Bird/bat strike

Is there any damage whatsoever to the leading edge? Even a knick or mark where it may have struck something, which could have caused the trailing edge to blow out? If not, I'm thinking a projectile may be the only way to explain this one. It wouldn't be the first time a Phantom was shot at.
 
I wondered that as well. Nick, scuff mark, discoloring, or anything on the leading edge of that prop to indicate it struck something? I would think for it to hit something hard enough to blow out the trailing edge, it'd definitely have a nick or a scuff on it.

Mike
 
1. Take the sd from camera, mount with pc and make a copy of the file.
2. Use the repair program robinb told above to that copy, then you can try the in-cam repair when camera is working too.
How would this process work? If the tables are not created, he won't be able to copy the data. Are you saying he should copy bit by bit and that program can analyze dump of bit data?
 
Well, fellas, it's to my own extreme embarrassment that I must tell that there was no bird strike, no bat strike, no impact with anything thrown or fired at my bird.

I downloaded an awesome little program called Mp4 Video Repair Tool. It's a free, Open Source piece of software designed for salvaging GoPro videos corrupted by crashes or sudden power loss. I've always been a big supporter of Open Source software, and this thing is a peach. I can't recommend it highly enough.

Mp4 Video Repair Tool

Anyway, what happened is that, in my hurry to get a mission in before bed, it seems that I was careless in double checking my elevation changes between waypoints, and flew right into a giant light standard at the high school football stadium. I mean I flew right into it. I could not have done it better if I tried.

This was nothing but my own stupidity and carelessness, and I owe you all an apology for making you waste your time wondering what I may have collided with.

Believe me, when I opened the repaired video, I was hoping to see something epic. But nope. Just epic stupidity.
 
Here is my shame:

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.
 
I'm shocked that impact didn't send that thing to the ground though!
 
Thanks for the episodic journey to no where. My day-dreams have been bashed assunder.. Hahaha

So, No UFO or little green men? ;-)

RedHotPoker
 
  • Like
Reactions: mikesmiley
Thanks for the episodic journey to no where. My day-dreams have been bashed assunder.. Hahaha

So, No UFO or little green men? ;-)

RedHotPoker

Wait. Little green men would explain how it returned! Perhaps there was a UFO in the area, aliens saw the crash, tapped into the flight controls, and flew it home for you! :D Sorry I even started the gunshot theory now. My gut told me that it was probably more likely just some random flopping and twisting that caused the trailing edge prop break and break of the rear gimbal mount arm but I still wondered about it being sniped. Lesson (re)learned. Occam's Razor.

Glad the mystery is solved and here's to a quick repair.

Mike
 
  • Like
Reactions: mikesmiley
How would this process work? If the tables are not created, he won't be able to copy the data. Are you saying he should copy bit by bit and that program can analyze dump of bit data?

If the filesystem is broken you can try testdisk or photorec, testdisk should work with discimages, just make image of your medium.
Does p3 loose filesystem too when power goes out while recording? Windows usually tells to fix the fs if it can, if not then asks to reformat and you have to fix it manually or recover directly.

You should always work with backups if your files are important.
 
If the filesystem is broken you can try testdisk or photorec, testdisk should work with discimages, just make image of your medium.
Does p3 loose filesystem too when power goes out while recording? Windows usually tells to fix the fs if it can, if not then asks to reformat and you have to fix it manually or recover directly.

You should always work with backups if your files are important.
My point was that you can't take complete backup of broken files. That's all.
 
My point was that you can't take complete backup of broken files. That's all.

Why, what's stopping you? You can't magically add the "after crash" footage to it tho, and usually get the file repaired upto last keyframe, so it varies how much footage you lose.
 
I think the official story should be that it was hit by a bald eagle... just before it would have struck that tower! ;)
 
  • Like
Reactions: mikesmiley
Wait. Little green men would explain how it returned! Perhaps there was a UFO in the area, aliens saw the crash, tapped into the flight controls, and flew it home for you! :D Sorry I even started the gunshot theory now. My gut told me that it was probably more likely just some random flopping and twisting that caused the trailing edge prop break and break of the rear gimbal mount arm but I still wondered about it being sniped. Lesson (re)learned. Occam's Razor.

Glad the mystery is solved and here's to a quick repair.

Mike
& I take my diminutive chlorophyll filled solor explorers seriously...
UFO or RC craft?

RedHotPoker
 
I also thought it odd that the trailing arm of the gimbal mount was the one that broke: not anything up front. And to break that arm, I'd think it would take a direct hit to the gimbal mount yet I see no divots on the gimbal mount or board. But with flying and spinning things, I guess you can end up with all sorts of contortions and flopping. Also, the trailing edge of the prop is much thinner than the leading edge so I guess the leading edge could have taken the strike but the trailing edge was fragile enough to break off. I do think it would have taken a solid object like a tree branch or metal pole to do that. I think a bird is too "squishy".

Edit: You also have to consider the remote possibility that it was shot at.

Mike
I'm going to vote for aliens. But it is really "lucky" that the trailing edge got chipped since that left the thicker, more structurally sound leading edge intact and within the P3's limited envelope to maintain attitude control. Says something rather interesting about how robust the system is.
 
  • Like
Reactions: mikesmiley
It's a double edge sword, the recovery tools. Either way, you probably get one chance. With either approach, once you do something to recover it, you'll either get a usable file... or it might corrupt it further so it's not recoverable at all. Someone with more experience in recovery tools should chime in. I wonder if there's any software that would let you do a sector copy of the flash card to make a backup before you fool with recovery?

Mike
use the Disk Utility to make a copy. That should be bit to bit. It may not work with file recovery software since the program may need to see the SD structure (not sure) but I would use DU first, load it on another SD and play with it.

And if you aren't familiar with Disk Utility, the main gotcha is that, by default, it wants to format everything for a Mac, ie, OS X Extended. The P3 wants FAT or exFAT (doesn't seem to make a difference). Just change it.
 
New plate and cable set are on the way. Hopefully there's no internal damage to the camera or gimbal. Thanks again, guys.
 
For me in this period is difficult to fly over the sea, I'm continuously attacked by seagulls. I hate those birds... first comes one that begin to scream then in few seconds becomes many that fly aggressive close to the phantom and makes me land.
I fly near them all the time. They get out to the way. Natural collision avoidance. Do you have French FRIE grease or something on your hands or chicken grease? That's the only way they will chase your bird. :)


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots mobile app
 

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
143,066
Messages
1,467,358
Members
104,936
Latest member
hirehackers