Lost drone with wind

[Samantha robinson]

I have just posted another one it wont let me open it also but I cant compare it to anything else they all have zip when I click html ect the files then go for me not to pick up

No .. are you zipping the files?
The file that's needed is a .txt file ... not a zipped text file.

 

[Samantha robinson]

is this right thats the only text file i have?

 

[Samantha robinson]

i also have a crash report if that makes any difference?

 

[Meta4]

is this right thats the only text file i have?

Beautiful .... the summary report looks like this:

DJI Flight Log Viewer | Phantom Help

Upload and view flight logs from your DJI drones

www.phantomhelp.com

Give me a few minutes to look into it and I'll get back to you.

 

[Meta4]

is this right thats the only text file i have?

Looking at the data, at 4:15.6 the Mini was hovering 86 feet up but having trouble holding position.
In gusts it was being set off by up to 0.5 mph.

At 4:40 you initiated RTH and the drone rotated to point towards home and started climbing to the set RTH height which was approx 378 ft.

The important principle with strong winds is that up higher, the wind will be stronger.
In RTH the Mini will try to come home at 18 mph and if the wind is stronger than 18 mph, the mini gets blown backwards.

Back to the data and at 5:35 the Mini is 380 ft high and 400 ft away from home.
It is slowly coming towards home at 3-4 mph.
But a little later it starts to go backwards slowly.
As the gusts come and go, the drone alternates between moving closer and further away.
Over time the wind increases.
The drone is going backwards more than it is making headway and the result is that it's gradually getting further away and at 11:25 it is 886 feet away etc.

At 14:42.2 the drone reaches critical low voltage and starts to autoland which will prevent it from simply crashing to the ground when the battery runs flat.
Signal is lost at 15:13.1 with the drone 900 ft northwest of the launch spot and 176 feet up.

I'll look a little further and get a rough idea of where it might have landed.

 

[Samantha robinson]

Looking at the data, at 4:15.6 the Mini was hovering 86 feet up but having trouble holding position.
In gusts it was being set off by up to 0.5 mph.

At 4:40 you initiated RTH and the drone rotated to point towards home and started climbing to the set RTH height which was approx 378 ft.

The important principle with strong winds is that up higher, the wind will be stronger.
In RTH the Mini will try to come home at 18 mph and if the wind is stronger than 18 mph, the mini gets blown backwards.

Back to the data and at 5:35 the Mini is 380 ft high and 400 ft away from home.
It is slowly coming towards home at 3-4 mph.
But a little later it starts to go backwards slowly.
As the gusts come and go, the drone alternates between moving closer and further away.
Over time the wind increases.
The drone is going backwards more than it is making headway and the result is that it's gradually getting further away and at 11:25 it is 886 feet away etc.

At 14:42.2 the drone reaches critical low voltage and starts to autoland which will prevent it from simply crashing to the ground when the battery runs flat.
Signal is lost at 15:13.1 with the drone 900 ft northwest of the launch spot and 176 feet up.

I'll look a little further and get a rough idea of where it might have landed.

wow thank you so much

 

[Meta4]

wow thank you so much

It's not possible to give an accurate landing spot because when the data stopped the drone was still being blown further NW at 10mph.
It will have continued bloying further away but the wind strength will have reduced as it got closer to the ground.
It was about 200 ft above the ground in that area and descending at approx 1.25 metres/sec so would have travelled approx 200 metres further before landing or crashing into a building.
That puts it somewhere near (or past) Princess Way.
It doesn't look like an easy place to search with a mix of buildings, highway and open areas.
It might have landed safely in the open or maybe not.
Here's the path of teh flight with my estimate of where it went after signal was lost

And a rough search area

 

[Meta4]

wow thank you so much

Having the RTH height set so high turned out to be a mistake.
Leaving the mini up where it couldn't make headway was another.
The correct action would have been to stop the climb to RTH height and/or bring the drone down where the wind was not as strong.
It would have been possible (and easy) to retrieve it that way.

