Litchi Mission Lost Phantom

[DaveD]

He said they had trail cameras set up everywhere and didn't want me disturbing the deer/wildlife. (They hunt). I told him where the drone was. I'm afraid if I tried to recover it without permission he may have a camera setup in the area now. I would have to climb the tree. It will take me about 15 minutes. I was going to bring my brother tomorrow so he could assist/call paramedics if I fall. Haha. I think I have no choice but to go ask tomorrow.

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[ServiceCall]

Good luck. Worst case, offer the owner some cash, $25, 50 as a recovery fee. But be nice (although it sounds like you are). Again, good luck.


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[WilliamM]

He said they had trail cameras set up everywhere and didn't want me disturbing the deer/wildlife. (They hunt). I told him where the drone was. I'm afraid if I tried to recover it without permission he may have a camera setup in the area now. I would have to climb the tree. It will take me about 15 minutes. I was going to bring my brother tomorrow so he could assist/call paramedics if I fall. Haha. I think I have no choice but to go ask tomorrow.

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I'm not a hunter, but do hunters really use trail cameras? I always thought they where used more for research. My thought is the camera line is more to discourage you from going on the property, which it did. But the safe thing is not to trespass of course, just don't go by yourself. Technically your on his property without permission just to knock on the front door. Hence bring a witness, friend with you. Don't want to sound dramatic, but didn't you here the news just the other day about the lady that got shot and killed just going to her neighbor's house looking for their lost dog. So sad, with her daughter with her.

 

[DaveD]

My brother uses a couple cameras on his property to see what kind of deer activity is in the area.(He hunts) They are used pretty commonly here. I will stop at the house tomorrow and see what happens. I did also think about offering a reward/recovery fee like you mentioned.

 

[Neon Euc]

In that case... Fishing wire, fishing hooks... Let's go drone fishing. Been done before with success. Is it near the top of the tree?

Neon Euc

 

[Sevyn13]

Stealth mission. Have someone fly your new one to cover you, get dropped off as close as possible run in and get it. The pilot can alert you if someone is coming and lead you out in a safe direction and call your ride to pick you up after you recover the lost package


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Yes, I agree, he can't monitor all his land at once. Have someone drop you off as close as possible to the drone and then disappear in the woods. Get it and then have them come pick you up. But since you've told him what it is you were trying to get he might have went and got it now. Sounds like he is a douche. Treat your drone like a chest of gold, would you have told him you were going in there to get some of your gold?


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[DaveD]

In that case... Fishing wire, fishing hooks... Let's go drone fishing. Been done before with success. Is it near the top of the tree?

Neon Euc

Its not near the top. It definitely is a climb and recover job.

 

[jiggyb21]

My brother uses a couple cameras on his property to see what kind of deer activity is in the area.(He hunts) They are used pretty commonly here. I will stop at the house tomorrow and see what happens. I did also think about offering a reward/recovery fee like you mentioned.

If you remember me, I have been on this thread from the start. My advice is this. Be obviously apologetic. I would show up with the intent to apologize first and foremost without revealing your true motive. Tell him you used terrible judgement and you have learned a valuable lesson and it will never happen again. Try to explain that you have been an aerial hobbyist for quite some time but are new to quadcopters (don't call it a drone). Agree with him that you shouldn't have flown it over his land, just agree with whatever he says. Lastly, tell him that you would just like to retrieve your property but if he really is adamantly opposed, you understand and he won't hear from you again. That thing is not worth any real trouble for you. Do not argue with him. We all know there is no harm in what you did but it is now on his property for sure. Just don't do anything stupid. This subject is unbelievably touchy and VERY good friends of mine have told me they would shoot one down if it was ever over their land. We all how stupid that is but folks are really closed minded about this. Good luck.

 

[DaveD]

If you remember me, I have been on this thread from the start. My advice is this. Be obviously apologetic. I would show up with the intent to apologize first and foremost without revealing your true motive. Tell him you used terrible judgement and you have learned a valuable lesson and it will never happen again. Try to explain that you have been an aerial hobbyist for quite some time but are new to quadcopters (don't call it a drone). Agree with him that you shouldn't have flown it over his land, just agree with whatever he says. Lastly, tell him that you would just like to retrieve your property but if he really is adamantly opposed, you understand and he won't hear from you again. That thing is not worth any real trouble for you. Do not argue with him. We all know there is no harm in what you did but it is now on his property for sure. Just don't do anything stupid. This subject is unbelievably touchy and VERY good friends of mine have told me they would shoot one down if it was ever over their land. We all how stupid that is but folks are really closed minded about this. Good luck.

Thank you jiggyb21,
Your comment was the exact approach I was going to take.

 

[jiggyb21]

Thank you jiggyb21,
Your comment was the exact approach I was going to take.

You can play it as if you're doing him a favor of sorts by explaining what happened so he doesn't have to live thinking someone is up to good....

