Sad Day

[danchez]

Yeah I tried getting a policy with State Farm but they wouldn’t cover it because it was just for that policy and I didn’t have any other policies with them. What kind of drone do you fly that you feel safe over water. I want to get another drone but little leery about the blades. Is it me and I only one that had a blade failureAnd if so that’s what you call the luck of the Irish I guess. Bad luck

I was able to insure my P4P thru State Farm and that's my only policy with them.

 

[Karlos-Kydd]

I think what bothers me the most is the fact that you spend $700 on a drone and the blades cost six dollars and and really like it’s the main propulsion for the whole drone and they’re only six dollars to fly something that cost $700 just doesn’t make sense to me why can’t they make better blades.

Please don't use your ignorance about materials science to shift blame to DJI over losing your drone.

I have owned five DJI Phantom drones since 2014 and each one had at least 300 flights. I have NEVER lost a drone because of a faulty prop blade. These things are one piece injection-molded plastic and very durable. I would bet the defect rate for them coming off the assembly line is less than 1/1000th of a percent.

The most likely scenario is that you previously crashed or ran your bird into an object and that's what induced a crack in one of the props. Then your flight over the lake just happened to be the event during which that crack developed into a full-blown failure as the prop broke apart.

DJI is not going to manufacture $200 titanium prop blades for a $700 drone

 

[Henry Matias]

My drone went down over a big lake (I did all my preflight routine and nothing seemed weird when I put the blades on.)I took it up and always let it hover for a least a minute or two and check settings Like always.do I got out about 200 ft when it happened. it look like one of my blades snapped and dropped like a rock. These were new blades from dji. I went out to to and try recover my bird but to no avail. To deep . So do I cancel my registration with the FAA if I get new drone or can I use the same numbers on my new one. Yes I feel like an idiot. Thanks in advance.

Safe flying

If you had your propeller on wrong, it would have happened imediatly upon start up! Propeller flys off. Definitely get a hold of DJI cause even though you don’t retrieve your bird.... DJI will give you a 30% off next bird without charger and controller. Brand new bird you’ll get. Just happened to me, I dove mine into the lake in sport mode and they did that for me just a week ago.

 

[WetDog]

ALL of my crashes have been due to pilot error. Maybe a little, bitty error, but pilot error nonetheless. It's a humbling experience.

P3 props failures are rare. In fact, it is difficult to have them fly off even if they are not fully tightened.

Sure you didn't hit a bird? If you read enough of these threads you come to the realization that crashing is part of flying these things. Water does present some challenges in terms of recovery of the craft. I have a Getterback float on mine - yet to be tested but at least you can get the video and telemetry back.

Over water flights are really too good to pass up - great images, good range, fewer people to annoy. But there are downsides.

 

[Harleydude]

My drone went down over a big lake (I did all my preflight routine and nothing seemed weird when I put the blades on.)I took it up and always let it hover for a least a minute or two and check settings Like always.do I got out about 200 ft when it happened. it look like one of my blades snapped and dropped like a rock. These were new blades from dji. I went out to to and try recover my bird but to no avail. To deep . So do I cancel my registration with the FAA if I get new drone or can I use the same numbers on my new one. Yes I feel like an idiot. Thanks in advance.

Safe flying

Are you absolutely, positively sure they were DJI OEM blades?

 

[david12]

Amazing, didnt know you could fly that far.

 

[JamesT1950]

My drone went down over a big lake (I did all my preflight routine and nothing seemed weird when I put the blades on.)I took it up and always let it hover for a least a minute or two and check settings Like always.do I got out about 200 ft when it happened. it look like one of my blades snapped and dropped like a rock. These were new blades from dji. I went out to to and try recover my bird but to no avail. To deep . So do I cancel my registration with the FAA if I get new drone or can I use the same numbers on my new one. Yes I feel like an idiot. Thanks in advance.

Safe flying

It is my understanding that the same registration number can be used for any unmanned aircraft you might have. You don't need a registration number for each one.

 

[lmmavrick]

i fly over water all the time , over a y

with my p4 and never had prop issues . sometimes it's just bad luck

i have the p4 and hundreds of flights . feel very safe flying over water . if it does go down well it can do that anywhere that's what the ins is for . i've flown up mountains to max alt 1640 and 6500 ' away in places where if it did go down there would be no retrieval.

 

[drvrbobob]

I live on a lake and fly over water alot, P3s and P4pro, i got state farm insurance to cover the drone replacement $60 year.

 

[offroadpyro]

Your FAA # covers any drone you own or buy.Just use same # on drones.

 

[joeruby]

I have 529. miles of flight on my DJI P3 Pro. In that time I have broken probably 5 props. Just last week I decided to take the old props off and install a new set. My point is that the P3 Pro props (plastic threads) have been extremely reliable. I do however check the tightness of the props before each flight. I also very seldom take the props off as my transport case will store the AC with the props installed. I also fly only with Litchi and follow Litchi's maintenance inspection schedule.

