Holy cow, what a night. Phantom 4 beware

I'll say there are some skilled pilots that are more adventurous than others thus they like to "push the envelope" per say but I will say his methodology was based on the 3-P principle.
Yeah gathered that too, the 3-p,
Panic
Piss off people
Police
 
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The lesson here is one related to wind. There is no way you should have expended the battery to auto landing if you only flew 11,000 feet away. Unless you flew away with the wind. Second, why would you not fly it back yourself as opposed to letting it RTH automatically. I have done that fly out until RTH kicks in... When that happens I may let it fly a minute or so but I regain control and fly it back. Especially if the battery is a concern. Then why... Why oh why would you call 911. I'm not one to preach but that was absolutely not a good idea. Your P4 crash landing is not an emergency. Maybe to you it is but to everyone else... No. You probably should have called everything off at the first site of someone in a aggressive posture on their private property. 1400 is a drop in the bucket compared to what the possible outcome could have been. If you just had to...had to.... Search at night on someone else's property after calling the police why didn't you wait until they arrived to mediate before you almost became the next case on "the first 48" .... I'm glad everything worked out for you but it sure seems that you made decisions at every turn that were counter productive to say the least..


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The lesson here is one related to wind. There is no way you should have expended the battery to auto landing if you only flew 11,000 feet away. Unless you flew away with the wind. Second, why would you not fly it back yourself as opposed to letting it RTH automatically. I have done that fly out until RTH kicks in... When that happens I may let it fly a minute or so but I regain control and fly it back. Especially if the battery is a concern. Then why... Why oh why would you call 911. I'm not one to preach but that was absolutely not a good idea. Your P4 crash landing is not an emergency. Maybe to you it is but to everyone else... No. You probably should have called everything off at the first site of someone in a aggressive posture on their private property. 1400 is a drop in the bucket compared to what the possible outcome could have been. If you just had to...had to.... Search at night on someone else's property after calling the police why didn't you wait until they arrived to mediate before you almost became the next case on "the first 48" .... I'm glad everything worked out for you but it sure seems that you made decisions at every turn that were counter productive to say the least..


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Like I said, I called the cops so I didnt get shot. I disagree that my decisions were counter productive. It was a bad situation I didnt want to be in and take responsibility for but its over. **** happens.
 
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All of this with keeping in sight, bad PR. And to all let's not brag about how far you go but keep it to yourself.
 
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Please post screenshot of flight .... I'd be interested to see how it correlates with your story

Thanks in advance


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It's stories like this that keep me flying! :) Good story! I agree with the other poster about having back-up landing sites. These landing sites can be used for multiple reasons ;-) As long as you learned something and no horses were hurt, the world is a better place now than before your flight. :)
 
It's stories like this that keep me flying! :) Good story! I agree with the other poster about having back-up landing sites. These landing sites can be used for multiple reasons ;-) As long as you learned something and no horses were hurt, the world is a better place now than before your flight. :)
Bryce!! A horse got shot **** it!!
Did you not even bother to read the whole post, I would say horse got hurt!!
 
Horse got shot??? Sorry but I missed that too.... Still want to see the flight log or screenshot of this flight to compare with the story


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I can't judge '50 for landing in a pasture, one of my last long-distance flights ended upside down in a pasture with some horses staring at it! Look closely at the screenshot you'll see a couple horses & a donkey back there[emoji41]
ImageUploadedByPhantomPilots1461962122.389119.jpg
 
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Horse got shot??? Sorry but I missed that too.... Still want to see the flight log or screenshot of this flight to compare with the story


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I think '50 edited that part out! Keep the animal-rights activists off his back[emoji41]
 
