It's a sad day

[AdamDomenico]

I was flying in Yangshuo, China and I crashed my Phantom 3 into a hill side today. I've logged about 20 hours on it all over the world. Here's how a series of events unfolded to make the perfect storm. #1 Flying from a bicycle on the side of a busy road. #2 being in a hurry because you're late and need to get a quick shot in. #3 Receiving an incoming call which breaks video while continuing to hold down the reverse throttle. So I was filming in a unique landscape with limestone spires that stick out of the ground. I set the phantom to a height above one and wanted to set up a reveal shot so I flew backwards until the spire came into view. Unfortunately, a series of events happened (see above) that caused it to crash into the mountain side behind it. The worst part is I know exactly where it is but due to the steep landscape I can't get to it. I could even see the live video feed showing it stuck up in a tree. It's so frustrating because it's probably fine, but I can't get to it. Hopefully this helps someone in the future avoid the same mistakes as I did. Here's a pic of the cliffs it's stuck in

Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots

 

[AdamDomenico]

And her last pic she ever took

Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots

 

[Cobs]

Maybe you can get another Drone user (with some string and a hook) to try and retrieve it
Its a good last picture lol

 

[flyboy73]

I feel your pain. As a tribute to her why don't you post the best photos she has taken? It looks like a magnificent area to photograph.

 

[ryantrax]

Sorry about your loss, beautiful photo though.

 

[GMack]

Adam, pretty area to shoot at. Too bad about those drone-eating trees though. I flew an old RC helicopter at a park (Before they banned all RC things there.) and the park maintenance guys had a long extension pole with a hook to fish them out of trees as they said it happened quite a bit. Mine didn't get stuck in a tree as I flew over it (ha ha on tree!), but the wind caught it and blew it out of radio range where it fell onto a roof, bounced off, hit a pool deck, and that was its life.

I have a question though since you are in China where these Phantoms are made. Do you have any restrictions on flying them there? USA seems to be getting pretty restrictive and some of the general public frowns on the things to the point of shooting them down, or city councils enacting laws against flying them, permits, etc. I suspect 80% of the matter is they have a camera on-board and if they were typical RC aircraft (sans a camera) they may not be publicly targeted. Even some AMA RC flying fields ban them.

 

[Badgenes]

Sorry for your loss Adam. How did you get such a beautiful picture? I am new to the platform and constantly seeking information especially from folks who obviously have a far better understanding of photography and the platform itself.

 

[RodPad]

I was flying in Yangshuo, China and I crashed my Phantom 3 into a hill side today. I've logged about 20 hours on it all over the world. Here's how a series of events unfolded to make the perfect storm. #1 Flying from a bicycle on the side of a busy road. #2 being in a hurry because you're late and need to get a quick shot in. #3 Receiving an incoming call which breaks video while continuing to hold down the reverse throttle. So I was filming in a unique landscape with limestone spires that stick out of the ground. I set the phantom to a height above one and wanted to set up a reveal shot so I flew backwards until the spire came into view. Unfortunately, a series of events happened (see above) that caused it to crash into the mountain side behind it. The worst part is I know exactly where it is but due to the steep landscape I can't get to it. I could even see the live video feed showing it stuck up in a tree. It's so frustrating because it's probably fine, but I can't get to it. Hopefully this helps someone in the future avoid the same mistakes as I did. Here's a pic of the cliffs it's stuck in

Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots

Pretty steep area, if somebody was to shoot the branch that's holding it, would it just get caught in another?

Rod

 

[JackH]

I also fly in China and there are few restrictions here. I am sure any govt building, bases, airports are off limits. But everything else is open game. So far I haven't had any problems flying. Only once at Yunnan Univ did sercurity tell me I cannot fly there on campus.

 

[AdamDomenico]

GMack, I have flown all over the world and so far one of the most restrictive countries is the U.S. There are really no rules about flying in China. Everyone is just interested in it and happy to talk to you. It's funny how many people think Americans are so free and so many other countries are so restricted when in reality it's the opposite. Also you don't see the paranoia in other countries you see in the states. People don't assume you're up to the worst. It's sad the direction America is heading.



Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots

 

[AdamDomenico]

Some of my favs

Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots

 

[y2keable]

Since you haven't considered climbing up to get to it, I'm assuming that you're not a climber.

There are plenty of people (including myself) who could climb it. I'm not suggesting that I climb up to get it for you (I'm in England) but I network with many climbers all over the world and if you tell me where you think it landed, I could probably encourage a few chaps to climb up and get it for you.

If you know the name of the peak or the even the crag that'd be spot on, otherwise just the name of the aria or the nearest town and the photo may be enough to go off.

Best regards

 

[AdamDomenico]

Sorry for your loss Adam. How did you get such a beautiful picture? I am new to the platform and constantly seeking information especially from folks who obviously have a far better understanding of photography and the platform itself.

Shoot in Raw and edit in Lightroom. Set the camera to d-log. Use as low as ISO as possible. Bracket shoot images and create HDR's in Lightroom to bring out all the details. I taught myself how use Lightroom. There's a great video series on YouTube. Shoot during the golden hour for best light.


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots

 

[JackH]

GMack, I have flown all over the world and so far one of the most restrictive countries is the U.S. There are really no rules about flying in China. Everyone is just interested in it and happy to talk to you. It's funny how many people think Americans are so free and so many other countries are so restricted when in reality it's the opposite. Also you don't see the paranoia in other countries you see in the states. People don't assume you're up to the worst. It's sad the direction America is heading.

Without a doubt freedom in the USA is vastly overated. I have MUCH more freedom on every level living in China.

 

[matti]

Shoot in Raw and edit in Lightroom. Set the camera to d-log. Use as low as ISO as possible. Bracket shoot images and create HDR's in Lightroom to bring out all the details.

I once tried HDR (.dng with three bracketed exposures). The result was quite good but at least that shot with mostly automatic HDR from Photoshop was a bit artificial to my taste (too much dynamic range -- maybe the automatic settings overdid it). And zoomed in at 100-200% there were artifacts because the AC was not quite steady.

 

[AdamDomenico]

Matti, you've got to turn off the the auto tone. Also you can set deghost to account for movement.


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots