I decided to open a new thread since the last one had deteriorated into yet another vitriolic argument replete with near-death threats that so often happens in these forums. I have a theory about what is behind this divisiveness among our troops but I'll save that for another thread at another time.

So here is the final chapter of my doomed Stanford Dish flight...

It took nearly two days and 10 phone calls and as many emails, but within two hours of finally finding the one person who seems to own the dish, I had a badly damaged Inspire back in my hands. The amount of damage seemed excessive. It's in really bad shape. Even the TB48 battery was destroyed. Crushed, it looked like.

I'm thankful that I got it back, and if nothing else, I feel some closure from it. But I found it interesting and disappointing that the SD card was missing. I didn't bother saying anything because I knew if they took it they wouldn't admit it, and if they didn't take it, I'd be accusing them of stealing after they had so graciously retrieved my fallen craft. It seemed like a lose-lose so I just kept my mouth shut. The video would have been great. In all honesty, I'm more disappointed with not having the SD card than the damage to the Inspire.

I now have to think long and hard about what to do next. Get it fixed (it may very well be totaled)? Buy a new one? Stick to the Phantom 2V+?

I have very much enjoyed the Inspire, and now that the choice is in front of me, my heart wants to replace it but my head tells me the ideal product for many (most?) of us may be something closer to a Phantom 2V+ with a 4K camera. The Phantom is easier to carry around and requires almost no fuss getting it ready to fly and putting it away afterwards. It also draws less attention now that it's so common. It costs less to replace if you damage or lose it. And with a 4K camera it would provide what I liked most about the Inspire, awesome video. No question the Inspire is a better and more stable platform, particularly in windier conditions, but maybe I could live with that.

The recent price drop on the Phantom and the high price of the Inspire leaves a gap for DJI to fill with a new product that resembles what I just described. Lots to think about.

Please don't ask to buy my Inspire or its parts. I'm not ready to contemplate that yet :-\  

Hey Abe,

Glad you got it back without any further political drama, but sorry to hear about the condition and missing card.

Yeah, would have LOVED to see that footage!  

jimhare Posted at 2015-3-3 10:33
Hey Abe,

Glad you got it back without any further political drama, but sorry to hear about the cond ...

I have a feeling that footage is going to be a #1 hit inside SRI (the group that runs the dish). Maybe it'll end up on YouTube :-)

They may not be able to retrieve it, though. As you know, I didn't stop recording in the "usual" way.

Honestly good for you. No one is after you and I am surprised they were so cooperative. As far as the Phantom 2 Vision + I have an issue with it in the sense that you cannot use a Filter in the Camera. Wheras the Phantom 2 Vision you can add Filters.

rodger Posted at 2015-3-3 10:45
Honestly good for you. No one is after you and I am surprised they were so cooperative. As far as th ...

Yes, I agree with you, Rodger. The major downside of the Phantom is really the camera (not 4K, no filters, etc.). That's why I feel that a slightly beefier Phantom with an Inspire-quality camera would be the perfect product for many of us. Probably in the $1,500 to $1,800 price range.

Make your own choice Abe, only you know how to make that.
Really sorry for your loss.
Hope you could be back in the air soon.

DJI-Autumn Posted at 2015-3-3 10:49
Make your own choice Abe, only you know how to make that.
Really sorry for your loss.
Hope you ...

Thank you, Autumn!

Glad you got it back Abe.

Given what some have reported in DJI repair costs I wouldnt give up hope yet.

It sounds like there was some fowl play and someone either didnt like you crashing it there, maybe a little jealous of your aircraft or something else. I cant imagine your crash or the dish would manage to combine in removing your card and crushing a battery, that seems odd.  Its disheartening but not the worst outcome that could have happened.

Really sad for your loss a bummer for sure .
What about checking into a replacement craft with camera  only purchase ? Price without radio tx , battery, case , etc. maybe 2000.00 u.s. ?? I wonder ...

Yah know for a battery to crack like that and all that damage sounds like the owner may have taken out some tension on the aircraft before handing it over.
Glad you have closure on this and what a story...BTW screw all the laborious lecturing on this you had a mishap and copped to it in a stand up manner...Case closed, but sadly your air craft needs repair ! Please let us know how this all ends up...Please.

bubo_bubo Posted at 2015-3-3 10:58
Glad you got it back Abe.

Given what some have reported in DJI repair costs I wouldnt give up hope  ...

exactly....what I thought due to the damage.

Any chance the card flew out on impact? Had to be an extreme crash landing to crush the battery. . . Never know I guess.  On your comment about forgetting to stop recording, ill admit I've lost two great flight recordings by not hitting the stop button! If recording can auto shutoff on landing, that be a great firmware update feature!!! Sorry again for your loss!!!

daver/m Posted at 2015-3-3 11:18
Really sad for your loss a bummer for sure .
What about checking into a replacement craft with camer ...

