F#$% SeaGull!!

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Ye.. its true.
Happened to me.
I was flying low above a dock over some boats, and the most stupid bird in the world attacked my bird...
Stalled one of the engines.. I managed it not to flip, but it was too low... crashed on a stone slope, and then tumbled onto the river...
15 min it stayed there until I was able to get it out.
Battery removed and gone into smoke atack.

Rushed home, opened the bird up, shot compressed air everywhere and sunk it on a big bag of rice...

Problem is, I'm in a middle of a 5 day video shot for a big costumer... So 10 hour in the rice (i know..not enough),and I tried to assemble it and turned it on...
No camera, no gimbal movement. got wifi and radio control, but no engine start (5 red lights. GPS failure?)

so I will have to buy another one tomorrow to finished the job... and then maybe someday I'll try to salvage what I can from this.

I knew it would fall some day, I just wished I has made enough work with it to pay it first.

Too pissed right now. Nature was not me friend today. :(


DONATIONS are welcome :)
...or at least check this new product I'm endorsing for ground video with your Phantom:
http://www.phantompilots.com/threads/ground-footage-made-easy.43306/
 
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Bad luck dude. I hate those flying rats!
5 red can mean anything. Could be compass or IMU needing calibration. Plug to a PC and see what it says.
 
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You said sea gull. Was this salt water if so I hope you did a big fresh water flush. Salt is corrosive!!!
 
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It was on a river.. but in retrospective.. if was fairy close to the rivers end, so it could had some salt in it :S
 
those flying rats are everywhere... Chicago on Lake Mi, fresh water... North Wi as far as you can be..... Flying rats breed and live on all aspects of humanities or natures discards - water or even flying ones (seen the rats eat a dead duck once), salt or fresh it doesn't matter... just volume of crap to digest is where you will find them...
 
So... remember a F#$%"$ seagull crashed my Phantom to thr ground and water?!

This is 3 days later after that with my new Phantom:
New location, brand new drone, and this happens!!!
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This time I managed to escape before they crashed me, but this is not bad luck anymore, these b#tches be crazyyyy for my drones!!!!!!
 
You need to tell the seagulls you are the boss.... if one is getting near then act aggressive and fly towards it.

I wondered about that myself. I'd been having a lot of close calls with seagulls in one particular spot, and the last time as I was bringing it in, I saw another come past, so decided to chase the hell out of it by flying LOS so I could zig and zag better to keep on his tail, he took off flying for his life, and he sure did try zigging and zagging, but when you can fly sideways and backwards, you can sure give them one hell of a chase. I chased him half way across the lake before peeling off to come back.

I was never sure whether making myself a threat would make them MORE keen to drive me away, or make them head for the hills at first sight.

I had a flock of Cockatoos fly right around my quad on one flight -
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they had circled several times before going all sides of me like this.
On my flight on Saturday in a different area, I was quite nervous about a large flock of them nearby, but as soon as I got within sight, they squawked out warnings to each other, and the whole flock made a beeline for the horizon at full throttle. So I guess some of them see it as a threat and run, and others see it as a threat and try to scare it off. I just wish I knew for sure that chasing them down would work consistently to train them to run away.
Both the last two were cockatoos, much dumber than seagulls. Gulls worry me enough that I've never flown again at the place I chased one.
 
I guess if you fly in the same place a lot you might persuade the local gulls that you are a threat, they are very territorial, particularly in the breeding season.
You could also try a trick often used in nature, big scary eye stickers on your phantom?
 
The down arrow is your friend, living by the sea (up to 3 months ago) I to get a lot of this and I'm finding down quickly and back towards me works a charm.

Basically I get the smeg out of the way asap.
Don't keep on the same level to escape, they don't know we can drop instantly and they scratch their heads for the moment we need to run away.

Have you tried a cheap plastic whistle attached that works on a fast decent, I haven't. Better still attach it to the front if you want to attack.
 
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The down arrow is your friend, living by the sea (up to 3 months ago) I to get a lot of this and I'm finding down quickly and back towards me works a charm.

Basically I get the smeg out of the way asap.
Don't keep on the same level to escape, they don't know we can drop instantly and they scratch their heads for the moment we need to run away.

Have you tried a cheap plastic whistle attached that works on a fast decent, I haven't. Better still attach it to the front if you want to attack.
actually, I think stick down is a bad idea.
our phantoms go down very slowly, AND if the bird is above you, Its one more opportunity to dive on you. That was how I lost my first phantom.
I now believe our best bet is to stick UP and BACK. You go UP much faster than you can go down, and if you are above, you have the upper hand and the birds know that.
and as you get back fast, you are leaving its territory ending the threat.
I am researching on some electronic sound that can drive them away.
 
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No firmware updates, she drops and fast :)

Literally falls out of the sky
 
I've avoided 2 seagull attacks in these days, one seagull has flown 30-40cm over my phantom making it wobble. I notice that in these period are a lot more aggressive, when i begin to fly in an area no seagulls, after some minutes one at least comes and then many others. WTF.
 
