Air 2s The story of a crashed and lost and then found drone

[DanJ]

On Sept. 14 I was out taking stills with the drone.
On the last stop of the day in my rush to get the drone to where I wanted for pics I rushed. Instead of being careful I went sideways and then got the dreaded message that my drone crashed.
Not to worry. I was aware of the "find my drone" function on the controller and confident that I would. It was about a three hundred yard walk to where the drone went down.
Activating the find my drone function on the controller which makes the lights on the drone flash and make a beeping sound, the beeping could be faintly heard. After an hour of searching and the battery finally going dead, it was time to give up.
I filed a flyaway report with DJI and received my replacement within a week but it still bothered me that the photos from that morning were lost.
Then it dawned that the drone had crashed into a tall tree and NOT fallen to the ground. With trees still holding their leaves there was little chance that it would be seen.
Six weeks later with trees bare and having had a few very windy days I made the drive to where the drone went down.
Walking to the spot, the first thing that I saw was the drone sitting in tall, dead grass. It probably fell out of the tree it was in and landed in the grass where weeks earlier I had covered thoroughly.
Upon returning home I pulled the memory card out and voila! the pics from that morning were on the card.
This is the second last shot before the crash.
The drone had crashed into the trees, second group from the left.
A happy ending!

 

[Eagle Eye 62]

I have done that before. Never be in a hurry is the lesson I learned and also never fly sideways unless you are absolutely sure there are no obstacles. Glad you got your drone back.

 

[GFields]

Glad you recovered the drone and retrieved your photos. I've been there and I suspect that many others have as well. Some lessons are always learned the hard way.

 

[DanJ]

Glad you recovered the drone and retrieved your photos. I've been there and I suspect that many others have as well. Some lessons are always learned the hard way.

I definitely learned a lesson.
Never, ever fly the drone sideways unless you can see it and the path is clear.

 

[DanJ]

I have done that before. Never be in a hurry is the lesson I learned and also never fly sideways unless you are absolutely sure there are no obstacles. Glad you got your drone back.

Wise advice.
Thank you.

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

What are you doing with the recovered drone? It may now 'belong' to DJI? But I am more 'interested whether or not you tried its battery and to boot it? If you test any thing I would be inclined to test the battery in the recovered drone.

 

[DanJ]

What are you doing with the recovered drone? It may now 'belong' to DJI? But I am more 'interested whether or not you tried its battery and to boot it? If you test any thing I would be inclined to test the battery in the recovered drone.

I just sent off the drone, battery and all to UPS.
The battery was run dead when using the find my drone feature. It lasted about an hour.
A new battery was sent with the replacement drone anyway and of the three batteries that I have I only take two with me.

 

[robwag]

You were lucky to find it again, talking about flying sideways look at my video. it is very difficult to judge the amount that the rock surface goes in and out going sideways, the side sensors are one thing I miss on my Air 2s.

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[TerryToast]

On Sept. 14 I was out taking stills with the drone.
On the last stop of the day in my rush to get the drone to where I wanted for pics I rushed. Instead of being careful I went sideways and then got the dreaded message that my drone crashed.
Not to worry. I was aware of the "find my drone" function on the controller and confident that I would. It was about a three hundred yard walk to where the drone went down.
Activating the find my drone function on the controller which makes the lights on the drone flash and make a beeping sound, the beeping could be faintly heard. After an hour of searching and the battery finally going dead, it was time to give up.
I filed a flyaway report with DJI and received my replacement within a week but it still bothered me that the photos from that morning were lost.
Then it dawned that the drone had crashed into a tall tree and NOT fallen to the ground. With trees still holding their leaves there was little chance that it would be seen.
Six weeks later with trees bare and having had a few very windy days I made the drive to where the drone went down.
Walking to the spot, the first thing that I saw was the drone sitting in tall, dead grass. It probably fell out of the tree it was in and landed in the grass where weeks earlier I had covered thoroughly.
Upon returning home I pulled the memory card out and voila! the pics from that morning were on the card.
This is the second last shot before the crash.
The drone had crashed into the trees, second group from the left.
A happy ending!
View attachment 156568

I’m not familiar with the “Flyaway replacement” from DJI. If you fly sideways and crash into a tree, DJI will replace your drone?

 

[TerryToast]

You were lucky to find it again, talking about flying sideways look at my video. it is very difficult to judge the amount that the rock surface goes in and out going sideways, the side sensors are one thing I miss on my Air 2s.

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Sorry Rob, which part of your video you are referring to?

I’m also curious, do you edit your videos at all? Your video is 18 minutes long and I can see a number of shots with shakes/wobbles in it, so I’m assuming it’s not edited (except to join the clips and add music)?

 

[DanJ]

I’m not familiar with the “Flyaway replacement” from DJI. If you fly sideways and crash into a tree, DJI will replace your drone?

If you purchase DJI "refresh" insurance, DJI will replace your drone for a price. It's not free and only slightly less than the cost of a drone alone in my case.
DJI Refresh

 

[monteolsen1]

You were lucky to find it again, talking about flying sideways look at my video. it is very difficult to judge the amount that the rock surface goes in and out going sideways, the side sensors are one thing I miss on my Air 2s.

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Could you provide the name of the first orchestral piece that accompanies your video. My memory knows it well but for the life of me, I can't remember its name.

Monte

 

[KI5RLL]

You were lucky to find it again, talking about flying sideways look at my video. it is very difficult to judge the amount that the rock surface goes in and out going sideways, the side sensors are one thing I miss on my Air 2s.

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You were lucky to find it again, talking about flying sideways look at my video. it is very difficult to judge the amount that the rock surface goes in and out going sideways, the side sensors are one thing I miss on my Air 2s.

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@robwag we would love to see some Cape Town
footage over the water and bay there. Especially if you can film some of the Great White sharks that frequent your area. Blue water, white death. Some Great White pics and vids from above would be beautiful footage.

 

[robwag]

Could you provide the name of the first orchestral piece that accompanies your video. My memory knows it well but for the life of me, I can't remember its name.

Monte

Hi Monte, it is called Hallelujah, here is a link, Robert

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[robwag]

Sorry Rob, which part of your video you are referring to?

I’m also curious, do you edit your videos at all? Your video is 18 minutes long and I can see a number of shots with shakes/wobbles in it, so I’m assuming it’s not edited (except to join the clips and add music)?

Hi Terry, look at 3:30min I noticed the rocks were getting closer and stopped and turned and looked to my left and found I was within a meter of the rocks. You are right it is not edited, I do not have programs or brains that can do that.

 

[robwag]

@robwag we would love to see some Cape Town
footage over the water and bay there. Especially if you can film some of the Great White sharks that frequent your area. Blue water, white death. Some Great White pics and vids from above would be beautiful footage

 

[robwag]

Hi KI5RLL, if you want you can see all my Cape Town area Drone, Osmo and GoPro recordings, here is a link to my Utube. Unfortunately I do not have any with Great Whites in them yet.

youtube.com/@robwag007

 

[KI5RLL]

Hi KI5RLL, if you want you can see all my Cape Town area Drone, Osmo and GoPro recordings, here is a link to my Utube. Unfortunately I do not have any with Great Whites in them yet.

youtube.com/@robwag007

Thank you! South Africa is a dream destination, some day.