Sunken Drone - RDP Raftup Desert Storm 2016

[headshothills]

Well everyone,

After much debate and some communications with RDP'ers on whether or not to do this, the support I have received in favor or doing this has been positive.

I have created a GoFundMe for the fallen RDP Desert Storm Raftup Drone.

Link - www.GoFundMe.com/RDPDrone

For those of you who made it out to the RDP Raftup Friday for the Poker Run, you probably witnessed first hand the drone falling out of the sky and sinking within seconds. It was a helpless feeling. I had captured some great footage of everyone and had plans to put together an RDP Video. As some of you know, we dont always end up getting Tom or someone over to us in a heli to get pics of the Raftup. In fact last year, Mitch was the only one who got footage with the drone of the DS RDP Raftup. Every year we have attended and participated in various RDP gatherings on the water, we have tried to get some great footage and video. In fact we get so much video, it takes hours to edit in order to produce something that everyone can appreciate.

Over the years as we have made new friends, we have also used our drone to capture footage of fellow RDP'ers. Some of the video's include Warlock1's Pool party, ENEN's Schiada vs kids tubing, RDP McRaftup, RDP LowerRiver, as well as various other water sports while boating, which I have added the Vimeo links to the bottom of the GoFundMe write in case you would like to view...

This year was no different than any other. We wanted to make sure we planned, captured, and created another epic video for everyone. We ordered new batteries from LimeFuel, which were said to be DJI Drone approved. At 50% battery life, the drone fell from the sky, splashing down 20-25ft in front of us and sunk faster thank anyone could have gotten to it. Some of the hardware that went down was the Phantom Drone, MiniOSD(On-Screen Display for FPV), Zenmuse H3-3D Gimbal, GoPro Hero 4, FatShark FPV Vid transmitter, and Clover antennas.

While I'd like to think I am a responsible drone pilot, registered with the FAA, and follow "most" of the drone enforced laws, I take full responsibility. It was my drone, its my loss, totally get that. For those of you who appreciate some of the video's we have put out over the years, and would like to continue seeing these videos as we make them, you might also be willing to help a member out trying to get a replacement.

Thank you in advance...

Chris

 

[RiverDave]

Where's the links?

By the way after the helo deal last year fell apart, I paid for the helo to come down to the raft up, and will continue to do so for future desert storm events. That said we love your drone footage for all the other Rdp events and would be happy to contribute to getting it replaced.

 

[77charger]

I saw one last year that had some type of foam landing pads.He probably experienced a sinking or was preparing in case it did go down.

 

[RiverDave]

Most people put small foam on the landing gears to float them in the case of a water landing. Granted they float upside down but at least you get your cameras back

 

[Enen]

I have a case of GoPro Hero 4 Black cameras and accessories. You are welcome to one of the cameras.

 

[Lunatic Fringe]

If there is anything worth salvaging, I'd be happy to bring my scuba gear out and try to find it.

Obviously you would need to know pretty much where it went in.

 

[Go Big]

Well everyone,

After much debate and some communications with RDP'ers on whether or not to do this, the support I have received in favor or doing this has been positive.

I have created a GoFundMe for the fallen RDP Desert Storm Raftup Drone.

Link - www.GoFundMe.com/RDPDrone

For those of you who made it out to the RDP Raftup Friday for the Poker Run, you probably witnessed first hand the drone falling out of the sky and sinking within seconds. It was a helpless feeling. I had captured some great footage of everyone and had plans to put together an RDP Video. As some of you know, we dont always end up getting Tom or someone over to us in a heli to get pics of the Raftup. In fact last year, Mitch was the only one who got footage with the drone of the DS RDP Raftup. Every year we have attended and participated in various RDP gatherings on the water, we have tried to get some great footage and video. In fact we get so much video, it takes hours to edit in order to produce something that everyone can appreciate.

Over the years as we have made new friends, we have also used our drone to capture footage of fellow RDP'ers. Some of the video's include Warlock1's Pool party, ENEN's Schiada vs kids tubing, RDP McRaftup, RDP LowerRiver, as well as various other water sports while boating, which I have added the Vimeo links to the bottom of the GoFundMe write in case you would like to view...

This year was no different than any other. We wanted to make sure we planned, captured, and created another epic video for everyone. We ordered new batteries from LimeFuel, which were said to be DJI Drone approved. At 50% battery life, the drone fell from the sky, splashing down 20-25ft in front of us and sunk faster thank anyone could have gotten to it. Some of the hardware that went down was the Phantom Drone, MiniOSD(On-Screen Display for FPV), Zenmuse H3-3D Gimbal, GoPro Hero 4, FatShark FPV Vid transmitter, and Clover antennas.