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after this, I've developed a phobia with this winged rats...
Today I have to half discharge one of my battery to store it so i decide to go to the same place close to my house that is nothing special but good to fly a little bit around without people and so on. Is the same place i usually have flown all the winter and spring seasons without any kind of problem. Again after took off no seagull around i flew 30-40mt height and 100 far then suddenly i heard their fcking sound and I become carefull and begin to look around. First seagull immediately attack my bird and I've been able to avood collision running on one side fast and then landing my bird. With my bird on the ground 4-5 seagull began to fly around me coming down to me few meters over my head. I decide to take a small stone and launch it to the seagull just to make it afraid. Seems to work and seagulls fly away. I start again my bird because battery still was 75% and i flew 10 meters high and 30 mt far. Again seagull come back and were a lot! I land my bird detach props pyt back in my hard case and begin to go home because there is no way to fly there. While going home with phantom in my hard case tens of seagulls follow me and attack me flying alternatively few few mt over my head that fcking bastards haha. I took a piece of tree that was on the ground to hit the first one that would come too close to me but after 2-300mt of walk they stopped to follow and come back high in the sky. They were really a LOT. Is like if the first 3-4 called enforcement and many many of them come to help! Lesson learned, i will not come there to fly my phantom again at least in summer...if i will I've to replace my gimbal with a little machine gun.
 
Today I have to half discharge one of my battery to store it so i decide to go to the same place close to my house that is nothing special but good to fly a little bit around without people and so on. Is the same place i usually have flown all the winter and spring seasons without any kind of problem. Again after took off no seagull around i flew 30-40mt height and 100 far then suddenly i heard their fcking sound and I become carefull and begin to look around. First seagull immediately attack my bird and I've been able to avood collision running on one side fast and then landing my bird. With my bird on the ground 4-5 seagull began to fly around me coming down to me few meters over my head. I decide to take a small stone and launch it to the seagull just to make it afraid. Seems to work and seagulls fly away. I start again my bird because battery still was 75% and i flew 10 meters high and 30 mt far. Again seagull come back and were a lot! I land my bird detach props pyt back in my hard case and begin to go home because there is no way to fly there. While going home with phantom in my hard case tens of seagulls follow me and attack me flying alternatively few few mt over my head that fcking bastards haha. I took a piece of tree that was on the ground to hit the first one that would come too close to me but after 2-300mt of walk they stopped to follow and come back high in the sky. They were really a LOT. Is like if the first 3-4 called enforcement and many many of them come to help! Lesson learned, i will not come there to fly my phantom again at least in summer...if i will I've to replace my gimbal with a little machine gun.


Where do you live?

I find that EXTREMELY hard to believe. Seagulls following you on foot from a drone flight? Without anyone near you feeding them?

I seriously doubt that.

I live within a couple miles of the ocean. I am there ALL the time. I've done everything from flying R/C aircraft to fishing and then boating. While it is certainly possible to see seagulls actively attacking an R/C aircraft, once that aircraft is properly camouflaged or put inside a case, there is NO threat left. NO food source for them to anticipate. I've had seagulls follow me while I'm walking on foot for 50-75 meters, but NEVER 200-300 for sure and never ATTACKING me. These birds lose their interest WAY before that unless you have a loaf of bread on your back.

Just VERY hard for this man to believe this story.
 
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Here's what is happening. You are walking through a nesting area. It happened to me as a kid. I was walking through a grassy beach area and realized that more and more gulls were flying around me and trying to attack me or scare me off. I then realized that they had nests in the high grass in that area. Just stay away from that area. As soon as I walked away, they went back to their business.
 
Here's what is happening. You are walking through a nesting area. It happened to me as a kid. I was walking through a grassy beach area and realized that more and more gulls were flying around me and trying to attack me or scare me off. I then realized that they had nests in the high grass in that area. Just stay away from that area. As soon as I walked away, they went back to their business.
Yes happened the same, i don't know if have nest in the area but now after some flight with attack to my phantom is surely that the reason.
Where do you live?

I find that EXTREMELY hard to believe. Seagulls following you on foot from a drone flight? Without anyone near you feeding them?

I seriously doubt that.

I live within a couple miles of the ocean. I am there ALL the time. I've done everything from flying R/C aircraft to fishing and then boating. While it is certainly possible to see seagulls actively attacking an R/C aircraft, once that aircraft is properly camouflaged or put inside a case, there is NO threat left. NO food source for them to anticipate. I've had seagulls follow me while I'm walking on foot for 50-75 meters, but NEVER 200-300 for sure and never ATTACKING me. These birds lose their interest WAY before that unless you have a loaf of bread on your back.

Just VERY hard for this man to believe this story.
Please tell me why i should lie? I'm 36 years old and in my city that is on the seaside seagulls are common. I'm not afraid of them but I've never had an experience like today where a lot of seagull follow me flying from the sky down really close to me. They know that in my hard case there is their enemy, my phantom. Because when i put back my phantom in it, they were still flying over me at a close height.
 

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