My brother was very interested in learning to use my P3P and so lessons were in order. By the fifth battery he was ready to 'solo', with me only watching. Little did I realize that instead of the usual 150' he'd always flown at he went up to 120' (40 meters). He was flying above a ten acre open field edged by tall old growth pines. Some were on a hill.
Unfortunately the pines on the hill went up to 121 feet and I watched as the screen went blank with the 'motor interference' screen lit up, followed by 'disconnected'. I knew StumbleBee wasn't coming home.
I was able to pinpoint the exact signal loss point, complete with video of the bird spinning wildly and plummeting 25 feet before the battery went its own way. Retrieval required a long walk to the hill. Naturally I was prepared for the worst.
To my near shock I immediately found the P3P, on it's side embedded in a pine needle blanket and the battery only a few feet away. The body was a little scarred, and the props looked like they had blended a pine tree, but there were no cracks visible and the gimbal was intact! That last bit was a real surprise, I had been trying to recall what a new assembly would cost me as I hiked over. Apparently the only damage I had was that the CF gimbal/camera guard from DJI which I had installed was broken in half. I reinstalled the battery and fired the bird up. After running through my usual preflight I lifted off and hovered at 4' for a minute before landing. All was good.
I have now replaced the props -just because, and done some further tests and evaluation. Everything looks good to go. I've flown half a million feet without an incident and my failure to check a newbie closely almost cost me my P3P. A cheap lesson learned!
Unfortunately the pines on the hill went up to 121 feet and I watched as the screen went blank with the 'motor interference' screen lit up, followed by 'disconnected'. I knew StumbleBee wasn't coming home.
I was able to pinpoint the exact signal loss point, complete with video of the bird spinning wildly and plummeting 25 feet before the battery went its own way. Retrieval required a long walk to the hill. Naturally I was prepared for the worst.
To my near shock I immediately found the P3P, on it's side embedded in a pine needle blanket and the battery only a few feet away. The body was a little scarred, and the props looked like they had blended a pine tree, but there were no cracks visible and the gimbal was intact! That last bit was a real surprise, I had been trying to recall what a new assembly would cost me as I hiked over. Apparently the only damage I had was that the CF gimbal/camera guard from DJI which I had installed was broken in half. I reinstalled the battery and fired the bird up. After running through my usual preflight I lifted off and hovered at 4' for a minute before landing. All was good.
I have now replaced the props -just because, and done some further tests and evaluation. Everything looks good to go. I've flown half a million feet without an incident and my failure to check a newbie closely almost cost me my P3P. A cheap lesson learned!