Share Your Drone Loss Stories

[Seaslug Caravan]

Drones are a bit like Jet Skis.
A lot of fun for the user, right pain in the backside for everyone else.
Inconsiderate drone users (peeping toms) Seem to be pretty common now, with a drone hovering over your boat when anchored a regular occurrence.
Our 2019 Kimberly trip provided drone encounters from first light if we happened to anchor anywhere near the 4wd crowd.
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[BlackHeron]

Originally Posted by MarkSF

One drone less = big success

Fewer...but I agree with the sentiment. Boo-hoo, play the world's smallest violin between your thumb and forefinger accompanied by the sad trombone. Womp whomp...

If you can afford an expensive toy such as a drone then you can afford to lose it. If you can't, then you are making poor decisions decisions with your money. Rich people's problems...

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by Letterkenny

Someone has never had a drone before.

Indeed.

I know a lot of people who use drones, and I don't know a single person who uses a drone for hovering over other people's boats, gardens, etc. That's not what they are supposed to be used for. The proper use of a drone is for photography, mostly nature, harbours, your own boat, landscapes. Only idiots use drones to bother other people.

See the breathtaking drone work in this video, starting at 07:35:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_Dq0f3WwW8&t=543s

or this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zj7kdnWVOxc

or this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pbzn79TSRO0

Hating all drones because someone hovered over your boat one time is like hating all cars because someone was drag racing in front of your house once.

[JBsurfin]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

Misery loves company! So I'll tell mine if you tell yours.


I have had, that is, had, until yesterday, a DJI Mavic 2 Pro with the lucious large sensor Hasselblad camera. For a year and a half. I have not used it all that much, but recently started making better videos and started really enjoying it.


I was feeling confident enough to try to fly it for the first time from a moving boat. The conditions were perfect -- sunny day, almost calm, glassy sea sailing at 2 knots.


Taking off was no issue, flying it was no issue, but naturally I screwed up the landing. I think my chances would have been better in stronger wind and sailing faster. Because I had a momentary brain fart and forgot that letting go the sticks would NOT stop the drone in relation to the boat. I got within 12 inches of a landing on my afterdeck, then hesitated briefly, and there the drone goes over the pushpit. It hits my flagpole and right into the drink. Damn!


Scratch one drone cum Hasselblad camera.

I'll just say it wasn't a very expensive one, maybe a couple hundred. Fired it up, it took off on the maiden fly and just kept going. Somehow it lost signal control with the controller. Wouldn't respond to anything. I watched it disappear into the sunset. I guess someone found it somewhere.. My flying days are done.

[jump12k]

Had a Gopro Karma and was flying around and about the marina...was bringing her back to land on the dock and all of the sudden, don’t know if all the masts screwed up the signal, but my drone all of the sudden bolted full speed ahead straight into a mast on another boat and shattered into pieces. Everything pretty much hit the water...adios!!

[theDangerz]

Sigh... we've lost a couple now.

First drone was a phantom that a friend left aboard for us after returning home.
Was terrified to fly it and then one night on anchor there was this magnificent sunset and light winds, so we pulled it out, set it up on the sugar scoop and watched as it miraculously lifted off the deck only to make a sharp right hand turn at less than a meter, hit the post of our solar arch and plummet into the deep.
Total flying time... under 3seconds.

Finally broke down and bought a mini2 and got great use out of it until were sitting off a remote island, flew it out for that epic shot of us sitting in an empty bay (as we typically prefer) and watched as the winds picked up and it couldn't make it back to the boat. Apparently I had switched it into cinema mode which slowed everything down?
Regardless... we hopped in the dinghy and raced towards it while the remote screamed at me that the battery was dying. I watched the video record us racing towards it as it raced to dive into the water in front of us.

So starting to think I should just fold dollars into paper airplanes and fly them off the boat. Same result.

[BlackHeron]

Originally Posted by theDangerz

So starting to think I should just fold dollars into paper airplanes and fly them off the boat. Same result.

Not everybody is poor. Since we, like so many of us in this world are not rich, we have many other and better things to spend our limited funds on.

I suppose growing up in the depression makes us a little different than the kids today who fritter their money away on toys.

[AJA]

I just bought a drone...a DroneX Pro...saw it advertised before an internet video. after reading all this, I'm now afraid to fly it!

[sgrimm]

So many sad and scary stories. Just recently purchased a DJI Mini 2 and have had some great fun with it on land. I've had several other drones in the past and it's so weird to be able to completely let go of the controller and trust the drone is going to just hover perfectly. I feel really comfortable flying it and planning a few boat videos (taking off and landing from land). And was thinking about launching from boat but now I'm having second thoughts, I could never justify to my wife buying a second drone.

Few other comments, I see in manual for catching in net there is an emergency propeller stop action you can perform but it has to be enabled from the menu.

Completely agree, as drone pilots, we all need to be respectful of privacy and peace from the annoying buzz. If I fly over populated areas I go to maximum allowed height and you can't even hear it anymore. If I'm lower, I make sure nobody is around. I video myself and and structures, never follow anyone around.

Personally, if a drone comes within throwing distance of me, I think it's fair game to throw something at it.

Shane
CS34 foghornlullaby.com

[Letterkenny]

Originally Posted by sgrimm

Personally, if a drone comes within throwing distance of me, I think it's fair game to throw something at it.

Just remember, people have gotten felony distraction of property charges for doing that.

[jmh2002]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

See the breathtaking drone work in this video, starting at 07:35

Or this one, for those who prefer somewhere a little warmer...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFDdWilDggw

[suiramor]

I had no trouble recovering my Mavic after filming - never got that far. Tried on a windless day but forgot about the current. Drone took off, went straight into moving lines (or rather they moved onto the drone) and that was it - now at the bottom of Puget Sound. Still have its exact location on the map it traced on my phone.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by suiramor

I had no trouble recovering my Mavic after filming - never got that far. Tried on a windless day but forgot about the current. Drone took off, went straight into moving lines (or rather they moved onto the drone) and that was it - now at the bottom of Puget Sound. Still have its exact location on the map it traced on my phone.

That's pretty much exactly what happened to me.

[44'cruisingcat]

Originally Posted by sgrimm

Personally, if a drone comes within throwing distance of me, I think it's fair game to throw something at it.

Shane
CS34 foghornlullaby.com

Drones are considered aircraft. Probably best you rethink throwing things at them. If one is annoying you, report it.

On the mini 2, I've been taking off from and landing on my hand while at anchor. It's actually quite easy.

[sgrimm]

The replies to my comment about throwing stuff at a drone now has me thinking. It was a joke, btw, that's why there was a happy face after my comment.

Now I don't think it being an aircraft has any difference. I think it's just the fact you are potentially damaging someone's private property. Which is, something I don't want to do, and illegal. Similar to throwing a rock at a car making noise outside of your house.

I did a little research. Who do I call to report someone flying irresponsibly? I wouldn't call 911 but maybe the non-emergency number. Transport Canada does offer this page:
https://tc.canada.ca/en/aviation/dro...drone-incident. I'm curious how much effort they would put into a report if you have no information on the owner.

My guess is most drone owners don't have their license for their >= 250g drone. Nice that DJI mini2 is 249g. And the rules for flying are very strict. Max height, within non-aided sight at all times (VLOS), more than 30 horizontal meters away from bystanders, avoiding take off or landing from national parks, ... source: https://tc.canada.ca/en/aviation/dro...safely-legally

It was interesting to research, I learned a few new things. But my overall the sentiment is lets all be responsible drone owners and I hope nobody loses any more drones to the sea!

Shane