Hunting for Lost Drones 

"Don't try this at home." in other words dint risk your $15000 to rescue your $300 drone thanks ill keep that in mind. honestly tho I'd try it if i had the option.

You know everything's good when you see the footage of the lost drone

Five drones later: "we will fit this sixth drone with a crane and see if we can get one of the first five down"

I love how the props on the Alta just minces the branches, what an absolute monster. Good recoveries though dude!

That first rescue is the sketchiest thing I've seen today.

A method I used once for a drone stuck in a tree was a fishing rod with a sinker/weight on the end. If you aim it right, you can get it stuck on (or near) the branch that contains the quad, and you can shake it out or just snap the branch off. Of course, this has a high probability of leaving a decent amount of fishing line stuck up in a tree, but yeah.

I'd paint any gear I can possibly lose bright orange or yellow. Won't get rid of the losing part, but there is a chance of finding my stuff more quick or at all Also the failsafe did a shit job lol

Am I the only one that absolutely loves the sound of the big drone? It sounds soo awesome..!

Perhaps for the cliff recovery, adding a small packet of chalk dust inside an easily broken container to help improve crash site identification.

This might be the most stressful thing I've ever watched.

Use a $15,000 drone to save a $500 drone *that makes sense* You a crazy man!

Oh man! Last Autumn I managed to lodge my mavic air in the very end of a branch of an Oak Tree like 15m up. Tried climbing but I couldn’t get to the end of the branch (those Oak trees have very long branches) so I resorted to throwing sticks but the stick had to be like 3’ long in order to have enough kinetic energy to reach that height . . . . Close but no cigar. Next day I went to the local hardware store and bought some thin (sailing type) rope and attached an (padded) adjustable wrench to the end. The rope was too thick so, as the rope rose into the air the weight of it dragged the end weight down . . . Another Fail. Day three I returned with Nylon Cord (the same padded end weight) and a set of steps so that I could let out more cord whist building up the swing (larger diameter of swing rope), finally I decided to turn my back to the drone and release the rope (over my head) at the top of its arc - in the style of a trebuchet! And finally on the fourth attempt (using the revised backward facing technique) it worked and the drone gently bounced its way down and was completely undamaged !

LoL , I thought You'd get the other drone stuck hehe , Its powerful though

@ 7:45 I thought of that clip where Homer Simpson is falling down a hill/cliffside and saying "d'oh" about 20 times.

I feel like this can be an example of why props-out is the way to go. Gave those trees a nice trim, lmao

I got a quad built specifically for rescue situations. Old beat up quad, no worries if it gets stuck or lost, since I don't fly it anyway. It's probably around $200, definitely not a $15k Hollywood camera rig :). Glad you got them both back!

That was really handy that you just happened to have a Huey with you. May everyone be fortunate enough to have the same outcome.

7:33 what fine hell spawn of a creature has that video brought into this world. I got it its rocks, but the way hey line up to look like a face with big lips is going to haunt me

I know what you mean when you talk about never doing anything risky with drones again. I have had several close calls where i have nearly lost a craft, after the event i am relieved i did not lose it, and at the same time calling myself an idiot. But, a few weeks later i am doing the same again, not sure what it is - sense of adventure?, or the adrenaline rush you get at the time. Or maybe just the sense of achievement you get after you have sent a craft out of a risky mission, or pushed the limits of range and get the craft back safely in your hands. Whatever it is, it's addictive, and it's what keeps me in the hobby! I just wish that here in the UK we had some of those fantastic open spaces you guys have over there in the states.

That cliffside failsafe is why my next build will have GPS, even though it's a 4-inch.

7:08 that FPV stream is the most dramatic drone “death” I’ve ever seen.

OMG.....Thank you getting outside and doing all this! I'm recovering from 4th spine surgery in 4 years so Covid quarantine didn't really effect me much. I had massive training already! LOL! You've inspired me so much bro! I've actually acquired several 3D printers and would like to get in drones if possible. Can you give any direction as to where to start looking? I'm so glad you got that little guy back! That was so awesome to watch!!!

Thanks for sharing. You're a lucky man indeed. I was on the edge of my seat watching the first rescue! You could probably have avoided the second incident if you had set up a GPS failsafe. It's cheap, light and easy to setup. Depending on how it's configured, the failsafe would have brought the quad straight up to begin, which should have restored your signal. If not it would then travel back to the home point and you would then regain control. I've installed it on my cinewhoop and it provides some peace of mind for those with weaker hearts!

Bow, rope, and 2h shooting. I got my drone back this way. You don't need even target the drone, just hook the repo to shake branch, or deliver a hook for drone - multiple strategies.

6:59 ANXIETY !!!

Nice one mate! It looks like you are living the dream life, driving to the top of a mountain, cooking breakfast in the back of a truck, flying a nice big plane, chasing it with a fpv quad. What could possibly be better?

Freaking awesome!!! I found myself yelling "watch the branches, watch the branches!"

attach some bright surveyors tape to your GP and fold it up inside your mount, so you get a bright tail or streamer when it ejects.

