Drone blew away in high wind, any suggestion on how to calculate where it may land?

[Pp09nlk2n]

I was flying my Phantom Standard 3 and it got too high where suddenly winds started pushing it away. I hit RTH, which made it climb higher and by the time I realized it would be smart to just land rather than RTH, it was out of range of my controller so I just watched it drift off into the sunset.

I was using Litchi app so was able to upload my flight into Healthy Drones. Seems to have mostly gone in a straight line towards the end - is there a way to predict how long it remained in the air before the battery went down to the point it would auto land? I'm sure it is somewhere along that line, but I'm not sure how to best calculate where.

 

[msinger]

Please upload your Litchi flight log here and post a link back here.

 

[Pp09nlk2n]

Please upload your Litchi flight log here and post a link back here.

Sure. Here you go:
Phantom Log Viewer - PhantomHelp.com

 

[Mark The Droner]

Oh, do I have stories...

...

Looks like you flew it east with a 25 mph wind coming from the west and blowing east, according to uavforecast.

Hopefully it's down in the golf course somewhere...

If you're unlucky, it landed on the interstate

 

[Pp09nlk2n]

Oh, do I have stories...

...

Looks like you flew it east with a 25 mph wind coming from the west and blowing east, according to uavforecast.

Hopefully it's down in the golf course somewhere...

If you're unlucky, it landed on the interstate

But the drone was still at about 50% battery by the time it was over the golf course at about 250ft and was still hovering just fine, just couldn't fly against the wind at all. So I assume it continued to hover in the air for another mile (or whatever) until the battery started to die and it would make an emergency landing. I didn't see it fall out of the sky or anything, just saw it get smaller and smaller until it was a white little speck in the clouds. Maybe i'm wrong and it fell like a rock at that point, but I think it stayed in the air for another several minutes getting blown away.

So I guess my question is, is there a way to try to calculate that speed being blown in the wind vs. remaining battery life to guess where it would have initiated auto land and set down?

 

[Mark The Droner]

I don't want to step on msinger's toes (I do it often enough as it is), but if the AC tried to head home in RTH with a 25 mph head wind, it would have a tough time. I think the only chance of getting it home would be to take control and fly it home in GPS mode because RTH mode is s-l-o-w.

So I think the question is, which direction did it fly as it was in RTH? It's possible it headed west very slowly because I know it's designed to try to fight the head wind, but still it would be slow. I'm not sure if we've ever had an example like this where the AC was trying to fight such a strong head wind at RTH speed. So it's hard to say what direction it went. East? West? Nowhere and just landed when it hit critical battery? Hard to say. I'd like to get msinger's input.

 

[symba1]

I was flying my Phantom Standard 3 and it got too high where suddenly winds started pushing it away. I hit RTH, which made it climb higher and by the time I realized it would be smart to just land rather than RTH, it was out of range of my controller so I just watched it drift off into the sunset.

I was using Litchi app so was able to upload my flight into Healthy Drones. Seems to have mostly gone in a straight line towards the end - is there a way to predict how long it remained in the air before the battery went down to the point it would auto land? I'm sure it is somewhere along that line, but I'm not sure how to best calculate where.

The map page should show you it's last position, (Google earth)

 

[Pp09nlk2n]

The map page should show you it's last position, (Google earth)

Thanks, but the problem I am facing is it was still hovering 250 ft in the air, trying to fly back against the wind but failing when it lost contact and just kept drifting away with still 50% battery life.

So as best as I could tell, it didn't crash right at the point of lost signal (the last place on the map), it probably drifted with the wind for another 5 to 10 minutes until the battery got low enough to trigger auto land.

It's basically a math problem, I think, to try to guess its behavior at that point and then calculate the speed, direction, and hover time before landing. And that should give me a rough location. But there may just be too many unknowns to calculate that?

 

[gerrymcn]

I lost my first phantom for 3 days due to high winds. It got stuck up a tree so when you go looking for it don't forget to look up into the trees. Also have you checked your local video cache on your tablet or phone. Might give you a clue before you lost radio contact. Good luck !!


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[Meta4]

So I guess my question is, is there a way to try to calculate that speed being blown in the wind vs. remaining battery life to guess where it would have initiated auto land and set down?

Simple arithmetic shows it was traveling backwards at 7.8 mph or 11.5 feet/sec.
It's probably too hard to work out where it may have reached critical low battery and autolanded but you know the direction.
Chances of recovery aren't great.
A (very) rough guess suggests a search area out here (or maybe even further)

There are a few important lessons you can get from this experience.
The first would have prevented this incident, the others would probably have enabled you to recover.

