Let me just start and say this was the first and unfortunately last issue I have ever had with my Phantom Vision+
I often fly over water since around here that's where the best shots are and thought nothing of attaching a GetterBack (failsafe) and taking off over the river.
On this occasion I had my batteries charged 2 days prior and both checked out as full when I took them out.
The battery showed 98% on launch, good GPS, no problems apparent. Over the river I flew to get some closer shots of a bridge.
It took less than a minute to get out there, 300 metres away when I see the battery had dropped to 78%, okay I'm heading back then another second and it dropped to 76%, another few seconds and now it was 68%. Big problem here now, the shortest distance to the shore was mostly right rather than back towards me so I switched to ATTI and hoped it would make it back. Unfortunately the battery readout was dropping every second in large numbers. Auto-land kicked in and it dropped behind some mangrove trees, control was lost but I still had video feed and was able to watch it land gently 4-5 metres from shore in the muddy Brisbane River. Another few seconds of power and I would have been over land. If I was more attentive I might have noticed earlier and not flown far with that battery.
Video was now dead but it maintained GPS position for a few minutes but it was underwater and presumed stuck in mud.
An hour or so of wading around the waist deep mud and water and I could not locate the downed bird. Anyone who's ever seen the Brisbane River would understand, visibility is zero, I lost my shoes in the mud, the GetterBack is presumed buried in mud and may not activate until another flood comes.
My number is labeled on the Phantom and on the SD card along with 20GB worth of holiday videos. It's possible it may turn up somewhere in a few months and it may RTH but I doubt it will ever fly again.
Here is a quick video showing pretty much what happened with the battery so it's a known issue, I have no footage of my unfortunate flight except GoPro footage of me digging about in mangrove mud.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lBCZcqpqr0[/youtube]
The bird was less than a year old and not one of the newer Vision+ which seem to be having ESC problems but a V1 Vision+.
So my questions to the forum:
Has anyone had any experience with DJI if the bird is lost or can I presume to take full loss unless a class action were ever to happen. (seems to be a problem which ALL batteries may experience)
I was confident with the Vision+ before this event but that has completely evaporated. Should I just get a cheap Phantom 2 and attach my GoPro and learn to fly without FPV or are any of the competitors any good.
Should I wait for the GoPro Drone, is that even supposed to come out in 2015 or was that just marketing to try and kill the Inspire.
Have the issues with the Inspire been sorted out or is that still iffy and would likely suffer the same battery faults that the Phantom line has.
I often fly over water since around here that's where the best shots are and thought nothing of attaching a GetterBack (failsafe) and taking off over the river.
On this occasion I had my batteries charged 2 days prior and both checked out as full when I took them out.
The battery showed 98% on launch, good GPS, no problems apparent. Over the river I flew to get some closer shots of a bridge.
It took less than a minute to get out there, 300 metres away when I see the battery had dropped to 78%, okay I'm heading back then another second and it dropped to 76%, another few seconds and now it was 68%. Big problem here now, the shortest distance to the shore was mostly right rather than back towards me so I switched to ATTI and hoped it would make it back. Unfortunately the battery readout was dropping every second in large numbers. Auto-land kicked in and it dropped behind some mangrove trees, control was lost but I still had video feed and was able to watch it land gently 4-5 metres from shore in the muddy Brisbane River. Another few seconds of power and I would have been over land. If I was more attentive I might have noticed earlier and not flown far with that battery.
Video was now dead but it maintained GPS position for a few minutes but it was underwater and presumed stuck in mud.
An hour or so of wading around the waist deep mud and water and I could not locate the downed bird. Anyone who's ever seen the Brisbane River would understand, visibility is zero, I lost my shoes in the mud, the GetterBack is presumed buried in mud and may not activate until another flood comes.
My number is labeled on the Phantom and on the SD card along with 20GB worth of holiday videos. It's possible it may turn up somewhere in a few months and it may RTH but I doubt it will ever fly again.
Here is a quick video showing pretty much what happened with the battery so it's a known issue, I have no footage of my unfortunate flight except GoPro footage of me digging about in mangrove mud.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lBCZcqpqr0[/youtube]
The bird was less than a year old and not one of the newer Vision+ which seem to be having ESC problems but a V1 Vision+.
So my questions to the forum:
Has anyone had any experience with DJI if the bird is lost or can I presume to take full loss unless a class action were ever to happen. (seems to be a problem which ALL batteries may experience)
I was confident with the Vision+ before this event but that has completely evaporated. Should I just get a cheap Phantom 2 and attach my GoPro and learn to fly without FPV or are any of the competitors any good.
Should I wait for the GoPro Drone, is that even supposed to come out in 2015 or was that just marketing to try and kill the Inspire.
Have the issues with the Inspire been sorted out or is that still iffy and would likely suffer the same battery faults that the Phantom line has.