I screwed up!

[MasterBlaster]

What actually happened here is the P3 just wasn't done landing yet.
It's a new over night landing feature that is not documented in the the last firmware update.

Well thankfully he didn't update the firmware before his flight.
They removed that functionality and didn't tell anyone



Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots mobile app

 

[Numone]

Fantastic news. As long as it hasn't got wet, it could well be fine, so fingers crossed. Keep us updated matey.

 

[Wolfiesden]

Woohooo!
I love happy endings

Me too. Even when they include drones!

 

[fred_lefevre]

Glad you got it back - hope it is ok. I'm over in Oshawa and I thought perhaps if you were close enough I could give you a hand with my P3.

Fred

 

[royster]

Trackman - Yes, Over night landing feature, & only I am the only one that has this app!
The climber I quote; "does 100.00 sound fair?" Seems he does this allot mainly for RC plane/rocket guys, mine would have been only his 2nd drone.
Re- the Syma, although we thought we had the little drones location, its not in that tree, so until we can pinpoint exactly where it is, not much we can do.
Brad, the drone saver, said- "The small ones get carried off by the crows", when I laughed he told me he has had a few cases where little rockets, RC planes will suddenly disappear from the tree/roof they were stuck in, only to show up many yards away on the ground or another tree!
Seems he has seen crows flying off with plane/drone until the weight becomes to much or to their stash, Crows have stash's!
Phantom 3- We fired her up last night, no GPS, moved about 100 yards, no GPS, hmmm. I;m thinking the fall may have broke the antenna, solder points jolted loose?
Should mention on my monitor -little icon showed 8-12 satillites?
I;m going out right now to the Lions soccer park, where I;ve been training I know its a safe, strong GPS area, will report back gentlemen!

 

[royster]

Mikeyonline-
Yes, I was going to mention, For those impossible to climb trees)
Drone saver(Brad) had a device that utilizes a fishing reel attached to a tube of PVC, surgical tubing is used to launch the "bullet" which is a 2' length, well, an arrow of sorts, weighted at pointy end, it shoots(u launch like a bow & arrow) a fishing line over a branch, fishing line is reeled in pulling a thicker string with it, to a much thicker rope, hauled over branch's & so on.
**** thing shoots 60-80' no problem!

 

[RedHotPoker]

Really happy for you, and glad the Phantom 3 is home again with the owner. & Not stuck up some tall evergreens backside...
I play with archery too, 60-80' is nothing. Try several football fields laid end to end. ;-)
But not to veer off topic...
Take care of that drone... Ha

RedHotPoker

 

[royster]

No trees, forests for this guy, we played the video back & on its travels it brushed the tops of 3-4 trees! My altitude read 90' & believe me these tress although high are 50' max, I'm told I didn't allow for the change of the ground elevation, within that 1/2 mile the ground rises over 30-40',
oops!
I;ve been out flying 2 x since that faitfull day & she flies as new now, hardy little bird this Phantom 3!

 

[skipilot1]

Well, you do have to admit from the outside it is a pretty funny scenario don't you think?

Anyway....ideas? (leave auto-play on for several different ideas)

I had this problem when I first started with drones. First a Syma 5C then JXD then a Hubsan 501S. I found one solution that works regularly. The problem with the P3 is that someone is there to catch it as it will not take a fall the way the cheaper drones will.

The best and cheapest solution is to get a child's bow and arrow set. Not much danger there and you can shoot to about 40 feet or so. Check online as there are different ratings. Your arrows will not have a sharp point and you can always file it flat. I use a Li'l Sue. Next buy some 50 to 100 lb test fishing line. Take the line and using some duct tape, tape the string just under the tip of the arrow. Place the fishing reel string on the ground and give it some slack. It will unwind as you shoot. Point your arrow behind the drone and shoot. You have to draw back pretty far as there is not much power in this bow but there is little danger of shooting very far.

If the arrow doesn't come down, cut the string. The arrow may fall to the ground or use another. If all goes well the arrow will drop to the ground. Cut the string from the arrow. Use a pair of gloves and wrap each end of the string around your hand. Using a sawing motion, start pulling down and forward on the string. Even if it is a branch or two higher, the pulling and shanking motion may be enough to bring down the drone. Work the string and you will be able to knock the drone loose.

