any trees. This allows for a large margin of error should the telemetry not be accurate.

Yes - that's my height too. I would lower it a little after a couple runs if I thought it was safe.

 

[Solar Deity]

I posted this earlier for another incident with trees. From us experienced RC guys, here's a little trick of the trade for flying VLOS.

To help with avoiding objects at distance, always keep some sky between the object and your aircraft and you will never hit it. You may have to increase altitude as you near the object to keep the sky in between (you were a little low), but if you do you won't hit it. I also look for its shadow if available to check its clearance from objects as well to descend safely once clear.

SD