Drone Found – Route 50 MD (Near Eastern DC) - Discussions

First, I know this may be the incorrect forum or place to put this, but please understand I am not a member here I am just trying to help out who ever lost this drone, please mods if necessary move this post to the correct forum location

So straight to the point, I found a Drone this morning on my commute in to work.

It was laying on the side of route 50 in the Cheverly / Landover Hill area.

The good news is I found it and want to get it back to you, the bad news it has been raining all morning and I'm sure this has at least been sitting there since this weekend so its been soaked for at least 10 hours straight. I unplugged the battery and laid it out to dry... hopefully nothing’s fried.. but chances are there is some electrical damage to the servo / motors

Don't need a reward, just want to get this back to whoever owns it.

I know sadly there are some people out there trying to snag a free stuff, so don't even reply to this ad unless you have a picture and or serial number of the drone you lost along with a contact number so I can get in touch with you.

If your picture matches Ill let you know and we can schedule sometime we can meet up after work so I can get it back to you.

This is posted in on craigslist in the Washington DC post. Go to the community section, and lost and found, when you find the post respond to me through there in order to get in contact with me directly. I have to do it this way as I am posting this in many areas across the web and want to make sure I get the response addressed. If the craigslist post is down, the drone made it home and it wasn't your drone.

https://washingtondc.craigslist.org/mld/laf/d/drone-found-route-50/6384903588.html

Mods if the craigslist post is down, can you please archive or delete this forum, thanks.

Drone Location.jpg

Drone Map.jpg

Update!

Got some great news this weekend, got contacted by email that someone who believed what I found was their friend’s drone that went down. They spoke with their friend and got his FAA number and model to me and it was an exact match. After some questions I got in touch with the owner himself and confirmed it was in fact his.

This morning we met up and I am pleased to announce it is back in the original owner’s hands now. He was so happy to have it back and so pleased and grateful I could get it back to him, and to be honest I was equally as happy to see him so thankful. It’s great to know this “case” is now solved!

So for those of you who were wondering…

What was the quad type?

This was a race drone. The main body was an ImmersionRC Vortex 250 Pro Racing Quad. It had a Spektrum FPV Racing Receiver, Blue Bullnose Tri-Blade Dalprops, Xnova Racing Motors, Pulse 1550 Quad Lithium Battery Pack, 120 Degree Cloverleaf Antenna, Immersion RC Upgrade 12 LED With Diffuser to name a few of the most noticeable aftermarket parts.

How’d it get lost?

It lost signal from the park on the south side of route 50 and took off and dropped down approx. 3500 feet north east of where the flight point started at. Either the failsafe failed or wasn’t set and it traveled nearly 3/4 of a mile and dropped down on the highway were I found it 5 days later. So for those of you that don’t have a failsafe program, get it. For those of you that have one, test it out first… especially if you are flying your drone at over 60 mph. In less than a minute it can be nearly a mile away. This being a clear case and point.

How’d it get recovered?

I found it on my morning commute and I posted it as found on quite literally every main forum I could find, as well as numerous lost and found forums. I posted in lost and found areas on craigslist too. But what ended up being what worked, in the case specifically, is I posted in the "for sale" section of craigslist with a “drone found” post. His friend, who is also a drone hobbyist, saw the post when searching for parts for himself and notified his friend.

Lost on Nov 8th, found on the 13th, contacted the 18th and back in owner’s hands the 20th.

What can be learned here?

First and foremost, put your Email and or Cell Phone number on your drone. Just a printed label from a label maker will work.

Second, if your drone has the ability to fly outside of your line of sight or at speeds that it may damage something if it went loose. You need to have a failsafe programmed. Not just to not lose your drone… but also not to have your drone injure someone or something else.

Those two things could really help out if and when your drone gets loose.

I learned a lot about flight recovery while trying to find the owner, and If I get the time I may make a separate post just to share what I leaned.

Thanks to everyone who also helped get the word out!

Replies

Kaw Rider November 20, 2017 at 9:32am

Update!

