I think I'm going to be sick!

Yep, that is nice. Would have been nice to have had it. Definitely something people should look at getting if they are flying over areas where it would be hard to recover their phantom.
 
We share your pain!

Like you, I really can't afford to replace a lost Phantom, at least not in the foreseeable future. I've had two bad crashes, one into a shallow rocky stream, the other into a very tall tree. The Phantom survived but my confidence didn't -- I am now going back to Square One, which is very cautious and methodical flight training, low level, close in, and absolutely nothing fancy. Even when flying at home, over a small meadow, I'll deduct as much as two minutes from my estimated battery/flight time as a safety margin.

I've followed this forum and two other Phantom forums very closely for a few months now. At first I read many fly-away reports but lately it seems the trend is toward serious crashes into water. As someone suggested earlier in this thread, there's an almost magnetic attraction to flying over and filming beaches, ponds, rivers and other bodies of water. I'm in the same boat -- in fact, I bought my Phantom because I live next to an extensive wetland and would love to film and photograph every foot of it.

But... because I know from personal experience that a water crash is generally fatal, I'm rapidly scaling back my plans and sticking closer to dry land. Picking up the pieces or climbing a tree is better than a complete loss in water.

My guess is that once I feel really confident, both in my understanding of the Phantom's limits and as a pilot, that I'll take the risk again of flying over the wetlands. But... until I can fly this thing frontwards and backwards, that will remain quite a ways off.
 
Just like everyone else on here, I feel your pain at the loss of your Phantom and camera. After adding the ARRIS mount to mine, and noticing the dramatically reduced flight time, I added this simple timer to my transmitter. I'm getting 6 1/2 minutes on average with the mount, so I set 5 minutes on the timer so I'll have time to get my butt back home and land, before I wind up landing somewhere I don't want to land! This little timer cost me a grand total of $1.67, shipped from Hong Kong (how do they do that?), from an Ebay seller. A cheap, simple solution for me!

Curt
 

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Curtster, could you give us the link to the ebay vendor? I also have a kitchen timer on my radio but it is much larger than yours, not as cool!
 
When flying fpv I simply use the gopro osd recording timer as my timer, I take note of when I take off normally 15 seconds after I start recording then I can easily tell how long my flight has been. I run test flights and take note of when the first warning light comes on and also when auto land initiates. Then I stay safely within my battery window and if flying over water or anywhere I dont want a forced landing I make sure I do that in the first half of my battery time with my remaining flight being in a much safer area and if pushing battery capacity the last minute will be very close by.

Also on takeoff I ensure there are no red led flashes which could indicate that I havent fully charged my battery, couold be a big mistake switching back to a used battery when flying fpv. You wont see the battery led and it will go down very early, this is why I try to run my batteries down a fair bit each flight to make sure it will flash red if I happen to insert a used battery by mistake.
 
GearLoose said:
Curtster, could you give us the link to the ebay vendor? I also have a kitchen timer on my radio but it is much larger than yours, not as cool!

GL,
The one I bought was from "edeal8" on eBay. There's any number of them out there, I just searched for digital timer and lowest price including shipping. Mine took about 10 days to get here.
Good luck,
Curt
 
martcerv said:
I run test flights and take note of when the first warning light comes on and also when auto land initiates.
I have not yet pushed my battery to the point of auto land. Do you have any control during that time, or does it just ignore all your controls?
 
Lost my Phantom with the sony camera in the lake this morning. I'm so freaking pissed and hurt at the same time. Can't believe it happened to me and it was my worst fear with water. Pissed away 1200 dollars. Woke up early this morning to go to White Rock Lake Spill Way to capture some interesting video since people are not allowed into this area. Long story short battery ran out way quicker then anticipated and it immediately went for a dunk and sunk to the bottom even faster. Can't swim in this very murky lake plus you wouldn't want to. I thought about it for a sec but when I came to my senses I knew that's not what I wanted to do. So long everybody, it was fun learning with this little copter but that's it for me. I got many other adult things that I need to spend my money on in the future. I do have some carbon fiber props still due to me through the mail plus I have the radio. Anyone interested in these items I'll sell the props for 25 shipped and the radio for 50 shipped inside the United States.
I'm sorry about your loss. It hurts just reading your story but at the same time it's making me and others aware of the risks involved when flying over water. I just bought the new Phantom 3 and I'm baby'ing it like crazy but at the same time I did get a little balsy the other day when I flew it over a cliff overlooking the Pacific. I got some nice video out of it and get this, it was my first FPV flight!! Now I'm thinking it that the risks involved aren't worth me losing my new Phantom to some strong head wind or something. Also, I discovered that there are indeed some pretty intense vortices right as you go over the cliff. Ugh! Still feeling your pain! Thank you for posting and hope you can get back on that horse!
 
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Holy post resurrection from 2013 Batman!
 
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Holy post resurrection from 2013 Batman!

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PS - @Mario_SB - Hello! It is a pleasure to welcome you to the Phantom Pilots forum. I hope that you will take advantage of the benefits that come with membership and that you will be able to use the forum for the exchange of innovative ideas and as a resource for current developments in Phantom quadcopter’s. Enjoy the forum.
 
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