So while doing some video footage at a local golf course this weekend...I joined the heartbreak-fly-away-club when my Phantom Vision 2 flew away.  I've had mine since September...has performed like a champ for me.  I'm very careful about operating it.  Not sure what happened.  But...on my phone app, it seems to have pinpointed some location under the tab "where's my Phantomvision''.  I have scoured this location...trees and ground.  Would that spot been the last place transmission was made as it kept on flying?

It never went in to fail-safe mode which I have tested before and never had a problem with.

It is the last known position where it still at FPV radio contact so yes the unit could have moved somewhere else after contact was lost.

PanamonCreel Posted at 2015-2-9 22:37
It is the last known position where it still at FPV radio contact so yes the unit could have moved s ...

That was what I thought.
Thanks....
Such a sick feeling to see $1200 fly off like that....

tonycorsoimages Posted at 2015-2-9 22:42
That was what I thought.
Thanks....
Such a sick feeling to see $1200 fly off like that....

Yes I feel your pain,  you can try to make a trajectory from that point where it last lost contact.

I have used it in the past and it worked on both the Phantom and the Inspire when I was pressing the battery beyond its ability to continue to fly the craft.  Sorry for your loss.

Sorry to hear you lost your Phantom.
Hate to say it but I would be looking in that pond. Hope you find it.
These things seem to be water magnets!
And for the record, I would be "Tee'd" off too.
Should be a new slogan..
Fly for Show, Land for dough!

I've heard some operators put 'floaties' on the landing gear for unplanned water landings.  Not sure I'm ready for that.  

My guess is it went into attitude mode and started drifting and decending. Not sure how high you were or what direction the wind was blowing. I lost mine a few months back and spent about 9 days looking for it. I finally found it a little over 2 miles away. I recovered the video and saw what happened. I had about 75% battery left but I was up over 1000' in altitude, when I lost signal the drone started drifting and descending. It was moving through some fog so you can only see white for about 5-7 minutes but it kept a steady decent until it landed. It never regained GPS as it was still drifting with the wind right up until it landed. Luckily for me the never clipped any trees and landed in a small grassy patch. After a few days of searching I got a little smarter about where i searched. The wind was about 10MPH blowing out of the WSW. I just drew a line in the directing and figure out about how much run time the battery had and starting searching along that path. Good luck and don't give up.

teedo757 Posted at 2015-2-10 00:45
My guess is it went into attitude mode and started drifting and decending. Not sure how high you wer ...

Good detective work I am glad you found it. Tony I am sorry you lost yours and I hope you find yours too. I am very worried about fly-aways. It seems no matter how careful people are they still happen. I installed a tracker on mine. I didn't like spending the money but I figure it will give me a better chance of finding it if it goes missing. For me it is worth the $50 bucks a year for the service.

tonycorsoimages Posted at 2015-2-10 00:09
I've heard some operators put 'floaties' on the landing gear for unplanned water landings.  Not sure ...

I think more people are using these:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product ... Id=PP2TAQHSMSX7DMDY

Just strap it to your landing gear.

I don't really think it landed in that pond.  I was up about 200'.  Granted, the wind was gusty...but I've had no issues with it before and it performed well on the first hole flyover.  
A few weeks ago, I was in a pasture on a pretty windy day...was trying to mix with swarms of black birds feeding in the field...and it started to get away from me...so I turned off the transmitter...and it went in to fail safe mode and came right back to me...performed like a champ.  But this was not the case on Saturday.  
When I began to sense it getting away...I put it in to fail safe mode again.  But no luck this time.  It just went with the wind. My battery at that time was about 50%.  
I grabbed a golf cart and headed in that general direction...until I got to the edge of the course and could go no further.  Went back the next day and looked more.  I did pull up Google Earth Maps and mapped out the probable direction it went...lots of woods and pasture land beyond.  I've put the word out to people I know in that area...but not holding out much hope.  

My concern was that at some point...if it did go in to fail safe mode...where would it have ended up if it tried to come back but lost power.  Golf course knows if it shows up somewhere...it's mine. :-/

I truly hope you find it, and if you do please let us know.

I have said it before and not trying to be a smart ass but these Phantoms have a mind of their own and are more like a Salmon than a bird. The latter of which will fly south for the winter and come back, the first of which once gone up stream to Spawn is gone, you'll most likely never see it again.

Northofthe49th Posted at 2015-2-10 06:03
I truly hope you find it, and if you do please let us know.

I have said it before and not trying to ...

I think they are a wonderful device.  
When they work according to design...they work wonderfully.
But when they go awry...they do it in grand style.

tonycorsoimages Posted at 2015-2-10 01:28
I don't really think it landed in that pond.  I was up about 200'.  Granted, the wind was gusty...bu ...

This is exactly what I thought would happen. I have had the fail safe work several times when showing friends the feature. It would make sense that it would regain gps and start heading back but imho there is a bug in the software or it's not coded correctly to recover.  I spent several wasted days searching close the the home point thinking it would eventually get gps and try to fly back home. This was not the case....I have a hard time believing that I could not get a gps lock after 5 minutes of it coasting above the trees. In ithe video I could see it was in Atti mode twitching with every gust of wind. At 200' up and 50% battery I would start looking about 3/4 mile out. They move fast once they loose gps lock and float with the wind.

I would ask the land owners for permission the look and start walking. I did not have one person turn me away when I asked.... I did refer to it as a quad copter and not a drone since drones have  a bad stigma around the name.