What happened with my drone?

alvaropache · Apr 13, 2020

Hi all,
Second post in the forum, first thread but I follow it almost everyday.

Well, after almost 3 and a half months of happy flights, being as careful as possible and avoiding any risk that could end up with my Mini lost, I made a horrible mistake..... I lent it to a friend.
I believe it is clearly his mistake as he got a few wind warnings and that may be it but I would appreciate if your way-more-knowledgeable eyes took a look to the log and let me know when everything started to go south.

I have uploaded to airdata but it is the first time doing it so, excuse me if something is not correct.

Thanks in advance for your help.

sar104 · Apr 13, 2020

That was the wind - over 30 mph out of the west at 500 ft AGL:

The good news - it was autolanding at the end of the log, and so it is pretty clear where it ended up. The bad news - it quite likely landed in the water. On the GE image below it will have landed somewhere on the red line. If it continued to be blown at the same rate then it will have landed on or around the house marked with the yellow pin, but since the wind speed was quite strongly dependent on height it will have landed short of that. How far short is hard to say, so still worth a look along the edge of the water.

alvaropache · Apr 13, 2020

Yeah, that is what I thought. We spent like an hour checking the edge of the water, without any luck, so it must have landed into the water
Thanks for your help @sar104 !!
The guy is a good friend and he offered to buy a new Mini for me

so I should be flying again soon

ChipDjipro · Apr 13, 2020

Good friend. Willing to buy you a new one.

sar104 · Apr 13, 2020

ChipDjipro said:
Good friend. Willing to buy you a new one.

What kind of person, friend or even just acquaintance, would not offer to do that?

OurAngryBadger · Apr 13, 2020

sar104 said:
What kind of person, friend or even just acquaintance, would not offer to do that?

Someone with no money ?‍

sar104 · Apr 13, 2020

Photogad said:
Someone with no money ?‍

Someone with no money should not be risking someone else's equipment that they cannot afford to replace.

umanbean · Apr 13, 2020

Owner error + pilot error = MM in the drink

Two things I will never loan out - my wife and my drones

MAvic_South_Oz · Apr 13, 2020

umanbean said:
Owner error + pilot error = MM in the drink

Two things I will never loan out - my wife and my drones

Can I drop by in an hour and borrow your car then ? ? ?

umanbean · Apr 13, 2020

MAvic_South_Oz said:
Can I drop by in an hour and borrow your car then ? ? ?

Of course!... sure you can make it from Oz to South GA in an hour? hehe

MAvic_South_Oz · Apr 13, 2020

umanbean said:
Of course!... sure you can make it from Oz to South GA in an hour? hehe

"Beam me up Scotty !" ha ha

unionglzr · Apr 14, 2020

umanbean said:
Owner error + pilot error = MM in the drink

Two things I will never loan out - my wife and my drones

well at least the drone......you know the wife is gonna come back?

Gindra · Apr 14, 2020

unionglzr said:
well at least the drone......you know the wife is gonna come back?

Hah. Not if he "loaned her out".

Dakarenduro · Apr 14, 2020

Sorry for your loss and good to hear your buddy will be replacing it.

I still am amazed and probably shouldn't be anymore, but.... the friend sent the drone up 523feet?!?! The 249gram size of an iPhone device...

Seems like this is one of the common "what happened to my MM" theme.

Does the GoFly app have beginner and max distance options? If so you may opt to enable the 'digital leash' before giving one to a friend.

MAvic_South_Oz · Apr 14, 2020

Gindra said:
Hah. Not if he "loaned her out".

No RTH ?
Old tech ?

umanbean · Apr 14, 2020

MAvic_South_Oz said:
Old tech

I won't tell her you said that! ?

BushWacker · Apr 15, 2020

Some wives don't have the RTH enabled...

umanbean · Apr 15, 2020

BushWacker said:
Some wives don't have the RTH enabled...

And some husbands don't want the RTH enabled ?

DanMan32 · Apr 15, 2020

Dakarenduro said:
Sorry for your loss and good to hear your buddy will be replacing it.

I still am amazed and probably shouldn't be anymore, but.... the friend sent the drone up 523feet?!?! The 249gram size of an iPhone device...

Seems like this is one of the common "what happened to my MM" theme.

Does the GoFly app have beginner and max distance options? If so you may opt to enable the 'digital leash' before giving one to a friend.

I believe the default height limit on the Fly is 400ft (120 meters). Still, even at 400ft, might not have made much difference in wind conditions.