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Inspire 1 Pro Complete In-Flight Failure - BATTERY OVERHEAT

at 1000' AGL, he's in controlled airspace anywhere in Canada. LOS doesn't mean direct line with no obstructions here -- it means you actually have visual contact. There is NO way you can see the drone at that distance. In this case, he wasn't just flying "irresponsibly"... he was flying very illegally.
 
What you’ve done is tripled the maximum rated elevation — where the winds were sure to be much greater than on the ground. And the power consumed to achieve that elevation doesn’t show in distance traveled. Don’t forget that the Inspire will be using lots of battery power as it fights to hover stationary in the wind. So even if you are using a relatively low amount of forward thrust, the Inspire may be using close to maximum thrust just to fight the wind (hence the battery overheat warning).

If you were flying with the wind on the way out, you’d find your power use to be pretty low. But it sounds like you had perhaps 30 mph winds aloft — quite common — which would mean that the UAV would only be able to achieve 5-10 mph coming back — meaning a 6-12 minute flight, PLUS the amount of time it takes to descend. Honestly, it sounds like you didn’t compensate for environmental factors and simply ran out of gas. I seriously doubt you have a claim against DJI, but you never know. They can be generous.

I suggest that you at the very least educate yourself on aviation weather reports — they can tell you what you need to know about conditions at various altitudes. I don’t condone any flying above 300’, but it sounds like the practice was self-punishing for you.



@The Editor
 
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Sure, except you obviously have no idea what my LOS was... i had it.... being up close to 400ft you know nothing of the topography of the area... these units are advertised in having a 2-3 mile range if my math is correct that is 10-15k ft... i was well within the range.. as i said before made longer flights earlier in the day...
No but, as a physician I do know the human eye is incapable of seeing an Inspire 1 at over 1 mile away... Karma's a ***** isn't it?
 
Ambient temperature...
Was battery 15c before take off?
Don't mean to sound petty but 100% is not 97% it's been discussed on the forum.
Your like a gold mine of info I do some questionable flying myself not much room for error. Is why I ask questions

My motto, has always been if it can be done, do it... Technology needs to be pushed or you just live with technology that is mediocre, granted there are risks. But I felt that the risks on this particular flight were completely normal,on return there was ample battery power, very little head wind, and optimal conditions at that time of day. The ambient air temp was 20 Celsius at the mine, and around 17 over the river/wooded area. I have no idea how warm the battery was prior to take off, they had been sitting in my Go Professional backpack on the hike up the Slag Pile, they were charged 2 hours prior. To the touch they felt normal coolish...
I do long flights all the time, that is the advantage of where I live, there isn't anyplace like it with perfect LOS and absolutely perfect views! Heck, if anyone is up this way, you gotta fly here!
 
No but, as a physician I do know the human eye is incapable of seeing an Inspire 1 at over 1 mile away... Karma's a ***** isn't it?
And That is why I brought binoculars! lol
Always do, it would be irresponsible not to.... Always scout out locations to are fly into PRIOR to flying!

...
 
My motto, has always been if it can be done, do it... Technology needs to be pushed or you just live with technology that is mediocre, granted there are risks. But I felt that the risks on this particular flight were completely normal,on return there was ample battery power, very little head wind, and optimal conditions at that time of day. The ambient air temp was 20 Celsius at the mine, and around 17 over the river/wooded area. I have no idea how warm the battery was prior to take off, they had been sitting in my Go Professional backpack on the hike up the Slag Pile, they were charged 2 hours prior. To the touch they felt normal coolish...
I do long flights all the time, that is the advantage of where I live, there isn't anyplace like it with perfect LOS and absolutely perfect views! Heck, if anyone is up this way, you gotta fly here!
i took off before with a batt at 15c got the warning, so i landed with it at 13c if i would've continued flying probably a crash.
 
Oh and I forgot a spotter! (who is on the binoculars) It's more fun flying with friends anyways!
I love it when you guys start trying to "reel the story back in" when people notice your comments. First, at 6,000 in distance and 1000 in altitude (unless you were on a mountain top or in a desert and you clearly indicated your not) the angle from your home point would be impossible for you to see the craft. Second, at that distance binoculars would be useless because you couldn't hold them steady enough to observe the craft. Just fess up. You bought new toys you didn't really learn how to fly properly and you broke and lost one. You posted your adventure for the world to see and make comments about on the internet. You are smart as rock...
 
I love it when you guys start trying to "reel the story back in" when people notice your comments. First, at 6,000 in distance and 1000 in altitude (unless you were on a mountain top or in a desert and you clearly indicated your not) the angle from your home point would be impossible for you to see the craft. Second, at that distance binoculars would be useless because you couldn't hold them steady enough to observe the craft. Just fess up. You bought new toys you didn't really learn how to fly properly and you broke and lost one. You posted your adventure for the world to see and make comments about on the internet. You are smart as rock...

Yup. I have to agree.

And him having two friends that fly out of that airport nearby and still flying into their airspace seems pretty callous. Next he'll tell us that he also filed a NOTAMS and had an AV radio that he was monitoring. And was carrying liability insurance.
 
