The short life of my WOT4

[Brucey]

Unlucky mate. Good luck with the search.
Don't give up with fpv, you need to get back on the horse.
I can't stress enough to you and others reading this how important a ground recording can be. In the heat of the moment you're brain will forget information.
Is there anyone local to you to help with the search?

[skyscraper]

If you carried on flying manually blind then the plane may have piled in pretty quick after you lost video, unless its very stable. Think you would get away with an Easy Star type, but wot4 looks as if it wont fly that well hands off.

In other words my guess is that by the time you switched to RTH, it was already on the deck, which is why it didnt come back.

I have been thinking of sorting out a system which cuts in RTH automatically on loss of video. Won't help you much, but concentrates the mind on the problem.

Best is to start a search and put up posters.

regards
Andy

[jweaver]

Thanks all for your support. I am off out this morning to see what i can find after looking at google maps and getting a feel for the area.

Problem is, i lost video in a turn and i dont know which direction it ended up going... And for how long.. So i really dont think i stand a chance of finding it.

Going to speak to the police first. I really want to be sure i didnt hurt anyone.. And i guess there is a slight chance someone phoned in a "plane crash".

Its hard to believe no one has found it.. I have a battery alarm which would have been beeping on low battery.. And an "SOS" alarm which would have been triggered by the failsafe.. So the plane would have drawn attention to itself.

I really cant explain how gutted i am.. Thos is about the worst feeling of my life.. I guess that shows i have lead a charmed life as this is pretty insignificant when you think about it.

Fingers crossed that something will turn up..

Thanks again.

[jukebox]

I had a wot4 foam-e and if you lost power to the plane it would have just come down mate.
Mine would drop straight down with no stick input so I'd bet that its in the area you stopped inputting on the sticks.

[BigT]

My advice is don't go to the old bill until you've had a good look. What you where doing (flying out of los) is illegal. We had a ready trainer fly away after the rx battery failed at 100ft 30% throttle. It turned up 6 months later on its wheels in a field 5 miles away!!!

If you let us know where you are maybe we can organise an aerial search. I would volunteer for one

[BlueFlyer]

complete loss of video signal like you describe could mean the voltage of your pack got so low that it could no longer power your storm OSD.

Not only will this stop your cam and vtx from working, but it would also stop the stabilisation components within the storm from working... basically the Storm would be a useless bit of PCB and plastic in your plane.

because the aileron and elevator servos are plugged into your storm, when it is not powered on you don't have control of the servos which in turn would mean no control of the aircraft.

If this did happen, when you switched to RTH on your transmitter, it would have done nothing, your throttle might have still worked, but most likely your plane went straight down mate.

People on here have argued against me many times on this, but personally I always have a separate 3S LiPo to power my FPV gear.

[Lola]

I feel for you man, it's not making me think twice about long range, it's making me think about how I / we all do it.

I can tell you for a fact that 99.9% of my plane crashes are down to one, 5ft and 8 inch plonker! You guessed it 😊 ME!

And  I tell you why... There is so much to think about, how fast am I going, how high, how much amps pulling and how much amps left, and and and. Then in my case I'm looking at the view from 400 ft and thinking this is great and then completely forget about everything else.

I recon you waited a tad too long hitting the RTH or RTL and by that time the laws of physics had taken over.

I just hope you find her again and don't give up mate😉

[jweaver]

Thanks all for your support.. I had no joy.. With regards to the problem being power, I have a horrible feeling you are right..

I fear that I may have been so preoccupied with distance, that I simply forgot to look at the voltage.. I certainly didn't notice anything flashing, but I dont' think I was looking.

I was sure I did watch the voltage, but now I can no longer be.

I really don't think its going to turn up.. Now I have been on the ground I realise how huge the area is and I simply don't know where to start.. And things are starting to get hazy in my mind and I am not even sure exactly where I was when I lost video... And considering I kept holding the sticks for a while afterwards, (And gave it some beans) it could be anywhere.

I think I am just going to give up on this one, and either stick to my other 2 models.. Or just say ***k it and buy another identical setup.. I havn't thought about the cost, so let  me do that now and depress myself

WOT4 - £120
Orange R800X - £20
Storm - £70
VTX - £40
Antenna - £3
SMA Exension Cable £2
Wheels £2
Battery £10
Camera £30
Bits and bobs - £15

So I can rebuild it again for less than £300.. Do I want too?? That I am not sure of.. I only did it before as I already had the WOT4.. I think I need to take a seat.. Get used to the loss and consider my options in a week or so...

Jon

Edit: One things I need to confess.. The areas where it is lost, is a built up area and thats why I havn't considered doing an aerial search.. The place I was flying was surounded by 800m of countryside.. And since I was only going out 300m I didn't consider any risk of flying over a built up area.. But when I did the 1KM route, I went out over unpopulated space which ran adjacent to a built up area.. When I turned I intended to go back the same way.. But as we know it went wrong.. So its very likely that it went down over a populated area and I don't feel good about that at all! So I think this will limit any chance of an aerial search.. And I guess I need to learn a lesson from this!

The other thing I was surprised about was how high the tress were.. When I was on the ground looking, the place is littered with REALLY tall tress.. So its very possible it hit one, and perhaps is still there.. But I saw no sign,

[Lola]

Do you have another plane ready with FPV? It's just a thought but if you do is it possible to mount the camera pointing downwards and then you fly the area as best you can LOS and have a mate wear the goggles to scan the area.