While I'd like to think I am a responsible drone pilot, registered with the FAA, and follow "most" of the drone enforced laws, I take full responsibility. It was my drone, its my loss, totally get that. For those of you who appreciate some of the video's we have put out over the years, and would like to continue seeing these videos as we make them, you might also be willing to help a member out trying to get a replacement.

Thank you in advance...

Chris

Ahhh. That sucks. I know the helpless feeling. Last year at the Big Cat Poker run I had my drone fall from the sky. I helplessly watched 5k go down with a splash. I sat on the dock and pouted all night.

 

[Enen]

On a side note the Sports Chalet stores are going out of business. Everything is 30 to 50% off. They have GoPro's and drones there. There are a lot of new products on the market now to compete with DJI. I bet you end up with something superior to what you had.

 

[Blubyu]

Where's the links?

By the way after the helo deal last year fell apart, I paid for the helo to come down to the raft up, and will continue to do so for future desert storm events. That said we love your drone footage for all the other Rdp events and would be happy to contribute to getting it replaced.

Links to every video we've made or?

 

[Ultra247]

Let's get this started. We saw the drone fly by 3-4 times and it was definitely getting cool video. One minute it was in the air and the next there was a splash!! OMG.

I donated. Let's give this guy a hand as he was trying to help us all out. A few bucks each can really help offset some of the pain and make sure that we have video in the future.

 

[pwerwagn]

Where's the links?

By the way after the helo deal last year fell apart, I paid for the helo to come down to the raft up, and will continue to do so for future desert storm events. That said we love your drone footage for all the other Rdp events and would be happy to contribute to getting it replaced.

I see the links to vids in the gofundme page, if that's what you're looking for.

 

[Warlock1]

If there is anything worth salvaging, I'd be happy to bring my scuba gear out and try to find it.

Obviously you would need to know pretty much where it went in.

I know where it went down and would be your dive boat.

 

[OldSchoolBoats]

Damn Chris, that sucks. If I was tied up near you I would have tried to dive for it. I will throw a few bucks at it.

 

[Ultra247]

The gofundme link is in the first message. You can follow it to the "donate" button and that let's you enter a credit card.

 

[Cat Can Do]

We watched it hit the water and I could tell by the look on your face it was gone! I'll hit the link tomorrow and donate a few bucks, I had no idea they were that expensive....

 

[Blubyu]

If there is anything worth salvaging, I'd be happy to bring my scuba gear out and try to find it.

Obviously you would need to know pretty much where it went in.

We GPS marked the location... However we were thinking.... The thing doesn't weight a whole lot, I'm sure the current has long moved it by now?

 

[McRib]

We GPS marked the location... However we were thinking.... The thing doesn't weight a whole lot, I'm sure the current has long moved it by now?

I'd say there is a fighting chance to get it where it is. the rise was quite rocky and the bottom is tall thick grass. at the very least the SD card is salvageable. I can't believe the fire fighter withe scuba gear left without giving a reason to you . they were all about it at first.

 

[Piper]

We were tied next to you in the red Hallett. It really sucked watching it hit the water and sink so fast. I thought that FD guy was going to dive for it. Everyone left so fast when the Poker run was done. Sorry you lost the SD card. That's where the memories are at.

 

[Water rod]

We were tied next to you in the red Hallett. It really sucked watching it hit the water and sink so fast. I thought that FD guy was going to dive for it. Everyone left so fast when the Poker run was done. Sorry you lost the SD card. That's where the memories are at.

I will be in havasu in 2 weeks with my dive gear. If I can get the GPS coordinates I will do my best to find it. How deep is the water by the pumping station?

 

[Ziggy]

I will be in havasu in 2 weeks with my dive gear. If I can get the GPS coordinates I will do my best to find it. How deep is the water by the pumping station?

Different maps show different depths but I'd guess where it went down 35-45 feet max. I was about 5 boats over and my depth gauge was reading in the 15-20 range

 

[Echo Lodge]

I ran this on my drone when flying over water.

http://www.amazon.com/GetterBack-Recovery-System-Velcro-Yellow/dp/B00GIYIU8Q

 

[28Eliminator]

Done

 

[waterhorse]

There was a guy with dive gear there and it didn't get retrieved?

