Dropped Phantom2 in Brighton

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This happened in Brighton, UK, yesterday. I took my P2 to the beach, lovely day, no strong wind. GPS captured the satellites and I took off to about 40 feet, taking care to avoid the seagulls flying below. Had attached a small digital camera to the bottom, no problem of balance. Video running, flew over the pier and returned to the town area. After a couple of minutes always, having it in sight, starting to bring it back towards me while SLOWLY descending, still on GPS. However, motors suddenly seem to have stopped, and the quad started to drop, more or less like any other not too heavy object would. I immediately attempted a CSC, NOT taking the stick all the way to zero, but during those 3 or 4 seconds nothing worked and it disappeared.

My wife and I walked then around the general area where we perceived it to fall, some 150 meters in radius, but this is a very populated zone, with many buildings of all sizes, and we never found it. We assume the best bet is that it' s still on top of some roof, which means it won't be seen for a long time.

The relevant question is WHY this happened. I was aware that one must avoid the stopping command in flight and feel confident that I never took the sticks all the way down to initiate that action. Anyway, I only did the CSC AFTER the P2 started to fall. Perhaps I should have inititated the return to home by switching off the transmitter and thus have saved it, but 3 or 4 seconds are a very tiny window of opportunity. I am convinced that the software should prevent this by not allowing the stopping action without checking the barometer, ie, unless the quad is very close to the taking off height. Something for DJI to consider.

This may be the end of my hobby, as I can't possibly afford buying a another P2, and the risk of losing about £600 so easily is too scary anyway.

I just thought the incident may be educational: never fly over rooftops! And DJI, consider my suggestion.:!:
 
If you look around on this forum you will find that there are quite numerous reports of this exact failure. Some seem to be due to failed solder joints where the battery power arrives at the main board, but others are currently unexplained - power shutdown in flight but the P2 will power up again once on the ground (if not too badly damaged). It has been suggested that the smart batteries are mistakenly (or maybe not) detecting a fault condition and shutting off power.

I believe that a number of users have obtained replacement P2s, but they mostly have recovered video of the event to demonstrate the fault.
 
sar104 said:
If you look around on this forum you will find that there are quite numerous reports of this exact failure...

Thank you, sar104. Yes, it's understandable that a video be required, since otherwise nothing can be proven and anyone can claim something similar. Alas! I haven't got that chance and must now mourn my loss. I guess that what I really need now is counselling :lol:

Gustavo
 
Try posting a plea for help from other Phantom owners in your area to conduct an aerial search for your craft... can't hurt to post your loss in the P2V & P2V+ boards since they are the most active.
 
DrJoe said:
Try posting a plea for help from other Phantom owners in your area to conduct an aerial search for your craft... can't hurt to post your loss in the P2V & P2V+ boards since they are the most active.

Many tks for the suggestion, Joe, will try. But finding it would be a miracle. Will be there tomorrow with fliers and offer of reward.
 
Gustavo10 said:
DrJoe said:
Try posting a plea for help from other Phantom owners in your area to conduct an aerial search for your craft... can't hurt to post your loss in the P2V & P2V+ boards since they are the most active.

Many tks for the suggestion, Joe, will try. But finding it would be a miracle. Will be there tomorrow with fliers and offer of reward.

I fitted mine with a $60 PET TRACKER GPS unit for just this reason. It has a SIM card in it & costs around $7/mth. I can track it from a my smart phone anywhere in the world if it goes missing or crashes somewhere....
 
Gustavo10 said:
This happened in Brighton, UK, yesterday. I took my P2 to the beach, lovely day, no strong wind. GPS captured the satellites and I took off to about 40 feet, taking care to avoid the seagulls flying below. Had attached a small digital camera to the bottom, no problem of balance. Video running, flew over the pier and returned to the town area. After a couple of minutes always, having it in sight, starting to bring it back towards me while SLOWLY descending, still on GPS. However, motors suddenly seem to have stopped, and the quad started to drop, more or less like any other not too heavy object would. I immediately attempted a CSC, NOT taking the stick all the way to zero, but during those 3 or 4 seconds nothing worked and it disappeared.

My wife and I walked then around the general area where we perceived it to fall, some 150 meters in radius, but this is a very populated zone, with many buildings of all sizes, and we never found it. We assume the best bet is that it' s still on top of some roof, which means it won't be seen for a long time.

The relevant question is WHY this happened. I was aware that one must avoid the stopping command in flight and feel confident that I never took the sticks all the way down to initiate that action. Anyway, I only did the CSC AFTER the P2 started to fall. Perhaps I should have inititated the return to home by switching off the transmitter and thus have saved it, but 3 or 4 seconds are a very tiny window of opportunity. I am convinced that the software should prevent this by not allowing the stopping action without checking the barometer, ie, unless the quad is very close to the taking off height. Something for DJI to consider.

This may be the end of my hobby, as I can't possibly afford buying a another P2, and the risk of losing about £600 so easily is too scary anyway.

I just thought the incident may be educational: never fly over rooftops! And DJI, consider my suggestion.:!:

If there are any quadcopter with vision owners in Brighton willing to help, I am offering a reward. Please let me know here. Tks.
 
I had a very similar situation happen last month.

Two week old P2 with GoPro 3+Black FPV equipped.
Was flying about 700m away 25m high and turned to return and lost all Video D/L. I did a RTH but it never returned. At the time it quit I was reading 50% battery, a few seconds later it was gone. Searched for several days and never found it.

Now have a device called "Marco Polo" that will track it not using GPS but it will take you within inches of it. IT is around $200 but does not need a sim card.

Tom
 
I think your quadcopter may have turned up :)

Would this be it ?
10380766_466071836870335_801756653620368517_n.jpg
 
mitchsden said:
I think your quadcopter may have turned up :)

Would this be it ?
10380766_466071836870335_801756653620368517_n.jpg

You're a good man.

Have you PM'd him?
 
Looks like that camera is butted right up next to the compass. That's a disaster waiting to happen.
 
ianwood said:
Looks like that camera is butted right up next to the compass. That's a disaster waiting to happen.

???

It's a crash recovery.
 
Get in touch with the guys at Firstpersonview.co.uk, they have info re your lost Phantom! :)
 
I have personally thanked everyone who helped me one way or other to recover my quad and in fact we are continuing to keep in touch. This includes the companies MPB and First Person View in Brighton.
 
WOW! Reading the first post I figured this one was long gone. So excited to hear your good news. Happy flying.
 

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