Drone Down... What next

[IrishmanPDX]

I think it's fairly obvious what happened here and if you all weren't so busy going on about flight regulations, part 107's, permissions and warm milk you would have realized it too.

He was flying in Florida was he not? My brother lives in Florida and he's been bugging me and bugging me "Hey, send me one of your drones". Yeah, like I'm going to gift wrap him up a drone, gimbal and gopro for free... Well, I haven't heard from him recently at all and I think it's fairly obvious. He's "FOUND" a drone...

I expect there to be an email shortly "Yo Bro..... you got a spare controller and tablet?"

Damn (legal) aliens!

 

[USMC86]

Hey Bruce-
Not directed to anyone in particular- just putting it out there so the masses don’t all throw their 2 cents in at once. You were intelligent enough to realize McDill AFB was close by- then Pedals to Paddles submitted additional information as to the distance of Albert Whitted Airport- and then KenMc threw in some visuals- to put a visual substantiating what you all were saying. Today, RiverPilot added the additional risk of flying over vehicles on a bridge which is a whole different can of worms. You need not apologize- information makes us all a bit more educated and hopefully a lot safer. We learn from each other- majority of us are students just looking for knowledge.
RiverPilot- small steps. Just think about it- several months ago, you didn’t even know what your house looked like from 30 feet.

 

[USMC86]

IrishmanPDX- guessing your brother is the more sophisticated one in the family??

 

[IrishmanPDX]

IrishmanPDX- guessing your brother is the more sophisticated one in the family??

Hey... mungo insulted....

 

[USMC86]

Man. You crack me up!!!! Now, my perception is completely different of you.
I use to imagine your drunken ass on your property drinking Irish whiskey, Killian’s or Guinness- in the back of a beat up pick up flying your drone-
Now all I can imagine is you in your Caddy, with your smoking jacket, ugg slippers drinking a nice cabernet! ( and still flying your drone!!)

 

[USMC86]

Oh yeah. and everything is green.
Caddy
Jacket
Uggs
okay. I’m digging that!!

 

[IrishmanPDX]

I never drink and fly or drink and drive (unless it's on the play station, in case my lap times usually improve....). Nor do I smoke (except that one time my brother set me on fire, but I'm pretty sure that was an accident... just like I accidentally punched him in the face for setting me on fire...). I actually do have beat up pickup truck but I've never flown from the back of it, I've done many other things in the back of it but let's keep this PG13.
Ugg's do not make good slippers, dinosaur feet slippers are far more awesome. Caddy? Not on your life... I tend to like cars that can actually go around corners.

AS for a Cabernet Sauvignon, oh please, one simply does not drink such a thing at the start of February, what are we, barbarians?

 

[brianuc4]

To the OP...have you tried using the "find my vehicle" feature on Solex? It's a long shot but maybe it emergency landed near the base of the bridge or something.

 

[Maddog]

Hey... mungo insulted....

Umm- I believe it's "Mongo".
Did you go back and get that s#%t-load of dimes?

 

[Maddog]

I too would love to know what happened. I am nowhere near confident enough to fly over traffic on a bridge. Fly up to it and film it from a distance yes but no way confident enough to run it over freeway traffic. I guess I am a huge wimp hence the reasons my footage is mostly boring nature crap. The city flight stuff around moving traffic or over tall buildings with a single bound I just don't have the balls to attempt. That said, (off topic sorry) I searched FlyAways here and it may be simply explained as Pedals put it. Lost GPS and Transmitter signal same time maybe due to interference/broadcasts signals on the bridge? Super bad luck for sure and what I seen in past threads is it just lands somewhere when that happens after the batteries get low. The smart guys here can pick it apart after you figure out how to upload the logs. Thank you for posting this as I am on this forum to learn and apply this knowledge for my very next flight. Although you are sad your SOLO is gone be happy I/we may learn from your misfortune. I have a little cash reward note on my bird(s) with my cell number along with my UAS number. (If I loose one of them just need to know /hold the pieces as to allow closure to occur) I contemplated not doing this for liability reasons but decided this accountability will increase/influence my judgement flight choices.

Hey, the more experience you gain the more skilled you will become and the more comfortable you will be jumping over tall buildings.

 

[just_bruce]

Umm- I believe it's "Mongo".
Did you go back and get that s#%t-load of dimes?

