aaaaand it's gone - update: RECOVERED! :)

[davemcm]

Just went out for a night flight (01:30-02:00am) to test the new 600mw fpv tx, took it well beyond LOS with mostly perfect video to a good distance (1.5+ KM), RTH activated as it got out of range and it spun round to head home as it always does, but this time didn't look like it was tilting much at all, when back in range i re-took control and attempted to bring it back quicker, it seemed like it was tilting normally, but just not going anywhere (must have been a strong head wind where it was) and wasn't coming back nearly quick enough.

After about 2 minutes of this and me flicking between atti, gps and failsafe, and it not seeming to move anywhere if much at all, i run back to the house to get my phone to call someone who might be in that area as the battery was getting very low at this stage but when i ran back out i couldn't get video anymore...

Just spent the last hour n half running about the area looking for red / green lights, trying to connect to the datalink (which was powered but not being used to fly the phantom on this flight) with my laptop and ipad from the car but no joy around the general area, so i think it's safe to say....

I know i shouldn't have been flying that far away, especially at night, etc etc, but it's done now and i've paid the price so that's what i get lol

UPDATE: RECOVERED - FULL STORY AT END OF THREAD

Recovered Video:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TEmqVInf74[/youtube]

 

[gavinski]

Re: aaaaand it's gone

aaaaaand that sucks.

Sorry to hear you lost your Phantom.

 

[davemcm]

Re: aaaaand it's gone

aaaaaand that sucks.

Sorry to hear you lost your P2.

Not that it makes much difference, but it was a Phantom 1, 1.1.1 with brand new GoPro Hero 3 Black, ground station datalink & FPV gear attached. Going to go back and have a look again as soon as it gets light.

I'm not holding out much hope to be completely honest as i'm not sure exactly where it was (or went down) as i hadn't flown that far out in that location and i got kind of lost watching the fpv feed....

Think the best chance now is that some kind hearted person finds it and calls the phone number on it instead of stripping it and selling it :shock:

 

[ElGuano]

Re: aaaaand it's gone

Sorry to hear that. Was it running 4.02?

 

[davemcm]

Re: aaaaand it's gone

Sorry to hear that. Was it running 4.02?

Yeah it was running 4.02, and that's just reminded me that the limits were set at 2000m in the naza, and according to google maps distance measurements that's about where i remember seeing it last in the goggles :shock: and it did seem to act as if it was stuck on the limit at some points (like the 4.00 bug) and wouldn't respond :?:

 

[Elginet]

Re: aaaaand it's gone

That sucks. Don't give up. Walk the neighborhood and keep trying to start the motors or throttle em up. I lost sight of mine once and couldn't find it for hours, then went back out and walked around and kept throttling up and just when I was going to give up, I heard it in some bushes! When I found it there wasn't even so much as a ding on the props.

Good luck man.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[av8inglife]

Re: aaaaand it's gone

First off I will say I am sorry you lost your rig. It's never a good feeling loosing anything, much less an expensive setup like the Phantom. I hope fortune is on your side and you can find it and return to flying again with a valuable lesson learned.

However, SOO many bad decisions are present in this and many other situations like this...unfortunately you are now left with hindsight.

This is real world example of the Reasons Model for Accident Causation.

I know i shouldn't have been flying that far away

especially at night

night flight to test

took it well beyond LOS

not sure exactly where it was

i hadn't flown that far out in that location

got kind of lost watching the fpv feed

Change any of the events in the sequence and the accident might not have occurred.

This is not intended as a rip on you at all so please do not be offended. Aviation as we know it today is built upon the lessons learned from mistakes of our predecessors. I hope others can see and learn from these things so that this doesn't happen so often to people and god forbid, one of these things goes out of control and hurts someone. Then were all toast.

It's a mindset that we all have to adopt when flying. It's all about risk mitigation here.

 

[Seahorse]

Re: aaaaand it's gone

Range testing in the dark... :?:

 

[DKDarkness]

Re: aaaaand it's gone

Ok, does it have a little sticker on it, that says to whom it belongs, and how to contact you?

 

[FC40 Pilot]

Re: aaaaand it's gone

Ok, does it have a little sticker on it, that says to whom it belongs, and how to contact you?

Yes if you read above he has a phone number on it

 

[Big Ben]

Re: aaaaand it's gone

RTH is not a magic bullet. It won't overcome a strong wind. When you retook control and tried to fly it back manually did you also try to bring it down? The lower it flies the lower the wind speed will be it has to overcome when flying downwind.

