Low ceiling

[tbagsha]

Hi all, I am new to the breeze family and I have to say, it is a blast! I've only had my breeze for a few days and although I have gotten a few short flights logged they were only overcast and windy days. Yesterday was a low ceiling day, but I wanted to get out and fly! I took the drone straight up and it quickly disappeared into the cloud cover and at the same time lost WiFi connection. I listened and waited anxiously for return to home to kick in. I could still hear the drone but it was getting fainter and fainter until I had lost all sound of it as well. NOT A GOOD FEELING. I can only assume it lost GPS due to the clouds. My prior flight to this one was even higher and I still had a visual so the conditions had changed quickly. Anyway, I just stood in the middle of the field listening and waiting for it to fall out of the sky. After what seemed like an eternity (I think it was actually around 2 minutes) it came down, like a falling star! It had drifted east and came down at the edge of the tree line on my property and came to rest on the branch of a pine tree a little over 30 ft off the ground. By this time it had started drizzling rain. My son and I spent the next 2 hours trying to dislodge the drone. I never dreamed it to be that hard to accurately throw a basketball that distance into the air, but it is. We even hit the limb 4times but the drone would not leave it's perch! Long story short, it took a 20 ft extension ladder and a 12ft pole to get it down. Two of the landing legs had come off the drone when it hit the tree, but they snapped right back in place, that was the only physical damage!
Lesson here I guess is to pay CLOSE attention to weather conditions and satellite locks!
Heading out now to make sure it still flies!

 

[Gsampl4]

Download and use UAVforcast and AirMap. UAVforcast will show you wind speed, Kp-index and a lot of other info. Also make certain that more than 12 or so GPS satellites lock in before you take off.

 

[DoomMeister]

Please take a look at this thread Guide to Analyzing Breeze Cam FlightLogs.

I would be very interested to find out what the flight log data showed on this. I suspect you will find 0’s in the lat and lon data fields or if there is data there, enter it into Google Maps (remember to put the decimal point in at seven decimal places) and that data will be nowhere near to where you were flying.

 

[tbagsha]

Download and use UAVforcast and AirMap. UAVforcast will show you wind speed, Kp-index and a lot of other info. Also make certain that more than 12 or so GPS satellites lock in before you take off.

Will do! Thanks for the info!

 

[tbagsha]

Please take a look at this thread Guide to Analyzing Breeze Cam FlightLogs.

I would be very interest to find out what the flight log data showed on this. I suspect you will find 0’s in the lat and lon data fields or if their is data there, enter it into Google Maps (remember to put the decimal point in at seven decimal places) and that data will be nowhere near to where you were flying.

I'll check it out, thanks!

 

[nikono]

" ... After what seemed like an eternity (I think it was actually around 2 minutes) it came down, like a falling star! ..."

I had similar experiences when the Breeze was way up and far away. WiFi signal got lost, control of the Breeze was lost then in 2 minutes, the RTH routine kicked in.
I kept looking where I saw it last. When I saw the Breeze on its way back horizontally at 60ft altitude, I had my iPhone 5 ready in "WiFi Setting". About above the takeoff point, the Breeze came down at very fast speed as it was programmed to do. I had enough time to re-connect then switched immediately to Breeze app to Pilot mode to regain control to land it slowly or to hover it. Hitting the "Y" could cancel RTH, too, as I recalled because it was in RTH routine.

One problem with the RTH was the "home" point could be 6ft-12t from where it took off.
I always tested the RTH first to know exactly where the Breeze would land to be safe. If there is a tree nearby, RTH may land it there before you know it.

 

[tbagsha]

[emoji106]checking RTH is a good idea! Thanks for the tip

 

[Scott_in_Colorado]

Glad all worked out but I have trouble understanding why a new drone pilot would, "I took the drone straight up and it quickly disappeared into the cloud cover and at the same time lost WiFi connection". Perhaps because of my experience with helicopters and planes, but I don't risk a thing until I fully understand the operation of what-ever-it-is that I'm flying. The heli's and planes are expensive toys so I try my best to proceed slowly with anything I'm flying (at least when I'm new to the plane or heli) until I learn all I can about the operation. Maybe its just me, but taking the drone straight up until it goes out of sight? Not a wise thing to do. Had it of been me, I'd proceed slowly upwards and watch close every few feet to see if the drone disappears into the clouds, and immediately lower it - but really, why even fly until it goes out of sight? Why fly it until it disappears in the clouds? You want to play around? fly some nice circles in front of you, forwards / backwards / sideways, fly some figure 8's, forward and backwards, try landing on a 'spot', the drone facing you and facing away from you. Learn how these things operate. Drone's are not indestructible, they crash, batteries fail, GPS lock - unlocks - and you need to know what to do when things happen. Take your time. There is no rush to exceed line of sight, to fly as high as you can, to not set RTH parameters correctly - and if you learn your machine, you should have many years of fun with it. Just my 2 cents!

 

[tbagsha]

Thanks for your two cents

 

[AH-1G]

Yep, good advice for 2 cents it could cost $149.00

 

[DoomMeister]

If you're in the USA, the FAA rules are that you must stay 500 feet below cloud cover, if at the same altitude as clouds you must stay 2000 feet laterally from any cloud and the last rule for flying above cloud cover doesn’t even count because the breeze is not capable of flying 1000 feet above a cloud.

This not withstanding the rule for line of site flight.

 

[FePhoenix]

If you're in the USA, the FAA rules are that you must stay 500 feet below cloud cover, if at the same altitude as clouds you must stay 2000 feet laterally from any cloud and the last rule for flying above cloud cover doesn’t even count because the breeze is not capable of flying 1000 feet above a cloud.

This not withstanding the rule for line of site flight.

Beat me to it! IOW, if clouds are at/under 500', do NOT fly. If they're at 600, stay under 100. Should never(!!) "disappear into clouds" while under positive control.