Just some info, if it helps.
Joe
KC7GHT

 

[Henry Matias]

No!!! you don’t get a new Drone for a small fee if you loose your Drone with DJI Care Refresh. Only if you crash it on land or water but can retrieve it to send back to them. If it’s lost it’s not covered. Just went through that! Read the print for coverage to work!
Luckily through DJI support, their giving me a courtesy of 30% off of a new one. Had I had the Drone retrieved from the lake then it would of gone through that small free replacement but I think those are refurbished.

 

[Bloodphantom]

My condolences for your loss. The balance between interesting pictures and safe/boring flights is an issue we all deal with. My advice would be to be bold and press on.
Regards,
Blood Phantom

 

[Deezbs]

No I have all my stuff including a brand new hard shell case. I’m going to try to sell all my parts. I want noting to do with a phamton 3. Awho’s blades have plastic threads. I mean these were brand new blades from factory. So how do you go back to something that you think is flawed. Do phamton 4’s have a different set up or even inspires. Something more reliable. Thanks

Safe flying

The P4 quick release system is far less reliable IMO. Too many parts and points of weakness. The P3 design is elegant and ALMOST fool proof. My P4p has about a hundred miles on it and there is already about a mm of play in 3 of the 4 propeller mounts. I've flown about 700 miles over multiple P3's and I have never had issues with propellers or the mounting of them.

 

[RaeThrills]

I have been flying TC equipment for over 10 years. Props can ruin a day fast. Unbalanced props cause vibration and over a period of time the screws come lose. I had a issue in the wind with my typhoon h pro. Tipped over and the blades were just scratched barely. I knew better but of course being cheap. I just bought a p4. So you get my drift. Well about two weeks went by and I heard a weird noise I never heard before. I landed looked things over and there it was. Loose screws on the casing. That’s how fast a day can go bad.

 

[SeanMulkerrin]

Thanks guys for all your feedback again. I think what bothers me the most is the fact that you spend $700 on a drone and the blades cost six dollars and and really like it’s the main propulsion for the whole drone and they’re only six dollars to fly something that cost $700 just doesn’t make sense to me why can’t they make better blades

Thats just the price of blades, tires on your care are important what cost like 200 for all four ( last time I got 4 tires it was much less), but compared to the cost of whole car its one thousandth of a percent of the total cost. inflating (pardon the pun) the cost of tires wont make me feel any safer.

 

[elent1]

My drone went down over a big lake (I did all my preflight routine and nothing seemed weird when I put the blades on.)I took it up and always let it hover for a least a minute or two and check settings Like always.do I got out about 200 ft when it happened. it look like one of my blades snapped and dropped like a rock. These were new blades from dji. I went out to to and try recover my bird but to no avail. To deep . So do I cancel my registration with the FAA if I get new drone or can I use the same numbers on my new one. Yes I feel like an idiot. Thanks in advance.

Safe flying

Sorry to hear about the dunking. I fly over the Pacific frequently and am resigned to losing it to the drink one of these days. But, one thing I did to take some of the risk out of it was NOT to remove my blades! I got a case that transports the drone fully assembled. Not that this is what happened to you, but just a thought for future flights.

 

[Melvoid]

Sorry for your loss. This is why I will never fly over water. No drone, no claim.

If you get a new drone you will need to register it. The FAA licenses the pilot and not the drone. Since you're NOT underwater, the same FAA number should work unless you plan to use it for something different such as commercial work and are planning on obtaining your Part 107.

Once every 20 flights or so, I'll get brave and go out over the water... briefly. It's always nice footage, but it always scares the fertilizer out of me.

I know for a fact that if it fails, that's when it's going to happen.

 

[RunningWithScissors]

Once every 20 flights or so, I'll get brave and go out over the water... briefly. It's always nice footage, but it always scares the fertilizer out of me.

I think flying over water is a bit unnerving for most pilots initially regardless of what drone you're flying but, I agree, you can often get some spectacular video that you simply can't get any other way if you're up to the challenge. You have to check and double check everything on your pre-flight to minimize any risk, have your wits about you, and then go for it. It can be a very rewarding experience, and the anxiety decreases with each new flight.

 

[DenMac]

I just want to thank everybody for your feedback. So true about building up courage to fly over water or long distance. It took me at least 3 months of flying to get my nerve up to go out to 1000 ft. When I got out there I always would panic and my drone kept telling me relax I’m fine I finely got it out to 2200 ft It’s definitely a learning experience. Which I’ll use on my next drone. I’ll never know why my drone went swimming was it my fault maybe but I can’t think of what did wrong. I always did my preflight check never rushing anything. It could have been a motor or the blade. All I can do is learn from this experience. (DON’T FLY OVER WATER) leave the blades on to minimize any tread damage to blades. My son felt sorry for me so he sent me this drone just to hold you over. Thanks again.

Safe flying