I should have never got up this morning...
I think this is it for me and Phantoms...
I took out the P1.5 today to try out my Fatshrk FPV... It was a beautiful day, so I just wanted to take the Phantom up and do some distance, knowing I had the ability to "see" where I was going.
I got it in the air... Slightly wobbly as expected (I now presume it's because of the extended-wide legs - right to the point, they are CRAP!).
I got some great height, about 1,800+ feet away from me... FPV was pretty good... I figured I would let it hover for a bit while I yaw CCW to get my bearings... That's when the Phantom STOPPED responding to my commands... I could stop it and yaw CW but it fought me to continue it's spin CCW... I tried to continue forward and back, but nothing... Then I started to see, through my goggles, that the Phantom was becoming erratic as if it was possessed - AGAIN! I panicked! (and this is where I think pilot error came in). I turned off the TX to kick in RTH, but I watched it fall out of the sky, through my goggles, until I saw snow...
Unfortunately, I didn't turn on my GoPro, and yet I was flying though it's lens... I didn't put a micro card in the FlyTrex... This first flight was supposed to test out my FPV, so I forgot about everything else...
I did put my Garmin GTU 10 on board and it was working. I traced the signal of the GPS to a wooded area a third of a mile away near a dirt path... I looked for an hour and the GPS tracker said it was near a tree ... I saw nothing, I looked above in the trees... nothing... But the GPS tracker kept telling me the Phantom was there. I could only assume that the GPS got knocked off as the Phantom plunged through the trees, and my P1.5 was somewhere in the vicinity... I also realize these GPS trackers aren't a hundred percent accurate, so I looked everywhere I could. The ground was quite thick with brush... Good thing it wasn't summer, the brush would have been worse.
One hour later a guy called and told me he watched my Phantom crash through the trees and land near the tree I was looking around. He said he picked it up, waited a little while, then took it home with him... (Good thing I had my phone number on the shell). He wanted to return it, and I was going to reward him, but he actually asked for a reward (the nerve). He gave me his address and I went to pick it up...
Being from NYC (Queens), I was just happy he called and, needless to say, I felt obligated to give him a generous reward... Only because I'm a bad business man and figured I was from NY (an expensive freakin' city to live in) and lost $1,500.00 worth of Phantom. So, with that being said, I'm kicking myself in the *** because I know I gave him too much... Especially since his wife gave me **** on how it fell 5 feet in front of them, she could have been killed, she thinks these things are illegal to fly in Queens Parks and that she actually asked me if I was spying on her through the GoPro...
Anyway, I got it back... The damage is intense (at least $150.00 looking on the outside, I haven't even opened it yet to see the damage in there). I don't know what works and what doesn't at this point... So, check it out for yourselves below... I'm so depressed, I think I'm through flying this Phantom... Please guys, try and talk sense to me... Should I rebuild it again, or just sell it for parts and get something else to fly? (PS: my f550 is ready to fly but I'm afraid to take it up in this area thinking it will probably become possessed because of city interference).
EDIT: I went back to that tree and finally did find my Garmin... It was hidden under branches. Next to the Garmin was also a piece to the Naza v2 Dewey mount that broke off. One of the Zenmuse anti-vibration balls is gone... I should count myself lucky...