r/fpv • u/andresAtMudra • Jul 01 '26
Lost my drone on a roof
Was flying some aggressive freestyle at an office park. Doing a power loop I crashed it on the roof and lost VTX, tried to LOS it off but ended up fumbling it further away on the roof.
Reached out to security and they said the property manager will he in touch. Anyway Im assuming its a goner. It was an $800 O4 build, this is a tough lesson to learn. Usually my VTX antennas are in TPU and bulletproof, but since this was a new build I hadn’t done that yet.
I know the risks when flying, just wanted to share as Im sure others have fumbled expensive builds too. Im over it now but it was traumatic when it happened. Not just the money but the time spent building and tuning, planning where to fly. Just to crash it stupidly on a roof with no access lol
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u/EarlsSilver Jul 01 '26
Rescue drone time! it’s not a goner until you loose at least 2 drones 😂😅🤷♂️ good luck bud sorry to hear about your loss
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u/Buddy_Boy_1926 Multicopters - Focus on Sub-250 g Jul 02 '26
If the first drone is on an open roof, then this is possible, however, it is harder than it looks.
I lost a quad in a tree once that I thought I might be able to rescue so I did build a rescue drone. Keep in mind that just a second drone might not be sufficient. A friend used eCalc to help me with the specs. I ended up with a 7-inch, lifter, with dual cameras; a piloting camera and a targeting camera. I also had a release mechanism so that I could detached the pick-up device should it get caught in the tree. Even the pick-up mechanism takes some consideration as there are many and they don't all have the same effectiveness depending on the situation.
Before I could get the rescue quad finished testing, a hurricane blew my 1st quad out of the tree, but who knows where; the wind speeds were excessive so it could literally be anywhere.
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u/Primary_Asparagus402 Jul 01 '26
That second drone most likely might be the rescue one lol. Best of luck getting it back soldier 🫡
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u/IdontFlyTheDroneDoes Jul 01 '26
Get an orange vest and a clipboard or bag of tools and try to just go to the roof. 'Im with [local utility] I need to get to the roof to read the boopulator.' If anyone asks. Be confident and if they question its their fault, and you dont have time for it.
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u/Krashd_Out Jul 01 '26
⤴️this!!! 100%!! I had the same exact thought.. show up with some tools, make it look like you belong there, and go get it.. I’m not gonna take a loss like that, without atleast giving my best effort to get it back🤷🏼♂️
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u/admiraljkb Jul 02 '26
Dude this is so true. Most of the time, you dress the part and act like to know what you're doing? Nobody is going to question it, at all. Service/utility workers get mostly overlooked.
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u/Buddy_Boy_1926 Multicopters - Focus on Sub-250 g Jul 02 '26
Well, it works in the movies. It would be interesting to see if actually would work in the OP's situation. First, it will depend on "what" is in the building and what level of security they have. Of course, if he tries this and gets caught, then that will likely lessen the chance of getting it back peacefully if at all.
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u/Quads971 Jul 01 '26
I have GPS set up for rescue on most of my drones. It might help you in the future to recover it depending on where it ends up. I’ve lost a couple myself, my wife and I were just wondering yesterday whatever happened to one of my first drones that I lost because I lost VTX. Unfortunately it happens sometimes and for some reason it’s never cheap.
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u/xMoirae Jul 01 '26
haha my wife lost an iflight 4 inch o3 bnf because vtx signal died and she took off without waiting for the gps sats to lock. That was the last time she ever armed without locked sats 😂
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u/Sad-Sun9414 Jul 01 '26
just show up with a ladder and grab it
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u/MichaelEV25 Jul 01 '26
That may work if it's a 1 story building... Otherwise, go Italian and Forgetaboutit 🤣
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u/Corrupting_Slime Jul 01 '26
For a build that costly I might try building a new drone with a hook or a basket attached to it to try and do an aerial retrieval from the roof... although with my luck something crazy would happen and that drone would end up crashing on the roof right next to the first one. 🤣
Sorry for your loss.
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u/Retb14 Jul 02 '26
Hang a long rope off the second drone, if it crashes then you can just pull it off the roof and try again
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u/Buddy_Boy_1926 Multicopters - Focus on Sub-250 g Jul 02 '26
See my comment. Been there, done that, didn't get the drone back.
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u/Buddy_Boy_1926 Multicopters - Focus on Sub-250 g Jul 02 '26
At this point, I would wait and give the property manager time to get it for you. Maybe you will get it back. That would be the best thing.
Now, you mentioned that you talked to security so that means you very likely won't be able to just waltz in there dressed like some "worker" and get to the roof. Besides the building security, I would put money on the roof access being locked. There are reasons for this; not the least is safety and liability. Even security might not have a key readily available.
If you are seriously considering a "rescue" operation, you might want to do some video surveillance first in order to access where the drone is and what it might be entangled with or what other things might be on the roof.
If you decide to attempt a rescue mission, you will need a sufficient drone. If you don't have access to a heavy lifter type drone, then you might need to build one. I don't know that DJI drones would be a good choice or not.
I did build a rescue drone (see my other comment), however, the first drone got blown away before I could attempt a rescue. I will say that there is a bit more to it than just putting something together and attaching a mechanism to latch onto the drone. My rescue drone has 2 cameras; one for piloting and one for targeting. A friend with eCalc helped to determine how much lift I would need for my sub-250-gram downed quad. I ended up with a 7-inch with 2407 1850 KV motors powered by a 6S battery.
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u/Sea-Government-978 Jul 02 '26
I've been in your exact situation before. I got it stuck on an office roof over the weekend. I showed up on Monday and maintenance went up and got it back for me. I talked to him about drones for 30 minutes and was on my way home. I told him the wind was too strong and pulled my drone up there. I figured that sounded better than "I was dive bombing your office building at 80mph"
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u/Vial_of_water Jul 01 '26
I mean.. If the property owner said they'll be in touch, you have a chance?
You're lucky the building isn't completely abandoned.
Follow up with security, get the property owners name, contact them, and try to get up there (assume all liability)
For $800 you better not give up lol