So I crashed my DJI Phantom 3 drone... in San Marino... into a medieval castle... from the 11th century! I had been having a lot of issues with my DJI Phantom 3 drone, shaking gimbal shots, DJI GO app disconnecting from the drone and the app not letting me record or take photos. I reinstalled the app and rebooted and calibrated the drone but still had some issues - These are not excuses, at the end of the day I was the pilot. As we travelled around Italy from the south we headed north to a place that I have always wanted to visit, San Marino, especially with a drone. I awoke about 5am to catch the sunrise and to avoid the crowds. As my DJI Phantom 3 drone was flying the app disconnecting again (not out of distance), I could see the drone in the sky so I pressed RTH hoping that it might get close to me and reconnect but I misjudged how high it was, it wasn't high enough! As it returned it slammed into the side of one of the fort towers. It was early so I had to wait for the guard to arrive at the main door to open it and for me to retrieve my drone, with a very apologetic face and many words of "sorry, sorry" I collected my drone. The drone was actually not too badly damaged, the gimbal yaw arm had snapped (this attaches the drone and the camera with the gimbal), the propellers damaged and a small crack to the plastic body. Everything else was okay. Later I ordered a new set of props and a yaw arm with cable and it's all good - I'm very lucky. <br><br>I’m currently touring around Europe in a Motorhome living the vanlife, you can follow me and my artwork at:<br>
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A P3 4K. You likely lost the FPV WiFi connection because the signal ran too close to the side of the castle. LOS isn't good enough, you really need to have space around the LOS signal (see fresnel zone wiki). Of course, it didn't matter because it appears you were intent on circling the castle, so you would have certainly lost signal anyway.
The other thing is, your AC never began ascent when RTH was inititated. It could be your RTH height was set too low as you indicated, but it could also be that you were moving the control sticks, even if unintentionally. A movement of the control sticks will cancel the RTH ascent and send the AC directly towards home point at the current altitude. It is likely you still had control of the AC when you intitiated RTH, even though you had lost the FPV WiFi connection. Hence, your AC would have sensed stick movement and canceled RTH ascent, sending it into the castle wall.
A great video nonetheless. Glad you got your P3 4K back! Thanks for sharing.
The good news is, the castle wasn't damaged. Then again, something that has survived since the 11th century is probably pretty indestructible. Unfortunately, the drone wasn't as durable. Glad you got it back and not a total loss.
FatherXmas Posted at 2017-11-20 20:00
The good news is, the castle wasn't damaged. Then again, something that has survived since the 11th century is probably pretty indestructible. Unfortunately, the drone wasn't as durable. Glad you got it back and not a total loss.
I think it's used to canonballs more than a plastic drone hahaha
Hellsgate Posted at 2017-11-21 00:36
I think back in those days they used catapults to hurl projectiles at the enemy.
Ahhhhh you gotta love modern technology.
well, it`s shame phantom 3 std have many problems with wi-fi connection between remote and drone... I always had to have clear sight of my drone otherwise "signal weak" is displayed and RTH is acrivated!
Wow, you smacked that tower good and much faster than I was expecting. Glad the damage wasn't any worse. Hope you get your Phantom flying and working soon. Looking forward to seeing that castle again - a nice subject.
All I know is I kept saying as you got closer to the castle "NO NO NO NO NO NO!.... Awwww crud." Sorry for your loss, but great area to film and great footage up to the crash!