The prodigal drone has returned!!!

[Lil' DronePilot]

When you were searching for your MP were you close to where it was eventually found?

I sent my flight logs to a gentleman ( CyberPower###) here in the forum as he advised. Using my coordinates from the logs I had downloaded from my phone as instructed, he was able to provide information where the MP may have landed. He also was able to see that my drone went into ATTI mode twice during its flight. This was probably when I should of Sport mode it and manually flown it back. I guess since I couldn't see the video feed, I let it go believing it would RTH. That didn't happen and I chucked it as operator error and a loss. I searched and searched and could find it. I had passed close by the location where it was found a few times. Unfortunately by being on the roof of this business, I missed it every time.

 

[Lil' DronePilot]

Best to pull the black box log from the drone and perhaps upload for analysis so we can better understand what happened

Would this be logged in to my SD card?

 

[Crayons]

Great to see another good news story in this forum. Backs up my experience that the MP is astonishingly robust (delicate gimbal aside)

 

[Stride8]

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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GET SOME INSURANCE ON IT FROM sTATEFARM

 

[mavicn00b]

Its

Would this be logged in to my SD card?

It's on the internal Sd card when you hook the mavic up to a PC and run dji assistant.

 

[Lil' DronePilot]

GET SOME INSURANCE ON IT FROM sTATEFARM

I tried getting insurance from State Farm for my replacement. I contacted an agent in my area referred by someone in the Forum. According to the agent, the only way they would insure it was if I had other insurance such as my vehicle, homeowners ect with State Farm and it would cost me about $60 a year. I was not about to change my whole policy over to get my MP insured. My current insurance company covers my drone being lost or damaged under my homeowner's insurance. If the SF agent gave me wrong information and they insure just the MP, please advise and I will look into it again.

 

[WilsonFlyer]

If you send it to DJI, they are going to find a hundred reasons why it's ot OK to fly because it's been (obviously) exposed to extreme elements.

Just fly it like you stole it, because essentially, you did. So what if it screws up? You never expected to see it again anyway.

 

[Bryman]

I have my Mavic insured thru state farm. It's the only thing I have insured from state farm. I think the agent misled you.

 

[flightmike]

I tried getting insurance from State Farm for my replacement. I contacted an agent in my area referred by someone in the Forum. According to the agent, the only way they would insure it was if I had other insurance such as my vehicle, homeowners ect with State Farm and it would cost me about $60 a year. I was not about to change my whole policy over to get my MP insured. My current insurance company covers my drone being lost or damaged under my homeowner's insurance. If the SF agent gave me wrong information and they insure just the MP, please advise and I will look into it again.

Call another agent in your area unless they changed they should sell you a stand alone policy. It took me a couple agents to find one that would listen. Of course they want to sell you a full new policy.
I had to walk the agent through it but she got it done.
By the way I told her she can send me a quote when my homeowners policy is due but no promises.

 

[MrsTreat]

I have my Mavic insured thru state farm. It's the only thing I have insured from state farm. I think the agent misled you.

Self insure if you can afford to buy new drone. SF is out to make $$. So if you can be your own insurance comp you can make money too by being your own insurer. Think about it.

 

[98 SNAKE EATER]

Amazing story

And here I am worried about breaking sumthin just pulling it out of the box lol

Question:

On a fly away, aren't you able to track the Mavic's location using the map?

 

[JeepDSL]

pull the black box log from the drone

I've asked if there is any value in the black box logs (Any value in Black Box log files?) and have not gotten any useful response one way or the other. Based on the lack of response, I assume they aren't of any use. People always ask for the flight logs, either .TXT from the mobile device or .DAT from the drone.

 

[98 SNAKE EATER]

I tried getting insurance from State Farm for my replacement. I contacted an agent in my area referred by someone in the Forum. According to the agent, the only way they would insure it was if I had other insurance such as my vehicle, homeowners ect with State Farm and it would cost me about $60 a year. I was not about to change my whole policy over to get my MP insured. My current insurance company covers my drone being lost or damaged under my homeowner's insurance. If the SF agent gave me wrong information and they insure just the MP, please advise and I will look into it again.

I recently insured my MP through SF and used the same agent that was listed in the SF thread.

I have nothing else insured with SF and it's definitely not required, but they did ask if it was ok to have them give me a quote on Automobile and Home insurance.

 

[TheLightSpeed!]

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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Awesome man! Congrats! That's so awesome!

I wonder if you had the dome on it when it went down? At any rate it looks like it "landed" instead of crashing to earth.

If I were you, I wouldn't go through DJI. #1 reason is your warranty is toast. #2 they will frustrate the crap out of you.

If I were you I'd send it to @Thunderdrones and have him take a look at it and repair whatever is broken. Something needs replaced and he will probably just replace everything and ship it back quickly!

 

[Lil' DronePilot]

Amazing story

And here I am worried about breaking sumthin just pulling it out of the box lol

Question:

On a fly away, aren't you able to track the Mavic's location using the map?

Unless you crash the MP with enough force to brake something, I wouldn't worry. Maybe the gimbal and propellers and depending how you crash maybe a arm but Trust me when i tell you we've had some crazy weather in Maryland this summer and the MP survived through it all.

To answer your question, if you are using DJI Go, yes, you can see on the map where it's last location was. Unfortunately unless Litchi has fix this, using Apple application, it does not provide that function; atleast it didn't when I used it.

 

[Lil' DronePilot]

Awesome man! Congrats! That's so awesome!

I wonder if you had the dome on it when it went down? At any rate it looks like it "landed" instead of crashing to earth.

If I were you, I wouldn't go through DJI. #1 reason is your warranty is toast. #2 they will frustrate the crap out of you.

If I were you I'd send it to @Thunderdrones and have him take a look at it and repair whatever is broken. Something needs replaced and he will probably just replace everything and ship it back quickly!

Thanks. The MP seem to be flying as if out of the box, but I may send it to Thundersrones to get it inspected. So far every function on the MP is operable.

 

[TheLightSpeed!]

Thanks. The MP seem to be flying as if out of the box, but I may send it to Thundersrones to get it inspected. So far every function on the MP is operable.

Honestly if it's flying good I would change the props, toss the battery and keep on moving.

 

[Lil' DronePilot]

Honestly if it's flying good I would change the props, toss the battery and keep on moving.

I replaced the battery and flew with the propellers and flew fine. They seem to be fine. I will take your advise just to be on safe side. I've already cancelled sending it to DJI. I do t want my MP to become part of their museum of indestructible MP (if one exist)

 

[Freebird32]

, I lost R/C contact with the drone due to an in coming text if I recall correctly.

I had disconnects when I first got my Mavic. After that, I switched my tablet to airplane mode before I used it with Mavic and fly using OTG cable to the RC. Haven't had any disconnects since then.

 

[Hushpuppy]

Amazing story man!! Good to see that there are good people out there. It makes me feel good to own such a good product. 4 months in the weather and has nothing but few rusted screws and a dead battery. Just amazing!!