Hey all - I'm embarrassed to admit this, but yesterday on a real estate job I hit a utility cable with my P3P. There were several wires on a pole in the front yard of the property, and I was standing not 20 feet from them. I was pulling across the front of the house and brought the bird back towards me quickly for another slow pass, when suddenly the landing gear of the bird hit the wire at probably 15 mph. She tilted sharply, almost 90 degrees, and then almost instantly recovered - probably lost two feet of altitude max. Of course the realtor was standing *right* next to me watching the drone when it happened. I shudder to think what would have happened had it hit the props instead of the gear! So, I was incredibly lucky, and the bird is also an incredible piece of machinery - it continues to amaze me after hundreds of flights. I flew two more batteries on the project, then three more on another project this morning, and everything is functioning perfectly.
I can't believe I didn't see the wire - it was a dark wire against a dark treeline, but it was literally 20 feet right in front of me. Lessons learned: I realize after the fact I had been rushing a bit due to having an observer - which doesn't pay. Need to take my time and relax no matter what. Also, it pays to triple-check obstacles and wires; I had flown the same property the week before and both shoots had to closely watch for the wires on one vertical shot. We just never can let our guard down. Also, it's tempting to smoke the drone back to you as fast as possible in between shots when you're up against the clock for battery life and perfect sunlight. There's a saying in gunfighting: slow is smooth, smooth is fast
These birds are amazing!
I can't believe I didn't see the wire - it was a dark wire against a dark treeline, but it was literally 20 feet right in front of me. Lessons learned: I realize after the fact I had been rushing a bit due to having an observer - which doesn't pay. Need to take my time and relax no matter what. Also, it pays to triple-check obstacles and wires; I had flown the same property the week before and both shoots had to closely watch for the wires on one vertical shot. We just never can let our guard down. Also, it's tempting to smoke the drone back to you as fast as possible in between shots when you're up against the clock for battery life and perfect sunlight. There's a saying in gunfighting: slow is smooth, smooth is fast
These birds are amazing!