Wow, how the guys like to "set you straight"!
I agree that your poor planning, or anyone's, does not constitute an emergency for the police, but he was already out down some private property, with at least one armed guy that wasn't thrilled with the OP and another guy at the his door with a weapon, he did the right thing at that point in time, what, he was supposed to get shot because he made an error in judgement? He had already made his bed at that point, so just relax everyone. He's a grown man who admittedly didn't plan correctly, we have all made mistakes.
It's pretty obvious the wind played a crucial role, not only do I use the UAV forecast app. I actually shift between altitudes to see how the wind is at ground level (33ft) and 200', 400' and sometimes even higher. (Shhhh, I don't want to get castrated because I don't follow guidelines to a tee) I then check a few other of my best apps for winds to see if they correlate with what I am seeing overall, for the best idea in my head I can get of the wind direction and speed. I then usually make a flight plan to fly into the wind, if it's possible, not always but to have a solid grasp of the wind is something as a UAV pilot should be a priority, it is with me.
Second, as a person with a license to carry a concealed, or open firearm, I have to admit, seeing the husband, walking around after already meeting me and knowing what I was doing, would piss me off and I would have likely confronted him, he knows why I am out there and now he's gonna be a tough guy? I hate bullies, always have, and with that, I also do not react well to intimidation, I don't think he was acting like a neighbor but an ***. I am glad you've got your bird back, I know you didn't come on here to tell the story to get hammered by the drone police, of course some ribbing is probably called for as it was a dum dum move lol.

I like to fly at night but I am a fair weather flyer, I like nice calm nights, sure the morning is the calmest usually, and daylight guy is more fun, but for my disabilities flying early is hard unless I stay up all night, my pain levels are too high in morning otherwise I'd love to take advantage more, and I try.
The wind seems to be the biggest thing here by the speed you said you saw on the way home. Where do you live anyway? Curious with all the guns, I'm just saying, I live in Texas, a crap load of guns, but I'll bet in my neighborhood 80% of these well off people wouldn't answer with a gun, you did say farm area though and that's different, when your closest neighbors are 500 yards or more away, and farmers tend to be quick about grabbing a gun to begin with. If someone's knocking, knocking on my door at those hours, I will grab my Kimber .45 or my STI (hand made here in TX!) 1911 but you won't know it, knocking on my door and lurking are completely separate things. Just seemed like maybe you made them angry, and didn't mean too it sounds like, no need for all the hardware though.
Again, glad you made it back and learned to be more careful, I always fly back with more then enough battery and have to burn the last 20% around the yard usually, sometimes I'll leave it so it doesn't take so long to recharge, but I've got two more batteries coming Tuesday!

There's a big difference between a nano drone, a small $130 or even $250 AR parrot and your P4. Read the manual bro, that I don't get, I read my manual before I even got my drone! I read manuals on stuff I am buying all the time online before I even order sometimes, especially something as this UAV, there is a lot to learn coming off a P3S, most of it, if not all of it, can come in handy, that's why it in there, give it a nice waxing, clean her up, read the manual a little more, and on to the next adventure!!
Gute Jagd (good hunting)


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Even when it's in RTH mode pushing the right stick forward will increase the speed of the phantom and if it starts to lose altitude pressing the left stick up will help maintain its altitude if it's trying to auto land . But I'm glad you got her back and learned a valuable lesson.


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I did lose a bird this way once. Always take wind speeds into account. Now, wha I do is fly against the wind so coming back is a breeze


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Sounds like someone who should buy the people he disturbed , a prepaid restaurant card for their trouble at midnight by a non thinking drone pilot.


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After reading this a second time I don't believe it . SHOW us the flight record and prove it.
 
After reading this a second time I don't believe it . SHOW us the flight record and prove it.
Whats to prove he was in a panic and crashed into a field! I've done that a dozen times( only there was no panic or surprise involved)
Even if the logs show an erratic flight that ends in a field, big deal!
What you gonna ask for next, police reports?
E-mails, birth certificates, witness accounts!
Who cares!
The real issue here is the fact that a horse was shot and killed!
 
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If you want to blow smoke do it somewhere else . Takes a big hole to bury a horse.
 

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