Have you considered painting the gopro bright yellow and/or attaching a blinking led to it? you could even attach a backup cable to it, so it doesn't go flying too far.

6:58 life when its just goin too good then it's say "SIKE!!" and goes down

I need an Alta, fancy a trip over to the UK to rescue my quad from a similar position in an oak tree?

My first travel plane a carbon falcon that was built like a motorized kite. Flying in Hawaii when the wind swapped just as the battery sagged and pulled it out over the water, to where I could barely see orientation and with barely enough power to fight the wind of perfectly oriented. So it eventually lost thrust and settled on the water. It sank just as I secured a boat to get close. I got it back because a scuba diver found it and saw my phone number. Got it back before my vacation was over. Sweet. It still haven’t rebuilt it. I had just started making my own travel planes out of corroplast and modified designs.

After losing my son's Parrot Disco on a 30 mile flight, I started using a Samsung Smartthings GPS and beeper. Since then, I have made three successful recoveries. One was in a tree and a tree climber got it for me. Another was on an 18 mile trip and the LTE GPS told me the address. I went there and it was on the ground - which I located with the beeper (it had crashed into a 130 foot tall tree). And the latest I saw it go into a tree, located it with the beeper, and then just cut the tree down since it was a dense forest and there were too many trees anyway and they were competing for canopy space to grow further.

Your quad easily peeled off the limbs once it was ripe. Next time, just come during quad harvesting season to one of those pay and pick farms for way easier low hanging quads on every branch! Propell's Berry Farm near where I live only costs $10 for the day and you can fill up one basket with as many juicy quads as you can pick! I was able to get a massive juicy DJI and even found a small but incredibly lucky rare octocopter next to a septicopter!!! And my gf picked a few cool tricopters and a mini dual rotor pig chopper!! Oink! Oink! Man I'm also excited to go digging for hoverboards too in the roller patch fields!

what you said about going back for more after mistakes is so true

i love the sound of the alta

Your nuts man! The last time we try a drone rescuing another, there was three at the top of the tree. The fire department just happen to show up days later, and got all three out lol. Now I have a BIGSHOT arborist slingshot. It will shoot a line 200ft vertically, with precision. Works awesome! Pulled a 7”er down a day ago on my second shot.

This video gave me some stout anxiety. First with the Alta nearly marrying a tree, then with the Nazgul getting the old full send down a mountain!

My jaw literally dropped at 6:40 and then over and over again over the course of the next minute.

Great recoveries. I’ve had the same type of things happen to me, I suspect all model flyers have. Trees mostly but I’ve had flyaways go as much as a half mile away and still able to recover. Just as a tip for flyers, use the RSSI on your controller (if equipped) to track your craft. I just drove in the general area until I got a signal, then used the signal strength to track it.

Used the fpv feed in my goggles to retrieve my Tinyhawk FS2 today. First session outside and the wind caught it. Went about 400m give or take and found it on a roof when the vtx and goggles had propperline of sight and heard the motors spin up on Arm. This video helps after some stressfully doorbell ringing...

Great video! I used to work at a small drone shop in a mall, I'd basically be flying small drones all day to get the publics attention. One day I was doing small loops around a horizontal support structure almost at roof height and got the drone stuck up there. I had to make use of zip ties and paperclips to make something like you did, a stick and a hook and see if i could fly the other one down. What ended up happening was me pushing the second drones batteries to the limit and it also getting stuck up there with the other one. I eventually got them down but it was a fun day at work

I remember my first FPV flight attempt. It was evening and I just wanted to test out my Frankenstein micro drone. Tiny whoops where barely a thing. I think my drone was an inductrix board with 7mm motors on a hubsan toy frame with some balsa wood to attach the battery and vtx. I was exited that I put it together and wanted a quick test outside. Either way I was in te middle of my uni football field I put my googles on, punch the throttle and immediately got confused, so I killed the motor. I though I hit the ground so took out the googles and tried to find my little franken drone... it was stuck on a tree at the far end of the field. There was no end to my panic, I was an exchange student in UK, my funds were slim, I spend a lot of them on building that thing and now it was stuck on a tree. I tried to free it up, but the battery died, the LEDs went dark and I couldn't see it anymore. So I collected all the broomsticks from student accommodation that I found 6 of them, all aluminium and around 1.5m long . I woke up at 5 to poke the bugger out of the tree before my classes started. So I was standing there, taping together broomsticks, poking the tree, adding another broomstick to the pole and poking the tree again, rinse and repeat until I had a 7m long wobbly pole. All of this attracted attention of some garden workers who were planting some stuff around the campus. I explained to them what is going on and they blocked the little street adjacent to the field and start helping me out with the recovery. They had hi-viz vests, road cones and a truck, it looked like a professional rescue effort :D It took us maybe 15 minutes to finally get the tiny drone down and I don't think I could do it without them. So thank you garden workers from Cranfield you are awesome :-)

Glad you got everything back fun times

I do not fly drones but I applaud your ingenuity and skill at flying that thing. Stay away from those trees👍

Good stuff, Daniel ... and my old stomping grounds were those radio sites!!

yes, always smile when you realease a new video

7:14 that's when you flip it to angle and gun it before you get a failsafe. That's the power of hindsight i guess.