What you’ve done is tripled the maximum rated elevation — where the winds were sure to be much greater than on the ground. And the power consumed to achieve that elevation doesn’t show in distance traveled. Don’t forget that the Inspire will be using lots of battery power as it fights to hover stationary in the wind. So even if you are using a relatively low amount of forward thrust, the Inspire may be using close to maximum thrust just to fight the wind (hence the battery overheat warning).

If you were flying with the wind on the way out, you’d find your power use to be pretty low. But it sounds like you had perhaps 30 mph winds aloft — quite common — which would mean that the UAV would only be able to achieve 5-10 mph coming back — meaning a 6-12 minute flight, PLUS the amount of time it takes to descend. Honestly, it sounds like you didn’t compensate for environmental factors and simply ran out of gas. I seriously doubt you have a claim against DJI, but you never know. They can be generous.

I suggest that you at the very least educate yourself on aviation weather reports — they can tell you what you need to know about conditions at various altitudes. I don’t condone any flying above 300’, but it sounds like the practice was self-punishing for you.



@The Editor
I was at a elevation of almost 400ft with no wind (I'm on a slag pile with NO wind break for 20 miles every direction), even adding another 800ft will not increase the wind 30 fold... I was at a altitude of 941ft when it dropped due to overheat, 576ft above my home landing location (I was descending at a moderate rate)
I found the battery in the remains and it has over 30% charge left (2 lit indicators)... there was plenty of charge, it would have made it back, if it had not of overheated. I'd like to think I'm a compentant pilot, but that's pretty arbitrary...

Even if I get a replacement unit back from DJI, my confidence in the battery technology is shot. The fact is, the battery technology just isn't there yet judging by the other posts people are having with the TB48 batteries. I was as responsible as I could have been, I took the precautions needed and well it happened.... that's it....
I'm not here to explain myself, nor do I need too, I probably should have posted this on general discussions. What I am advocating is that the battery technology just isn't there yet for a bird this size, but that will likely be remedied with the release of the Inspire 2.
If I get a replacement, I'll be selling it. I'll stick with the Phantom 4 for the time being. Less of a liability.... Guess I was being a bit naive buying it initially, I was working on a project for Holocaust awareness developing a multimedia presentation that contains the only upclose ariel HD video of the forgotten death camps in Poland, I was going to use the Inspire 1 to do the majority of the filming. Guess the phantom 4 will have to do, I'm sure it will do fine.
 
I would like to fly at 1000ft but if they catch me its not worth it
was it a topo issue why so high?
At 1000ft i could be 10 miles out:cool:
sweet:p
 
Yup. I have to agree.

And him having two friends that fly out of that airport nearby and still flying into their airspace seems pretty callous. Next he'll tell us that he also filed a NOTAMS and had an AV radio that he was monitoring. And was carrying liability insurance.
How did you know?
Really guys?
 
I was at a elevation of almost 400ft with no wind (I'm on a slag pile with NO wind break for 20 miles every direction), even adding another 800ft will not increase the wind 30 fold... I was at a altitude of 941ft when it dropped due to overheat, 576ft above my home landing location (I was descending at a moderate rate)
I found the battery in the remains and it has over 30% charge left (2 lit indicators)... there was plenty of charge, it would have made it back, if it had not of overheated. I'd like to think I'm a compentant pilot, but that's pretty arbitrary...

Even if I get a replacement unit back from DJI, my confidence in the battery technology is shot. The fact is, the battery technology just isn't there yet judging by the other posts people are having with the TB48 batteries. I was as responsible as I could have been, I took the precautions needed and well it happened.... that's it....
I'm not here to explain myself, nor do I need too, I probably should have posted this on general discussions. What I am advocating is that the battery technology just isn't there yet for a bird this size, but that will likely be remedied with the release of the Inspire 2.
If I get a replacement, I'll be selling it. I'll stick with the Phantom 4 for the time being. Less of a liability.... Guess I was being a bit naive buying it initially, I was working on a project for Holocaust awareness developing a multimedia presentation that contains the only upclose ariel HD video of the forgotten death camps in Poland, I was going to use the Inspire 1 to do the majority of the filming. Guess the phantom 4 will have to do, I'm sure it will do fine.
Smart as rock, you keep changing your story. I still can't get the image of you holding binoculars, two way radio, the remote control and actively flying all at once as you suggested in your earlier reply out of my head. Good luck getting DJI to "own" any of that.
 
I love it when you guys start trying to "reel the story back in" when people notice your comments. First, at 6,000 in distance and 1000 in altitude (unless you were on a mountain top or in a desert and you clearly indicated your not) the angle from your home point would be impossible for you to see the craft. Second, at that distance binoculars would be useless because you couldn't hold them steady enough to observe the craft. Just fess up. You bought new toys you didn't really learn how to fly properly and you broke and lost one. You posted your adventure for the world to see and make comments about on the internet. You are smart as rock...

I'm a complete idiot, I'm sorry!

Will that make it better?
I thought this was a help fourm?
 
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