Flying at high altitude in strong wind has an inherent risk. If things go wrong the Phantom can drift away VERY fast and time to react and rescue it is equally short. The only way to compensate for that is to only fly upwind. Then you can bring it down at the earliest opportunity increasing the chances of the flight not ending in disaster.

 

[FC40 Pilot]

Re: aaaaand it's gone

Im sorry to here about this but we all need to be careful as this type of flying is going to kill the hobby eventually and will be very dificult without special licence/permission to fly one of these things.
One of the main problems with model aircraft users is they need to understand how radio waves can be seriously wiped out by radiation/interference and ofcourse wind speed , especially high altitude. Im sure there were some power cables not far and especially if flying LOS and in the dark!!?...then trouble is not far. You also need to be considerate about whats below ie general public/animals.

Unfortunately its one of those things in life that you will be now one of the most careful and preaching phantom flyers on do's and don'ts etc.

Anyone else not so experienced with model aircraft flying then please take note of this guys unfortunate incident! It could have been worse for him though had it fallen on someones head!

Hope you find it man!
Good luck

 

[2trickpony]

Re: aaaaand it's gone

The thing that worries me about a potential crash is not knowing what or who the quad has hit when it reaches the ground.
It is for this reason I only fly over the countryside, away from civilisation.

 

[saltire]

Re: aaaaand it's gone

The thing that worries me about a potential crash is not knowing what or who the quad has hit when it reaches the ground.
It is for this reason I only fly over the countryside, away from civilisation.

You need to watch oot for the cows and sheep and the bambies.

 

[2trickpony]

Re: aaaaand it's gone

The thing that worries me about a potential crash is not knowing what or who the quad has hit when it reaches the ground.
It is for this reason I only fly over the countryside, away from civilisation.

You need to watch oot for the cows and sheep and the bambies.

You know there are plenty of woods close to my house !!

 

[davemcm]

Re: aaaaand it's gone

Im sorry to here about this but we all need to be careful as this type of flying is going to kill the hobby eventually and will be very dificult without special licence/permission to fly one of these things.
One of the main problems with model aircraft users is they need to understand how radio waves can be seriously wiped out by radiation/interference and ofcourse wind speed , especially high altitude. Im sure there were some power cables not far and especially if flying LOS and in the dark!!?...then trouble is not far. You also need to be considerate about whats below ie general public/animals.

Unfortunately its one of those things in life that you will be now one of the most careful and preaching phantom flyers on do's and don'ts etc.

Anyone else not so experienced with model aircraft flying then please take note of this guys unfortunate incident! It could have been worse for him though had it fallen on someones head!

Hope you find it man!
Good luck

I certainly will not be turning into one of those preaching people. EVER.

Also, i really don't think the phantom had much chance to fall on someones head, considering it was at 02:00am, over some woods and an empty park. But thanks for your concern.

 

[davemcm]

Re: aaaaand it's gone

RTH is not a magic bullet. It won't overcome a strong wind. When you retook control and tried to fly it back manually did you also try to bring it down? The lower it flies the lower the wind speed will be it has to overcome when flying downwind.

Flying at high altitude in strong wind has an inherent risk. If things go wrong the Phantom can drift away VERY fast and time to react and rescue it is equally short. The only way to compensate for that is to only fly upwind. Then you can bring it down at the earliest opportunity increasing the chances of the flight not ending in disaster.

Yeah, as i brought it down the video feed was breaking up more so i ended up just trying to get it back at the height it was at first....

 

[davemcm]

Re: aaaaand it's gone

The thing that worries me about a potential crash is not knowing what or who the quad has hit when it reaches the ground.
It is for this reason I only fly over the countryside, away from civilisation.

As above it was 2AM, and was flying above some woods and a large empty park so not really much chance of it coming down and hitting someone or something except a tree.

 

[davemcm]

Re: aaaaand it's gone

Range testing in the dark... :?:

Dunno bout you Mike, but i can see the phantom ('s lights) much further away at night than i can in daylight.

Couple of 100m during the day and the phantom disappears as a dot in the sky. At night i find i can see it much further (not that it would have mattered, as it was a complete FPV flight with no spotter, so i had no chance of finding it in the sky after removing the goggles.

 

[davemcm]

Re: aaaaand it's gone

just found the phantom pretty much exactly 2000 meters from my home point according to google maps.

It had cleared the woods slightly and (crash) landed in a nearby new big school grounds, bit of the case looks popped out of place, gopro mount has snapped off completely and spironet antenna case has popped off but been recovered.

Don't know about electronic damage as it's been raining pretty much non stop for the past 15 hours where it's been lying, however i am hopeful.

Could not be happier. Just glad i've even got the GoPro back.....

Lets just say i won't be flying Beyond LOS again