https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EL9jGwRI92I
Preface: My fault, I should know better. I've flown over to these geese on numerous occasions without incident. But this time I was controlling from further away and therefore my depth perception wasn't as keen. I don't blame the goose all, however it is tempting to find him and cook him for dinner.
As soon as I saw the goose rear up and open his wings, I punched it but it was too late. On the log you see full power commanded, and full power applied, but in the same instant, it was all over. I took a direct hit from a large Canada Goose from probably 6ft AGL. This was over the swampy edge of the lake behind my house. It flipped over and hit the water / mud upside down at a weird angle. The only sound it made was a faint LiPo beeper which was clearly drowned.
So getting it back was when the real fun began. It hit the swamp right next to their nest. If you've ever tried to walk up to a goose nest, you know that will be a problem. Papa Goose is very protective, and he's still pretty pissed. I had to hop logs and rocks out into the water, and still ended up falling in. Papa Goose wouldn't let me anywhere near it. He got all hissy and tried to eat me when I tried. So I ended up using a 12ft long tree limb to hook the landing skids, lift it up, and swing it over towards shore. My neighbor was on the shore waiting to catch it. The limb almost snapped from the weight of the UAV and two 4S 5000mah batteries. And the honker was PISSED.
So I brought it back to the house and started assessing damage. The dome popped off and cracked because I didn't put the screws back in (stupid). The camera gimbal separated into two pieces (just glued together, so not a problem). Wires were ripped out of one of the gimbal motors. The mobius camera was wet. The landing skids had detached in a few places. The 3DR telemetry radio, GPS/Compass, and video transmitter were wet. One prop was broken. All the motors were wet. And there was a splash or two on the APM. The battery mounts had detached as well.
I took it all apart, opened everything up, and went at it with a hair dryer. After snapping the landing skids and battery mounts back on, and drying it all out, the only actual casualties are (1) gimbal motor, (1) battery beeper, and (1) plastic propeller. I put a new propeller on it and it flies perfectly fine, like nothing ever happened.
Won't be making that mistake again.
Comments
Maverick: Talk to me Goose.
Actually I fully expected the goose to react that way. I wasn't intending to get close enough to elicit the reaction. Usually I'm higher and a little further back when filming this nest. But I was controlling from way further away than I usually do for this task for no good reason. Being so far away, I didn't notice it creeping closer and lower. Daddy got pissed and reacted as expected...
Honest error, It sure seems you didn't expect goose to react that way. Best thing is for all to learn, don't approach wildlife. It's impossible to know how a particular species reacts to intrusions, unless you are a biologist doing some sort of study. Usually, you don't want to approach nesting locations. Some birds may abandon their chicks and that would be sad. -I've seen it on Discovery and PBS channels so I'm just repeating what I've watched on TV.
Hi bud, good video and a lesson for all that wants to learn. Thanks for sharing.
Perhaps I will make some time this week to get HAL drunk.
Indeed, you're better of cleaning and rinsing all the electronics with alcohol. If any salt or mud residu has remained, the electronics may work fine now, but the fine legs of the IC's will start to corrode slowly and in a month orso the board will just fail (hopefully not in flight)
I had my plane go down in a swamp and everything survided at first, but a month later the camera went dead. Examination under a microscope revealed corrosion of the IC's legs.
So keep an eye on the equipment that has been wet, even though it works fine now.
Great advice. Thanks!
I think it hit the front right arm from an angle below, which probably contributed to having less of an impact on the honker. They were the cheap $0.75 plastic blades too, so it snapped immediately rather than "digging in". I'm only guessing based on the video, since I was too far away to see that kind of detail (which is how I got in the situation to begin with).
I'm quite sure he'll remember too. I feel if I got back over there anytime soon, he'll probably be like "youuuuu!"
I am amazed the goose appears unaffected, the collision sounds really painful.
Thanks for sharing.
I've been asked the obviously questions like "oooh can you spy on someone with that?!?" My response is usually something along the lines of "Look how big, colorful, and loud that thing is. Do you really think I can sneak up on anyone with that?" I always turn those questions around and back to the positives. In fact I completely avoid using the word drone. It's "a helicopter with 4 blades". Unfortunately when you use the word drone, people immediately think of the CIA circling overhead looking through their window.
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