It finally happened. After 3-1/2 years of faithful service, my TH is now at the bottom of the Columbia River. My buddy took me out in his inboard power boat with the drone. The plan was to do "Follow Me" while we motored about. First time I've tried this. Installed freshly charged battery. Did the compass calibration, and launched the TH from the front deck, as far away from the engine block as possible. Got GPS and camera, lift off, stable hover. One landing gear refused to retract...second try, it worked (old problem). "Battery low, land immediately!" What!? I just took off. OK, maneuvered back towards me on the boat. "Battery low, land immediately!" OK! At that point, I lost control as the drone automatically descended (into the water). My buddy fired up the boat to maneuver the 10 feet or so to the drone. The rotors were kicking up spray as it hit the water. I reached down to pick it out of the water just in time to see the motors stop and the drone descend like a rock away from me. No hope; very deep water. Total flight time, maybe 30 seconds.
So, what happened?
1. I failed to warm the batteries before use. They had spent the night in the frosty cold car. I've had cold battery issues before and it shortened my flight time, but nothing like this.
2. If I had checked the drone battery voltage immediately after take-off, I might have noticed how rapidly it dropped and "landed" safely.
3. The Ultrex battery in use was a little over 2 years old.
I'm just sharing my experience for the benefit of others. Now I have to decide what to replace it with. The new Skydio 2 is interesting. I would miss the integrated controller screen, the 360-deg camera gimbal, retractable landing gear and 6-rotor stability. Hmm....
So, what happened?
1. I failed to warm the batteries before use. They had spent the night in the frosty cold car. I've had cold battery issues before and it shortened my flight time, but nothing like this.
2. If I had checked the drone battery voltage immediately after take-off, I might have noticed how rapidly it dropped and "landed" safely.
3. The Ultrex battery in use was a little over 2 years old.
I'm just sharing my experience for the benefit of others. Now I have to decide what to replace it with. The new Skydio 2 is interesting. I would miss the integrated controller screen, the 360-deg camera gimbal, retractable landing gear and 6-rotor stability. Hmm....