Lost GPS, drifted into tree

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Well, all good things ...

Went out to grab a few shots of the sunset last night. Took off, noticed a low number of GPS sats, bird was drifting (probably in ATTI mode). I had GPS lock when I took off, but lost it right after.

I was going to land, but instead started to ascend anyway. Got dangerously close to a tree, lost GPS again and drifted into it. It buzzsawed some leaves, smacked the ground (from about 30-40 feet high) and took back off again! Frantically, I did a CSC , it came to rest in a neighbors tree, low enough where I could grab it.

Snapped the yaw arm and ribbon cable. One of the props was chipped (about a half inch of it was missing).

The camera was on the ground, looks intact. Doesn't look like too much other damage. I am gonna try repairing her myself with the TBock yaw replacement arm and a new ribbon.

This happened very fast, all within one minute. I hope that I can get her back in flying condition, was planning on shooting at a lake next weekend.

Rob
 
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A very similar thing happened to me! except i drifted into a house!
 
Nate,

Sorry to hear that. It all happened so fast ... I hope that the replacement parts will get her going again. $64 for the yaw arm and ribbon cable from Bock Hobby. According to him, most of the camera damage that occurs is physical. It broke most likely when it hit the ground, the ribbon cable sheared right off. Still have to inspect the gimbal controller board, fingers crossed.

I ordered these parts in the hope of being able to get it back going again for next weekend. The body looks good, motors turn. The shell popped slightly at one part, will reset.

After it hit the ground, it took back off, one of the props was sheared about a half inch back from the tip, which is why it flew out of control. Wound up in the neighbors tree, it was low enough so that I could grab it.

Can I power this on without the camera and gimbal connected to make sure that the motors will still spin up, etc.?

Rob
 
You need to practice ATTI mode so GPS signal or not you should have the skills to control your Phantom back to you.


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots mobile app

I agree. When it got close to the tree, I hesitated, which gave it enough time to drift into the branches. Once that happened, all bets were off.

I have had it since Christmas, with over 100 flights, I have flown in ATTI mode before, but not enough. I have flown from my back yard many times, very weird that I lost the lock yesterday. I am on the East Coast.

Rob
 
You need to practice ATTI mode so GPS signal or not you should have the skills to control your Phantom back to you.


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots mobile app
You are right. Sometimes we to much spoil with gps.
 
You should have no problem starting it without the camera, but I probably wouldn't attempt to fly it too far without the camera.


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots mobile app
 
I am in the Southeastern US. I don't know about anyone else, but I know I have noticed very low sat counts the past 2 evenings. I don't know if it is related to anything. Just mentioning it to see if anyone else has noticed this.


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I noticed I didn't have many sats. I have flown in my backyard many times. I'll be back, just depends whether I can fix this, have to look for more damage on gimbal controller, etc. I didn't record any video, but the flight log shows a rapid descent from 33 ft. I think it hit on one prop, broken a half inch from the tip. After it went back up out of control into the other tree, it stuck in a branch, probably lucky.

I am in Northwest Pa, fwiw.

Rob
 
Hello,

Great news! I have successfully repaired my Standard with parts purchased from Bock Hobby! Big shout out to Tony, his videos were extremely helpful. New yaw arm and ribbon cable. The repair took between 4-5 hours, I was extra careful to not damage the new ribbon or connectors. The ribbon connectors release by flipping up the thin black arm at the rear of the connector. The white line on the ribbon should align with the edge of the connector when properly inserted. The hardest part was looping the ribbon around the arm when making the connection in the camera. The ribbon loops around itself so that the camera will not bind when moving up and down.

I think that I need to make a minor horizon adjustment, other than that I am back in the air !!! Flew two test flights last night, all good.

Rob
 
Exceptional! From lost to golden! Sometimes the distance from freedom or to disaster is the time it takes to know which direction your input moves the bird.... It happens quick! Good job getting back to flying again!!

.
 
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Definitely will be more conservative in flight from now on. Will also try to practice in ATI mode more often.

The repair was an adventure, would not hesitate to order from Bock Hobby again, they were great to deal with!

Rob
 

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