So I was out flying over a river near Fort Worth... beautiful morning. out there flying with my BRAND NEW Zenmuse and Hero 3+. Everything going great. Wind starts to pick up, craft is about 150 yards away on the other side of a bridge. I see it drift towards a tree and move to correct. Clip the tree. See lights flash (I have a super bright LED disk array on the front - best $9 I've ever spent) and notice I've hit the tree. CRAP. It's a long ways away.
I run over to retrieve. It's not in the tree? The tree was 3 feet from the river, so it's probably in the river. Do they float? Do they sink? I don't know. I walk around for 15 minutes trying to find it and find a scary piece - the gimbal and gopro were yanked off by the rubber mounts and was in the dirt 30 feet from the tree. Dirt on them and the gopro is a little nicked / banged up. I pick it up and the GoPro works, but the MicroSD card is 'unclicked' and almost out. I keep looking for the craft in the area. NOWHERE to be found.
I go back to the car to try and retrieve the video from the GoPro, but nothing there. I guess the jarring / etc failed to complete the video write to the card.
I am about to leave, saddened by my Phantom somewhere in the river, and look to my left... down the jogging path 100 yards the other way. My Phantom. Sitting on the path, less than 1ft from where it took off, between two trees, recovery light flashing.
HOLY FRIGGIN WHAT? I don't know. I saw it hit the tree. It hit so hard it threw the gimbal and camera 30 ft. I walked / ran towards it, it flew away from the tree, down the river at least 200 yards, back over to the path, and auto landed exactly where I took off. It doesn't have a scratch on it. Not one scratch or mark. I figured it was time to either go to church or the casino. Or both. I can't explain how it did this. I understand the GPS return to home, and have tested it many times, but there were SO many obstacles, and it hit MAYBE 15 ft. from the ground, so how could it have recovered? If it landed and was already on the ground, would it take off AGAIN and fly back home? I don't know. But it was so stupid lucky.
PART 2 (same day. holy crap.) - I'm at my folks demo'ing everything to the neighbors. Having a great time. Get the craft in and tell them we can enable WiFi to watch video on my iPhone. Can't connect and the GoPro display is off. GoPro is locked up. Well crap. Since that isn't working I'll show them how the GPS return to home works in a safe, controlled environment.
I go to fly it 20-30 yards down the street and guess what? The camera was locked up, but WIFI was on. Cya later Phantom. No control. No hover with all sticks to center. It took off and away from me faster than I've seen it fly. I IMMEDIATELY switch my remote to FAILSAFE mode, wait a minute, then turn the remote off. The phantom is far out of site and low. I know it hit a house at full speed, full bank.
About 15 seconds later... here it comes. Up in the air, and then FULL SPEED ahead back towards us. Lands itself. Perfect.
That's TOOOO d@mned much luck for one day. I'm packing it in and will fly once the adrenaline levels subside!
I should add that I've flown this thing quite a bit, and am very comfortable with it. I've learned and understand all modes, and try to fly away from people, in safe environments. I understand my risks when flying around water, trees, etc and accept that. It's part of what you gotta do to get great video
Anyways, two lessons - GPS return home is the greatest thing since sliced bread, and GoPro WiFI WILL CAUSE FLY AWAYS! I can't believe mine isn't in pieces.
Have a good night!
I run over to retrieve. It's not in the tree? The tree was 3 feet from the river, so it's probably in the river. Do they float? Do they sink? I don't know. I walk around for 15 minutes trying to find it and find a scary piece - the gimbal and gopro were yanked off by the rubber mounts and was in the dirt 30 feet from the tree. Dirt on them and the gopro is a little nicked / banged up. I pick it up and the GoPro works, but the MicroSD card is 'unclicked' and almost out. I keep looking for the craft in the area. NOWHERE to be found.
I go back to the car to try and retrieve the video from the GoPro, but nothing there. I guess the jarring / etc failed to complete the video write to the card.
I am about to leave, saddened by my Phantom somewhere in the river, and look to my left... down the jogging path 100 yards the other way. My Phantom. Sitting on the path, less than 1ft from where it took off, between two trees, recovery light flashing.
HOLY FRIGGIN WHAT? I don't know. I saw it hit the tree. It hit so hard it threw the gimbal and camera 30 ft. I walked / ran towards it, it flew away from the tree, down the river at least 200 yards, back over to the path, and auto landed exactly where I took off. It doesn't have a scratch on it. Not one scratch or mark. I figured it was time to either go to church or the casino. Or both. I can't explain how it did this. I understand the GPS return to home, and have tested it many times, but there were SO many obstacles, and it hit MAYBE 15 ft. from the ground, so how could it have recovered? If it landed and was already on the ground, would it take off AGAIN and fly back home? I don't know. But it was so stupid lucky.
PART 2 (same day. holy crap.) - I'm at my folks demo'ing everything to the neighbors. Having a great time. Get the craft in and tell them we can enable WiFi to watch video on my iPhone. Can't connect and the GoPro display is off. GoPro is locked up. Well crap. Since that isn't working I'll show them how the GPS return to home works in a safe, controlled environment.
I go to fly it 20-30 yards down the street and guess what? The camera was locked up, but WIFI was on. Cya later Phantom. No control. No hover with all sticks to center. It took off and away from me faster than I've seen it fly. I IMMEDIATELY switch my remote to FAILSAFE mode, wait a minute, then turn the remote off. The phantom is far out of site and low. I know it hit a house at full speed, full bank.
About 15 seconds later... here it comes. Up in the air, and then FULL SPEED ahead back towards us. Lands itself. Perfect.
That's TOOOO d@mned much luck for one day. I'm packing it in and will fly once the adrenaline levels subside!
I should add that I've flown this thing quite a bit, and am very comfortable with it. I've learned and understand all modes, and try to fly away from people, in safe environments. I understand my risks when flying around water, trees, etc and accept that. It's part of what you gotta do to get great video
Anyways, two lessons - GPS return home is the greatest thing since sliced bread, and GoPro WiFI WILL CAUSE FLY AWAYS! I can't believe mine isn't in pieces.
Have a good night!
I tried Data Doctor and other recovery tools but could never get a usable file off of the card. 