 

[Tomtopping]

Ontario, ny. Right on lake Ontario. Looked for 3 hrs today. Walked all the way to waypoint 8. (My brothers house). No drone. I just don't get it. Someone must have picked it up. Drinking beer now in his garage.

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Sweet I'm right across the lake from you Dave on the Canadian side of things

 

[bow]

If you remember me, I have been on this thread from the start. My advice is this. Be obviously apologetic. I would show up with the intent to apologize first and foremost without revealing your true motive. Tell him you used terrible judgement and you have learned a valuable lesson and it will never happen again. Try to explain that you have been an aerial hobbyist for quite some time but are new to quadcopters (don't call it a drone). Agree with him that you shouldn't have flown it over his land, just agree with whatever he says. Lastly, tell him that you would just like to retrieve your property but if he really is adamantly opposed, you understand and he won't hear from you again. That thing is not worth any real trouble for you. Do not argue with him. We all know there is no harm in what you did but it is now on his property for sure. Just don't do anything stupid. This subject is unbelievably touchy and VERY good friends of mine have told me they would shoot one down if it was ever over their land. We all how stupid that is but folks are really closed minded about this. Good luck.

In all seriousness this is probably the best approach. If he won't listen to reason call the local pd ( obviously not the emergency number ) or go into the local hq and explain the situation. It is still your property. If you had lost control of your car and ended up in their woods you would expect to get it back


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[DaveD]

In all seriousness this is probably the best approach. If he won't listen to reason call the local pd ( obviously not the emergency number ) or go into the local hq and explain the situation. It is still your property. If you had lost control of your car and ended up in their woods you would expect to get it back


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Yes, true. Here is the video where I see my poor phantom in the tree.

 

[ob1415]

If the guy were willing to listen you might even show him this thread so that he can see that you weren't intentionally over his property
and it ended up there as result of a flyaway. If nothing else he'd have to appreciate your honesty and maybe even be interested in the story of how you came to find it. Anxious to see how this all turns out. Best of luck!

 

[Neon Euc]

So is that he's house on the left or was it further down? If it's further down would it be risky to get it at dusk?

Neon Euc

 

[WilliamM]

If the guy were willing to listen you might even show him this thread so that he can see that you weren't intentionally over his property
and it ended up there as result of a flyaway. If nothing else he'd have to appreciate your honesty and maybe even be interested in the story of how you came to find it. Anxious to see how this all turns out. Best of luck!

It wasn't a flyaway, he was flying a planned Litchi mission and had the altitude set too low. So it was over his property intentionally. Not throwing stones, I fly over forest and farmland all the time, someone must own it.

 

[jiggyb21]

And it's certainly not good for the hobby spreading false flyaway stories around. That's all the skeptics need hear.

 

[tobby]

As you saw in my post I gave an example of the worst case scenario in Wisconsin not DaveDs home state of New York. I also recommended that he check out the laws where he lives before proceeding to recover his Phantom..

" Otherwise it's just "common law trespass", not something you can be arrested for."

Are you quoting county or township statutes? Is this for Pa. or NY or the USA?

Tobby

 

[WilliamM]

As you saw in my post I gave an example of the worst case scenario in Wisconsin not DaveDs home state of New York. I also recommended that he check out the laws where he lives before proceeding to recover his Phantom..

" Otherwise it's just "common law trespass", not something you can be arrested for."

Are you quoting county or township statutes? Is this for Pa. or NY or the USA?

Tobby

"common law trespass" is anywhere in the US. You have to be in violation of Criminal trespass to be arrested. Lets say your taking a long hike down a trail, now that trail could be on public or private land as your hiking that day, how would you know? Two ways you might know is it's either posted "No Trespassing" or you have gone over a barrier, like a fence, wall or maybe some planted hedges. Being we're talking about unimproved land here, not like a school, store or apartment building. In this case it's not criminal trespass, but something called "Common law". It's still trespassing, but an officer is not going to arrest you for that, it's just a civil thing. Unless the owner has told you once before on a previous "common law" trespass (gave notice) and you violate that notice. You can be had accountable civilly for any damage you caused during the "common law" trespass though. I had an issue once on my property with a neighbor and had look into this at that time.

 

[GrammatonxXXxCleric]

I just read that you found it!! That's great news. The guy you had conversation with was the bad news. As far as flying over someones property, the FAA says that all airspace is theirs to control and permit us drone pilots to occupy. The airspace over that property is not his to forbid flights over. In fact, his tree is in violation of your permitted overflight. (joking). I think the ruling has been established that a property owner must in writing state no trespassing stance is desired. In that case all flights by you cannot be less than 400ft. alt. over that property. Option A: would be to retrieve it wearing camo and night vision goggles while playing the music theme from James Bond. Option B: is to approach the land owner (not the son), and ask permission. Option C: is to call the sheriff (Sheriff has the most rights over any issue in their district) and ask them to accompany you to the site. I hope you get it back without any troubles. This thread has been most interesting from the start!