It has been a fun several weeks with Solo - flying with a little more joy and less worry that with my DIY builds, and capturing some dramatic footage using more complex and smooth cinematic motion that I could not have imagined at this point in my MR flying.
The fun ended abruptly last evening with a splash in the shallow waters on the north side of Penn Cove, Whidbey Island, WA. Had a lovely evening out at the beach with the family
I was running a Multi-Point Cable Cam out over the glassy water at sunset when an unexpected loss in altitude led to the dunk in the cold waters of the Puget Sound.
The Cable:
First point was set (A button) right at the shoreline, about ~8 feet above the water. Headed out about ~150 feet, maintaining altitude (looked to be the same, if not around ~10 feet), tilting cam up, set point #2 (A button). Then continued out In The same direction while ascending and panning right to get some sunset, then set point #3 ending the cable (B button).
The App stated cable would take about 1:07 (?) to complete, and I wanted to run it to come back to starting position, so I brought the time down to about 35 sec to bring it back fast. It came back to the point #1 in cable just fine, kinda fast as expected, sorta seemed like it skipped the second point all together.
Leading to the crash: from point #1 in the cable, while hovering, I adjusted speed of cable to about 45 seconds within the app, and hit play. Solo started moving toward point #2 and it was immediately evident that Solo was losing altitude. In a bit of a panic I fumbled with the sticks to climb (did not work), then fumbled my way to A button which was my Fly:Manual button, and in a Pacific Northwest flash, Solo hit the water.
Down went stock solo, gimbal, and a GoPro Hero 4 Black with Peau 4.35mm.
I was able to recover Solo as it was only about 50 feet or so out in the water. It was a cold wade out, but it had to be done. I’m sure anyone here would have done the same. To sweeten the affair, wife (photographer) had camera at the ready upon my exiting the water.
Despite Solo's dark color in the dusk light and rocky bottom, Solo was easy to spot in the ~5 foot deep water as the still illuminated blue (?) lights gave its position away. The rear props spun off after contacting water. Battery spent the night in a .50 cal ammo can outside and Solo is drip drying from its salty bath. I haven't tried to power anything on, and don't necessarily plan to.
Well I wanted to get 3DR’s take on this so I sent in this narrative with the logs. I certainly ask myself, Did I eff this up? Was I too confident in the Smart Shots' capability to hold altitude? I know a minimal altitude drift is expected (a foot or two?) but nothing that would have sent me in The drink, otherwise I would have never dreamed of setting up a cable that distance from the water. I have set up plenty of cables to date, and many with similar proximity to water, and they have all performed flawlessly. The fact that the reverse of this same cable brought solo back to point #1 tells me something was possibly amiss on the forward leg.
Of note, weather conditions were perfect. No wind. No storms moving in with drastic changes in barometric pressure. Location was a wide open beach, no trees house or buildings - perfect. I believe Sat count was around 9 or 10. This was flight #2. No symptoms prior to crash.
Crashing aside, was a fine evening to fly. Got some great footage. Great memories. Won't quit flying any time soon.
Just a snap from the flight. Video to come.
Happy half-naked former solo owner.
The fun ended abruptly last evening with a splash in the shallow waters on the north side of Penn Cove, Whidbey Island, WA. Had a lovely evening out at the beach with the family
I was running a Multi-Point Cable Cam out over the glassy water at sunset when an unexpected loss in altitude led to the dunk in the cold waters of the Puget Sound.
The Cable:
First point was set (A button) right at the shoreline, about ~8 feet above the water. Headed out about ~150 feet, maintaining altitude (looked to be the same, if not around ~10 feet), tilting cam up, set point #2 (A button). Then continued out In The same direction while ascending and panning right to get some sunset, then set point #3 ending the cable (B button).
The App stated cable would take about 1:07 (?) to complete, and I wanted to run it to come back to starting position, so I brought the time down to about 35 sec to bring it back fast. It came back to the point #1 in cable just fine, kinda fast as expected, sorta seemed like it skipped the second point all together.
Leading to the crash: from point #1 in the cable, while hovering, I adjusted speed of cable to about 45 seconds within the app, and hit play. Solo started moving toward point #2 and it was immediately evident that Solo was losing altitude. In a bit of a panic I fumbled with the sticks to climb (did not work), then fumbled my way to A button which was my Fly:Manual button, and in a Pacific Northwest flash, Solo hit the water.
Down went stock solo, gimbal, and a GoPro Hero 4 Black with Peau 4.35mm.
I was able to recover Solo as it was only about 50 feet or so out in the water. It was a cold wade out, but it had to be done. I’m sure anyone here would have done the same. To sweeten the affair, wife (photographer) had camera at the ready upon my exiting the water.
Despite Solo's dark color in the dusk light and rocky bottom, Solo was easy to spot in the ~5 foot deep water as the still illuminated blue (?) lights gave its position away. The rear props spun off after contacting water. Battery spent the night in a .50 cal ammo can outside and Solo is drip drying from its salty bath. I haven't tried to power anything on, and don't necessarily plan to.
Well I wanted to get 3DR’s take on this so I sent in this narrative with the logs. I certainly ask myself, Did I eff this up? Was I too confident in the Smart Shots' capability to hold altitude? I know a minimal altitude drift is expected (a foot or two?) but nothing that would have sent me in The drink, otherwise I would have never dreamed of setting up a cable that distance from the water. I have set up plenty of cables to date, and many with similar proximity to water, and they have all performed flawlessly. The fact that the reverse of this same cable brought solo back to point #1 tells me something was possibly amiss on the forward leg.
Of note, weather conditions were perfect. No wind. No storms moving in with drastic changes in barometric pressure. Location was a wide open beach, no trees house or buildings - perfect. I believe Sat count was around 9 or 10. This was flight #2. No symptoms prior to crash.
Crashing aside, was a fine evening to fly. Got some great footage. Great memories. Won't quit flying any time soon.
Just a snap from the flight. Video to come.
Happy half-naked former solo owner.
Inanimate objects off personal property and away from any built up areas only, though. Def wouldn't condone this style of operation around any civilization.
