Lost Drone

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Hi all, well, I guess it’s my turn. I was working my way down the Northern California coast from Eureka back to San Fran. I had a whole days worth of footage and was taking some ocean shots at Coast Hwy Lookout, a nice vista spot where PCH once again meets the ocean just north of West Port beach.

In any case, I was doing a vista shot, flying diagonally to the shore line and hit the sea cliff. Stupid of me really, wasn’t paying attention for a moment, lost sight of the drone briefly and that was enough. The drone was 550 ft from the home point, however search as I might across the steep cliffs, I couldn’t find it and had to give up.

Once I got home and retraced the fight, coupled with a satellite image of the area, I now know exactly where it landed. It’s sitting across a small bluff, unfortunately no where close to where I was looking at the time. I am confident it’s generally undamaged, as I was able to connect to it and get a video feed while I was looking for it.

The issue is this area is about a 4 hour drive from where I live. So, a quick drive back up the coast is more like a day trip.

The drone is a PHP 4 (original model). I have had it for about 5 years. In fact, I was thinking about an upgrade, so this might just force the issue. That being said, I really want the footage on the SD card. It took a lot to capture it.

If anyone lives near that area, and would be willing to mail me the SD card, I can provide the sat image of where the drone is at. Based on the image, it’s in an accessible location, if you willing to climb a bit. You get a decent drone for the cost of a short hike, I get my footage. Not a bad deal.

Let me know.
 
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ianzone

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Oh big bummer
I'm in wrong country to help but hope you can retrieve it,,
Pitty you cant activate esc beeping from that distance,,if still powered up the drone will beep its head of till someone hears or finds it,,p4s has this feature so yours should aswell,,
Best of luck though,this is my worst fear aswell,good luck
 

GFields

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Sorry for your loss and frustration. I'll see if anyone in my Facebook group is in that area.
 
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Hi all, well, I guess it’s my turn. I was working my way down the Northern California coast from Eureka back to San Fran. I had a whole days worth of footage and was taking some ocean shots at Coast Hwy Lookout, a nice vista spot where PCH once again meets the ocean just north of West Port beach.

In any case, I was doing a vista shot, flying diagonally to the shore line and hit the sea cliff. Stupid of me really, wasn’t paying attention for a moment, lost sight of the drone briefly and that was enough. The drone was 550 ft from the home point, however search as I might across the steep cliffs, I couldn’t find it and had to give up.

Once I got home and retraced the fight, coupled with a satellite image of the area, I now know exactly where it landed. It’s sitting across a small bluff, unfortunately no where close to where I was looking at the time. I am confident it’s generally undamaged, as I was able to connect to it and get a video feed while I was looking for it.

The issue is this area is about a 4 hour drive from where I live. So, a quick drive back up the coast is more like a day trip.

The drone is a PHP 4 (original model). I have had it for about 5 years. In fact, I was thinking about an upgrade, so this might just force the issue. That being said, I really want the footage on the SD card. It took a lot to capture it.

If anyone lives near that area, and would be willing to mail me the SD card, I can provide the sat image of where the drone is at. Based on the image, it’s in an accessible location, if you willing to climb a bit. You get a decent drone for the cost of a short hike, I get my footage. Not a bad deal.

Let me know.
What town or zip code or hell even GPS coordinates would do lol is the drone in? I've got a couple buddies in Cali but it's a big **** state lol. Help me narrow down the area.
 
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What town or zip code or hell even GPS coordinates would do lol is the drone in? I've got a couple buddies in Cali but it's a big **** state lol. Help me narrow down the area.

Hi Jjdun, the nearest town is Westport, CA (zip code 95488). The drone is just up north on PCH from that small town.
 
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Hi! how are you doing? I feel you as I've recently faced the same issue. Several months ago I bought a new drone. I worked hard and even took additional projects to earn extra money. So, I was happy and excited about my purchase. But a few weeks ago I also lost sight of the drone when flying and couldn't find it after that. And unfortunately, I wasn't able to connect to it when I came home. I do hope you found your drone.

Unfortunately, no. I was able to locate exactly where it crashed, but was not able to get it. It’s likely still sitting on the side of that hill, assuming no one found it and it didn’t get washed into the sea from a storm.

Sorry, to hear you lost yours. I had mine for over five years without incident, a few close calls, but never a crash or hard landing. Sometimes it happens, just the risk that comes with a flying object. I have heard that some people invest in an insurance policy on these, might be worth looking into. In any case, sorry for your loss, I hope you don’t get discourage and give up on drones.

They are a lot of fun and allow for some truly unique video. It’s just hard when things go astray and your investment ends up crashed into a hill or at the bottom of a lake.
 
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I'm in that area all the time. Send me the GCP and I'll see if I can get your drone for you. I'll send the drone back to you.
I'm on the commercial drone forum mostly.
 

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