For skinny trees like the first rescue, just toss a line several feet up the tree and pull to shake the tree. I just got one of my planes down from 50-60 feet up a similar tree.

glad you got it back. good luck in future flights!

Put a small metal plate on the top of each of your drones and put a magnet on the bottom of a larger drone that can pickup and retrieve your crashed drones.

Wow that sound is amazing 1:45 😮

I got nervous there also from my experiences. Awesome recoveries! Haha! I need reminders also. Arborist 8oz throw weight, rope for most trees and/or fishing gear for the higher trees as backup for retrieving drones (cheaper than risking another drone). Letting people know where you are at (constant check ins for the riskier stuff) can be a good thing (satellite communicator gps device, radio, cell).

Part one is like a high-tech jousting competition. And get yourself a dji fpv system, it is expensive but awesome.

Who needs rollercoasters when you have that intro, goddamn!!!

Rapid fire has a model finder function as well if the quad is still plugged in so its a little easier to pinpoint the direction.

Modify your camera mount to house a small roll of bright tree marking tape. Have one end secured to the camera that way if it falls out it will pull the streamer with it and make itself easier to find.

slingshot+lead weight+fishing pole with some really strong line is all you need

Man, I know the exact feels of trying to poke your RC with a long stick!

4:12 "absolutely incredible" Yes, incredible that you didn't end up with two quads in that tree. But, as one of my freinds put it: "you can't be un-lucky every time"

Absolute gold 10 of 10 for effort 👍👍

Whoa what a score!!!!!!!!! Lucky indeed nice job

That first recovery was SICK Awesome bro 👍 ✌️

Wow great that you recovered all the stuff

The part at 00:48 made me remember the times when I was hunting for kites when I was a kid... It was a microsecond of nostalgia.

That first one was super impressive.

Holy shit dude, I found this channel the other day and have been absolutely hooked. Your commentary is hilarious! This video had me straight belly laughing as I watched you try to poke it out of the tree. The oscillations on the second attempt had me rolling!!😂

I think it would help if you have something that's a bright flourescent color with your flying stuff, maybe a small tag or flag. That go pro is the worst color, shadow. It blends into all the shadows those rocks make. The video in flight is so neat, the cameras are getting better and better.

TIP - paint or add color tape to GoPro that is BRIGHT ORANGE or YELLOW ( think black boxes) for easier / faster spotting during revovery phases 🍀

excellent piloting on that Alta!

Still some of the best videos and will spend the time watching this..

I know that hillside, Crab creek is at the bottom. Me and my brother climbed it via fire road on dirt bikes. On way down, decided to take dried creek bed as a short cut. Bad idea, ran into tumble weeds that filled the creek bed 8' deep and to steep to go back up.

Jesus this guy is a mad man, he knew how close he was to those trees then he knew he was going over a hill/mountain and was going to lose like of sight. I have a feeling he like getting into those stressful rescue situations lol

Tpu mounts for your gopro would make it not rapidly deconstruct upon smooth landings such as your second recovery

That first big drone looks and sounds sooo cool

The sound of that big drone is sick

Very excellent footage!

Cool! Very interesting! Greetings from Bucharest Romania!!

That is the biggest and best tree trimmer I ever saw. Nice idea!!!

Awesome job !

3:43 OMG how did you not crash then?! Amazing work as always!

I've lost an old kk2 board build years ago, and recently lost a inav zohd drift. It stinks but flying long range in hilly Pennsylvania its part of it

Nice going! Helps to have a huge drone handy. :)

I remember those thorn bushes from another video with a fixed wing camera drone, and that time you weren't quite as lucky. (Still got that drone too - or the remains of it, but you had to go into those bushes.)

Nice recovery man!

Love the ALTA-X!

Looking forward to more researchy videos from you.

Man, you are fighting for your gear😄 Great job to get it all back👍

Dude, that was amazing.... lol I enjoyed watching this vid because I hv lost drones already!

Great video for all us nerds who are up way too early on a Sunday morning. I wish I could do what you do. I even looked into buying a Nazgul but I'm too intimidated by the programming and flight controller stuff.

Check out the Loc8tor -- it works really well. I have a set with 4 tags that I always forget to install on my drone and have to spend 2 hours searching for it. The one time I remembered it, I found the drone (sans battery!) in a waist-deep hayfield in under 3 minutes.

Nice persistence!

Bro you got so lucky. Damn good piloting bro.

As bad as these losses seem at the time, you always turn them into the best YT video's out there.. Don't stop crashing.. and recovering...we need more decent content on the tube.

That alta is a badass drone, no doubt

The first one was butt clenching, using an X class that way is so ballsy 😅 GJ on the clean rescue !

2:50 just like me when I haven't had my bottle of vodka

Nice recovery. Stupud fpv goggle guy would be proud of this method

Spud gun man. Spud gun

I wonder if you could build a signal relay into that winged drone that you had flying way points... Might be awesome for flying in canyon where line of sight is pretty difficult.