Hopefully someone can learn from my mistake. I sure did, though at a high cost.

Ouch. What happened there? Was it a desync or did you hit something right before you dropped?

(18-Dec-2022, 11:16 PM)Lemonyleprosy Wrote: Ouch. What happened there? Was it a desync or did you hit something right before you dropped?

I just lost control at exactly the moment the water tower got between me and the drone, you can see in the video how the drone completely changes its trajectory in that very instant. I didn't lose the video link at all, though, until I moved closer to the base of the tower while I was trying to regain control of the drone (reconnected when I moved away). Oddly enough, I managed to switch it to turtle mode and flip it, but after that it just wouldn't budge any further. I tried everything.. It's still up there. Gonna try to find who manages that water tower, but I don't have much hope of recovering it.

My condolences.

I didn’t see an external ladder you could climb in the dead of night.

(18-Dec-2022, 11:26 PM)Lemonyleprosy Wrote: My condolences.

I didn’t see an external ladder you could climb in the dead of night.

There are signs posted that it's a federal offense to go beyond the fence. I still would've climbed over if my drone had fallen on the ground there. This type of water tower has an entrance to a ladder that goes to the top through the middle. The entrance is locked, though. I'm certainly not breaking and entering federal property for a drone.

Yeah, no. So not worth a felony.

Find a buddy with a DJI Mavic, and attach a hook to it to fish the crashed drone out - I've had to do this a few times since I started flying (That's the only time I fly my Mavic LOL)

turtle mode didnt work ?

If you don't mind me asking, what control link did you use?

(19-Dec-2022, 04:33 AM)Suros Wrote: If you don't mind me asking, what control link did you use?

ELRS through a Jumper T-Pro at 1W. I didn't see whether it dropped the link while I was flying, but when I was walking around the water tower trying to get my drone back, the link didn't drop below 3 bars, even when I lost the video signal for a while when too close to the tower.

Sorry to see this but thanks for posting. I've lost a quad myself, a smaller TinyGO but it hurt just the same.

(19-Dec-2022, 12:45 AM)relentlesstech Wrote: Find a buddy with a DJI Mavic, and attach a hook to it to fish the crashed drone out - I've had to do this a few times since I started flying (That's the only time I fly my Mavic LOL)

Thanks for this! I've had my Mavic 2 Pro up for sale a couple of times but no one bought it. It never crossed my mind that it could be used like this, now I have a pretty good reason to keep it.

No "kwad left behind" is are gangs motto ??Gutted.for.you there must be away you can access the tower without much damage.Or contact.the people that own the water tower.
If that was us in UK we would be there dark as night,in and Out.No one would know..?Hope you have some luck getting it back.

I always end up wishing I lived in the area of people who get stuck. My largest quad has plenty enough power to lift, and it wouldn't be hard to rig the camera on the bottom for aiming. But yeah, that doesn't look like Nebraska.

(19-Dec-2022, 10:36 PM)Yelreppa Wrote: No "kwad left behind" is are gangs motto ??Gutted.for.you there must be away you can access the tower without much damage.Or contact.the people that own the water tower.
If that was us in UK we would be there dark as night,in and Out.No one would know..?Hope you have some luck getting it back.

Yeah if I dropped mine on a water tank I would be up that baby in the dead of night like a ninja and have it down and be gone.  But the caveat is I am a climber and I don't give a fk about signs saying don't trespass (it's only trespassing if you get caught).  But that decision is based on a bunch of other things.  For others, with families and dependents, etc, the same might not be true.

I would second using a Mavic or similar to hook it, either to drag it off the top with the drone or get some fishing line on it and drag it off with a fishing reel.

As to the cause of it getting downed.  That aerial on the top is probably what did it.  So actually, I would be very careful if you take a mavic up there.  It may well get downed by the aerial, too.  If you know anyone who works for the water company, you might be able to see if they will get it down for you next time they are up doing maintenance.  Or I guess you could give them a call.  But only if you were actually flying legally I guess.

Well, maybe u will get lucky with some high winds .. That’s what I’m hoping for..I’ve got 2 quads stuck in 2 trees across the street from my house…but I have no idea WHERE they are in those trees…