Drowned my bird, what next?

[exit 4]

Didn't see a branch while flying over water and sunk it. I can't even find it to turn in for the insurance(really sucks). Now the question is do I get another P3A, or a P4, or even an Inspire? I don't need the 4k for photography purposes, I just like the Inspire. Not sure I want to spend that much money either. Any ideas?


Forgot to mention, this happened just a few days after setting a new personal distance record of 5000 meters. And on the way back I got the last battery warning that scared the heck out of me.

 

[RedHotPoker]

A P4! Sounds like you could have used object avoidance, too late.
Sorry about the drowned in deep drink, drone.
But, I wouldn't give up trying to retrieve that one..

RedHotPoker

 

[Quadcopterpilot]

Love my P3P, not sure why I would need an Inspire.
If you don't need 4K you could buy a few P3A's for the price of an Inspire, cause sure as **** all of us will loose our birds at sometime for some reason.

 

[WetDog]

Just think of how you would feel if that was an Inspire wacking into the tree.... I, too, would like one of the bigger birds for the better camera. With the P3, I'm willing to get pretty aggressive to get neat video. But you are paying four or even five times the price for the bigger UAV. At that level of spendout, I would be reticent to put it in harms way. I just lost a P3 in the water after it clipped the inflatable on my boat - just didn't push the Zodiac far enough forward and did not account for that in takeoff. Oops. Imagine doing that with an Inspire.

The Inspire doesn't get you better range or time. The X3 camera is pretty much the same as the Phantoms. The X5 is a significant improvement, but as noted, you pay for it.

Get another P3. If you don't need 4K video, the Advanced are pretty cheap. The Standards are almost disposable.

 

[WetDog]

A P4! Sounds like you could have used object avoidance, too late.
Sorry about the drowned in deep drink, drone.
But, I wouldn't give up trying to retrieve that one..

RedHotPoker

Doubt the P4's object avoidance would have seen an isolated tree branch. That's the big bummer. Most of us can avoid walls. Branches and wires are quite the different story.

 

[olof Ekbergh]

Depends on your budget.

Is it a toy or for business?

Personally if I lost my P3P I would go with a P4 as a replacement, though on tight budget you can get just the MR, you already have the TX (controller), that is the cheapest way out, contact DJI.

I already have an S800 with Zenmuse with a dual Futabas (about $12G's worth), so I don't need a dual radio MR. If I loose my S800 I would get the Inspire. It is more capable but unless you need dual radio setup there is not a huge advantage unless you get the ProRaw version. It does not sound like you do.

I do this for fun and as a business, I am a GA Pilot with a 333. BTW my buisiness insurance deductible is $1,000.00, I worry more about liability $5,000,000.00 worth. So if I crash a P3P it is out of my pocket, but if I crash the S800 then I can get 2 new Inspires with RAW cams.

I know some people with multi million dollar toys so it just depends on your budget.

 

[WetDog]

Depends on your budget.

Is it a toy or for business?

Personally if I lost my P3P I would go with a P4 as a replacement, though on tight budget you can get just the MR, you already have the TX (controller), that is the cheapest way out, contact DJI.

I already have an S800 with Zenmuse with a dual Futabas (about $12G's worth), so I don't need a dual radio MR. If I loose my S800 I would get the Inspire. It is more capable but unless you need dual radio setup there is not a huge advantage unless you get the ProRaw version. It does not sound like you do.

I do this for fun and as a business, I am a GA Pilot with a 333. BTW my buisiness insurance deductible is $1,000.00, I worry more about liability $5,000,000.00 worth. So if I crash a P3P it is out of my pocket, but if I crash the S800 then I can get 2 new Inspires with RAW cams.

I know some people with multi million dollar toys so it just depends on your budget.

Actually, it's not that much more expensive to get a full P3P rig. DJI quotes $769 (or something like that) for a naked P3P. I don't like to buy direct from DJI because of their crappy warranty. B&H, my favorite retailer, offers the same price but gives it a 5 week delivery time. For $999 I got a new P3P body, and extra battery and and extra RC. The latter will be useful in my never ending attempts at breaking things. It's always nice to have a stock part to fall back on.

And personally, I'd get another P3 unless you see something in the P4 that tickles your fancy. You probably have spare batteries, bits and pieces and backpacks that would have to be swapped out.

 

[phantomi]

An X-Star?

 

[Mark The Droner]

Since you had a P3A, I'd go P4.

Sorry for your loss

 

[MPPilot]

Does

Didn't see a branch while flying over water and sunk it. I can't even find it to turn in for the insurance(really sucks). Now the question is do I get another P3A, or a P4, or even an Inspire? I don't need the 4k for photography purposes, I just like the Inspire. Not sure I want to spend that much money either. Any ideas?

Does your phone/tablet have a video cache? If so you may be able to use that for insurance proof.

 

[exit 4]

Does

Does your phone/tablet have a video cache? If so you may be able to use that for insurance proof.

Good idea, may help.

 

[Multicoptertec]

Could just get a pumpkin. Just saying.


Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots

 

[CCDD]

You can buy an original new Inspire 1 for $1500 or a version 2 for about $1800. By far the best quad for the $$.

 

[exit 4]

Got another P3A. Just going through the setup. Hope it's as good as the first one, just without the drowning.