[BigT]

Edit: One things I need to confess.. The areas where it is lost, is a built up area and thats why I havn't considered doing an aerial search.. The place I was flying was surounded by 800m of countryside.. And since I was only going out 300m I didn't consider any risk of flying over a built up area.. But when I did the 1KM route, I went out over unpopulated space which ran adjacent to a built up area.. When I turned I intended to go back the same way.. But as we know it went wrong.. So its very likely that it went down over a populated area and I don't feel good about that at all! So I think this will limit any chance of an aerial search.. And I guess I need to learn a lesson from this!

The other thing I was surprised about was how high the tress were.. When I was on the ground looking, the place is littered with REALLY tall tress.. So its very possible it hit one, and perhaps is still there.. But I saw no sign,

That's why I said avoid the Old Bill!! If your interested I have a SkyEye for sale just now ready to fly just add rx, lipo  and video kit. If you are interested PM me and we will have a chat about price.  By the way its unusual for a tree in the UK to be over 65 feet.

[jweaver]

Do you have another plane ready with FPV? It's just a thought but if you do is it possible to mount the camera pointing downwards and then you fly the area as best you can LOS and have a mate wear the goggles to scan the area.

I do actually and perhaps i could point the camera.. But its too far for LOS and launching close the the crash site would be difficult.
My quad is probably a better option and perhaps i could make up a mount to point a gopro down.. And i could then fly over the area and then examine the footage later... But its going to be terrible weather over the next few days, its not going to be possible... 

[jweaver]

Edit: One things I need to confess.. The areas where it is lost, is a built up area and thats why I havn't considered doing an aerial search.. The place I was flying was surounded by 800m of countryside.. And since I was only going out 300m I didn't consider any risk of flying over a built up area.. But when I did the 1KM route, I went out over unpopulated space which ran adjacent to a built up area.. When I turned I intended to go back the same way.. But as we know it went wrong.. So its very likely that it went down over a populated area and I don't feel good about that at all! So I think this will limit any chance of an aerial search.. And I guess I need to learn a lesson from this!

The other thing I was surprised about was how high the tress were.. When I was on the ground looking, the place is littered with REALLY tall tress.. So its very possible it hit one, and perhaps is still there.. But I saw no sign,

That's why I said avoid the Old Bill!! If your interested I have a SkyEye for sale just now ready to fly just add rx, lipo  and video kit. If you are interested PM me and we will have a chat about price.  By the way its unusual for a tree in the UK to be over 65 feet.

I did speak to the police, but i simply told them that i lost control and it flew off... But at the end of the day, if i broke the law and someone got injured i couldnt live with myself and would have to fess up.

But they radioed control.  asked if anyone had called in about a crashed RC plane and the controller said "are you taking the piss" and couldnt find anything in the logs.

Got to check with lost property on Mon.. And will keep an eye on ebay/gumtree.. But if nothing comes up, perhaps an aerial recon with a gopro is the way yo go.

Will PM you about your plane.. Really liked the WOT4 as t was fast/nimble and am using my Radian for longer flights, so would prefer something "sporty"

[Lola]

Do you have another plane ready with FPV? It's just a thought but if you do is it possible to mount the camera pointing downwards and then you fly the area as best you can LOS and have a mate wear the goggles to scan the area.

I do actually and perhaps i could point the camera.. But its too far for LOS and launching close the the crash site would be difficult.
My quad is probably a better option and perhaps i could make up a mount to point a gopro down.. And i could then fly over the area and then examine the footage later... But its going to be terrible weather over the next few days, its not going to be possible...

I would give it a go ASAP if the weathers turning bad. Just thinking of the electrics and stuff. Even if it's difficult to launch for LOS mission I would try, even if you don't find anything.

[jweaver]

Do you have another plane ready with FPV? It's just a thought but if you do is it possible to mount the camera pointing downwards and then you fly the area as best you can LOS and have a mate wear the goggles to scan the area.

I do actually and perhaps i could point the camera.. But its too far for LOS and launching close the the crash site would be difficult.
My quad is probably a better option and perhaps i could make up a mount to point a gopro down.. And i could then fly over the area and then examine the footage later... But its going to be terrible weather over the next few days, its not going to be possible...

I would give it a go ASAP if the weathers turning bad. Just thinking of the electrics and stuff. Even if it's difficult to launch for LOS mission I would try, even if you don't find anything.

Weather is already here.. And I have spent the last 20 hours walking and talking.. I have run out of steam and my confidence is shattered.. I would rather loose my WOT4, than loose my WOT4 and Quad at this stage.

And to be honest.. If it went where I think it did, its 60% residental.. 20% Industrial and 20% waste ground.. And if it came down its most likely someone will already have it in their hands.. The only quesiton now is what they do with it? Hand it in to the police? Keep it? Ebay?

I hear what you are saying and perhaps this morning, rather than walking around, I would have been better of flying the quad over the area and just capturing video.. But the last 2 days has been a series of mistakes for me and that can go on the list!

[Lola]

Ok, as I understand it the servos and vTx run off the storm. If you flew in manual mode when you lost video then I recon it's dropped out of the sky as you held the sticks and would have come down within the 20% wasteland.

If you decide to tell the police then I would not mention FPV, I would just say you had a tx problem. I would just sit and wait for the weather to get better, go have a look and as a last resort call the law.