Spark flew away while using controller only! How do i find it?

[Lscott45]

On my 7th flight, i took the spark out on my back deck and flew it with the controller only and no phone or tablet linked. BAD MISTAKE! A few seconds later while the spark was 30-60 feet above my head in clear view, it flew away seemingly completely unresponsive to the controller. I live in a subdivision of Nashville, and based on a gradual decent rate/trees, i'm pretty sure it's in someone's yard a block over. One neighbor said she heard something hard hit her front bay window at the time my spark flew away. I searched her yard and found nothing. I've handed out flyers and searched 6-8 yards with permission. PLEASE CAN ANYONE GIVE ME ADVISE ON HOW TO FIND IT? I can't find a way to get any data off the controller and there is no flight log on the app since it wasn't connected to a device. DJI helpline will not help since it was not connected to the app. They say that "The flight data stored on your remote controller are support files and additional information for the analysis of the main flight record files stored on the mobile device."

Thanks in advance for any help,
I'm like a marriage headed for divorce.... I've lost my Spark.

 

[Droggy]

Bye bye. Gather all the neighbourhood kids and offer reward when they find it

 

[Lscott45]

Bye bye. Gather all the neighbourhood kids and offer reward when they find it

Yeah the flyers say $50 reward.

 

[Kilrah]

As they said no app = no log.

 

[Lastrexking]

Didn’t know you could fly with just the remote. Not that I would.

Unfortunately there is no way to track it without the app. Your only hope is someone finding and returning it.

Good luck.

 

[Sparkbart]

One of the things I do with all my drones is create labels and put them on my drone with my FAA number and contact info and an additional sentence that there is a reward for its return. I also put a .txt file on the SD card. Which is titled Drone_Owner_Info.txt....

The other thing I have and I feel is one of the most important things any drone pilot should have is "liability" insurance. If that drone causes/caused damage to someone's property they could sue you for whatever damage the drone may have caused. I don't even want to think if someone is injured...

 

[Lscott45]

UPDATE: This morning i walked out of the house and found that someone had placed my Spark on the front porch with one of the reward flyers that i handed out. However, the drone is damaged beyond repair. It still turns on and runs and the battery was still completely full, but one rotor was broken and two were missing. Worst of all, two of the rotar booms(?) are snapped off of the fuselage and hanging by the wires. I'm hoping DJI can get data from the drone to figure out what happened.

 

[Lastrexking]

UPDATE: This morning i walked out of the house and found that someone had placed my Spark on the front porch with one of the reward flyers that i handed out. However, the drone is damaged beyond repair. It still turns on and runs and the battery was still completely full, but one rotor was broken and two were missing. Worst of all, two of the rotar booms(?) are snapped off of the fuselage and hanging by the wires. I'm hoping DJI can get data from the drone to figure out what happened.

Glad you got it back. It’s a shame it’s not in one piece.

I doubt DJI will get anything from it as your mobile device captures all of the flight data and records it.

 

[Spark 317]

Looks like the RTH worked.

Sort of .

 

[Kilrah]

If he recovered the aircraft it has the detailed log inside.

 

[Kilrah]

Didn’t know you could fly with just the remote. Not that I would.

You can but you're limited to very short range to discourage you from doing it.

 

[Peter Powers]

What happened: you launched your drone without checking its telemetry, you did not have a display that would have informed you about such things as "dude, something is wrong with my compass please calibrate!" or "I don't have any GPS yet". A prime example of being an irresponsible pilot. It's exactly what people are talking about when they say "fly aways are usually the pilots mistake".

 

[Anthony]

What happened: you launched your drone without checking its telemetry, you did not have a display that would have informed you about such things as "dude, something is wrong with my compass please calibrate!" or "I don't have any GPS yet". A prime example of being an irresponsible pilot. It's exactly what people are talking about when they say "fly aways are usually the pilots mistake".

I Hope that everyone keep posting their incidents and mistakes so we can learn what not to do with our own Spark.

I don't want to sound rude or anything like that. However, I'm glad that I didn't made the same mistake because that thought passed through my mind.