Daver/m,

I sent a message to DJI asking if I could buy just the aircraft and camera, but no response yet. We'll see...

Abe the internal card that records the Flight Data Logs is not lost.  DJI can retrieve them.  Just some consolation for you.

MainlineAerial Posted at 2015-3-3 11:35
Any chance the card flew out on impact? Had to be an extreme crash landing to crush the battery. . . ...

Yes, it's certainly possible the card flew out on impact. The thing is that it probably dropped about 50 feet and landed on a curving surface (a dish!). So while I'm a little skeptical that so much damage would occur, I also don't know what joy anyone would get in purposely doing more damage, so I refrain from pointing fingers.

Tahoe_Ed Posted at 2015-3-3 11:39
Abe the internal card that records the Flight Data Logs is not lost.  DJI can retrieve them.  Just s ...

Thanks, Ed. There's no video recorded in that card, is there?

I curious, perhaps I didn't read something, the person found your crashed aircraft and returned it to you without a memory card in it? If he wanted to be a total prick he wouldn't have given the aircraft back would he? Perhaps he doesn't care for drones in his airspace, this is a common thread with privacy advocates. We do need to remember that some folks find us repulsive and a threat to their privacy and some think we threaten national security. There are folks that WILL shoot your UAV out of the sky. I don't know perhaps he just doesn't like you, maybe he has a grow op and you photographed it..

Abe Posted at 2015-3-3 11:48
Thanks, Ed. There's no video recorded in that card, is there?

No but the complete flight data logs are there.  They tell much more that any video can.  

Tahoe_Ed Posted at 2015-3-3 12:06
No but the complete flight data logs are there.  They tell much more that any video can.

Oh, I see. Well, actually in this case I know exactly what happened. I misjudged how far away I was from a large iron post and flew my Inspire directly into it. I take full responsibility. The flight logs would just rub it in :-)
The reason the video would be awesome is that I flew over a spectacularly beautiful park with a huge, 150-foot SETI dish (before crashing into it). It would be really great to have seen it.

Dangair Posted at 2015-3-3 11:49
I curious, perhaps I didn't read something, the person found your crashed aircraft and returned it t ...

Or he gave it back damaged and man handled as a message not to come back...You Kids stay off my Seti Dish ...Like in Gran Torino...lol
Not a laughing matter trying to lighten the mood a bit feel bad for the guy.




Now to date two amazing stories here on this forum ...One fly Away and Found and the Closest Encounter of the Worst Kind.
Both good people in the community.

I am really glad to hear you got it back and I know how you feel The sd card is at this point is what I would really want back.
Have you seen the walkera voyager 3 that may be a nice new bird for you.

Hi Abe,

Sorry for your loss. Are you sure the dish is solid?  It looks like it's all steel and open.  I could imagine the Inspire tumbling hard then getting caught in the gaps and tossed like a pachinko ball all the way down to the concrete pad.  A drop of 50' onto that surface would do all of the damage you described.  SD card tossed as well.

Best,

Greg

racerx1492.gmai Posted at 2015-3-3 14:22
Hi Abe,

Sorry for your loss. Are you sure the dish is solid?  It looks like it's all steel and open ...

I was close enough to watch it drop in. It it fell into the curved dish and stayed there. At the time the dish was pointing almost straight up so it was like a bowl. The surface is a hard metal mesh. When it landed it made a loud clanging sound. But it never fell through to the ground. Because you can see through the mesh from below, I could actually see it lying in the dish. Brings back sad memories :-(   It was a long walk back to my car.

Hallo Abe

Really sorry to hear about your loss!
Having crashed mine the weekend (Depth perception error on my part), and also looking a more or less a totalled craft, I really feel for you, and wish you the best.
I'm not going back to the Phantom, for what it's worth, I've gotten a taste of the range and clarity of the video feed, recordings et al where my Phantom struggled, the Inspire just breezed.

As for your SD card,. ...
I agree the most likely scenario is that the staff removed the card for "Security" reasons, (not so far fetched, and I suppose, also not that unreasonable, (if your really think about it, although courtesy explination would have been nice.)
However
Please don't discount completely the possibility that the violence of the crash may have dislodged and ejected the card.
In my case the crash smashed the lens, and the impact to the camera was severe
The card was about 2 meters away, just blind luck I saw it
If its any consolation, NO footage was recoverable

BTW, the damage to your Inspire may be so severe because (Like mine), its OWN inertia is so great.
3KG odd generates a lot of energy when it comes to a sudden stop.  I was amazed how damaged my craft was, and I was right there,


Althoug, I suppose a boot may have been involved in yours....

Abe,
You have just as much right to that airspace as that Seti dish owner. I am surprised that SETI dish is owned by a PERSON  and not some research organization. Airpace is like mineral rights for a property the owner has no absolute ownership right to it.

