I lost my DJI P2+ V2.0 on 12/19 from a 'fly away' as I now understand them.  I've learned my lesson.  My fault 100%.  Weak GPS lock (only 6-7 satellites).  It seemed to fade in & out of GPS lock as I put the bird up.   I read something about a massive solar flare a few days before which had the potential to disrupt GPS signals so don't know if that potentially played a role.
Was simply going for a quick spin off the back deck of my house (1.3AC, surrounded by woods).  Got distracted futzing with the software/inputs and she drifted up over the trees and out of sight.  Panic sets in (also ineffective), I start pushing sticks and now I can't hear her anymore.  Turned off the controller hoping she'd 'return to home' but no such luck (prob no GPS lock so didn't have a home or ability to get there anyways).  I dragged myself and my 3 kids through the woods all around my house to no avail.  The 'find my phantom' feature didn't work (I think b/c no GPS data) nor was there any flight data. Thankfully I had just the day before put a sticker on it with a phone # an email addy in case anyone ever finds it....
So I've learned a series of hard lessons:
1. In general, beginners shouldn't take off without a good GPS lock
2. IF you're going to fly non-GPS 'visually' then you'd better not send the thing up over trees or in wind as it'll go.  Stick to open wide-open parks/fields.
3. WHEN you DO lose sight of it don't just stand there - run for the direction you last saw it in the hopes of somehow re-establishing control / contact or even HEARING the bird.  
With 3.0 I'm going to be much more careful as this is a terribly expensive lesson.  Beginning with installing a GPS beacon that broadcasts over a cellular network I read about on one of these forums somewhere (ordered from Amazon).  Instead of the stock decals I picked up some of those reflective stickers from the local auto shop that normally go on trailers/bikes so that if it does go down at least I'll have a reflective surface as a backup.  Also more practice..much more practice.
Alas, I haven't had a phonecall or email but I have seen vids of folks looking for a lost phantom with another phantom....
Would welcome anyone else for their input to compile a list of 'lessons learned'!
Buggered in NJ-
Warren

Sorry to hear that Warren. I am glad you are in a position to re-invest and persevere- well done!  and thanks for sharing your learning curve with us.  We have all made errors through the red mist of early enthusiasm (well I know I have anyway!)

Let us know how you get on with the new bird--- and continue sharing!
Rod

Keep looking.

Figure a 90 degree cone in the wind direction and search.

Aerial searches are tough, but if you do it, take high rez pics and spend time looking at them in detail. Fiddle with contrast to make the drone possibly pop out a bit in the pic.

How high was it?

also, invest in a GPS tracker.
See http://forum.dji.com/forum.php?m ... age%3D1&lang=en

Very sorry about your Phantom. I would be crying.

I learned the same lesson in different circumstances (totally my fault). Now I will be flying the Inspire One with a Marco Polo tracking unit.

It's been a couple weeks and still no luck/calls/emails...poor thing has been snowed on, rained on....
See the pix of my new V3.0.  Definitely seems more powerful and unquestionably has better GPS satellite pickup than the V2.0 one I lost (despite having done the 'hide the GPS cable' mod).  I would struggle to get 7 or 8 satellites before (only 9 a few times) yet with the new unit I've never had less than 9 and seen 11 and 12 at times.  Strange.  At  any rate, 3 mods: carbon fiber gimble protector, GPS tracker that I can ping via cell phone (great suggestion thx) and also DOT-level highly reflective tape.  I set the thing down in the woods behind my house maybe 200 feet away and when scanning the horizon at night with one of those headlamp lights the thing blew up at me with the reflection.  I pulled off the stock blue stickers, used them as templates on the new stuff and put that on (red in the photo) plus some white stuff on the 'legs'.  As long as I don't put this in the ocean I should be OK !!   Trying to add a picture of it here but does it have to be hosted somewhere?
Warren

Hi same happend to me i got question if you got no connection no more is the done landing than or is it flying further away until the battery is down? I m looking for him rigt now sorry for my englisch
Regards
Gary

gary1@skynet.be Posted at 2015-1-13 04:37
Hi same happend to me i got question if you got no connection no more is the done landing than or is ...

Hi Gary,

I feel for you. It depends what really happend. If you Phantom had a flyaway issue, it would perhaps just fly in one direction until battery power runs out and drop from the sky. If you lost radio signal (would indicate that you flew pretty far away) the Return to home mode would kick in. However, if the return distance is too long, the bird would drop from the sky when running out. It all depends on your battery status and how you configured the settings in your Software. Some people set fot the phantom to just land on the spot as soon as the low battery level warning starts, others fly home.

It's painful, I know. Been flying 15 years, Many crashes etc. I wonder if new pilots rely too much on GPS help now, and not learning the basic flying skills first, head on,escape plan A and B, auto rotations(I know autos don't work on phantom)etc, regular checks and maintenance, like the old days.

Well, if anyone has anything to add to my article - let me know in this thread.....and I will add it if it's simple and works!

http://www.droneflyers.com/2014/ ... m-fly-away-crashes/

I listed some of the most important things as:
1. Don't use it for anything other than when you really want to take footage....flying around the yard is best done with other toys.
2. Take it to large open areas the first number of times you fly it....

It's impossible to avoid all calamities- the key is lowering the percentages...

hey,
tankx for the support markus i dont now how my settings whare i now he was in naza mode and there was a lot of wind he was just drifting whit the wind away and i l tride to get him back but i lost visual then on my phone  connection lost and he was gone  i m gonna stop saerging now and try back tomorro in the daylight but my hope to find him is smal
i l let you now the results of my search
regards
gary

of course you should never take of without a GPS lock, thats common sense i would say because the GPS is the last help to get it back. Did you tried the course lock function? Thats why i never fly without FPV, it gives a lot of safety because you can control the craft when it already disappeared for your eyes.It seems the good old analog FPV is much better than the digital way with the App because a smartphone or app can crash or will loose connection alot easier. If you have analog FPV and the iOSD i would say its impossible to loose the quad cause of wind, especially with a stronger Video TX because you have enough signal and video range to react.

Hi all i gotsome good news i fount it  he was landing 800 meters from ware i was taken off in the backyard of some verry nice people and he got no dammages  those people dit calling thepolice and a friend of me is a police officer and i put it on fb he read this call me ans i pickt it up in the police station yees im so happy now