 

[Lastrexking]

I Hope that everyone keep posting their incidents and mistakes so we can learn what not to do with our own Spark.

I don't want to sound rude or anything like that. However, I'm glad that I didn't made the same mistake because that thought passed through my mind.

I don’t understand why it would cross anyone’s mind. Nowhere in the manual does it state to fly with anything other than the rc and phone, or phone. There’s no mention of flying just with the rc.

If you want to learn what not to do, read the manual and follow the instructions.

 

[Anthony]

I don’t understand why it would cross anyone’s mind. Nowhere in the manual does it state to fly with anything other than the rc and phone, or phone. There’s no mention of flying just with the rc.

If you want to learn what not to do, read the manual and follow the instructions.

I don't want to start an argument with you my friend.
but I don't know if you have noticed that in life, you need to learn from other people's mistakes or your own mistakes.

It doesn't matter how many times you read the manual if you don't have common sense you f***** up RIGHT! Just saying.

 

[Lastrexking]

I don't want to start an argument with you my friend.
but I don't know if you have noticed that in life, you need to learn from other people's mistakes or your own mistakes.

It doesn't matter how many times you read the manual if you don't have common sense you f***** up RIGHT! Just saying.

Sorry if I sound argumentative. But, there are currently too many incidents with drones and the media just love jumping on them. I’ve been flying RC aircraft for about ten years and and it’s getting worse and worse. Governments across the globe are clamping down. So, I don’t think we have the luxury of learning by mistake. If people read their bloody manuals and applied common sense we wouldn’t have so many issues.

All it takes is one idiot with a Spark that doesn’t have a clue, and for that Spark to fly over an airport, fall on someone’s head, auto land on a child, and it’s more fuel to the fire.

In short - I’m getting sick of other people being selfish and too **** lazy, and ruining it for the rest of us.

 

[Anthony]

You have a very good point my friend.
You sounds like you are a very experience person in the field. Every mistake that you see from other drone pilots is easy to avoid on your eyes because of your knowledge and experience.

However, most of us (new drone pilot) have are own way to learned. For example, I haven't read no manual because it makes me more confused. I need to watch videos to get all the information right.

Don't get it so personal[emoji106]

 

[Peter Powers]

You have a very good point my friend.
You sounds like you are a very experience person in the field. Every mistake that you see from other drone pilots is easy to avoid on your eyes because of your knowledge and experience.

However, most of us (new drone pilot) have are own way to learned. For example, I haven't read no manual because it makes me more confused. I need to watch videos to get all the information right.

Don't get it so personal[emoji106]

Hey Anthony,
You are right, with a bit of experience a lot of mistakes can be avoided, and as long as a newbie has this in mind, and does both, spend their time to learn before flying, and to apply some logic to what they do, they will be fine.
What gives us drone pilots a bad name is people who get fooled by how easy it seems into not taking proper care.
Checking for good GPS reception and the sensors to be OK is mentioned in the manual and every single good video on responsible flying out there - reasons should be obvious.
Not using a display, where dji already made it extremly easy and in your face, semi-automating those checks, is simply negligence.

 

[Anthony]

Hey Anthony,
You are right, with a bit of experience a lot of mistakes can be avoided, and as long as a newbie has this in mind, and does both, spend their time to learn before flying, and to apply some logic to what they do, they will be fine.
What gives us drone pilots a bad name is people who get fooled by how easy it seems into not taking proper care.
Checking for good GPS reception and the sensors to be OK is mentioned in the manual and every single good video on responsible flying out there - reasons should be obvious.
Not using a display, where dji already made it extremly easy and in your face, semi-automating those checks, is simply negligence.

Hello Peter,
I agree with you. Plus, most newbies believe that Spark is a toy. Therefore, they don't take the time to get information how to be a good pilot.

 

[aviscomi]

I agree with you. Plus, most newbies believe that Spark is a toy.

And I blame DJI for that! Their promo video(s) depict a group of younger kids sitting around a table while the Spark hovers 24" from their faces.