Desert railroad photos

[Ray Dunakin]

Wednesday night I went out to the desert east of San Diego, camped out over night near the tracks of the former San Diego & Arizona Railroad. I got up right around sunrise and hiked along the tracks, which pass through an incredible area known as Carrizo Gorge. I was hoping to make it to the famous Goat Canyon Trestle (roughly 700 feet long and 200 feet high), however I didn't get that far.

I flew my Mavic Pro a few times and got some interesting shots:

Some aerial views of Tunnel #20:

Looking south from above Tunnel #20:

Looking east from above Tunnel #20. This area contains traces of the old railroad construction camp:

On the ground, looking south towards Tunnel #20:

This was as far as I got. Unfortunately I crashed my drone pretty badly when I tried to fly it through the tunnel. When it entered the tunnel, it lost GPS signal and started to drift. I tried to back it out but it drifted into the side of the tunnel. I have started a claim on my DJI Care Refresh.

I have video from this trip and will post some later, after I've had time to edit it.

 

[eastsidedronr]

very cool! bummer about the mavic! i just started piecing together the bodie rr last fall. amongst all the other ideas i have for my mavic id like to shoot the bode rr grade looking forward to seeing your video!

 

[PlatinumPilot]

Really?

 

[FuzLogix]

Very nice shots, big shame about the Mavic. Hopefully an important lesson learned!

 

[Ray Dunakin]

Using DJI Care Refresh, I got a replacement drone within a week!

Yesterday I needed to do a brief test flight to make sure it was working properly. So I launched it from the sidewalk in front of our house. I only took it up to just below treetop level, and shot a couple nice photos of the sunset:

 

[FuzLogix]

Using DJI Care Refresh, I got a replacement drone within a week!

Yesterday I needed to do a brief test flight to make sure it was working properly. So I launched it from the sidewalk in front of our house. I only took it up to just below treetop level, and shot a couple nice photos of the sunset:

Welcome back!

 

[BerndM]

Sorry about you crash but happy your replacement arrived quickly.
I am wondering though why the MP crashed into the walls of the tunnel.
When you lose GPS signal, the MP automatically goes into ATTI mode which still allows you full control of the MP via the controller.
Did you still have a good link between your controller and the MP?
Was the MP not responding to your control inputs?

 

[Ray Dunakin]

Sorry about you crash but happy your replacement arrived quickly.
I am wondering though why the MP crashed into the walls of the tunnel.
When you lose GPS signal, the MP automatically goes into ATTI mode which still allows you full control of the MP via the controller.
Did you still have a good link between your controller and the MP?
Was the MP not responding to your control inputs?

It was hard to tell exactly what was happening, for two reasons. One, I wasn't close enough. I had sent the drone up the tracks ahead of me, so I was a couple hundred feet back from the tunnel entrance and could not see the drone once it was in the tunnel. Two, the exposure was set for the bright sunlight outside, so when the drone was in the tunnel the image on screen became very dark.

The Mavic was pointed towards the tunnel opening at the far end. I stopped the drone because it appeared to be drifting to one side, judging by what I could see on screen. But even after I stopped it still was drifting slightly. Then suddenly I heard it crash.

There was also some wind blowing through tunnel, so it's possible that might have been a factor too but I don't know for sure.

 

[Qoncussion]

Sorry about you crash but happy your replacement arrived quickly.
I am wondering though why the MP crashed into the walls of the tunnel.
When you lose GPS signal, the MP automatically goes into ATTI mode which still allows you full control of the MP via the controller.
Did you still have a good link between your controller and the MP?
Was the MP not responding to your control inputs?

The biggest shock to the system is the process of losing GPS. As satellites drop, the drone gets fewer locks, and therefore, less accurate positioning information. The drone makes a few quick adjustments to position itself based on fewer (and fewer) satellites, and bad information. This is where flying into walls comes into play. If indeed it just dropped into ATTI mode, all would be great. But it's the line between GPS and ATTI that cause these problems.