 

[Samantha robinson]

It's not possible to give an accurate landing spot because when the data stopped the drone was still being blown further NW at 10mph.
It will have continued bloying further away but the wind strength will have reduced as it got closer to the ground.
It was about 200 ft above the ground in that area and descending at approx 1.25 metres/sec so would have travelled approx 200 metres further before landing or crashing into a building.
That puts it somewhere near (or past) Princess Way.
It doesn't look like an easy place to search with a mix of buildings, highway and open areas.
It might have landed safely in the open or maybe not.
Here's the path of teh flight with my estimate of where it went after signal was lost

And a rough search area

Thank you so much i will search that area

 

[Samantha robinson]

Having the RTH height set so high turned out to be a mistake.
Leaving the mini up where it couldn't make headway was another.
The correct action would have been to stop the climb to RTH height and/or bring the drone down where the wind was not as strong.
It would have been possible (and easy) to retrieve it that way.

first time flyer expensive 5 mins

 

[Hillmeister]

Hi Samantha,

Hope you’ll find the drone.

Although I’m not yet flying myself and have Been considering the mini, I think this could be useful for you the next time you take off.

Cheers

 

[FoxhallGH]

Welcome to the Forum, and I hope you find your drone.
I just want to point out to you that your Mavic Mini weighs in at under 250g and therefore you do not have to obtain and pay for an 'Operator Registration' through the CAA drone registration scheme - but you most definitely DO have to obey the CAA rules applicable to the use of an 'Unmanned Aerial Vehicle' (UAV). You need to become familiar with the 'Drone Code' so you know where you are allowed to fly. Being new to drones, you probably didn't realise that everything about the flight you have posted, is illegal! You have flown over a built-up area and the loss of your drone illustrates exactly why the rules exist. Please help us keep recreational drone flying out of the eye of the Authorities by obeying the rules. This .pdf file is a good quick reference guide to have, to show you what you are and aren't allowed to do ... https://dronesafe.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Drone-Code_October2019.pdf

I'd also suggest that since it's free, and does educate in regard to flying rules, it would be a good idea for you to get the CAA 'Flyer Registration' - which you can do online referencing these pages ... The Drone and Model Aircraft Code | UK Civil Aviation Authority

Let us know when you find your drone ...

 

[nedcampbell]

I loved the flight analysis! Good luck with your search.

 

[AVInteractive]

UAV Forecast App allows you to put the max wind speed specification in from your aircraft (check your manual), it will quite simply tell you if its safe to fly or not Red or Green, plus a weekly forecast.
EG MP2 22 mph anything more don't fly !

 

[Samantha robinson]

I loved the flight analysis! Good luck with your search.

Still no luck

 

[Samantha robinson]

first time flyer expensive 5 mins

Still no joy been searching all day thanks for your help

 

[sar104]

It's not possible to give an accurate landing spot because when the data stopped the drone was still being blown further NW at 10mph.
It will have continued bloying further away but the wind strength will have reduced as it got closer to the ground.
It was about 200 ft above the ground in that area and descending at approx 1.25 metres/sec so would have travelled approx 200 metres further before landing or crashing into a building.
That puts it somewhere near (or past) Princess Way.
It doesn't look like an easy place to search with a mix of buildings, highway and open areas.
It might have landed safely in the open or maybe not.
Here's the path of teh flight with my estimate of where it went after signal was lost

And a rough search area

Actually I don't think it went quite that far. If you extrapolate the descent rate to ground level in that area you get the following:



Course is pretty steady, which helps:



On the map, that translates to the following extrapolated track if the drift and descent rates remain constant:



While the descent rate should stay constant, the drift rate, as you noted, should decrease, and so that extrapolation represents the furthest it should have travelled before landing. The reduced drift rate should put it on the ground somewhere in the yellow area:

 

[Gkinghrn]

maybe create an account on UAVdata , upload your logs and then share that with the guys here if it’s too difficult to grab stuff from your phone ..

 

[sar104]

maybe create an account on UAVdata , upload your logs and then share that with the guys here if it’s too difficult to grab stuff from your phone ..

The flight log has already been posted - multiple times in fact.

 

[Samantha robinson]

Actually I don't think it went quite that far. If you extrapolate the descent rate to ground level in that area you get the following:

View attachment 99103

Course is pretty steady, which helps:

View attachment 99104

On the map, that translates to the following extrapolated track if the drift and descent rates remain constant:

View attachment 99105

While the descent rate should stay constant, the drift rate, as you noted, should decrease, and so that extrapolation represents the furthest it should have travelled before landing. The reduced drift rate should put it on the ground somewhere in the yellow area:

View attachment 99111

Still no joy thanks for your help