Got some great news this weekend, got contacted by email that someone who believed what I found was their friend’s drone that went down. They spoke with their friend and got his FAA number and model to me and it was an exact match. After some questions I got in touch with the owner himself and confirmed it was in fact his.

This morning we met up and I am pleased to announce it is back in the original owner’s hands now. He was so happy to have it back and so pleased and grateful I could get it back to him, and to be honest I was equally as happy to see him so thankful. It’s great to know this “case” is now solved!

So for those of you who were wondering…

What was the quad type?

This was a race drone. The main body was an ImmersionRC Vortex 250 Pro Racing Quad. It had a Spektrum FPV Racing Receiver, Blue Bullnose Tri-Blade Dalprops, Xnova Racing Motors, Pulse 1550 Quad Lithium Battery Pack, 120 Degree Cloverleaf Antenna, Immersion RC Upgrade 12 LED With Diffuser to name a few of the most noticeable aftermarket parts.

How’d it get lost?

It lost signal from the park on the south side of route 50 and took off and dropped down approx. 3500 feet north east of where the flight point started at. Either the failsafe failed or wasn’t set and it traveled nearly 3/4 of a mile and dropped down on the highway were I found it 5 days later. So for those of you that don’t have a failsafe program, get it. For those of you that have one, test it out first… especially if you are flying your drone at over 60 mph. In less than a minute it can be nearly a mile away. This being a clear case and point.

How’d it get recovered?

I found it on my morning commute and I posted it as found on quite literally every main forum I could find, as well as numerous lost and found forums. I posted in lost and found areas on craigslist too. But what ended up being what worked, in the case specifically, is I posted in the "for sale" section of craigslist with a “drone found” post. His friend, who is also a drone hobbyist, saw the post when searching for parts for himself and notified his friend.

Lost on Nov 8th, found on the 13th, contacted the 18th and back in owner’s hands the 20th.

What can be learned here?

First and foremost, put your Email and or Cell Phone number on your drone. Just a printed label from a label maker will work.

Second, if your drone has the ability to fly outside of your line of sight or at speeds that it may damage something if it went loose. You need to have a failsafe programmed. Not just to not lose your drone… but also not to have your drone injure someone or something else.

Those two things could really help out if and when your drone gets loose.

I learned a lot about flight recovery while trying to find the owner, and If I get the time I may make a separate post just to share what I leaned.

Thanks to everyone who also helped get the word out!
Kaw Rider November 17, 2017 at 8:10am

Just wanted to update all the forums, as of today I have sadly still have not found any leads on who this belongs to.

I am going to continue waiting for a couple more days, but come beginning of next week if I do not hear anything, and cant get this back to the originally owner, I am going to sell and donate this.

I thought about this for a little while and decided I don't want to make money off someone else's lost, so instead I think it would be nice to at least turn this lost into a good ending.

So this will go for sale on eBay, and ALL proceeds with go to two different organizations.

The First being Cross International, Which is an Awesome Organization for getting support and food to those less fortunate, and the majority of the remaining to a local Organization that provides Toys for Children in the Area for Christmas, since it is the season it seems like the right thing to do.

If that time comes, I will post all the information on the item.

Until then, if you do hear something or know who may own this, please still get in touch with me so I can get this to him / her.
Kaw Rider November 15, 2017 at 4:34am

Its a nice drone, has some aftermarket parts and clearly this guy or girl spent sometime with this and in this hobby, I know if I was in their shoes and just lost a $500+ investment Id be extremely grateful that someone would help me get it back. Still haven't found who lost it, the FAA was no help with the number on it. Apparently they no longer track these or have a searchable database for drone owners since some law change last year... Just keep that in mind for any of you drone owners if you think the FAA number is going to help you get it returned, it doesn't.

You need to have a cell phone number or at least an email on your drone to help the finder get it back to you.

Got a couple other forum guys put the word out locally on facebook too so hopefully I can find the guy/girl soon and get this back to them.
Moderator

RM Aviation November 15, 2017 at 12:02am

Thanks for your efforts, hopefully the owner can be found and they appreciate your kind actions.

This reply was deleted.