Phantom 3 crashed into the ocean

[RedHotPoker]

I think you should get another one. You only need to buy the drone not the controller and charger so its not as bad as buying the full kit.

Plus like you said, it wasn't the phantoms fault and I'm sure you won't do it again and you loved it.

Your young and its a new field. If your motivated you will find ways to make the Phantom pay for itself and before you know it have a fleet all blinking away and ready to work

DJI doesn't sell the Phantom drone alone, no way no how.
So where are you suggesting the unit be purchased...? Curious.

RedHotPoker

 

[mohan]

Available at DJI.com

http://store.dji.com/product/phantom-3-advanced-professional-aircraft-body

DJI doesn't sell the Phantom drone alone, no way no how.
So where are you suggesting the unit be purchased...? Curious.

RedHotPoker

 

[RedHotPoker]

Hey, well what do I know? Hahaha
The price is right too. Get on it. ;-)
I hope my Phantom 3 stays with me, a good long while.

RedHotPoker

 

[antdon]

I've bought every generation of Phantoms so far, and am happy to say I still own them.
I never bought one for any reason other than to take a few very specific photos and some video, and then come home.
I've never planned one out that would require more than 12 minutes total.
I sometimes get the shots and have plenty of time left, but I keep the bird well in sight.
For those who are in it for distance and altitude records ... thanks for the research and testing.

^^ This is true. Well said...

I think flying drones are comparable to riding a street bike (motorcycle) per say... no matter how many times you say you'll never pick that bike up on a wheelie.. eventually its bound to happen.

I think people get WAY to comfortable flying and try to break records... and instead end up losing it completely.

 

[RedHotPoker]

I presently 'rYde' a Can Am SpYder RS-S Roadster.
There are no wheelies involved here. Just all out fun...
I used to pull the front tire high off of the road, while riding my Kawasaki Ninja 600R. That was 30 years ago. Hopefully I have grown a little more mature and some what wiser over those last three decades. ;-)
Now I just do burn outs and lay down long patches of smoking rubber behind me... Hahaha
Hey the girls love it, what can I say...
"Give me some Sugar, Baby!"

RedHotPoker

 

[antdon]

****!! What were you thinking??!! It does say about a one mile range, you fly it out over the ocean, and at night and let it keep going? yes I am an actual private pilot, there is something about winds. Obviously you had a strong tail wind going out, and then you turned it to come in, and it probably was trying to fly full speed, but not moving much going into the wind. Be thankful at least you werent in a real aircraft flying at night running out of gas and having to ditch.
Thats ok dont feel bad, I f flew mine into some trees on the lake behind my house, about 2 weeks ago. seems the thing lost signal for a few seconds and I flew it into the branches, and it fell into the water about 6 ft deep. Havent been able to recover it yet. Have you found out if DJI will sell a replacement only copter? I finally got a reply back after a week, and they said yea, return the controller (I guess to verify I really bought it) and they would sell me a new one at 30% discount, or almost $900. ok they are pricing it as a replacement for same price you can buy the whole kit. I think this is a rip off because obviously people crash these all the time, but your controller and battery charger, didnt go into the drink!
Just next time I would recommend going out into open country not over water, and preferably flat land, to do these endurance tests, but Im sure youcve thought of that by now! lol. That way if it doesnt make it all the way back to your feet, then at least it will autoland when it hits 5-10% and hopefully in a flat area you can recover it.
When I first got it and got on this site I read similar stories, one guy summed it up best:
"This is not a hobby for the squeamish" lol...

6ft deep? how come you haven't jumped in as yet? Crocs?

Message me your address please Ill give you your footage if you let me keep the drone after I recover it.

 

[ScottyT]

6ft deep? how come you haven't jumped in as yet? Crocs?

Message me your address please Ill give you your footage if you let me keep the drone after I recover it.

Ha, I like it. I doubt it will be of much use to you though, now.

 

[koviatt]

Well I can honestly say I know how this feels. Both the desire to push the limits and the feeling of loss when something goes wrong. If you want some good reading, go over to the P2 forum and search for "Lost my whole setup!" In my case it was high altitude and winds aloft that led to my demise. That was 14 months ago. I just this week replaced it with a P3P.

Sorry for your loss. Best of luck on your new unit. Have you ordered it yet? (Smiling).

Kent

 

[skyeboysteve]

The Phantom uses less corrections for flight in atti, it also pitches harder into the wind and uses extra thrust. You get more distance out of it vs any extra tiny bit of extra voltage you may use from further pitching into the sky. You will get at least an extra 5mph faster or more (depending on conditions) flying in ATTI vs P-GPS mode and that little bit can make all the difference in the world.

I tested this again today. I see no difference in speed. Yes if you fly the same HEADING you'll get a faster speed in ATTI if you're not flying directly against or with the wind. But if you fly the same COURSE, (compensating for cross wind) as you'd be doing when making a beeline for home with low battery, you don't see any difference in speed.

Try letting your P3 drift with the wind in ATTI mode to get wind direction drawn on your map, then fly in the drift direction indicated so you don't experience any cross wind component. Then switch to P-GPS and keep flying the same heading: Your ground speed remains the same.

 

[BenDronePilot]

I tested this again today. I see no difference in speed. Yes if you fly the same HEADING you'll get a faster speed in ATTI if you're not flying directly against or with the wind. But if you fly the same COURSE, (compensating for cross wind) as you'd be doing when making a beeline for home with low battery, you don't see any difference in speed.

Try letting your P3 drift with the wind in ATTI mode to get wind direction drawn on your map, then fly in the drift direction indicated so you don't experience any cross wind component. Then switch to P-GPS and keep flying the same heading: Your ground speed remains the same.

