New drone pilot here. Air 2s was stolen.

[Cosmo0g]

I ordered these free stickers from Pilot Institute. Free FAA Drone Registration Stickers - Pilot Institute

 

[Capt KO]

As stated, ALWAYS mark your drone, name, ph#, reward. Plan on losing it at some point. Happened to me and had it back next day. For $20 reward and good Samaritan.
I would post signs in the area lost just like a lost pet. Reward and ph#.

 

[PHZ]

Another reason to have a REWARD and phone number on your drone

Absolutely! Only takes a minute with a label maker and you have to put your registration number on it anyway. It lets well intended folks do a good deed and vacates all excuses for thievery.

 

[MA2 317]

If all else fails, you can't go wrong with a Sharpie brand of marker pen.

Whether it's the paint pens or the permanent markers, Sharpies will do the job.

https://www.sharpie.com/markers.html

When the FAA passed the rule a while back about having the numbers on the outside of the aircraft rather than the battery compartment, I wrote the numbers on each of the props on my Spark with a Silver Sharpie as a joke.

The FAA didn't specify about the application of the numbers, just have to be displayed on the outside.

I also have a sticker on the Spark itself... 6 point font.



.

 

[Capt KO]

Best advice I give every newbee, Mark It! it will return even if RTH doesn't. Lesson learned (hard way). Good luck Tommy, it can't have gone far unless a tourist grabbed it. Get those signs up asap. Explain it was picked up by bicyclist. Hope your next post is good news.

 

[GFields]

Greetings from Birmingham Alabama, welcome to the forum! Good luck in the recovery process

 

[Chetk7677]

Welcome from central Florida.

 

[Tommyg86]

Hi, my name is Tommy. I've been into RC and photography much of my life, recently I merged the 2 with a Mini 2 and Air 2s purchase. Unfortunately my Air 2s was stolen today. I crashed it and I had to lose sight of it for a few minutes to reach it. When I got to the crash site it was gone. I found some surveillance footage and some guy picked it up and rode off on his bicycle. Someone on FB suggested I post the story here as well so here is the link.

https://m.facebook.com/groups/stolenstuffhawaii/permalink/3134787276783930/?sfnsn=mo&ref=share

I'm pretty devastated, I don't really know what my next move should be now. Keep an eye out for it for me.

Thanks guys and gals

Hi guys, I want to update this thread about my stolen Air 2s.

I have filed a police report and all evidence and information I have on the thief is in the hands of the Police.

Since I have been so concerned with the theft, I forgot to actually figure out why my Air 2s crashed.

The person who referred me here mentioned that this community would be able to discern why my bird went down. I want to do that because it may be that the drone malfunctioned on it's own, in which case DJI CARE REFRESH would be in play. I suspect that it was my error, but it won't hurt to find out. I suspect being near reinforced concrete is what made my bird perform abnormally, but the obstacle sensors completely failed me.

What do I need to do to get that flight log analyzed?

Thanks much for your help,
T

 

[Tommyg86]

You might consider a more positive approach and advertise a reward for the person who found your drone. It's possible that the fellow who found it just needs a little push to do the right thing or a little help in finding you.

There was a recent thread here regarding a person trying to sell what he claimed to be a lost/found drone that you might be interested in.

Anyone in the Tampa Area lose a Cine see ebay

someone found a cine, posted on ebay, if its yours ask dji to lock it ebay link

mavicpilots.com

Good luck recovering the Air 2S.

Tried this, even police are on board with this. They still aren't returning the drone.

 

[Tommyg86]

Sorry to hear that maybe he will try to find the owner ? If you do get it back you should insure it state farm will replace a stolen drone Its $ 75.00 for 1 year but I'm not sure you have that option whare you live ? Good luck hopefully you get it back

Thanks for that information, I'll check it out before I start flying my replacement Air 2s.

 

[Meta4]

What do I need to do to get that flight log analyzed?

Go to DJI Flight Log Viewer | Phantom Help
Follow the instructions there to upload your flight record from your phone or tablet.
That will give you a detailed report on the flight data.
Come back and post a link to the report it provides and someone might be able to analyse it and give you an understanding of the cause of the incident.

