LOST DRONE!

The Famous · May 13, 2019

Used my Marco Polo Saturday! Worked perfectly! Everything turned out OK!! Will not fly without it!

sar104 · May 13, 2019

pbxcomm said:
Perhaps this one may shed more data..

Sorry for the late reply - I somehow missed your post. That's the file. The GPS data were recorded. Below is what the aircraft did up to the point of disconnect:

At the disconnect it was around 125 meters AGL. It was in ATTI mode so the disconnect should have immediately caused the FC to initiate autoland. At a descent speed of 3 m/s that will have taken around 42 seconds. The wind was blowing the aircraft on a heading of 58° at around 9 m/s, and so, taking into account wind speed reducing with height, it should have travelled another 300 meters or so. That puts it somewhere as shown below:

Note that the hook at the end of the flight track is because you were intermittently applying stick control. I'd look along the red line, starting at the marker. The circle is a fairly generous error bound - it should be well inside that.

sar104 · May 15, 2019

Looks like the OP never came back, which is unfortunate.

pbxcomm · May 17, 2019

My apologies for the delay in send thanks.
Thank you all and especially sar104. I want you to know your time and assistance does not go unnoticed.
I continued my search today.. I actually discussed the possibility of the drone landing on the roof of one of these businesses within the circle. They agreed, a worker combed the entire roof which was coincidently one of the tallest in the area. He stated he could see other roofs and no sign of the drone, however. four (4) hours on foot within the search area and nothing. Why cant these land in an open field or in plain sight! 5 days of searching, I have not quit.. I will find this drone..

pbxcomm · May 17, 2019

I cant help but think there was something I might have done differently to avoid this other than planting a tracker on the bird. I never have launched without a Home Point and have always checked satellite status, battery. Compass has always been in the green with a marginal bar. My girlfriend has repeatedly stated that the drone took off like someone else had taken over complete control. I'm puzzled why when the drone enters ATTI mode that it doesn't simply land within a given radius as opposed to raising to 400' and drifting with wind direction.
Any thoughts?

Meta4 · May 18, 2019

pbxcomm said:
I'm puzzled why when the drone enters ATTI mode that it doesn't simply land within a given radius as opposed to raising to 400' and drifting with wind direction.

In atti mode, your drone will hold altitude.
From 6:35 to 7:09 you pushed the left stick forwards 5 times for 2 to 7 seconds which was responsible for taking the drone from 251 ft to 408 ft.
In atti mode the drone can drift with wind (if you let it) but you still have control although the flight characteristics are a little different without brakes and position holding.

msinger · May 18, 2019

pbxcomm said:
I continued my search today.. I actually discussed the possibility of the drone landing on the roof of one of these businesses within the circle. They agreed, a worker combed the entire roof which was coincidently one of the tallest in the area.

Since it landed in a populated area, there's also a chance that someone found it and picked it up. Often times, when people see a drone sitting on the ground unattended (especially a $1,000+ drone), one of them usually picks it up.

pbxcomm said:
I cant help but think there was something I might have done differently to avoid this other than planting a tracker on the bird.

Other than using a tracker, you could have:

1) Kept the drone within visual line of sight (VLOS). This is required by law when flying in the US. And had you been able to see it with your eyes, you could have easily piloted it back to your location after it auto switched to ATTI mode.

2) When the "Weak GPS signal. Aircraft is in Attitude mode and hovering may be unstable. Fly with caution." messages were displayed in DJI GO, you could have taken that as a sign that it's time to bring the Phantom back home. Perhaps restarting everything would have cleared up whatever issues you were experiencing with the GPS.

3) When the downlink dropped and you lost the live feed in DJI GO, the green light on the remote controller would have been a sign that the remote controller was still connected and controlling the Phantom. Powering off the remote controller would have made it auto land about 184 feet from the home point around its location here:

There were a lot of trees in the area, so this would have been the least ideal scenario. And you would have had to use the DAT flight log to locate the possible landing area (like @sar104 did above) if you weren't able to see your Phantom when it landed.

pbxcomm said:
I'm puzzled why when the drone enters ATTI mode that it doesn't simply land within a given radius as opposed to raising to 400' and drifting with wind direction.

When flying in ATTI mode, it won't try to auto land until the remote controller signal disconnects for at least 3 seconds. At that point, it'll continue to drift in the direction the wind is blowing as it lands (or crashes into an obstacle).

pbxcomm · May 21, 2019

sar104,
Based on feedback here, its apparent I could have or should have applied more skill during GPS failure and disconnection. I panicked and this was the end result. That said can I ask how certain are you with the proposed landing area? 50%, 100%? I have searched the area in addition to roof tops and have not yet located the bird.
Could there be other scenario's in terms of possible landing area? I would look based on any other suggestions. But, I believe someone may have already found the drone.

Thanks

umanbean · May 21, 2019

pbxcomm said:
But, I believe someone may have already found the drone.

Did you have your name and number on it? If so, maybe they'll call you.

I'm thinking about also a 'reward if found' sticker on mine

sar104 · May 21, 2019

pbxcomm said:
sar104,
Based on feedback here, its apparent I could have or should have applied more skill during GPS failure and disconnection. I panicked and this was the end result. That said can I ask how certain are you with the proposed landing area? 50%, 100%? I have searched the area in addition to roof tops and have not yet located the bird.
Could there be other scenario's in terms of possible landing area? I would look based on any other suggestions. But, I believe someone may have already found the drone.

Thanks

I'm fairly confident (> 90%) that it would have landed in that circle, with a strong bias towards the center where the pin is shown. The wind field was reasonably steady and these aircraft have proved to be quite predictable in such situations.

pbxcomm · May 21, 2019

sar104,
Thanks again..

No name and number or reward on the Drone. The SD card has all the information needed to return the drone including business name, number and location.

Thanks much to all for your help and assistance. I'm hoping for a miracle.
I'm retired now and no longer have the ability or resources to replace the bird. My priorities have shifted as they do later in life, but I miss flying this amazing drone...

Best regards