Can one of the experts offer insight into what may have happened. I lost signal and it never RTH.
Lost P4P last night. Find my drone and flight log show different spots. Its at neither. Please help
- Thread starter Surfwhiskey
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msinger
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Check out your TXT flight log to see if it explains what happened. You can upload and view it online here. If you'd like other people to review and comment on your flight log, then please post a link back here after you upload it.
Meta4
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The most common possible causes are wind conditions too strong for the Phantom to get back home and flying behind an obstacle like a mountain or building that blocks signal and the return flight.
Providing flight data by following the instructions from post #2 will probably solve the mystery.
It lost signal because you flew it behind the building at the junction of Ocean and Pacific. At that point it was at 101 m MSL, but the building height is 114 m MSL. Your RTH altitude was 70 m above the takeoff point, which is only around 75 m MSL. A straight line back to the homepoint intersects that building, and so it could not RTH and would have stopped and hovered until autolanding on low battery. Looking at the elevation and path back, I'd expect it to have landed on the upper terrace on the NE corner of the building -
Actually looking more carefully - it's marginal whether it would have come down on that terrace. It might have missed it. Here's a more precise predicted path, suggesting that it could also have ended up on the ground.
Wow! Thanks for looking it over not once but twice. This situation has been a valuable learning experience. I realize how many mistakes I made before, during, and even after my flight. The biggest is the importance of preflight safety and settings Check. Making sure everything is set prior to take off is not much more than I expected.
Sorry posted that too soon. I was just saying it’s 5 well spent minutes.
I had gotten overconfident that my P4P would always return. But meanwhile i didn’t adjust RTH height...shameful.
Oh well lesson learned. I have renew optimism that it’ll be recovered now thanks to sar104.
I don’t suppose anyone has thoughts on how to actually retrieve drone if it happens to be on that upper terrace? Specifically on the physical recovering, not so much The Who to talk to part. I was already in this building for an hour sweet talking security into getting on the roof. Too bad I had them looking down on building across the street where I thought AC was located.
I had gotten overconfident that my P4P would always return. But meanwhile i didn’t adjust RTH height...shameful.
Oh well lesson learned. I have renew optimism that it’ll be recovered now thanks to sar104.
I don’t suppose anyone has thoughts on how to actually retrieve drone if it happens to be on that upper terrace? Specifically on the physical recovering, not so much The Who to talk to part. I was already in this building for an hour sweet talking security into getting on the roof. Too bad I had them looking down on building across the street where I thought AC was located.
msinger
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According to your flight log, your Phantom was not flying high enough to reach the top terrace. Look for it here instead:
Why do you think that it was not high enough? As far as I can see the altitude data indicate that it was high enough. Are you taking into account the climb at the end of the recorded flight? The view below is the horizontal 3-D view generated directly from the fligth KML, with the predicited RTH path added. The final recorded point is above the terrace elevation.
msinger
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Based on my calculations, the Phantom either crashed into the side of the building at the point circled in yellow below or auto landed when it determined it was not able to fly through the obstacle.
OK - that's almost exactly the view I posted earlier, and is higher than the terrace. The only question, as I mentioned, is whether it would have ended up above the terrace or just to the left of it.
FOUND IT!
What great help you guys have been. I simply would not have found it without your help.
In fact, I looked up the property manager of the building and called her directly. She was way more understanding than many people I think would have been getting a call from a stranger asking for help finding and retrieving the drone I just allowed to crash into the 30 story building they manage in the heart of downtown. I sent her the screenshot of the predicted flight path.
I’ve marked where they found it. Banged up so it must’ve hit rather than hovering and land.
What great help you guys have been. I simply would not have found it without your help.
In fact, I looked up the property manager of the building and called her directly. She was way more understanding than many people I think would have been getting a call from a stranger asking for help finding and retrieving the drone I just allowed to crash into the 30 story building they manage in the heart of downtown. I sent her the screenshot of the predicted flight path.
I’ve marked where they found it. Banged up so it must’ve hit rather than hovering and land.
msinger
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It looks like you lucked out. It's a good thing it did not drop down to my circled area.
Just stumbled on this post having been away for awhile and it was like reading a good novel, starting with the incident and then the quest, will he find it, won't he? And then the happy ending.
Bloody marvelous, made my day!
Bloody marvelous, made my day!
yeaaaa! The guy who flew his drone dangerously, was inattentive, had a lack of attention to detail and flew out of LOS got it back! What could possibly go wrong in the future?
C'mon man seriously! Maybe as he said, it will be a learning experience.
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