I encountered the horrible flyaway problem that many people report here. Was flying Phantom 1 in ATTI mode and it just up and flew off, and the controls had no response.

I looked for it the old fashioned way on foot. But it was snowy then and finding a white DJI in the snow seemed impossible.

Now the snow has melted. Looking for advice:


Many people have told me to look closer not farther, that they actually are programmed to land themselves. Is this true?

How far would a flyaway drone go before landing itself?

What is the best method to prevent this in the future?

Any and all suggestions appreciated!

RATTYDUDE77 Posted at 2016-4-10 07:33
I usally hook my phantom up to the firmware after 3/4 flights make sure my receiver batterys are good and that I have good gps lock

How to do that?

Hello,
I have a problem and I really hope you will help me out. I flew my Phantom 3 above my house and from the very first seconds I got "electromagnetic interference" error on my screen, but I didn't react. Suddenly, the drone stopped responding to my commands (even for return to home button) right above my head and flew away. Here's the fly log: https://healthydrones.com/main?f ... d=GENERALLarge_Map. Now is my question. Where can my drone be? When it loses GPS will it return to home when it hit 30% battery, or will it land or maybe it will reach 0% battery when airborne and fall down? Please, help me find my drone- I feel emptiness without her ((

I usally hook my phantom up to the firmware after 3/4 flights make sure my receiver batterys are good and that I have good gps lock

Guess he never found it.

Hope he puts a GPS tracker on the next one

Yep having your information somewhere on the drone is a really good idea in case someone finds it.


Dave

I feel for you man.  I lost mine 3 times and fortunately fate intervened. My son in law gave me mine for Christmas if 2014,  we didn't fly it on Christmas day because the battery needed charging and I wanted to read a bit more in the instructions.  So about a week later  he and I were flying the Phantom at a nearby country park.  It was my turn to  fly and I decided to see how fast it would fly.  The last I saw of it was as it passed  a bunch of fir  trees on its way over the near by mountain. So I wouldn't be totally culpable I quickly shoved the controller into my son in laws hands and yelled "save it" . Of course he couldn't. So we somberly watched the expensive toy sail off into the wild blue yonder.
We spent over an hour searching for the drone.  I was searching the near side of the river and he was on the other side and up the side of the mountain.  He had done one thing I should have mentioned, he shut off the controller as soon as I handed it to him.  
Now as we were driving out of the park I looked out at the field where we had been flying the drone and there it was big as life sitting right were we were flying it from. I hadn't read far enough in the directions to learn that if the drone us flying in GPS mode, and you shut off the controller the drone will fly straight up to 65 feet and return to where it was last set.

The other 2 times were very similar.  I was flying the drone in my back yard which is really too small even if it is about an acre,  Anyway, I got the directions and instead of flying toward me it flew right into the forest that surrounds out property.  I could hear it thrashing about in the forest before it quit.  It was getting toward dark and I gave up after searching for about an hour with no sign of the drone. I went in to eat dinner and I suddenly had and idea.  I had not turned off the controller and thought the lights on the drone might still be blinking.  Sure enough, when i approached the woods, I could see a light blinking way in the forest. Other than me getting shins barked and many scratches I retrieved the Phantom laying in the dirt  not hurt a bit.  Even the leading edges of the props were fine.

Sorry to hear of your loss.

Never found it?

I parked mine until my GPS tracker arrives.   I decided it's just too risky to fly without some form of tracking.
Nothing's guaranteed....but at least with the GPS tracker I have a fairly good chance of locating it.

Before I purchase a P3P I'll have already purchased a Marco Polo unit as well.

Of course, the FIRST thing I did when I got it was put a reward and phone number lable on it.
It's sad, but flyaways are a very real part of this hobby.

For future reference: I etched my phone number on the bottom of my FC-40.  I also entered a text message with my contact number on the memory card.  My Son recommended I purchase a small GPS locator from radio shack...I didn't do that, and I don't know where you might secure one on the drone, or if a stand alone GPS device would interfere with the drone itself...worthy of consideration....

I truly hope somebody finds yours and returns it.  

bahamasboy@aol. Posted at 2015-4-6 04:56
I wish I had a suggestion!  Did you have it marked with your phone number and REWARD?  If so, cross  ...

+1 to this. My flamewheel 450 was lost for 3 weeks until I started posting flyers with a picture, contact info, and offered a reward. It helps to have other people in the area looking for it. Also, it was recovered 1.5 miles away in a direction I hadn't anticipated. Post the fliers a lot farther out than you think you need to and someone will hopefully connect it with you when they find it.

Now, don't fly without at least a $5 low voltage buzzer that plugs into the balance port on the battery.

Sadly I think finding it is a lost cause. I walked for miles in the direction the wind was blowing, and a couple of other directions as well, and nothing. The whole neighborhood knows it was mine. Maybe it fell into a field and some farmer is now using it to look at his crops. That's what I'll keep telling myself anyway. Thanks for the help anyway.

Well, we''ll keep our fingers crossed, is it a good idea to have owner initials, address or a phone number printed on the board, or beacon may be the way out?

ShadyDealer Posted at 2015-4-7 16:38
Mine had done a simple thing by luckily for me I switched it into GPS mode and then 2-3 seconds late ...

Thanks Shady Dealer. That's what I tried hoping it would come home (as it had done before). Hoping it landed and I just have to find it. Will post if I recover it the old fashioned way - legwork!

Mine had done a simple thing by luckily for me I switched it into GPS mode and then 2-3 seconds later turned the controller off. 2 minutes later it safely landed. Hope you find it buddy.

HI Bahamas Boy - NO! I wish I had but honestly I think it is in a tree. I was in a rural area and likely it ended up in a field or the woods. I've alerted all the neighbors, offered a reward, and am going to go back and look for it. Just trying to be logical about where I look.  Since I was flying with it in my sight at all time and nothing in the DJI materials warned about this possibility, I did not think it could fly away on its own! I wish they had a "WARNINGS" card along with the Quick Start card. A friend just got a Blackbird drone and in the materials they have several warnings of things that can go wrong. Which is helpful for newbies and good customer care.

I wish I had a suggestion!  Did you have it marked with your phone number and REWARD?  If so, cross your fingers!!!  Good luck and keep us posted!