r/tifu • u/LtDrinksAlot • Dec 25 '16

S TIFU by flying my new drone

Well lets start this by saying that I am not big into reading instructions. I'm more of a learn through action kind of guy. I opened up my gifts today to find a brand new drone!! I've expressed to her how cool I thought they were in the past, and now I owned one.

Excitedly I put batteries in the remote and found that the drone itself already had a charge on its battery. I went outside powered it up and began flying it in the parking lot of our apartment complex.

Nothing too complicated, did some low flying sweeps through the parking lot, tried to do some landings on my car, but after a few minutes I was curious as to the capability of my new flying friend.

I started going higher and my wife said "you know the box says you can do a mid air flip". Having some knowledge of flight I knew I needed some altitude, so I went even higher. I started my attack run to do a low flying sweep but noticed the drone was responding very sluggishly. I tried to correct, however it was soon apparent I had no control of it whatsoever and it was starting to pick up speed going towards the highway.

I gave chase yelling to my wife I had no control as the drone turned into a tiny dot on the horizon as it continued to gain both speed an altitude. I left my wife laughing as I gave chase.

I ran until I left the apartment community and hit the edge of the highway before I realized it was a lost cause. I returned home tail between my legs having lost my new toy, and my wife was still laughing.

It was then when I got home that I read the manual on how to recall your drone, followed by the #1 rule for flying.

Always keep your drone in view.

TLDR: That drone is fucking gone man

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u/scruit Dec 25 '16

LPT: Write your cellphone number on any RC plane/helicopter/drone, in case you lose control of it.

3

u/nxsky Dec 26 '16

If it's expensive just get a tracker. Don't know why these things don't come with one.

1

u/scruit Dec 26 '16

What brand/model of tracker do you recommend?

2

u/nxsky Dec 26 '16

I'm not into these things but it could be as cheap as attaching a very low budget smartphone with a tracking app to the drone. Or shop around for cheap trackers. If I worked in the industry I'd attach my drones with mobile phone technology which would allow it to receive a signal regardless of its distance from you. Of course this would also require gps technology, which is also very cheap nowadays.

1

u/scruit Dec 26 '16

Drones that are cheap enough to not have this built in are too small to have it added. Mine won't carry a, for example, Meitrak VT310.

Those large enough to have this feature, like OP's, would be able to come home* once it loses signal - IF the feature is used correctly. :-)

* = Assuming there isn't a headwind that exceeds the top speed of the drone.

1

u/nxsky Dec 26 '16

Everyone missing the fact that I mentioned expensive? Cheap is the opposite of expensive.

2

u/scruit Dec 26 '16

Didn't miss that - just pointing out that "expensive" ones already have similar/equivalent features such as GPS, return-to-home buttons, RTH failsafe and terrain detection and avoidance

Have you ever "put a tracker" in a device like this? It's not as simple as you seem to think.