VIDEO of my PV2+ FLYAWAY and RECOVERY

[diverjeb]

Hello all-

I don't believe I posted this here and if so apologies in advance. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjHofl3UY1k

Recently had a flyaway of my PV2+ Morning launch, was going to get up and take a few pics of nice sunrise. Being an actual pilot I usually get a weather briefing including winds aloft prior to a flight so I have an idea as to what to expect. Even though surface winds might be dead calm, winds aloft can be an entirely different story - as they were in this case. Once I reached altitude I lost FPV. I had been having intermittent drop outs of the wifi but it was only on occasion. It usually took a few seconds to reset the wifi and back in business. Today when it reconnected the drone was not holding position and had been blown about a 1/4 mile away. Wifi cuts out again, reconnection is unsuccessful and drone is fast moving out of sight. RTH is initiated but visually I can see that the PV2+ is NOT RTH but still moving away. Within a minute or two it is out of sight over heavily forested area and I feel sick because of it. Wifi connects for the last time and telemetry tells me that battery is 10% and PV2+ is still at altitude and about a mile away from home.

I used the find my phantom feature which gave me the last known reporting point as a reference for starting my search. I was uncertain if the Phantom was 1) attempting to land 2) attempting to RTH 3) being carried by the wind

Assuming it was trying to RTH I searched a wide area from last known point TOWARDS home - no luck.
Using last known point I searched AWAY from home (further away from last known point) under the assumption the wind had carried it away and this is where I ultimately found my PV2+.
It was found 500-800 feet away from last known point. Initial damage assessment : two broken props/ camera ripped off but intact/ Gimbal arm bent/ battery ejected but recharged and working
I took a hair dryer to battery and PV2+ and it started up, flew with new props. Gimbal needs to be repaired / replaced but haven't gotten that far.

FORTUNATELY I was able to retrieve footage from the SD. I believe the PV2+ was attempting to hold position in strong winds, was unable to do so and was blown off course.

The first part of the video is the ground search, the last 10 minutes is the aerial footage of the PV2+ doing spins and being blown off course

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjHofl3UY1k

 

[Great Pumpkin]

What altitude were you attempting to reach before you lost connection and control?

 

[750r]

What happened to the rest of the video specifically the crash ?
You have one nice back yard .
I lost a heli looked for 2 weeks the farmer down the road found it on the back side of his field set it on the seat of my tractor so I know how hard it can be to give up

 

[paulajayne]

Look like the altitude was enough to cause a lost connection - estimate 2500ft +

May have been trying a RTH but wind was too strong.

Not a flyaway but pilot error.

 

[sdtrojan]

without audio it is hard to tell if the motors were working to keep position, but it looks like it was calm at altitude. Would have been nice to see the actual damage to the drone as well, plus the footage of the actual decent and crash.

 

[LandYachtMedia]

He has another video on his youtube page that shows the damage and indicates he was flying at a few thousand feet.

 

[LuvMyTJ]

Being he says he is a pilot it seems strange he would fly his Phantom with such disregard to safety rules (in regards to height). Fortunately he lives in some beautiful country side and his Phantom didn't crash to earth in a more populated area where it may have caused more harm.

-edited to clarify-

 

[diverjeb]

What happened to the rest of the video specifically the crash ?
You have one nice back yard .
I lost a heli looked for 2 weeks the farmer down the road found it on the back side of his field set it on the seat of my tractor so I know how hard it can be to give up

What you see is ALL I got off the card. Whether it stopped recording on its own or battery died - unknown. I lost FPV and was trying to re-establish it as the Phantom was being blown off course. I realized quickly that this was not good but without visual connection I couldn't establish the orientation of the Phantom. My fault entirely. I do not blame the PV2+ at all. I put it in a situation that it should not have been in. But lesson to all- there is no such thing as a routine flight. I should have used more sense and less " just send it up" in this situation. What should have been a 5 minute flight turned into a 4 day recovery.

 

[diverjeb]

Look like the altitude was enough to cause a lost connection - estimate 2500ft +

May have been trying a RTH but wind was too strong.

Not a flyaway but pilot error.

I accept complete responsibility for this lesson. I sent up the Phantom in conditions that were above what it should have been in.

I always PLAN for every flight. Wind direction, speed, location, etc.... I was lulled into security because I was in my backyard, it was DEAD CALM at ground level whereas winds aloft were in the 50's but I didn't get a pilot briefing beforehand. My mistake. I posted this in the hope that people will learn from my mistake.

I have a LOT of mods on the PV2+ and I can get range of 6200ft vertical and almost 2 miles horizontal depending on weather and terrain so 2500ft is not a lot.

After conferring with several UAV pros we have determined that aside from pilot error the PV2+ was most likely trying to RTH and was hindered by the winds aloft - in addition there may have been a compass calibration issue that it encountered which prevented it from RTH and ultimately was blown off course by the winds.

 

[diverjeb]

without audio it is hard to tell if the motors were working to keep position, but it looks like it was calm at altitude. Would have been nice to see the actual damage to the drone as well, plus the footage of the actual decent and crash.

Unfortunately, what you see is all I have. Footage stops without a crash. No audio as the stock DJI PV2+ camera has none. Winds that day were 40+ , gusts in 50's at altitude, dead calm at ground. I think the vid shows the sharp angles of the PV2+ trying to maintain position - your comment welcome.

I DO have an "aftermath" vid I posted. If you go to my youtube page I show the damage of the crash. 3 broken props, damaged gimbal, not much more. Debris was all in a 3 foot area. It came straight down as far as I can tell. Comments welcome.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXt_IXZ6ETU

 

[diverjeb]

Being he says he is a pilot it seems strange he would fly his Phantom with such disregard to safety rules. Fortunately he lives in some beautiful country side and his Phantom didn't crash to earth in a more populated area where it may have caused more harm.

That's right, I'm a pilot in real life. There's no " disregard" for safety as I am aware of all flights in my region by way of ATC monitoring and an active ear to aviation radio as well as a good knowledge of flight traffic.

As for those on the ground, I was in a remote area over an unpopulated land preserve. There is risk in everything, in this situation there was little to no risk of injury. There are a lot of "what if's and Oh ****'s!" on the internet - each of us has them every day. We minimize risk as best we can.

 

[750r]

All good & welcome
You got that right every day things can go one way or the other unless you live in bubble wrap house and never leave it .
Take nothing said to heart sometimes can be a tuff crowd .
I was hoping to see if the problem could be picked out .

 

[LuvMyTJ]

No one is trying to single out the OP as he is not alone. Flying responsibly or being a 'cowboy' can make the difference at this critical point in time where the FAA is planning new rules. Until transponders are standard equipment on hobby UAS, flying at several thousand feet is never safe or responsible no matter where you are even if you think you know all there is to know about flight and airspace. Some risk's are worth it, some are not. Just remember that what you do today will affect us all tomorrow.

 

[rebeccalovie]

almost every time we fly there is that moment of anxiety wondering if you will ever see your drone again lol

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rT8weO ... _JU-ZhLhkQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrRT4Ai ... _JU-ZhLhkQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIoDX-b ... _JU-ZhLhkQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDQ80Mj ... _JU-ZhLhkQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5KVTQl ... kQ&index=7

 

[GoodnNuff]

I wished I could get the 33 minutes and 25 seconds back I spent watching that soliloguy.