I Crashed - and its the Wife's Fault!

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Well, it finally happened. Add me to the wall of shame.

I was flying last night and some of the neighbors were out watching and marveling at my flying machine. My wife says, "honey fly low so the kids can see." I tell her no, I dont like to fly below the tree line. She says, "oh come on honey the kids will love it!" So because apparently women have some magic power on men that make us do stupid stuff I dropped down and started flying a pattern back and forth at about 50 feet. Just as the words, "I have to go back up or I am going to hit something...." come out of my mouth - Boom. I run into a tree. Crap!

Looks like the only thing really broken is the vibration mount for the camera, a $9 part. The shell was separated a little as well and popped back into place. Just for good measure (and safety) I am going to send it in to be fully checked out before putting it back in the air.

So can we learn from this?
  1. Never listen to your wife!
  2. Keep your Phantom above any obstacles such as trees and light posts.
  3. Be glad our spouses are not on the forum to see item #1 because we all know the operator is ultimately responsible for what we do with our Phantoms.
I tried doing an analysis of the flight data as I thought it would be interesting to see what it showed when it impacted. Apparently when it hit the tree it reset and the flight data and video for the final second or two before the crash is lost. When I retrieved the P3, it is was still powered on. There was a second log that started after it was on the ground as evident by the orientation (upside down) shown in the log. So basically the crash event and subsequent fall to the ground are all missing from the data recorder - just the data that would be most interesting to view.

So for public humiliation, I present to you the video, "The Crash of Leroy Jenkins." I ran DashWare on it trying to watch the effects of the crash. Ignore the altitude, I screwed that gauge up.

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Cannot "see" anything on your video. The superimposition of data negates your intended video.
Why are you flying at night?
 
Yes, I was flying at night. There is not really much to see in the video. You can't even hear me crying in the background.


Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots mobile app
 
I tell the wife that flying the UAV is boring to watch... Just so I don't have the voice of reason talking in my ear.

The voice of reason would include:
The reason I'm not having as much fun.
The reason I have to stop and explain everything I'm doing
The reason I pissed my wife off telling her I'm trying to concentrate
The reason I have to send the P3 back for repair.
The reason I'm not flying for a few weeks.
The reason I have a shovel and bag of lime in the trunk.

Just kidding folks... I'm lucky enough to have a wife that has NO interest in this hobby.
 
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Just for good measure (and safety) I am going to send it in to be fully checked out before putting it back in the air.

Good call on that Leroy! Sorry to read that happened to you.

LOL- on item #1.

"some people say that there's a wo - man to blame....but I know........it's my own **** fault"

LOL - perfect choice JKD!
 
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Good call on that Leroy! Sorry to read that happened to you.

LOL- on item #1.

"some people say that there's a wo - man to blame....but I know........it's my own **** fault"

LOL - perfect choice JKD!
Just for clarification, by Phantom's name is Leroy Jenkins not mine. I'm pretty sure he would fly just fine, but I think its prudent to take something that will be flying at 400' in the air possibly near people and have it checked out before flying again. These things are not toys! Keeping my fingers crossed that my AMEX Purchase Protection is going to take care of the cost.
 
I dunno about naming it "Leroy Jenkins"... Might as well have named it "Hindendburg", or "Titanic", or one of the many ships/planes lost in the Bermuda Triangle.. Harbinger of doom! ;)


Just for clarification, by Phantom's name is Leroy Jenkins not mine. I'm pretty sure he would fly just fine, but I think its prudent to take something that will be flying at 400' in the air possibly near people and have it checked out before flying again. These things are not toys! Keeping my fingers crossed that my AMEX Purchase Protection is going to take care of the cost.
 
So true. Like when you know exactly where you are going when on a car journey and the wife says 'Turn off here', and you do, only to take a wrong turn. Maybe you can hold this against her for at least a decade, and claim the opportunity of never having to explain why your 'toy' collection is growing at an alarming rate.


UK
 
So true. Like when you know exactly where you are going when on a car journey and the wife says 'Turn off here', and you do, only to take a wrong turn. Maybe you can hold this against her for at least a decade, and claim the opportunity of never having to explain why your 'toy' collection is growing at an alarming rate.


UK
I see your wife isnt on the forum either!
 
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Sorry for the crash, but I loved the lessons learned by OP! LOL

So can we learn from this?
  1. Never listen to your wife!
  2. Keep your Phantom above any obstacles such as trees and light posts.
  3. Be glad our spouses are not on the forum to see item #1 because we all know the operator is ultimately responsible for what we do with our Phantoms.
 
Sorry for the crash, but I loved the lessons learned by OP! LOL

So can we learn from this?
  1. Never listen to your wife!
  2. Keep your Phantom above any obstacles such as trees and light posts.
  3. Be glad our spouses are not on the forum to see item #1 because we all know the operator is ultimately responsible for what we do with our Phantoms.
4. Have divorce lawyer on retainer in case she reads this.
 
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Reactions: Grae

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