Hi from Albany, NY

[anotherlab]

I have been flying a Phantom 3 for the last 3 years and getting ready to purchase something with Mavic in the name. I'm trying to decide if it makes sense to buy a MA or M2 now, or wait until the ADB models are announced in a couple of months.

I had mishap with the Phantom and discovered it doesn't handle water landings that well. It still works, but the range took a hit.

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(not the mishap)

 

[Thomas B]

Welcome to the forum from the deserts of Arizona! Enjoy.
... nice vid too!

 

[RickinWaST]

Welcome. There is a dedicated forum for video sharing. Also, do a search for the drone models you are interested in for additional information.

 

[Smokieflies]

Thanks for sharing video. I do not think any of them handle water landings that well without accessories attached.

 

[anotherlab]

Thanks for sharing video. I do not think any of them handle water landings that well without accessories attached.

It was a one of those freak things. I was flying over a small lake in VT and on the second flight, it lost GPS synch and I brought it back in to reboot it. I had a nice clear area to land and while it was landing, a small child started running up to it. I made the decision to bring it down fast and shut it down. It came down too hard, bounced and landed in the water upside down. it was fully submerged for a couple of seconds as I reached in and yanked the battery out for the drone and pull it all out. 100% operator error.

It's not a pleasant sight to see water pouring out the vents of the drone. Water even came out of the micro-sd slot of the camera. The motors did not appear to be damaged, but one of thjem would not spin freely. I twisted it and it loosened right up. I let the drone dry for about a week. I fired it up without any props and it started back up. Gimbol was fine, camera was fine. I put the props back on and it flew just fine. But the range was shot. This is the Phantom 3 Standard, a product not know for having great range. I had installed the Argtek antennas and I had about 1 mi range. Now the range is about 1000 ft before the controller loses contact. Which isn't great, but is more than I expected after what happened.