Guess What I Found Today

[Jagerbomb52]

Snow has been really melting around here and thought I would check out where the Anafi was last seen. Sunk up to my knees in a few places but where it said it should be there are patches of grass. Thought if I could see the battery I might know which tree it was up. Was just about to give up and saw it hanging by a branch. Look around on the ground and found the battery to.
Went home got my pool skimmer pole that extends. Went back and gave the branch a shake and down it came to my waiting hands. Its a little banged up for sure but I think it will fly again some day. The battery took most of the damage. You can see one part of the cover missing. Plugged it in and it started charging right away. Unplugged it and going to let everything dry out good before I try and power it on.
There was no video on the card which surprised me. I was doing a Dolly Zoom at the time.

CAUSE OF THE FLY AWAY

Well here it is, check your props. One rear prop was not there. Screw is still there but the prop is totally gone. Looks like the hub broke. Also the back legs where folded in. I'm guessing from bouncing around in the tree before coming to rest on a branch.

Lost On Jan 15th, Found On March 22nd ????

 

[Jagerbomb52]

 

[Krusty Geeza]

I kept wondering if after or during the thaws you would find it in a tree where you lost it. Now I know! Fingers crossed it can be resurrected somehow.

I've been thoroughly checking my props with a magnifying glass after each flight for a few weeks now, after recent sharing about the importance of that here.

 

[charleslee]

Cool , good for you , keep us updated , hope you can access the log, so will know what really happen .......

 

[Dirk_ANAFI]

You found it!? Really?

 

[jefmob_1]

To dry it very deeply, put your drone into rice for 2 or 3 days.

 

[Jagerbomb52]

To dry it very deeply, put your drone into rice for 2 or 3 days.

Thanks. Already new that.

Sent from my LG-H873 using Tapatalk

 

[Jagerbomb52]

You found it!? Really?

Yup just hanging there. With all the wind storms we have had I was surprised to see it still up in a tree.

Sent from my LG-H873 using Tapatalk

 

[pmh1nic]

Maybe the battery is a candidate for the project someone is working on to develop alternatives to the Parrot Anafi batteries.

 

[AaronB]

That's awesome you found it - even more so if it still works. It's annoying the battery separates so easily under these circumstances - I'm sure both you and I would have found the Anafi straight away if it was still broadcasting it's location.

 

[jefmob_1]

May be secure the batt with a solid rubber band?

 

[Jagerbomb52]

May be secure the batt with a solid rubber band?

The battery is not on my list of saves. I have two others that can be used. My main plan is to get the telemetry from the fight. Even though I know the broken prop was the cause of the crash it still would be interesting to see the telemetry of the fight.

Sent from my LG-H873 using Tapatalk

 

[jefmob_1]

My idea was not to continue to use the broken battery but as AaronB said, avoid the lost of battery and continue to locate the lost drone.

 

[Thanev]

Last time I tried the rice trick on a DSLR I wasnt impressed.Soya sauce stained the mirror. Will try the dishwasher next time...or the microwave.

 

[Jagerbomb52]

OK so update time. The Anafi fires right up but the camera does not initialize on boot up. Just sits there but does produce video so it still works but no control on the gimbal controls. Maybe a lose connection. Not sure. I was able to get the telemetry to update and it was from Jan 13th, thought it was the 15th. Basically it shows a zig zag flight to where it ended up in the tree.
Bonus part about this is I recovered my good SDcard and my ND4 filter plus now I have spare parts if I need them. All in all I am happy with the out come of the day even if the camera will not initialize.

 

[Liger 1956]

I am very pleased that you got it back and surprised that it still powers up after being in the cold and the damp for so long. Are you sure that the prop broke in flight and not as a result of the crash with the tree?

 

[Jagerbomb52]

I am very pleased that you got it back and surprised that it still powers up after being in the cold and the damp for so long. Are you sure that the prop broke in flight and not as a result of the crash with the tree?

Yes I am very sure that was the cause. When it reached the Alt. that the Dolly zoom was programed for it sounded a lot different and was uncontrollable. A kill switch would have been a nice addition so it just crashed where you can see it instead of fighting it to land someplace safe.
These props are not designed very well. Yes they are quite but I mean really what is the benefit of that if they just fall apart when you look at them side ways??
I will bet most of their it just dropped from the sky problems are from these props.

 

[Jagerbomb52]

When I find the time to go over this and tear it apart I might find a bad connection. Other then the gimbal not talking to the controls it works perfectly. Did a few take offs and touch downs tonight with no problems at all. Still missed the landing area but that is pretty normal from what I have experienced in the past.
Spare parts are a good thing to have and this will come in handy as the frame is in one piece. You don't see that in every crash video LOL

 

[AaronB]

I've been thoroughly checking my props with a magnifying glass after each flight for a few weeks now, after recent sharing about the importance of that here.

I suspect if the hub is going to fail, then the fracturing will begin from the inner side of the hub. Without removing the props you may not notice any issue until it's too late!

From a design point of view, I'm sure the hubs could be strengthened without compromising the flight characteristics of the Anafi.

 

[Krusty Geeza]

I suspect if the hub is going to fail, then the fracturing will begin from the inner side of the hub. Without removing the props you may not notice any issue until it's too late!

From a design point of view, I'm sure the hubs could be strengthened without compromising the flight characteristics of the Anafi.

Looks like a weekly removing of the rotors is in order too now! Thanks for the tip @AaronB it's much appreciated. I've been back-lighting them & viewing under a magnifying glass.