1. Don't fly away downwind in a strong wind because that will mean a headwind coming home.
You could see the wind at ground level and its direction

2. The wind is almost always going to be stronger higher up.
You ran into trouble at 4:20 when you initiated RTH only to see the Phantom struggle and go backwards 374 feet high.
At 9:10 when you lost contact, the Phantom was still up there in the stronger wind and had traveled 2319 feet backwards while trying to RTH.
If you had descended, and brought the Phantom closer to the ground it would have had a slower wind speed to deal with.

3. I can't see what your control inputs were but if you just leave RTH to do the driving, it chugs along at a leisurely 22 mph but if you drive, you can do 35 mph (in still air)
Pushing the right stick forward in RTH will make your Phantom go faster.

 

[flyNfrank]

Simple arithmetic shows it was traveling backwards at 7.8 mph or 11.5 feet/sec.
It's probably too hard to work out where it may have reached critical low battery and autolanded but you know the direction.
Chances of recovery aren't great.
A (very) rough guess suggests a search area out here (or maybe even further)

There are a few important lessons you can get from this experience.
The first would have prevented this incident, the others would probably have enabled you to recover.

1. Don't fly away downwind in a strong wind because that will mean a headwind coming home.
You could see the wind at ground level and its direction

2. The wind is almost always going to be stronger higher up.
You ran into trouble at 4:20 when you initiated RTH only to see the Phantom struggle and go backwards 374 feet high.
At 9:10 when you lost contact, the Phantom was still up there in the stronger wind and had traveled 2319 feet backwards while trying to RTH.
If you had descended, and brought the Phantom closer to the ground it would have had a slower wind speed to deal with.

3. I can't see what your control inputs were but if you just leave RTH to do the driving, it chugs along at a leisurely 22 mph but if you drive, you can do 35 mph (in still air)
Pushing the left stick forward in RTH will make your Phantom go faster.

How can I download the txt file for this flight from the PhantomHelp logviewer? So far the csv file was only option.

 

[captainmilehigh]

In hindsight, a tracker would be useful in this instance. I think I bought mine about a week after I got my Phantom. I don't ever fly without it. Good luck in your search. [emoji106]


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[Mark The Droner]

I cannot even imagine flying without a tracker.

 

[MDahms]

What tracker do you guys use?


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[GWTX]

I cannot even imagine flying without a tracker.

Mark, if you don't mind me being a bit "nosey", what tracker do you have, and approx. price? Thanks, Gary

 

[RodPad]

@Pp09nlk2n
I took an average of your speed from start of return to home until signal was lost, 8.8 mph.

Rod

 

[RodPad]

Trackers ?
I use Marco Polo, If I'm not flying around my house, I will usually have no cell service.

Rod

 

[Mark The Droner]

I have flytrex and love it. I have a Live 3G on both my ACs. But both mine are P2 series. I got mine cheap - $90 for one and $50 for the other on eBay. Both NIB.

Flytrex connects via a cellular connection with the cell towers.

Once you have the device, you get to use their server an infinite number of times. There is no monthly fee!

P3A/P requires a Live 3G Plus and I don't know how to buy one of those less than retail. Retail is $189. Nonetheless, I'd pay it if I had a P3A/P.

Flytrex does not support P4 and I kinda doubt they ever will, unfortunately.

Also, Flytrex customer service is pretty horrible. People have complained bitterly and rightfully so.

Nonetheless, nobody does live tracking like they do. I'm completely hooked. It's like heroin. Once you start mainlining, you can't stop even if you want to.

On my original P2V, I've had two mishaps occur over a mile away and found the AC both times instantly. It was exactly where flytrex said it was. Repaired it both times. It's been sixteen months and I now have just under 700 miles and it's still running like new. I flew it 4x this week and I'll be flying at least twice tomorrow!

 

[captainmilehigh]

What tracker do you guys use?


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Marco Polo. Have limited cell service in my flight areas, so those like Trackimo won't help me.


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[Pp09nlk2n]

Simple arithmetic shows it was traveling backwards at 7.8 mph or 11.5 feet/sec.
It's probably too hard to work out where it may have reached critical low battery and autolanded but you know the direction.
Chances of recovery aren't great......

Thank you so very much. I'll give it a shot and report back if by some miracle I find it.
Thanks for the advice as well. Hopefully next time I'll be more prepared.
The real question is - do I take this as a sign from the Drone Gods I should use this as an excuse to upgrade to the Mavic Pro? Or a sign from the Drone Gods that I am not ready for anything more expensive and should first master the simple/cheaper drone first?


What tracker(s) do you suggest? Seems like there are a few sim card style trackers that are cheaper than Trackimo ($140), like Rf-v16 ($45) or the TK102 ($23)
http://a.co/bA3Dd2R
http://a.co/dwX9xUN

Anyone have experience with those?