Lost my whole new setup

[Ohary]

oh yes, I do believe a good remedy is a new one, lol. I scored a deal on a P2 on craigslist for 1/2 price of new from a guy who apparently had no idea how to fly it. Took a few weeks, but of course I was going to buy it for 1/2 price, lol. (I did outfit it with a bunch of extras pushing my spending over a new P2)

 

[koviatt]

recorded the flight:

Used an "Xbox" dvr. They are cheap and only record lower res. The interface and menu is terrible. But it works.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00CLXBFT ... SY165_QL70

There are better units out there now.

 

[badbrad97]

So has anyone ever tried this:

You realize that your battery is dying faster than you can possibly descend.
You still have video and flight control.
You kill the motors with CSC and let it free fall.
CSC again to get motors turning.
Watch altimeter until it is low enough that you can throttle it back up.
Land safely and change underwear.

This would have worked in this case because you knew when you were still a mile up with 10% battery that you weren't going to land.

 

[graves14]

I'm just getting into some long distance FPV, and reading this whole thread is a great education both on recovery techniques and also a lesson that height is our worst enemy given the slow 2m/s decent. I think the CSC might be my panic button if I were in this situation, so I'm off to search for some video evidence it has a chance of success.

Sorry you lost your rig Koviatt! I know it's a small comfort, but your experience and telling it here probably will save several P2's in the end.

 

[Cloud9]

So has anyone ever tried this:

You realize that your battery is dying faster than you can possibly descend.
You still have video and flight control.
You kill the motors with CSC and let it free fall.
CSC again to get motors turning.
Watch altimeter until it is low enough that you can throttle it back up.
Land safely and change underwear.

This would have worked in this case because you knew when you were still a mile up with 10% battery that you weren't going to land.

This could work but there is a VERY small window to pull this off successfully.
You have to account for the slow Phantom startup (restart motors, wait for idle spin then accelerate).

Not to mention the extra drag needed to stabelize from a (probably upside down) freefall.
The slow idle spin before full throttle is a good implementation by DJI, but makes something as time critical as a freefall catch harder than say, a Blade 350QX.

It's definitely a valid last resort in this situation, if you're high enough.

Man would I hate to be in that situation though..

 

[eyecon82]

I would never csc my motors if I didn't know where my Phantom is going to land. This is why we have insurance. It's not worth killing someone accidentally to possibly save your craft from s mile up when you shouldn't even be that high inmost parts of the world

 

[badbrad97]

I would never csc my motors if I didn't know where my Phantom is going to land. This is why we have insurance. It's not worth killing someone accidentally to possibly save your craft from s mile up when you shouldn't even be that high inmost parts of the world

Ok. I see your point, but my point was, this is worst case scenario. Lets say you have a bad battery all of a sudden, it drops to 20% from 80% and starts to autoland while you are still at 400 meters. There is no way you are going to make it down and if it dies, you are still not going to know where it lands anyway.

I am talking about CSC your motors in the hopes of starting them again and landing safely.

I am just trying to see if anyone has done it that's all.

I honestly have never been up that high anyway. I only film about 50 feet up max most of the time.

 

[badbrad97]

I would never csc my motors if I didn't know where my Phantom is going to land. This is why we have insurance. It's not worth killing someone accidentally to possibly save your craft from s mile up when you shouldn't even be that high inmost parts of the world

You have insurance?

 

[eyecon82]

I would never csc my motors if I didn't know where my Phantom is going to land. This is why we have insurance. It's not worth killing someone accidentally to possibly save your craft from s mile up when you shouldn't even be that high inmost parts of the world

You have insurance?

Yes, through homeowners insurance and my amex covers the first 90 days.

