iPad dead during flight

[DPM1952]

I was flying yesterday and my iPad went dead as I had forgot to charge it up .Lucky I could see my drone so I could bring it back.Has this happened to anyone during a flight and do you know if I could of switched to my phone in the middle of a flight.

 

[THE CYBORG]

Why “Lucky I could see my drone” shouldn't you be able to see it at al times

 

[old man mavic]

@DPM1952 what you described is exactly why you need to make sure all the equipment needed for flight is fully charged ,you were very lucky that you had VLOS, and were able to bring the drone home safely,i am not saying this to be clever ,but because it shows how easy it is to get caught out ,thats the reason for a pre-flight check ,you could have switched to your phone but this would have required it to be an Iphone with the same connector for the cable ,or a different cable for android and would have taken time to do ,if the drone was out of sight ,then a RTH would have been the way to go

 

[vindibona1]

Why “Lucky I could see my drone” shouldn't you be able to see it at al times

While techincally yes, but there can be issues with that as well. Have you ever noticed you can follow you drone off into the distance, then take your eyes off of it for one second, and suddenly can no longer identify where it is in the sky? In this case the OP developed an issue where his dead screen took his attention and consequently, even for a moment did not have the drone within his visual element, yet was clearly availalble to be seen. This is not unlike having a small object in your hand, only to accidentally drop it, have it fall through your legs and have to get on your hands and knees to find it, even though it should be right there where it fell.

The OP's experience is yet another reason why I almost never fly without strobes. For me it's the difference between having good visual contact at 400ft vs 1600 ft.

Would not DJI drones automatically return to home if it loses connection, unless you've set the settings to do otherwise?

 

[old man mavic]

While techincally yes, but there can be issues with that as well. Have you ever noticed you can follow you drone off into the distance, then take your eyes off of it for one second, and suddenly can no longer identify where it is in the sky? In this case the OP developed an issue where his dead screen took his attention and consequently, even for a moment did not have the drone within his visual element, yet was clearly availalble to be seen. This is not unlike having a small object in your hand, only to accidentally drop it, have it fall through your legs and have to get on your hands and knees to find it, even though it should be right there where it fell.

The OP's experience is yet another reason why I almost never fly without strobes. For me it's the difference between having good visual contact at 400ft vs 1600 ft.

Would not DJI drones automatically return to home if it loses connection, unless you've set the settings to do otherwise?

@vindibona1 in the OPs case the drone did not loose connection between the RC and drone, just the Ipad switched off thats why he was able to fly it home via LOS, thats why i said maybe a RTH would have been a better reaction if the device crashed

 

[vindibona1]

@vindibona1 in the OPs case the drone did not loose connection between the RC and drone, just the Ipad switched off thats why he was able to fly it home via LOS, thats why i said maybe a RTH would have been a better reaction if the device crashed

I knew exactly that and agree with your that RTH would have been the logical move.

 

[cgmaxed]

I was flying yesterday and my iPad went dead as I had forgot to charge it up .Lucky I could see my drone so I could bring it back.Has this happened to anyone during a flight and do you know if I could of switched to my phone in the middle of a flight.

Yes, you can switch to another device. But, I would probably just press the GO HOME button on the controller, if you temporarily lost sight of it.

 

[cgmaxed]

Why “Lucky I could see my drone” shouldn't you be able to see it at al times

You should, but sometimes, there are moments where you look down at your controller, then look back up and your brain plays tricks on you and you can't see the drone. It's not like people do it on purpose. It's just happens sometimes.

 

[cgmaxed]

@DPM1952 what you described is exactly why you need to make sure all the equipment needed for flight is fully charged ,you were very lucky that you had VLOS, and were able to bring the drone home safely,i am not saying this to be clever ,but because it shows how easy it is to get caught out ,thats the reason for a pre-flight check ,you could have switched to your phone but this would have required it to be an Iphone with the same connector for the cable ,or a different cable for android and would have taken time to do ,if the drone was out of sight ,then a RTH would have been the way to go

All he had to do was press the GO HOME BUTTON, silly.

 

[Chris Rees]

Does the "Phone Charging" option on the controller work with iPads the same as with phones? One would have thought so.

 

[cgmaxed]

Does the "Phone Charging" option on the controller work with iPads the same as with phones? One would have thought so.

Yes

 

[JMMath]

Hit the RTH button on controller and your bird will return. No monitor is needed.......