Sorry for long post, I hope somebody finds it helpful.
Complete rookie at this. Bought a P4 in June with absolutely no prior RC experience of any type. It worked flawlessly right out of the box. I've tested, analyzed, practiced, read articles and advice, etc. It's been a blast. I'm still figuring out things like video file formats, frame rates, filters, best settings for viewing on TV vs YouTube, iPad, etc.
Today was my 50th flight (in 7 weeks.). I've flown in heavy tree cover, over the ocean in a stiff breeze, in downtown areas with interference, off of helicopter pads (with full authorization and emergency contact info filed with controller.). I've used P, S, and A modes. I've used Litchi and DJIGo. I've lost and regained contact, used RTH quickly when needed and so on.
Today we took it to the river to get some footage of my son riding his SeaDoo. Took off from parking lot next to dock on river bank (red arrow on left) that is about 40 feet above water level. Stayed mostly level with bank or a little lower for about 12 mins while filming several passes. When he decided to call it a day, I did a couple of passes over the marina for quick videos.
At the 14 min mark, I approached the bridge in the photo with plan to get a video pan from right to left before landing and stopping for the day. About 30 feet or so away from bridge, right above the road level. I positioned it facing the bridge and then moved laterally to the right to get ready for side pan back across river video.
Perfectly in sight the whole time at 50' vertical and 500-800' distance. I let go of the stick, glanced down to hit record, and instant disconnect. Looked right back up, nowhere to be found. I answered the RTH prompt "yes" and waited 20s. I hit the RTH button and waited some more. I yelled down to dock for my son to help locate. Nothing in sight. No sound.
Uh oh.
He jumped back on PWC and I jumped in car. We converged on the other bank. Took <2 mins of searching. There it lay, behind the tree line on the grass with one prop off, one prop broken and the battery nowhere in sight. Case cracked and misaligned.
At least it didn't fall into the river. Analysis of my flight record indicates that I visually misjudged the drone position and flew sideways directly into the clump of trees. Last point of contact was several feet inside the bank, not over the water. I guess the battery dislodged immediately, or I would've maintained contact during the crash. I wasn't recording when it went down.
I got lucky it didn't sink 10 feet into the river.
Some thoughts for other new pilots:
Remember that you don't have OA when flying laterally. The warning in the manual wasn't enough for me apparently.
Pre-flight checks: should be thorough and patient. I had an elderly bystander come up and ask me a ton of questions while I was preparing today and as I flew. It was very distracting, and I suspect I didn't fully secure the battery.
Bystanders: what to say? I want to be polite to those who are curious, but I've been pestered a lot the last several flights. It's tough to focus on flying, filming, tracking the drone both visually and on the iPad, all the while answering a ton of questions and responding to requests to look at your iPad, etc. I got permission to use a medical helicopter pad earlier this week, and I was trying to be very conscientious and aware of things. A constant parade of people asking questions during my entire 40 mins of flying. It was unnerving at times.
iPad visibility: I'm using an Air2 on full bright on an overcast day, and I still have trouble seeing the thing. I'm in my mid 50s in bifocals. Add sunglasses instead, and it's impossible. I'll be investing in a hood next.
Vision: It's very easy at my age to lose the drone in the background visual noise. I have often had a second spotter, but he was my video subject today. It was only 50' above my position and 800' away, and I still had trouble seeing it.
Speed: It was traveling straight away from my position. Without glancing down at the app, it looked like I was slowly positioning it for my shot. Instead, I was traveling 32mph when I lost contact.
Depth of field: it's impossible for me to judge distance from the drone to objects behind the drone after it gets more than 500' away. I thought I was more than 50' away from the trees, but instead I slammed into them at 32mph.
Here's the setting. I'm flying from parking lot on left, and crashed on the right river bank. Those power lines are very far off in the distance and not a factor.
Complete rookie at this. Bought a P4 in June with absolutely no prior RC experience of any type. It worked flawlessly right out of the box. I've tested, analyzed, practiced, read articles and advice, etc. It's been a blast. I'm still figuring out things like video file formats, frame rates, filters, best settings for viewing on TV vs YouTube, iPad, etc.
Today was my 50th flight (in 7 weeks.). I've flown in heavy tree cover, over the ocean in a stiff breeze, in downtown areas with interference, off of helicopter pads (with full authorization and emergency contact info filed with controller.). I've used P, S, and A modes. I've used Litchi and DJIGo. I've lost and regained contact, used RTH quickly when needed and so on.
Today we took it to the river to get some footage of my son riding his SeaDoo. Took off from parking lot next to dock on river bank (red arrow on left) that is about 40 feet above water level. Stayed mostly level with bank or a little lower for about 12 mins while filming several passes. When he decided to call it a day, I did a couple of passes over the marina for quick videos.
At the 14 min mark, I approached the bridge in the photo with plan to get a video pan from right to left before landing and stopping for the day. About 30 feet or so away from bridge, right above the road level. I positioned it facing the bridge and then moved laterally to the right to get ready for side pan back across river video.
Perfectly in sight the whole time at 50' vertical and 500-800' distance. I let go of the stick, glanced down to hit record, and instant disconnect. Looked right back up, nowhere to be found. I answered the RTH prompt "yes" and waited 20s. I hit the RTH button and waited some more. I yelled down to dock for my son to help locate. Nothing in sight. No sound.
Uh oh.
He jumped back on PWC and I jumped in car. We converged on the other bank. Took <2 mins of searching. There it lay, behind the tree line on the grass with one prop off, one prop broken and the battery nowhere in sight. Case cracked and misaligned.
At least it didn't fall into the river. Analysis of my flight record indicates that I visually misjudged the drone position and flew sideways directly into the clump of trees. Last point of contact was several feet inside the bank, not over the water. I guess the battery dislodged immediately, or I would've maintained contact during the crash. I wasn't recording when it went down.
I got lucky it didn't sink 10 feet into the river.
Some thoughts for other new pilots:
Remember that you don't have OA when flying laterally. The warning in the manual wasn't enough for me apparently.
Pre-flight checks: should be thorough and patient. I had an elderly bystander come up and ask me a ton of questions while I was preparing today and as I flew. It was very distracting, and I suspect I didn't fully secure the battery.
Bystanders: what to say? I want to be polite to those who are curious, but I've been pestered a lot the last several flights. It's tough to focus on flying, filming, tracking the drone both visually and on the iPad, all the while answering a ton of questions and responding to requests to look at your iPad, etc. I got permission to use a medical helicopter pad earlier this week, and I was trying to be very conscientious and aware of things. A constant parade of people asking questions during my entire 40 mins of flying. It was unnerving at times.
iPad visibility: I'm using an Air2 on full bright on an overcast day, and I still have trouble seeing the thing. I'm in my mid 50s in bifocals. Add sunglasses instead, and it's impossible. I'll be investing in a hood next.
Vision: It's very easy at my age to lose the drone in the background visual noise. I have often had a second spotter, but he was my video subject today. It was only 50' above my position and 800' away, and I still had trouble seeing it.
Speed: It was traveling straight away from my position. Without glancing down at the app, it looked like I was slowly positioning it for my shot. Instead, I was traveling 32mph when I lost contact.
Depth of field: it's impossible for me to judge distance from the drone to objects behind the drone after it gets more than 500' away. I thought I was more than 50' away from the trees, but instead I slammed into them at 32mph.
Here's the setting. I'm flying from parking lot on left, and crashed on the right river bank. Those power lines are very far off in the distance and not a factor.