 

[RobertMfromLI]

I would never csc my motors if I didn't know where my Phantom is going to land. This is why we have insurance. It's not worth killing someone accidentally to possibly save your craft from s mile up when you shouldn't even be that high inmost parts of the world

Ok. I see your point, but my point was, this is worst case scenario. Lets say you have a bad battery all of a sudden, it drops to 20% from 80% and starts to autoland while you are still at 400 meters. There is no way you are going to make it down and if it dies, you are still not going to know where it lands anyway.

I am talking about CSC your motors in the hopes of starting them again and landing safely.

I am just trying to see if anyone has done it that's all.

I honestly have never been up that high anyway. I only film about 50 feet up max most of the time.

Switch S1 to ATTI and land manually. Done it a few times when literally between it engaging auto-land and it getting near, someone parked right in the "home" spot.

 

[RobertMfromLI]

I would never csc my motors if I didn't know where my Phantom is going to land. This is why we have insurance. It's not worth killing someone accidentally to possibly save your craft from s mile up when you shouldn't even be that high inmost parts of the world

You have insurance?

I do. $1 million through the AMA, a $2 million policy for personal liability, and a $2 million policy for general/professional liability. While I've never come close to landing/crashing near a building or person, I still take this hobby very seriously. At $87 a month (plus 1 year AMA membership fees), to me, it's worth the peace of mind (for at least the property damage part - because I still dread ever hurting someone with the copter).

 

[badbrad97]

I would never csc my motors if I didn't know where my Phantom is going to land. This is why we have insurance. It's not worth killing someone accidentally to possibly save your craft from s mile up when you shouldn't even be that high inmost parts of the world

You have insurance?

I do. $1 million through the AMA, a $2 million policy for personal liability, and a $2 million policy for general/professional liability. While I've never come close to landing/crashing near a building or person, I still take this hobby very seriously. At $87 a month (plus 1 year AMA membership fees), to me, it's worth the peace of mind (for at least the property damage part - because I still dread ever hurting someone with the copter).

I have tried several agencies and none of them where able to cover damage from RC craft. I had looked into AMA coverage, but if I remember it didn't cover you if you were doing it commercially. I would like to find out more information from you. I wouldn't mind paying, if I could get coverage. I have liability and workman's comp for my photography business, but my agent says that covering my quad is a stretch.

 

[RobertMfromLI]

I do. $1 million through the AMA, a $2 million policy for personal liability, and a $2 million policy for general/professional liability. While I've never come close to landing/crashing near a building or person, I still take this hobby very seriously. At $87 a month (plus 1 year AMA membership fees), to me, it's worth the peace of mind (for at least the property damage part - because I still dread ever hurting someone with the copter).

I have tried several agencies and none of them where able to cover damage from RC craft. I had looked into AMA coverage, but if I remember it didn't cover you if you were doing it commercially. I would like to find out more information from you. I wouldn't mind paying, if I could get coverage. I have liability and workman's comp for my photography business, but my agent says that covering my quad is a stretch.

AMA, as you noted, covers "enthusiast/hobbyist" flying but not commercial - nor does it cover the copter itself. My Hiscox plan does not cover damage to equipment, but could (I chose not to cover the copter, or my dSLR's - something I plan on reconsidering as I get more work). It does cover rented equipment though.

If you have a Geico policy, you can "apply" directly through the Geico website (there will be a link for business policies), or, you can go to Hiscox directly. Or, you can find other insurance companies, because I am sure that the Geico/Hiscox partnership is far from the only company that provides such insurance.

Best,
Rob

 

[ussvertigo]

Check out my recent thread on "Motor cut off in flight", similar panic situation trying to get down from high altitude before battery poops out and does it for me. I was afraid to hold throttle down continuously for fear of motor shut off. But I like the CSC move and try to regain control before hitting ground. I can add to that, I accidently cut my motors off at 120-150' and could not restart, probably because it was at an extreme angle and too close to ground. It landed in the middle of the street upside down. The force actually changed the diameter of the prop shafts, so that I had to cut the old ones off and new ones will not screw on. But they turn freely and only two have a very slight wobble when turned. I got a new P2 and will bit by bit rebuild the old one, frame survived. It cracked the GPS ceramic antenna, replaced it but then noticed the main processor on the GPS module is dented and will not work, radio rec won't bind to TX. The IMU shows it responds to movement in the Assistant software so don't know its status yet. The key is to know how far you can go and get back with still a safety margin of battery left for unforeseen stuff. The more we crash, the more we learn.