 

[Warlock1]

I went over and talked to the guys and they really didn't seem to eager to help. Just their demeaner and what they said made me really question their intentions. They said something about it being really busy over where the drone went down. That was odd because at this time Chris was the only boat in the immediate area. Just kinda odd. Being that I have trust issues with most humans, I'm hoping they didn't go after it when we all left. If so may Karma come down on you.

 

[waterhorse]

I went over and talked to the guys and they really didn't seem to eager to help. Just their demeaner and what they said made me really question their intentions. They said something about it being really busy over where the drone went down. That was odd because at this time Chris was the only boat in the immediate area. Just kinda odd. Being that I have trust issues with most humans, I'm hoping they didn't go after it when we all left. If so may Karma come down on you.

That does sound kinda' strange. Hard to figure some people out.

 

[TLAW719]

I will be in havasu in 2 weeks with my dive gear. If I can get the GPS coordinates I will do my best to find it. How deep is the water by the pumping station?

Different maps show different depths but I'd guess where it went down 35-45 feet max. I was about 5 boats over and my depth gauge was reading in the 15-20 range

I was about 50 yards further out from the raft up and my depth gauge was reading 35-36 feet.

 

[SFV2RVR]

I went over and talked to the guys and they really didn't seem to eager to help. Just their demeaner and what they said made me really question their intentions. They said something about it being really busy over where the drone went down. That was odd because at this time Chris was the only boat in the immediate area. Just kinda odd. Being that I have trust issues with most humans, I'm hoping they didn't go after it when we all left. If so may Karma come down on you.

We were 2 boats over from Cameron (Buckskin Fire Dept) who had the dive gear. He was out there working the event in case of a boat accident. He stated he couldn't use his dive gear at that time because if he used his oxygen in the tank, and needed it later on, he couldn't take the risk of not having enough oxygen if his services were needed for the event.

 

[Rvrluvr]

They make a waterproof drone. When it hits the water it turns into a submarine. Look it up on you tube. Its pretty cool

 

[RiverDiva]

Extreme22 Chuck on here is a Havasu guy and an expert diver. He might be willing to dive the location for a small fee?

 

[headshothills]

Hey Everyone,

Thank you for your support and positive feedback, means a lot... I just read through all the comments, and I will try to address all of them in the next post.

I just want to say Thank You for the support, feedback and of course being the RDP'ers you are.

 

[headshothills]

Where's the links?

By the way after the helo deal last year fell apart, I paid for the helo to come down to the raft up, and will continue to do so for future desert storm events. That said we love your drone footage for all the other Rdp events and would be happy to contribute to getting it replaced.

Dave, the link to the GoFundMe is at the top of the first page. The Links to the Video's blubyu and I have done are listed at the bottom of the GoFundMe, but i can easily copy those and post them also for those to see some of the vids we have done that havent clicked on the link...

If there is anything worth salvaging, I'd be happy to bring my scuba gear out and try to find it.

Obviously you would need to know pretty much where it went in.

Only thing we can be positive about being salvageable is the SD Card.. would make for an epic DS RDP Raftup Vid with a huge splash at the end.. "Pun intended"

Took a little bit, but was able to extract the GPS Dropped Pin from Apple maps..

34*18'57.0"N 114*08'43.3"W - This was obviously our boat location - The splashdown was about 20-25ft ahead of the boat headed toward the CA side.

I will be in havasu in 2 weeks with my dive gear. If I can get the GPS coordinates I will do my best to find it. How deep is the water by the pumping station?

GPS Cords above. Where we were located, my Depth finder showed 34.5ft deep. if you see from PT's heli pic, the we were on the edge of a drop off, we were in the deeper section, whereas Ziggy was on the ridge, which is why his was probably showing not as deep. We were across from the pump station on the AZ side a tad further South..

Different maps show different depths but I'd guess where it went down 35-45 feet max. I was about 5 boats over and my depth gauge was reading in the 15-20 range

Where we were anchored, my depth finder showed 34.5. If I had to guess, I would think 20-25ft further out was closer to 50-60ft depending on how steep the grade/drop off was...

There was a guy with dive gear there and it didn't get retrieved?

There was a Bucksin Firefighter. We totally understood he was on the clock, we werent expecting him to do anything while he was on the clock, that was a given. But after the heli flew over to get pics, everyone split, we tossed our anchor and stayed, Warlock1 stayed tied to us. The pontoon boat with the FF and scuba gear had floated with the current about 1/2 mile down further on the AZ size. Warlock1 split off from us after everyone was gone, we were the only ones there. i sat on the front of the boat holding the anchor. Warlock1 went down to confirm that was the FF/Scuba guy since we really didnt know who he was. After confirming and coming back to tell us he would be over shortly, Warlock1 headed back to the channel. We continue to sit and wait while we watched the pontoon head over to the CA side and duck into a cove for about 30 min. When he came out of the cove, he then went down to the springs. We never saw him again. We waited to hear from him till about 130pm before we finally called it. Again, totally understand he was on the clock and there for the poker run in case anything happened. All I was hoping for was either a confirmation he could still do it and about what time or if he couldnt due to some other limitation.