I have used this technique several times and it has always worked. When I go flying I put the bow, arrows, string and duct tape in my car just in case.

 

[Trackman1]

Good to here things turned out well for you.

 

[royster]

Great tip Skip!
Some very good people here & I thank you all for your concern.
Cheers from Ontario, Canada

 

[gklugie]

Perhaps you should purchase a 3rd drone to fly up and rescue the first two drones.

 

[Tony Clixby]

Fred- I;m North of Toronto by about 40 minutes, near Newmarket.
Wolfiesden - Yes, I begrudgingly admit, its pretty **** funny. Your rescue video, you were so close to hooking that droid! The one that came up after yours, looks like they ran a line from the line hanging from droid, to a guy on the ground for control, looks like it anyway.
So, after calling fire, rescue, hydro with no joy, I called a rock climbing venue in Newmarket & they have a guy that is the RC plane/Drone saviour. I booked him for 4:00pm today & took my dog over to have a look at height of drone, As I approach the grove of trees, my dog starts barking & barking running to me & back into the woods, & there she is, camera/gimbal facing up, my Phantom! I guess the overnight winds, brought her down, battery about 20' away from the body. I;m thinking she dropped, caught a branch, battery went one way & she went the other.
Only marks on it, one prop is solid green from chopping wood!
Haven't fired her up yet, that battery is charging no issues. as you can imagine, I am one happy Phantom flyer. (if I can call myself a flyer after this melee!)

You are luckier than me. Mine hit a tree too. I managed to knock it down from 80ft up but hadn't reckoned on what would happen when it hit the ground. Gimbal broke off. Lots of damage

 

[wju]

Perfect response. What a ray of sunshine and beam of hope...

RedHotPoker

 

[aeronautic1]

Buy a P4 and use it to look for your two lost drones. Once found, charter a helicopter, hang in a harness on 70' of Spectra and coordinate hand signals with pilot to lower you into treetops. Then you can recover all THREE from the tree.

 

[RedHotPoker]

Was your first post, as enlightening as this second message, of love, peace and understanding? Haha

Welcome to the forum, by the way... ;-)
Enjoy your time well spent, while in here...

RedHotPoker

 

[Steve G]

Good luck to you. It's bad enough when you hit a tree and it falls to the ground, but to have it stuck up there. Sucks. Hope you get both back.

 

[RedHotPoker]

"It" was lost & found, discovered/recovered already...govenor!! ;-)
Which post in this thread was most interesting? Ha

RedHotPoker

 

[WetDog]

Ok, let me get this straight...

You crashed a second drone while looking for your first drone you crashed in trees you knew were there because you had crashed your first drone into them AND you live there.

That about sum it up?


As for tips? Yea. Stop flying there.

Not to mention MasterBlaster wants to get more drones involved.

This could be one hella expensive Christmas tree by the time everyone is done.

 

[Tenly]

Fred- I;m North of Toronto by about 40 minutes, near Newmarket.
Wolfiesden - Yes, I begrudgingly admit, its pretty **** funny. Your rescue video, you were so close to hooking that droid! The one that came up after yours, looks like they ran a line from the line hanging from droid, to a guy on the ground for control, looks like it anyway.
So, after calling fire, rescue, hydro with no joy, I called a rock climbing venue in Newmarket & they have a guy that is the RC plane/Drone saviour. I booked him for 4:00pm today & took my dog over to have a look at height of drone, As I approach the grove of trees, my dog starts barking & barking running to me & back into the woods, & there she is, camera/gimbal facing up, my Phantom! I guess the overnight winds, brought her down, battery about 20' away from the body. I;m thinking she dropped, caught a branch, battery went one way & she went the other.
Only marks on it, one prop is solid green from chopping wood!
Haven't fired her up yet, that battery is charging no issues. as you can imagine, I am one happy Phantom flyer. (if I can call myself a flyer after this melee!)

Darn! I'm in Richmond Hill (King/Bathurst). I wanted to come see it!