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Final Flight Record vs. Find My Drone Location
3032 9 2019-6-23
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Drjhnsn
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United States
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I was just in Cappadocia Turkey to photograph all the hot air balloons in the area.  The terrain there has many unique rock formations and canyons and valleys.  I was trying to be extremely cautious of where I was flying stopping several times to spin a 360 as well as look down to keep clear of any balloons.  16 minutes into my flight, I was hovering the drone (Mavic 2 Pro) to adjust the camera settings when all of a sudden I got an "upward obstacle warning" and then the drone tumbled and lost contact. My best guess is that a balloon was descending and the basket hit my drone. I was not familiar with the lost drone features in the DJI Go 4 app as I had never needed them.  I was able to pull up the final flight record and it showed on a map overlay the entire flight.  At the end you can see what looks like swithbacks on a trail (tumbling) and then a straight line a short bit before disconecting. I was able to find that location on the ground and searched for over an hour with no luck.  A few hours later returned to the site with a few folks from town, in looking for GPS coordinates, I found the "Find my Drone" feature and compared the coordinates with those from the final flight log.  The Find my Drone coordinates were a good 1/2 mile away from the final flight log.  We attempted to get to the new location but were not able to get the final 30 meters as the terrain was too challenging and I ran out of time.  Two questions:

1) Does the obstacle avoidance feature not work if the obstacle is what is moving and the drone is hovering?  I would have hoped that the drone would have moved out of the way on its own.

2) Which GPS coordinates should be more accurate, the Fight Record or Find my Drone? I understand that the last flight record shows the flight until the drone disconnected from the controller and it could have continued to fly for some time, but if its disconnected, how would the Find my Drone pick up the signal where the drone finally ended up?

This is where the drone went down. Not easy to search.

This is where the drone went down. Not easy to search.
Cappadocia Terrain-0001.jpg
2019-6-23
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Celsus
Captain
Flight distance : 196594 ft
United Kingdom
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I was flying in an environment that wasn't so picturesque, however any failure mid flight would have made it impossible to retrieve. My request to fly wasn't a problem, the site managements response did make me nervous. Forget finding it it if you lose it! I had to make a quick decent at one point as a bunch of crows started to circle. I would think obstacle avoidance would work if the drone was stationary, it depends on the speed of the whatever hit and if it was fighting wind gusts. Birds of prey will also go for a drone, that may be a possibilty given the location. My guess would be that the find my drone feature is  ore accurate. I suggest you upload your flight log on the forum, you will then an indication from helpful forum members as to what may have happened and where to look based on the records. You can upload here https://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/Upload/ Nice photos Hope you find the MP2.
The Kantara Castle location
2019-6-23
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hallmark007
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Flight distance : 9812789 ft
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Ireland
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Wow, you are in serious breach of drone flying rules, that first rule of giving way to manned aircraft, can’t imagine what kind of catastrophe could have occurred if your drone clashed with the bulk of the balloon .

You can retrieve your flight log from the device you used to fly. Just go to link below follow instructions.
http://www.phantomhelp.com/logviewer/4DRP16ZBZOLF0VK1LL8T
2019-6-23
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*DM*
First Officer
Flight distance : 507087 ft
United Kingdom
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hallmark007 Posted at 6-23 13:59
Wow, you are in serious breach of drone flying rules, that first rule of giving way to manned aircraft, can’t imagine what kind of catastrophe could have occurred if your drone clashed with the bulk of the balloon .

You can retrieve your flight log from the device you used to fly. Just go to link below follow instructions.
Agree. Reckless flying.

Never, ever rely on obstacle sensing.

To fly within baloons out of line of sight ... even if you were within that it is almost impossible to correctly judge.

It would take one hell of an accomplished pilot to attempt something like that even in a planned environment where everyone involved, including balloon personnel are aware of your exact flight plan and planned manouvres. Tricky given the 'drift with wind' nature of those aircraft.- The 'my best guess' comment puts that one to rest.

Enough ranting.

Nice pictures though.
2019-6-23
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Drjhnsn
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Here is a link to the final flight log:  https://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/8Z2E5SAZ3AV34HUQP7JI/   It appears that there were issues with the motors, so still not sure why the final location in this flight log is so different than the location of the Find My Drone coordinates (38.641159, 34.858284)
2019-6-25
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hallmark007
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Flight distance : 9812789 ft
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Ireland
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Drjhnsn Posted at 6-25 08:18
Here is a link to the final flight log:  https://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/8Z2E5SAZ3AV34HUQP7JI/   It appears that there were issues with the motors, so still not sure why the final location in this flight log is so different than the location of the Find My Drone coordinates (38.641159, 34.858284)

I presume the difference is because your log ends at crash which was 80 metres in the air.

It looks like OA was working as you can see from your log on 3 different occasions, it looks like you may have gone under a balloon and into a dark spot , OA won’t work in low light, I think shortly after one of your props came into contact with something reported by motor current problem , very shortly after you see motor obstructed, this is known to appear at the point of crashing. It also looks like your craft tumbled you can see this reported in downward OA not working.

For me reading your log you craft came into contact with some part of the balloon and most likely lost or broke some props causing it to tumble and crash to the ground .
2019-6-25
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Drjhnsn
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hallmark007 Posted at 6-25 09:35
I presume the difference is because your log ends at crash which was 80 metres in the air.

It looks like OA was working as you can see from your log on 3 different occasions, it looks like you may have gone under a balloon and into a dark spot , OA won’t work in low light, I think shortly after one of your props came into contact with something reported by motor current problem , very shortly after you see motor obstructed, this is known to appear at the point of crashing. It also looks like your craft tumbled you can see this reported in downward OA not working.

Thanks for your observations.  I would tend to agree that the drone crashed soon after the signal disconnects, which still leaves me puzzled for why the Find my Drone coordinates are 1/2 to 1 mile away over several rocky ridges.  I searched the area near where the flight record ends for over an hour with no luck.  I also attempted to reach the location where the Find my Drone coordinates are but was unable to reach that spot due to the terrain.  I posted on Tripadvisor with the coordinates for anyone in the area that  wanted a treasure hunt with a substantial reward if found, with the hope that someone might just find it.  I had the drone insured thru State Farm and they have already cut a check for a replacement, so all that I've lost is the SD card with the full res photos and video.
2019-6-25
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Merima Hhm
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Bosnia and Herzegovina
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Hello, we have lost our drone and trying to locate it for hours. We have the same issue since Find my drone shows different location then Flight record. In the flight record it started to return home. We were searching the location bit coud not find it. Which one is more accurate to focus to? Location showed by Find my drone is not accessible, we would need to broke into someones garden, so I hope it is not that one.
2022-6-19
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TonyPHX
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Flight distance : 10238648 ft
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United States
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I cannot imagine under any circumstances trying to share the airspace like that with crewed vehicles.   I am not trying to be a finger-wagger or the drone police, but honestly, you need to re-evaluate your responsibility and liability and your decision making process.   
2022-6-19
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JJB*
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Flight distance : 12165479 ft
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Netherlands
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Merima Hhm Posted at 6-19 05:54
Hello, we have lost our drone and trying to locate it for hours. We have the same issue since Find my drone shows different location then Flight record. In the flight record it started to return home. We were searching the location bit coud not find it. Which one is more accurate to focus to? Location showed by Find my drone is not accessible, we would need to broke into someones garden, so I hope it is not that one.

Hi

best to get help is to upload your log > https://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/Upload/

cheers
JJB
2022-6-19
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