Drone fly away!

[Asylumwsas]

So upon flying lost connection and tried to return home. Failed to RTH. Checked flight logs last entry was 383 ft at 38.5 mph and connection to 13 sats. Would appreciate any help.

Link to my Google drive with log uploaded

DJIFlightRecord_2017-08-22_[20-12-36] (1).txt

 

[With The Birds]

Try uploading your flight log to;

DJI Flight Log Viewer

And/or

Airdata UAV - Flight Data Analysis for Drones

And post link back here.....

It probably didn’t fly away, there will be an explanation hopefully.

 

[Asylumwsas]

Try uploading your flight log to;

DJI Flight Log Viewer

And/or

Airdata UAV - Flight Data Analysis for Drones

And post link back here.....

It probably didn’t fly away, there will be an explanation hopefully.

DJI Flight Log Viewer - PhantomHelp.com

 

[LarBear360]

When you lose connection it's no longer possible for you to initialize RTH. The drone should have done it by design. I wonder if it went down? Is the 383 feet seems plenty to clear the trees.

 

[Asylumwsas]

I checked it on the other one listed said landing battery was 57%... So maybe at the location that was there.

 

[LarBear360]

Flight time Altitude Home Distance Type Notification
A 04m 15s 0.0 ft 0 ft Mode Mode changed to GPS_Atti
B 04m 15s 0.0 ft 0 ft Tip Home Point Recorded
C 04m 17s -0.7 ft 0 ft Mode Mode changed to Assisted_Takeoff
D 04m 17s -0.7 ft 0 ft Warning Return-to-Home Altitude:246FT
E 04m 18s -2.3 ft 0 ft Mode Mode changed to GPS_Atti
05m 34s 166.3 ft 1,759 ft

60% Battery
06m 06s 378.3 ft 3,482 ft

57% Battery at maximum distance

 

[Asylumwsas]

Flight time Altitude Home Distance Type Notification
A 04m 15s 0.0 ft 0 ft Mode Mode changed to GPS_Atti
B 04m 15s 0.0 ft 0 ft Tip Home Point Recorded
C 04m 17s -0.7 ft 0 ft Mode Mode changed to Assisted_Takeoff
D 04m 17s -0.7 ft 0 ft Warning Return-to-Home Altitude:246FT
E 04m 18s -2.3 ft 0 ft Mode Mode changed to GPS_Atti
05m 34s 166.3 ft 1,759 ft

60% Battery
06m 06s 378.3 ft 3,482 ft

57% Battery at maximum distance

So it just dropped off then based on data.

 

[sar104]

It didn't make it home by RTH because the winds aloft at 150 ft were around 20 mph out of the south, blowing it almost directly away from you. In RTH mode it is not going to make much, if any, headway against that wind.

 

[Asylumwsas]

Is there anyway to see where it landed or is it a loss cause?

 

[Asylumwsas]

Also the black dots on the map are they significant at all?

 

[LarBear360]

Signal strength was green at the point it ended, however, just prior to that the signal was orange with 79 signal errors. 06m 00s 352.4 ft 3,161 ft 79

Here's where it fell off the map:
Point M
Flight time: 06m 06s
Altitude: 378.3 ft
Minor Signal Errors: 45

 

[Asylumwsas]

Signal strength was green at the point it ended, however, just prior to that the signal was orange with 79 signal errors. 06m 00s 352.4 ft 3,161 ft 79

Here's where it fell off the map:
Point M
Flight time: 06m 06s
Altitude: 378.3 ft
Minor Signal Errors: 45

How do you view that point? Brand new to searching flight data

 

[LarBear360]

There is a group of buildings on Honeybee Way. Straight out from where that street ends there is road or trail labeled Russia Branch.

 

[sar104]

Is there anyway to see where it landed or is it a loss cause?

Once it lost connection you have no further position data. It will have tried to RTH, but not made much headway. It might have just about held position against that wind, or made slow progress back. I'd look on and around the fligth path to the last known point, and maybe a bit out past that too.

 

[Asylumwsas]

Okay. I appreciate all the help. I'm gonna head out in the AM to look. Tried looking past there to see if there was any sign but did not come up with anything.

 

[LarBear360]

Once it lost connection you have no further position data. It will have tried to RTH, but not made much headway. It might have just about held position against that wind, or made slow progress back. I'd look on and around the fligth path to the last known point, and maybe a bit out past that too.

I think you're right. The RTH was for 246 feet compared to actual altitude of 378 feet when he lost signal. Doesn't the AC default to the higher altitude? If so, the winds were probably too much and it landed when the battery went down to 10%. It's probably somewhere along that flight path. Good case for GPS locators.

 

[Asylumwsas]

Yes investing in a gps locator is needed if I find it

 

[LarBear360]

Yes investing in a gps locator is needed if I find it

I'm terrified when mine goes more than 600 feet much less 3,000. Good luck!

 

[sar104]

I think you're right. The RTH was for 246 feet compared to actual altitude of 378 feet when he lost signal. Doesn't the AC default to the higher altitude? If so, the winds were probably too much and it landed when the battery went down to 10%. It's probably somewhere along that flight path. Good case for GPS locators.

The wind speed and direction calculated from the flight log is pretty unambiguous. Even at 150 ft it was too much for RTH. At 378 ft it was likely to have been higher, but not enough data to estimate quantitatively. At that altitude it likely was blown further down wind until it ran out of battery. There's no way to know how far, unfortunately.

 

[Meta4]

So upon flying lost connection and tried to return home. Failed to RTH. Checked flight logs last entry was 383 ft at 38.5 mph and connection to 13 sats. Would appreciate any help.

First, your Phantom didn't fly away - they very, very rarely do that.
To fly safely you have to be very much aware of wind strength and direction.
And understand that the wind will always be considerably stronger up high than it is at ground level.
When flying in windy conditions, there are three important rules:

1. Don't fly away from home downwind - you will have to battle a headwind coming home
2. In a headwind situation, don't leave your Phantom up high where the wind is stronger. Bring it down to bring it home
3. RTH is a slow driver. You can drive 50% faster (in still air) than RTH will if you leave it to do the driving.
4. Your Phantom will have tried to RTH three seconds after losing connection but the headwind was too strong for it to get home at the 10 m/sec RTH cruising speed.

At some point it will have reached a critical low battery situation and autolanded.
It's not possible to tell where that happened.

In a windy situation, fly away upwind to see how the wind affects your Phantom's speed.
It may be a slow flight if the wind is strong but it will be very easy coming home.
Don't fly away going downwind on a windy day.