Splash!

NightStorm · Oct 12, 2017

Kennamer · Oct 13, 2017

How to wash a Solo?

brianuc4 · Oct 13, 2017

Solo diving

RichWest · Oct 13, 2017

Bummer...sorry for your loss.

NightStorm · Oct 13, 2017

RichWest said:
Bummer...sorry for your loss.

Thanks. Of the two I have it was the most upgraded: H4B + Peau lens, Green Cube, 800mw transmitter, Mad Dog Brite Lites, mRo GPS.
But I get to do it again.

RichWest · Oct 13, 2017

Nothing like having a backup. Were you able to recover the bird?

NightStorm · Oct 13, 2017

RichWest said:
Nothing like having a backup. Were you able to recover the bird?

No chance. At the scene we used my friend's video to try to estimate where it hit. Thick woods surrounding the pond made getting to the nearby shore tough. My hope was that the lights would still be on and visible through the water but when we got in the area it was clear that there was no chance. The drop-off is severe, it gets deep fast plus the water is so cloudy that everything disappears 12-18 inches down.
We had been out doing some video along the Maine coast for a couple of days. One silver lining was that right before I took off I had this thought to swap out the SDCard "Just in case". If I had not done so I'd have lost about 8 batteries worth of recordings.
I'm also grateful for a couple of lessons learned: first be more aware of the take off conditions. When I lifted off there was a lot of blow into the air of 2-3 inch long brown fragments from marsh vegetation (looked a lot like pine needles, but were not). I'm not sure I could have done much about this first one given that the edge of the pond had few choices for take-off and landing spots but in the future I think I'll start to carry some kind of small tarp-like thing to lay down.
Second was that as I took off I had this thought that the motors sounded "funny", can't put my finger on it but they had a slightly deeper tone to them. Clear-vision hindsight says I should have brought it right back. Next time.

Maddog · Oct 13, 2017

Sorry for your loss. I'm sending you a free set for your spare bird to help ease your pain.

Maddog · Oct 13, 2017

Would be interested to see what the logs say.

NightStorm · Oct 13, 2017

Maddog said:
Sorry for your loss. I'm sending you a free set for your spare bird to help ease your pain.

Thanks, that is most kind of you.
Not likely I'm headed back there, it is 3 hours drive from here. What we need is some kind of "Here lies .." google-maps site showing grave markers for all the downed drones. Gives an opportunity for future salvage operators.

RichWest · Oct 13, 2017

NightStorm said:
No chance. At the scene we used my friend's video to try to estimate where it hit. Thick woods surrounding the pond made getting to the nearby shore tough. My hope was that the lights would still be on and visible through the water but when we got in the area it was clear that there was no chance. The drop-off is severe, it gets deep fast plus the water is so cloudy that everything disappears 12-18 inches down.
We had been out doing some video along the Maine coast for a couple of days. One silver lining was that right before I took off I had this thought to swap out the SDCard "Just in case". If I had not done so I'd have lost about 8 batteries worth of recordings.
I'm also grateful for a couple of lessons learned: first be more aware of the take off conditions. When I lifted off there was a lot of blow into the air of 2-3 inch long brown fragments from marsh vegetation (looked a lot like pine needles, but were not). I'm not sure I could have done much about this first one given that the edge of the pond had few choices for take-off and landing spots but in the future I think I'll start to carry some kind of small tarp-like thing to lay down.
Second was that as I took off I had this thought that the motors sounded "funny", can't put my finger on it but they had a slightly deeper tone to them. Clear-vision hindsight says I should have brought it right back. Next time.

No doubt about hindsight, appreciate you sharing your experience. Clean take off pad is always a good idea, I need to make that a better habit. Even so, stuff happens that we can't plan for or control...life.

Lucky the SD card swap, been there done that, I only use 16GB cards now for that reason. Forced offloading.. I also have a portable 2TB WD harddrive I carry into the field for offloading sd cards, great tool.

Nice assist @Maddog !!!!

Maddog · Oct 13, 2017

Maddog said:
Sorry for your loss. I'm sending you a free set for your spare bird to help ease your pain.

Going out in the mail today. I sent a PM with the tracking number.

Maddog · Oct 13, 2017

RichWest said:
No doubt about hindsight, appreciate you sharing your experience. Clean take off pad is always a good idea, I need to make that a better habit. Even so, stuff happens that we can't plan for or control...life.

Lucky the SD card swap, been there done that, I only use 16GB cards now for that reason. Forced offloading.. I also have a portable 2TB WD harddrive I carry into the field for offloading sd cards, great tool.

Nice assist @Maddog !!!!

Gotta take care of each other since 3DR set us adrift in the sea of humanity.

NightStorm · Oct 13, 2017

Maddog said:
Going out in the mail today. I sent a PM with the tracking number.

That is above and beyond Maddog, thanks!
I'm trying to get a GC & Here order placed at Jester Drones today but seem to have some issue with the Paypal checkout button (I've sent Email). Hopefully I'll be back in the air soon .. miss it already!

RichWest · Oct 13, 2017

Maddog said:
Gotta take care of each other since 3DR set us adrift in the sea of humanity.

Still above and beyond, but yeah I understand... Adrift? More like being on an island with the Aussie Navy's HMAS Open Solo anchored off shore, just waiting for you to swim out....