 

[tom3holer]

I would never csc my motors if I didn't know where my Phantom is going to land. This is why we have insurance. It's not worth killing someone accidentally to possibly save your craft from s mile up when you shouldn't even be that high inmost parts of the world

You have insurance?

I do. $1 million through the AMA, a $2 million policy for personal liability, and a $2 million policy for general/professional liability. While I've never come close to landing/crashing near a building or person, I still take this hobby very seriously. At $87 a month (plus 1 year AMA membership fees), to me, it's worth the peace of mind (for at least the property damage part - because I still dread ever hurting someone with the copter).

I would also question if you were flying outside of "AMA Rules", like out of visual control range thet would not pay.

 

[koviatt]

I agree that AMA would refuse to pay under these flying circumstances.

 

[Crazykaktus]

If you had an iOSD on it you probably would have stood a change to get it back.... Till the battery dies at least.... Sorry for the loss... its going to be a tough find, but I would be out there walking the woods if it happened to me...

 

[koviatt]

Hey Crazy!

If you look at my video in this thread you will see that I had an OSD. Take a look and give me your recommendation!!

 

[steveeds]

I saw page 1 with a lost bird and started reading, I saw it went to page 12 and thought yes there is going to be a happy ending here.

It started out with the "boys having fun then it went all wrong" thing, I knew by page 6 people would give lessons then it would go personal but I was willing to go through that to get to a happy ending.

There was no happy ending and that affects my day in a negative way, so disappointing.

This may not be of help
The Nikon D5100 I got purchased for astrophotography has a tricky thing built into it.

Under effects/selective colours you can select up to 3 colours, in this case it would be red/blue for the phantom for the tape.
I have tested this, what it does (as you would have guessed) is only capture red/blue with everything else in B/W, this makes these colours stand out, it also works in video mode full 1080. Borrow one or the like, and spend a morning filming in this mode, you having nothing to lose and yes I know all this is a reach to insanity but you never know.

Such a sad story this has been.

 

[badbrad97]

I do. $1 million through the AMA, a $2 million policy for personal liability, and a $2 million policy for general/professional liability. While I've never come close to landing/crashing near a building or person, I still take this hobby very seriously. At $87 a month (plus 1 year AMA membership fees), to me, it's worth the peace of mind (for at least the property damage part - because I still dread ever hurting someone with the copter).

I have tried several agencies and none of them where able to cover damage from RC craft. I had looked into AMA coverage, but if I remember it didn't cover you if you were doing it commercially. I would like to find out more information from you. I wouldn't mind paying, if I could get coverage. I have liability and workman's comp for my photography business, but my agent says that covering my quad is a stretch.

AMA, as you noted, covers "enthusiast/hobbyist" flying but not commercial - nor does it cover the copter itself. My Hiscox plan does not cover damage to equipment, but could (I chose not to cover the copter, or my dSLR's - something I plan on reconsidering as I get more work). It does cover rented equipment though.

If you have a Geico policy, you can "apply" directly through the Geico website (there will be a link for business policies), or, you can go to Hiscox directly. Or, you can find other insurance companies, because I am sure that the Geico/Hiscox partnership is far from the only company that provides such insurance.

Best,
Rob

I am definitely checking into this. In the spring, the production company that I am working with is purchasing a DJI S1000 and a Lumix GH4 for me to fly. The way the contract is being written, they are buying it and giving it to me for compensation and then paying me to fly it, but my company is responsible for loss and damages.

I would really hate to drop that thing on a car or house.