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I lost air 2s at sea... after 12% battery drone was not responsive.

tascagdas

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Joined
Aug 8, 2021
Messages
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Age
28
Location
Turkey
I bought my drone 3 weeks ago. i was really enjoying it. Today i lost it. I really didnt understant what happened... is there any one can explain me? There was wind but not too much it was like 25-30 kph

Here i share flight log:

I tried so hard to go back it was 140 meter away from land but it didnt come back.

I jumped to sea and tried to find it. it was 700 meter away and 60 meters deep. and strong current with low visibilty (There is no way i can rescue it)
 
Sorry for your loss. Looking forward to the results from logs. Should be interesting. Flying over water can be unforgiving….as you’ve discovered. I purchased a Rescue Jacket from PhantomRain just for flights like yours. Will land on water for recovery. Cheap insurance
 
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Sorry about the drone, it will be interesting to see what the gurus say.
I have to say I am impressed it flew from 14:26 to 16:55 at 0% battery.
It appears that at 10:55 you did not take the opportunity to bring it home, if correct can I ask why?
 
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If the wind was at your back, nearly impossible to fly back against auto-land and the wind. Altitude would also be a factor with higher winds aloft. Water + low battery + no rescue jacket + headwind = pilot (swimming) error. Autolanding initiates when it senses not enough battery to make it home under present wind conditions. You can fight it but can’t stop it. Sorry
 
Sorry about the drone, it will be interesting to see what the gurus say.
I have to say I am impressed it flew from 14:26 to 16:55 at 0% battery.
It appears that at 10:55 you did not take the opportunity to bring it home, if correctcan I ask why?
there is a sea buoy in fron of me like 180meter away i tried to film it when i film it i still had 12% battery and i was 150 meter away. after that i tried to come back it didnt repond me it just driffted.

Sorry for your loss. Looking forward to the results from logs. Should be interesting. Flying over water can be unforgiving….as you’ve discovered. I purchased a Rescue Jacket from PhantomRain just for flights like yours. Will land on water for recovery. Cheap insurance
yes if i knew this will happen. i would attach 5Liter empty water bottle :D
 
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yes if i knew this will happen. i would attach 5Liter empty water bottle :D


I've seen pictures of it done before. ?


.
 
Did you check my control inputs after 13:00 i was full forward. but it drifted back. and wind was like 30-35 kph (17-22 mph)
 
... I really didnt understant what happened...
...There was wind but not too much it was like 25-30 kph
...tried so hard to go back it was 140 meter away from land but it didnt come back.
Oh my ... you did all mistakes a newbie possibly can make, and you did them all at once ... & over water.

The explanation is that you flew in much stronger winds than what you think ... flew out 2,65 kilometres over the sea with the wind until you had 38% battery left... initiated RTH with a set height of 175m which placed you MA2s in even stronger winds & depleted the battery further both during the ascend & way back. You luckily reached the shore & was only 46m from your HP when you cancelled the RTH ... right there the battery was on 18%. Surprisingly you then steered the MA2s out over the sea again ... And 386m from the HP with a direct headwind back with only 11% battery left ... the lowbattery autolanding started.

You should have aborted the flight when the craft returned from the RTH phase ... you sealed the disaster when you continued to fly.

The reason for this incident was plain & simple ignorance ... both regarding craft functions, how wind usually behaves on higher altitudes & how to manage LiPo batteries.

Here below all relevant... & sad data from the log.

(Click on the chart to make it larger)
1629580546773.png

And here the winds your craft faced up there ...

1629580594649.png
1629580610508.png
 
I tried so hard to go back it was 140 meter away from land but it didnt come back.
Let me guess... you cancelled the return to home countdown to get that last shot,...


1629580866083.png
 
Oh my ... you did all mistakes a newbie possibly can make, and you did them all at once ... & over water.

You should have aborted the flight when the craft returned from the RTH phase ... you sealed the disaster when you continued to fly.

The reason for this incident was plain & simple ignorance ... both regarding craft functions, how wind usually behaves on higher altitudes & how to manage LiPo batteries.
Accurate post. Exactly what I was thinking and I didn't review the logs. This was a painful lesson, you can't fly to %0.
 
Did you check my control inputs after 13:00 i was full forward. but it drifted back. and wind was like 30-35 kph (17-22 mph)
Do you remember this message coming during the low battery auto landing ..?

1629581201258.png
Your full forward stick input didn't mean nothing ... the craft didn't have any power left (1% remained) & was on the way down.
 
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I'm sorry for what happened, but personally I prefer to get back to the take-off point with 30% / 35% battery left and land.
LiPos should not be discharged to less than 2.7 Volts / cell. (3 cells = 8.1 Volts) better not to go below 3.0 volts and they cannot withstand temperatures above 60 ° C.
Unfortunately the battery has abandoned you.
 
... LiPos should not be discharged to less than 2.7 Volts / cell.
Oh no ... below 3V & a LiPo cell will sustain permanent damage & will not be suited for flying ever again (that's why DJI crafts force land when a cell falls below 3V).

LiIon cells on the other hand, can safely be discharged down to minimum 2,5V ... think you got this mixed up.
 
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If you look at the 'artificial horizon" at around 11:36, it is almost central and horizontal meaning the drone was very nearly in the hover position, yet you are commanding maximum forward speed and the drone is moving at around 33mph.
How is that possible? As I understand it the answer is, it is in a strong tail wind, 54kph, and flying downwind, it doesn't need to tilt to move in the desired direction.
In the end you simply drained the battery so much that the then headwind and distance were too much for it to make it home on what power it had left
 
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Oh my ... you did all mistakes a newbie possibly can make, and you did them all at once ... & over water.
wow thanks for answer.
Do you remember this message coming during the low battery auto landing ..?
when this message poped up i was in water. :D tried to catch it. my friend just tried to hold it on air. also current was very strong.

I'm sorry for what happened ...
LiPos should not be discharged to less than 2.7 Volts / cell.
At that time i was not thinking about battery. :D i was just tried to save drone itself.
 
Oh no ... below 3V & a LiPo cell will sustain permanent damage & will not be suited for flying ever again (that's why DJI crafts force land when a cell falls below 3V).

LiIon cells on the other hand, can safely be discharged down to minimum 2,5V ... think you got this mixed up.
Exactly! my mistake, I meant below the threshold of 3 volts per cell.
 
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wow thanks for answer.

Truth is your story is about the worst I've heard, you almost had it in the pocket with a dying battery and you sent it back out over water with a dead one. Look at the feedback you are getting. There are many things that you did wrong that you can learn from if you are able to replace your drone. Just imagining the all messages you had to acknowledge and subsequently ignore to get to the point you did. Ouch.

No one here is happy for your loss, trust me. You are also not the first person to put one in the drink.
 
...you almost had it in the pocket with a dying battery and you sent it back out over water with a dead one. ...
yes... i was not expecting wind that much strong and did not expect drone that much low power when battery is low...

BTW i just ordered air 2 (not s) with 400gb sd card. that hurt too much. [im in hurry because next week my friend has wedding (and she expect droneshots) and after wedding (next weekend) me and gf have a plan to camp]
 
yes... i was not expecting wind that much strong and did not expect drone that much low power when battery is low...

BTW i just ordered air 2 (not s) with 400gb sd card. that hurt too much. [im in hurry because next week my friend has wedding (and she expect droneshots) and after wedding (next weekend) me and gf have a plan to camp]
Cool, use the time you have to learn everything you can. All the functions, warnings, auto-features, everything, and make sure you check and follow your local laws and regulations, whatever they may be in Turkey. We don't want you putting a drone on someone's head.
 
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