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The prodigal drone has returned!!!

Lil' DronePilot

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Apr 26, 2017
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Age
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Location
Maryland, US
So FOUR months ago, I lost my Mavic to a fly-away (originally posted in "Lost In Bel Air") Thursday I get a call from a gentleman stating while doing a roof inspection of a local business, he found my Mavic, saw my telephone number and called. I arranged pick up and offered compensation for finding my drone, but refused. Now the drone has been MIA for approximately 4 months and during this time Maryland weather has consisted of extreme heat, heavy periods of torrential rain, hail and extreme humidity. Landing on a flat roof top, water rises when it rains and the heat intensifies as there is nothing covering the Mavic from direct sunlight. Having said this, I assume this little Mavic would definitely be out of commission. I brought my drone home and visually inspected what I could: a few slightly rusted screws, fading and a completely unusable smart battery were the obvious findings. I installed a charged battery, turned on both the R/C and the Mavic and alas the Mavic came to life like a Frankenstein. The blinking lights...check; gimbal and camera initiatiating its usual dance... check; GPS lock and ready to fly. I was prompted to update the Mavic software which I had no issues with as I've done so on my other Mavic and the world has not ended. I removed the propellers and initiated the motors. All motors appeared to operate and I was given a notice that the propellers were not installed which was obvious. I flew drone on simulation to see if the electronics would fail or if drone would disconnect with R/C and it did not. I reached out to dJI as I would like to have them inspect the drone thoroughly before I commit to resuming regular flying operations. Still waiting on a response...shocker!!! I will probably attempt flying it in an open field and cycle through 3 batteries to see how it all works out. I don't want to have it drop from the sky and injure someone or damage someone's property.
I can't suggest for others to ensure identifying your Drone so it include telephone or email address in the event that you may be reached in case your drone is lost and found. I know there are many people who shy away from marking their drone which such information and I respect their opinion. I too like my privacy and am selective as to what I choose to have out there. All I'm saying is, identifiers maybe the difference from maybe one day you getting your drone back as I did after four months. I gained a little trust in society that day as there are still people out there willing to do the right thing. Happy flying.

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Great story... looking forward to the first flight report. There's far more good than bad in society, unfortunately there's far more bad press than good.... thanks for doing your bit to reverse that!
Just fly it. It will fly fine. There has been Mavics that gone though worse that are flying about.
 
I like stories like this. This thing is bulletproof. I think it's going to be awhile before we see a drone that can endure abuse like this and still fly.

What caused the flyaway??
 
I like stories like this. This thing is bulletproof. I think it's going to be awhile before we see a drone that can endure abuse like this and still fly.

What caused the flyaway??

The fly away I'll chuck it to operator error. I used Litchi and somewhere through my flight plan it just decided to fly the coop. I let it go believing it would return and lost all visual feed and then gone. I got an app error and should of paused it, flip the sport mode switch and fly it back, but didn't. I searched all over and after a while gave up. I always wondered what happened to it. Did someone find it and keep it? Did it get run over by a 18 wheeler or used as a dog chewy? We'll all those questions came to a stop when it was found and returned.
 
Great story! Give her a going over with some Meguiar's plastic polish/cleaner and she'll look like new again.
 
Great story, it's always nice to hear about honest folks helping people.

Please check the motors properly. Water would have flooded them and you need to be mindful of rust that might have developed.

Rob
 
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Follow up:
I cycled through two batteries on the Mavic and it flew like the first day I got it. I am truly amazed. I took it up 390 ft high let it hover, switched it to sport mode, flew it around, RTH, back up again, video recorded, took pictures, drained battery, was notified, landed, switched battery and repeat... Not one flaw. After 4 months outside in the rigid elements and all that was damaged was the battery. Unbelievable but true. Now I have 2 Mavics. Happy flying!
 
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Great story... looking forward to the first flight report. There's far more good than bad in society, unfortunately there's far more bad press than good.... thanks for doing your bit to reverse that!

Perfectly said.

Glad you got your drone back, Lil' Drone Pilot, and kudos to the guy that found it for doing the right thing. Wish *this* kinda stuff would make the news.
 
Perfectly said.Glad you got your drone back, Lil' Drone Pilot, and kudos to the guy that found it for doing the right thing. Wish *this* kinda stuff would make the news.

Unfortunately this kind of stuff doesn't fit the narrative of any media. There is no news in good news.
 
