Then It Crashed Into A Tree
Channel: Conrad Walton
Date: 22/05/2015

Drone, Sweet Home

The drone is programmed to automatically fly back "home" when the battery runs down to 20%, so you don't lose your drone when the battery dies.

It remembers the GPS location of where you set it down and turned it on. 

I was over the conveyer belt when it went into autopilot to fly "home".

In this case, "home" was behind a tree. 

It rose up to a "safe" height, about 40 feet up. 

It flew straight back towards "home", directly into a tree. 

And it stuck.

I was looking at a ladder leaned against the fire station, when someone else asked the backhoe operator for help.

He drove over and started bashing his bucket into the tree trunk to shake the drone loose.

It slipped and fell about 10 feet, where it stuck on another branch. 

This branch was within reach of the bucket, so he started pushing and bumping, until the drone fell to the ground. 

It broke all the rotors and guards. It got covered with dust and dirt, inside and out.

After taking it apart, replacing the broken bits, and cleaning it, it's as good as new.

Lesson: Always launch your drone from an open space with no trees nearby and ALWAYS keep a back hoe nearby to rescue it from trees.

To see the original video I took: http://www.survivor.com/2015/05/21/then-it-crashed-into-a-tree-walker-firewise/