Anyway i am glad you got your bird back albeit broken. Live and learn . I can see the bird ricocheting for several minutes in hyperbolic dish kinda hitting back and forth for a while until the motors gave out hence the damage to the battery.   
I would go back and ask to look around for the card say something like you need it for warranty reasons. you got nothing to lose most they can say is no.

best regrads
arun

post the crash clip!

Abe Posted at 2015-3-3 10:49
Yes, I agree with you, Rodger. The major downside of the Phantom is really the camera (not 4K, no f ...

Totally agree.

Abe I have a phantom 2 with a go pro4 on an h3-3d gimbal on it. Its a great platform and it gives great results. You can control the tilt but not the pan. You can ofcourse yaw the aircraft itself to get the same result. Its another option for you. There is a new gimbal, the H4-3D which is probably better again. I have the lightbridge system on it and it all works superbly with great range and video feed. The full set up with the lightbridge is a bit cheaper than the Inspire.

Muscadel Posted at 2015-3-3 15:17
Hallo Abe

Really sorry to hear about your loss!

Interesting, muscadel. Thanks for the info. The gimbal on mine Is damaged and there is a crack across the ND filter, but otherwise the camera looks fine. I agree the SD card may have popped out in the crash and in this case would be nearly impossible to find since it's so small it would have fallen through the dish's metal mesh to the ground far below. I still have lingering doubts since the camera itself does not look to have taken the brunt of the fall. Best of luck with your Inspire repair/replacement. I'm beginning to look into what options I have for repairs (if any) before coming to a conclusion on which way to head.

arunmehta Posted at 2015-3-3 16:01
Abe,
You have just as much right to that airspace as that Seti dish owner. I am surprised that SETI  ...

Arun, I didn't mean to suggest a person actually "owned" the dish. I more properly should have said that that person is "responsible" for it. Ownership is likely government, but the organization that operates it is SRI, a research group here in northern California. Although the dish still gets put to use from time to time, it's largely a local educational and tourist attraction at this point in its life.

As for the SD card, I think I'll just let it go. One day I'll muster the energy to climb back up that hill and capture a new video.

Dave E Posted at 2015-3-3 21:29
Abe I have a phantom 2 with a go pro4 on an h3-3d gimbal on it. Its a great platform and it gives gr ...

Thank you for this info, Dave! I'll look into this option in more detail.

Abe Posted at 2015-3-3 23:10
Arun, I didn't mean to suggest a person actually "owned" the dish. I more properly should have sai ...

Nothing I can say that hasn't already been said. I can only image how badly you must feel. All the best to you, whatever direction you decide to go on a future aircraft (but another Inspire sure would be nice).

Abe ...I am truly glad that you have your I1 back and have some closure.  I also hope that the incident is closed. However, you may not be out of the woods yet.  It depends on the owner of the dish and if he has or will contact the authorities. We can debate or argue the politics of flying, but at the end of the day it is the people who write the laws that will decide what we can or cannot do or even fly in a specific country. How we behave as individuals and as a community will have a direct bearing on these issue.  Good Luck on your next bird whichever one you chose . At some point I think many of us will face the same decisions you are facing now.   Flying these birds are amazing but it is also like being on the edge of a sword. A split second in judgement, timing, technology or a puff of wind can change things dramatically.

Abe - I crashed my Inspire pretty bad and figured the repair price would be close to the purchase price. I sent it in anyways just to get a quote. In the end I paid less than $500 in total and was very surprised it could be fixed for such a low cost to me.

I would say send it in just to see, you may be very surprised as I was. At least you will know for sure.

I also have both the inspire and pv+. And honestly, while I love almost everything about the inspire, the pv+ is just better for most situations. Slap on a gopro 4 and you have the same clearity in your pics and vids. It's also easier to carry around, alot more crash worthy, almost instantly ready to fly and stays in the air alot longer. I do fly the inspire from time to time, and while I do everything possible not to crash, I'm pretty sure if I'd crashed it, it was over for me.

Imho if you want to enjoy the inspire, you should earn quite a good amount of cash with it, buy 3 and have an arsenal of batteries. That way you wouldn't have to worry about crashes and such. It could be me, but I see way too many stories about crashed inspires to take off comfortably!

Glad to hear you were able to get your Inspire back. Of course, the missing footage along with the damage is a shame.

jhogge Posted at 2015-3-4 00:33
Abe - I crashed my Inspire pretty bad and figured the repair price would be close to the purchase pr ...

jhogge, how long did it take for you to get your Inspire back? I have a shattered rod on the right side, and the cable has broken off the gimbal plate.

CrabHawk Posted at 2015-3-3 13:54
I am really glad to hear you got it back and I know how you feel The sd card is at this point is wha ...

The walkera ? Are you serious? A replacement for the inspire , it isn't even close to being in the same league.

"jhogge, how long did it take for you to get your Inspire back?"

From the day I shipped until the day I received it back was 24 days in total.