Did he also hit Billy?

 

[Kamehameha1]

I had clear line of site then flew through the towers (which are open) I feel like the tower may have scrambled the units signal and I don't know what happened after that. Normally it engages return home but didn't get that on the controller. Just signal lost.

She was about 5000 feet away from me laterally and 200 ft in the air

It probably landed on the bridge somewhere or on a vehical or in pieces

 

[Kamehameha1]

It probably went into failsafe and landed on the bridge somewhere or on a vehical

 

[jonbrotherton]

What RTL altitude was set?Could it be that the RTL altitude was not set higher than the towers and it hit a wire or tower during RTL?

Won't help in finding it but could at least explain what happened.

 

[9Franko9]

I have a bridge on our lake that I want to film, could all that steel interfere with solo signal?

 

[USMC86]

I’m sure all that steel isn’t going to work in your favor-

 

[artcuda]

Hey All,

Had an unfortunate series of events take place yesterday in Tampa. I'm here on assignment filming some Broll of the city for a client. I shot several nice drone sequences and was filming near the Skyway bridge to finish the day.

I setup on the North fishing point so I could have close proximity to the bridge. Launched her up and got some nice sequences near the bridge. Then made a long run along side the bridge finishing near the towers. I saw the opening and decided to fly through. Got through and lost signal.

Normally when I lose signal I get the return home protocol from the controller but this time no such thing happened. So I waited for a bit feeling the pressure of the moment to see if it would return... Nothing.

Drove up onto the bridge to see if I could get an eye on the drone. Nothing. Gone.

Not sure why the return home didn't kick in and didn't see the unit on the bridge so I'm expecting it dropped out of the sky and into the water.

In anyone in the Tampa area hears word of a found drone washing up on shore please lmk. I'm interested in recovering the card more than anything. Shame I didn't bring it back and that the fly home protocol didn't kick in but what can you do. Live and learn. Hopefully the card pops up and I get to see the epic free fall footage.

Bolo and if you have any insight on alternative ways to locate the drone lmk.

Thanks all and Happy flying.

Raymond

I had to look up Broll. Naturally I misspelled the word and typed Brole. Urban Dictionary gave me the only meaning. I found that funny. So I continued reading this thread, and became even more impressed with your communication skills via the web. I wanted to thank you; especially for putting into words a long held sentiment I have had regarding people who post extreme 'What if's'. Until now, I have been unable to articulate a tactful reply. Happily ~thanks to you~ that is no longer the case.
You handled member Just-Bruce swimmingly. I thought P2P's response of, " They don't float" was priceless,too. But then comes along member Camexposure. My go-to reply will now be "I'm pretty sure you need a warm bottle and some milk." That right there is a 'crossover' phrase, imo, and is a wonderful way of saying, " Grow the fk up. Time to move on. How about you do the same.". What followed could be used as a form letter, basically. lol. 'Sorry the entirety of (insert subject) was ruined on my behalf.. Maybe it'll go down in history as the second most important (insert subject again) ever behind (example).. Or maybe(example).'

 

[just_bruce]

I do feel handled. Like, stein handled. Or maybe man handled ?Double handled?

Love handled?

 

[artcuda]

I do feel handled. Like, stein handled. Or maybe man handled ?Double handled?

Love handled?

LOL. It can never be said that you aren't a stand up guy. You proved that by coming back in, after researching further, and issuing an apology. Kudo's and a cheers to you. I just got a kick out of your initial freak.

 

[USMC86]

Hey. It’s unfortunate we can’t all get together and shoot the shit in person; it would be one serious hoot. This forum is a tool that allows us to learn- sometimes by member’s accomplishments and at other times, by misfortune. There are a bunch of stand-up guys here- some will share spare parts when needed, free advice, all the education your brain can absorb and timeless contributions to enhance Solo and keeping it in the air. When I put something out there- it’s not with the intent on stepping on toes. When you screw up and lose your drone, that sucks. A little compassion can go a long way. And on the flip side - we have folks like IrishmanPDX- who is always quick to come up with some witty response to bring a smile to your face. When you are dealing with 100 people, you are dealing with 100 personalities- It’s difficult to analyze someone’s intent by simply reading a response unless they are flat out telling you to go f**k yourself. Take care.