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On another follow up, I reviewed the SD card today. It was cool being able to see the drone's movement as it drifted away straying from the Litchi flight plan. The drone appeared no higher than 40 feet yet missed trees and other obstacles in what appeared to be its path. Then it slowed down, appeared to want to land and suddenly climbed barely enough altitude to clear building. It's movement appeared to be controlled as if being attracted by some sort of magnet, ultimately drifting above this building with aluminum rooftop and solar panels. There it hovered approximately 5 feet over the solar panels for about13 + minutes like a bee over a flower....then it dropped and the video stopped recording. I assume that's when the battery died. What sucks about this whole thing was that during my Litchi autonomous flight plan, I lost R/C contact with the drone due to an in coming text if I recall correctly. I lost live video feed on my screen and decided I would wait for the drone to RTH as I believed Litchi would when loosing contact with R/C. I should of, could of, would of but didn't and lost my Mavic. I was fortunate that on person decided to call me after he found it. All he wanted in return was for me to call him and let him know if I got it working.
 
Best to pull the black box log from the drone and perhaps upload for analysis so we can better understand what happened
 
On another follow up, I reviewed the SD card today. It was cool being able to see the drone's movement as it drifted away straying from the Litchi flight plan. The drone appeared no higher than 40 feet yet missed trees and other obstacles in what appeared to be its path. Then it slowed down, appeared to want to land and suddenly climbed barely enough altitude to clear building. It's movement appeared to be controlled as if being attracted by some sort of magnet, ultimately drifting above this building with aluminum rooftop and solar panels. There it hovered approximately 5 feet over the solar panels for about13 + minutes like a bee over a flower....then it dropped and the video stopped recording. I assume that's when the battery died. What sucks about this whole thing was that during my Litchi autonomous flight plan, I lost R/C contact with the drone due to an in coming text if I recall correctly. I lost live video feed on my screen and decided I would wait for the drone to RTH as I believed Litchi would when loosing contact with R/C. I should of, could of, would of but didn't and lost my Mavic. I was fortunate that on person decided to call me after he found it. All he wanted in return was for me to call him and let him know if I got it working.
When you were searching for your MP were you close to where it was eventually found?
 
On another follow up, I reviewed the SD card today. It was cool being able to see the drone's movement as it drifted away straying from the Litchi flight plan. The drone appeared no higher than 40 feet yet missed trees and other obstacles in what appeared to be its path. Then it slowed down, appeared to want to land and suddenly climbed barely enough altitude to clear building. It's movement appeared to be controlled as if being attracted by some sort of magnet, ultimately drifting above this building with aluminum rooftop and solar panels. There it hovered approximately 5 feet over the solar panels for about13 + minutes like a bee over a flower....then it dropped and the video stopped recording. I assume that's when the battery died. What sucks about this whole thing was that during my Litchi autonomous flight plan, I lost R/C contact with the drone due to an in coming text if I recall correctly. I lost live video feed on my screen and decided I would wait for the drone to RTH as I believed Litchi would when loosing contact with R/C. I should of, could of, would of but didn't and lost my Mavic. I was fortunate that on person decided to call me after he found it. All he wanted in return was for me to call him and let him know if I got it working.

There’s a Litchi setting for what happens when the drone is finished with a mission. Make sure you have it set to RTH.
 
Just curious where you put your name & number. Mine is under the battery. I am wondering now if it might be better to put it somewhere external.

Glad you got your Mavic back!
 
There’s a Litchi setting for what happens when the drone is finished with a mission. Make sure you have it set to RTH.

Yeah I had that selected. I really don't know what happened, but since purchasing a replacement, I opted out of using Litchi. Now that I have a Mavic to spare sort of speak, may be I'll try my luck again. :)
 
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Just curious where you put your name & number. Mine is under the battery. I am wondering now if it might be better to put it somewhere external.

Glad you got your Mavic back!

I used one of those label makers and made it to say "If found, contact________" and placed it right in the battery compartment of the Mavic. I ensured it was in BOLD letters as it would stand out. I also had my FAA registration number on one of the arms (as it was required at the beginning of the year) and "REWARD" on the other. The FAA number doesn't mean anything to anyone but the FAA. Now your telephone number where you can be reached, that is something everyone knows. You just have to hope your drone has not cause any injury or damage to anyone as someone will surely call.
 
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