 

[Tommyg86]

Go to DJI Flight Log Viewer | Phantom Help
Follow the instructions there to upload your flight record from your phone or tablet.
That will give you a detailed report on the flight data.
Come back and post a link to the report it provides and someone might be able to analyse it and give you an understanding of the cause of the incide

 

[Tommyg86]

DJI Flight Log Viewer | Phantom Help

Upload and view flight logs from your DJI drones

www.phantomhelp.com

 

[Meta4]

DJI Flight Log Viewer | Phantom Help

Upload and view flight logs from your DJI drones

www.phantomhelp.com

You haven't described the incident, what you were trying to do and what happened, but often enough can be worked out from the data to fill in those blanks.
But It's difficult to tell much from your flight data as you were using some kind of automated flight mode and there's no joystick inputs or other clues to tell what happened.

All I can see is that it didn't go far, it didn't go fast, it didn't go high and it collided with something at 1:50.4.

 

[vsasolutions]

Another reason to have a REWARD and phone number on your drone.

Registration number and phone number are huge in recovery. Most people are more honest than we believe. Make it easy for someone to return. Good luck on finding the drone.

 

[DoomMeister]

Registration number and phone number are huge in recovery. Most people are more honest than we believe. Make it easy for someone to return. Good luck on finding the drone.

If you read his original post you would see that he included the serial number, his FAA registration number, and the police report number. It is becoming quite apparent that the person that picked it up did not turn it in to the police or advertise that they found a drone. I think at this point we can safely consider this aircraft stolen.

We see a lot of this in communities in Florida where people walk around or ride bikes wearing backpacks. They are looking for any opportunity to steal property sitting in someone’s yard, an unlocked car, in a golf cart at a store, etc. Basically any target of opportunity to grab something they can make a fast buck on. Guess it is easier to steal than get a job even when businesses are offering top wages and signing bonuses. Go figure!

 

[Tommyg86]

You haven't described the incident, what you were trying to do and what happened, but often enough can be worked out from the data to fill in those blanks.
But It's difficult to tell much from your flight data as you were using some kind of automated flight mode and there's no joystick inputs or other clues to tell what happened.

All I can see is that it didn't go far, it didn't go fast, it didn't go high and it collided with something at 1:50.4.

I was trying to practice a reveal shot where I fly over the edge of that particular building I was on top of. It was my first try and like you said, I wasn't flying fast or far.

From above the building is shaped like a backwards 7 or lower case r. I was positioned roughly at the intersection. The drone was approximately 6ft off the roof of the building and the building is 36 stories. Facing the front of the building, which is the top of the "7" or "r" I flew slowly over the edge while also rotating the gimbal down, as to reveal the huge banyan tree at ground level in front of this building. I estimate that I flew 6-10ft past the edge of the building, approximately 50ft forward from my position. I stopped and inputted left yaw to turn around and fly straight back to my position for another test run.

Here is where things get confusing and this is just my recollection of the events leading to the crash. The drone did not seem to be responding to the left yaw input, or it was rotating very slowly, slower than I was accustomed to. I was in VLOS, and as far as I could tell connection to the drone was still strong. I estimate the drone rotated 50⁰-70⁰ to the left when I began inputting left stick to fly the drone back towards me sideways, while the left yaw completed the 180⁰ turn and I could just fly straight towards me. Very quickly after the left stick action, the drone seemed to bank and dive to the left. I tried to conteract this with back and right yaw, but it was too late.

I really don't know what happened. I recently read that reinforced concrete can mess with the compass and on this flight I stayed close to the building. Any help or ideas would be appreciated.

Thanks.
T

 

[Meta4]

I was trying to practice a reveal shot where I fly over the edge of that particular building I was on top of. It was my first try and like you said, I wasn't flying fast or far.

I'm not sure why, but my usual data reading software doesn't like your flight data and didn't show the joystick inputs.
But using a different tool, I can see teh joystick inputs now.
But you were using a non-standard joystick mode, so it's tricky working out what each stick/direction should do.
Can you tell which joystick mode you were using?

 

[Tommyg86]

I'm not sure why, but my usual data reading software doesn't like your flight data and didn't show the joystick inputs.
But using a different tool, I can see teh joystick inputs now.
But you were using a non-standard joystick mode, so it's tricky working out what each stick/direction should do.
Can you tell which joystick mode you were using?

I was in joystick mode 1

 

[sancap]

I was in joystick mode 1

Why?