I was about 50 yards further out from the raft up and my depth gauge was reading 35-36 feet.

Yah, mine was reading 34.5ft at the rear of the boat...

We were 2 boats over from Cameron (Buckskin Fire Dept) who had the dive gear. He was out there working the event in case of a boat accident. He stated he couldn't use his dive gear at that time because if he used his oxygen in the tank, and needed it later on, he couldn't take the risk of not having enough oxygen if his services were needed for the event.

Again, totally understood his priorities to the poker run, we had no issue with that. Was just hoping for a little courtesy, even if he couldnt do it, the mere frustration of sitting and waiting with the anticipation that he said he would. id of even been happy with, meet me back here at 4pm. But to just bail on us while we were the only ones sitting out there, just left an even more hopeless feeling.

Extreme22 Chuck on here is a Havasu guy and an expert diver. He might be willing to dive the location for a small fee?

On the plus side, if someone gets it, we can at least send that crappy battery back to limefuel and get a refund and still put together an epic RDP video with a splash

 

[headshothills]

Heres a link to some of the past videos we have done...

Desert Storm 2014
[video=vimeo;99274331]https://vimeo.com/99274331[/video]

RDP Lower River
[video=vimeo;100553763]https://vimeo.com/100553763[/video]

RDP McRaftup 2014
[video=vimeo;102596427]https://vimeo.com/102596427[/video]

RDP ENEN's Schiada vs Kids
[video=vimeo;104935751]https://vimeo.com/104935751[/video]

Lake Pleasant AZ WakeSurfing
[video=vimeo;106250045]https://vimeo.com/106250045[/video]

RDP Warlock1 Pool Party
[video=vimeo;130140446]https://vimeo.com/130140446[/video]

Scottsdale, AZ Flooding
[video=vimeo;105578831]https://vimeo.com/105578831[/video]

RDP Blubyu Swimming Hole
[video=vimeo;105391881]https://vimeo.com/105391881[/video]

 

[STV_Keith]

Dang! That sucks. I had no idea it went down. I had my mask/snorkel/fins with me, but not a tank. Did you see where I was anchored originally (the twin OB Scarab)? I had about 60' of line out before anchor hit...sounds like about where you think it went down.

Keep this thread going. I may be going back to Havi for Memorial, and if so, I'll bring a couple of tanks and look if no one has gone to get it for you yet.

 

[headshothills]

Hey Everyone,

Off to a good start. Still trying to keep this alive and spread the word. Your help in doing so is greatly appreciated...

Here's the link again:

http://www.gofundme.comRDPDrone

 

[Ultra247]

Guys,

we've lost a lot of momentum here. Everybody says that they will kick in but we're at $340 bucks. The guy lost $3500 worth of gear. I hope we can do better than this.

Here's the link -

http://www.GoFundMe.com/RDPDrone

 

[RiverDave]

Guys,

we've lost a lot of momentum here. Everybody says that they will kick in but we're at $340 bucks. The guy lost $3500 worth of gear. I hope we can do better than this.

Here's the link -

http://www.GoFundMe.com/RDPDrone

I wish I could.. We got tagged for a pretty heavy overage on the open bar for the after party that I wasn't expecting, and then got hit with a few other large unexpected bills.

RD

 

[28Eliminator]

Hey Chris, I know what happened to your Drone

[video=youtube_https;P8aZ0zWX3SA]https://youtu.be/P8aZ0zWX3SA[/video]

 

[Tommy Gun Images]

Hey Chris, I know what happened to your Drone

[video=youtube_https;P8aZ0zWX3SA]https://youtu.be/P8aZ0zWX3SA[/video]

Interesting. It was pretty close to the pump station...

 

[headshothills]

Hey Chris, I know what happened to your Drone

[video=youtube_https;P8aZ0zWX3SA]https://youtu.be/P8aZ0zWX3SA[/video]

HAHA If thats the case those F'ers have impeccable timing, wait for the poor bastid to fly back and land, give him a glimmer of hope, then zap it 25ft in front of him... HAHAHA