It's well known to people who use Atti that it does get and keep your Phantom up to speed faster. On my p2 and p3 Atti mode consistently allows me more speed in all flying conditions and directions I have used it in. You can even test this in the DJI flight simulator which also reflects the change. Also check out people's long range flight videos and whenever they do an Atti mode switch you always consistently see their speed move up along with that switch. There's really little debate to be had that if you are in a bit of a crunch and need to get your phantom moving up to speed faster then Atti is the way to go.

 

[duse500]

Given the same conditions ,,,Will you get more distance from the Battery at 3/4 throttle or full throttle??

 

[MattyDread]

This is edge of the seat stuff on the return leg - I notice he switches to Atti mode about 10secs into the flight & averages 17+ metres per second (62kph + ) or 38mph + for you imperial peoples.

Balls of steel or just dumb?

 

[GhostMaster]

Balls of steel and experience...

 

[JKDSensei]

Given the same conditions ,,,Will you get more distance from the Battery at 3/4 throttle or full throttle??

I'll try not to sound like a geek but......

Good question actually.

. Anything related to the Phantom's own propulsion that increases speed is likely to increase power consumption as well. With the possible exception that "some" of the energy required to resist gravitational forces is offset by lift from forward motion...even with the Phantom....which is why it will begin to rise as forward speed increases given the same throttle setting. So flying at very low forward speeds (on a graph), might consume more energy per meter than one flying at the optimal forward speed (Vc). (Theoretical)

I have no idea how a situation that hinged on absolute DISTANCE would play out with the P3 in terms of speed vs battery life, and it would definitely be great to know in situations such as the OP's....but I do know that in my vehicles on long road trips I go MUCH further at a reduced power setting (MPH) than would offset by going faster. This is actually also true when I fly in my associates private plane which has a stated Vc or most efficient cruise speed.

Whether this would translate to the Phantom, I have no idea.

It would be nice if DJI published the Vx characteristics of the Phantom

 

[ScottyT]

Balls of steel or just dumb?

Pretty dumb in that terrain.

 

[skyeboysteve]

It's well known to people who use Atti that it does get and keep your Phantom up to speed faster. On my p2 and p3 Atti mode consistently allows me more speed in all flying conditions and directions I have used it in. You can even test this in the DJI flight simulator which also reflects the change. Also check out people's long range flight videos and whenever they do an Atti mode switch you always consistently see their speed move up along with that switch. There's really little debate to be had that if you are in a bit of a crunch and need to get your phantom moving up to speed faster then Atti is the way to go.

I'm probably hijacking this thread further, but look at this thread: http://www.phantompilots.com/index....oesn't-seem-to-change-speed-like-P2-V+.43200/

I don't have experience with earlier phantom models but from some comments on this thread it appears ATTI mode did help P2s fly faster (while perhaps sacrificing altitude), but like me, they didn't see any extra speed with P3 either. Perhaps you have an uber P3.

***EDIT***
You're right about the simulator, BenDronePilot. I get 4mph faster in ATTI mode there. Just wish I got the same results with actual flight.

 

[skyeboysteve]

I'll try not to sound like a geek but......

Good question actually.

. Anything related to the Phantom's own propulsion that increases speed is likely to increase power consumption as well. With the possible exception that "some" of the energy required to resist gravitational forces is offset by lift from forward motion...even with the Phantom....which is why it will begin to rise as forward speed increases given the same throttle setting. So flying at very low forward speeds (on a graph), might consume more energy per meter than one flying at the optimal forward speed (Vc). (Theoretical)

I have no idea how a situation that hinged on absolute DISTANCE would play out with the P3 in terms of speed vs battery life, and it would definitely be great to know in situations such as the OP's....but I do know that in my vehicles on long road trips I go MUCH further at a reduced power setting (MPH) than would offset by going faster. This is actually also true when I fly in my associates private plane which has a stated Vc or most efficient cruise speed.

Whether this would translate to the Phantom, I have no idea.

It would be nice if DJI published the Vx characteristics of the Phantom

I have a hard time believing a P3 actually generates any positive translational lift like a standard helicopter, but I'm probably wrong about that.

As far as what airspeed to fly for best efficiency, any difference in airspeed less than 40mph AIRSPEED is probably going to provide negligible drag:thrust ratios compared to the efficiency of the motors counteracting gravity as well. When you start getting above 40mph is when cruise speeds become more important when it comes to drag vs power efficiency.

 

[F6Rider]

I do wish the OP would change the title of this thread to 'P3 Auto-landed in the ocean' rather than 'Crashed' as it is mis-leading.

 

[coker]

Yes I made foolish mistake and placed prop guards on with the wrong loctite and I did not realize it weekend the plastic around the motor mounts then th other failure on my part was failing to let I just warmup , by the way I do not have to do on inspire. But regardless I took off and it went crazy and I forced it down and the weakened motor mounts broke but the good side is new she'll should be here Tuesday . Your question was did anyone replace one well yes I did so when I get body fixed I'll be selling one I enjoy flying these things to mud . 1 fpv racer, inspire 1 , 2 - phantoms 3 , 1 qx2 350 blade , 1 qx3 3 350 .

 

[Marlin009]

Yes I made foolish mistake and placed prop guards on with the wrong loctite and I did not realize it weekend the plastic around the motor mounts then th other failure on my part was failing to let I just warmup , by the way I do not have to do on inspire. But regardless I took off and it went crazy and I forced it down and the weakened motor mounts broke but the good side is new she'll should be here Tuesday . Your question was did anyone replace one well yes I did so when I get body fixed I'll be selling one I enjoy flying these things to mud . 1 fpv racer, inspire 1 , 2 - phantoms 3 , 1 qx2 350 blade , 1 qx3 3 350 .

Insert the Clint Eastwood WTF look here.