More frustration

My super Fimi X8 SE 2020 quadcopter is stuck up a tree.

It was my own fault, but not entirely. I was flying it a day or two ago and the battery I was using suddenly came up with a fault message. Luckily it wasn’t too far from home at the time so I brought it back but kept it flying and although it eventually displayed a message saying that it was at 0 volts and had to land, I still had time to bring it back from about 100 metres away and land it. Plus it almost had the normal flight duration.

I decided that I’d check the battery out again today but keep the Fimi close by while doing so and initially all was well, but this time whereas the initial warning message came up at about 50% voltage (I think), this time it came up at around 80%. Clearly the battery does now have a fault but after the previous experience I thought that I’d see the flight out.

I was only flying at around 30 metres distance but had decided to try to capture some shots of some housemartins that were wheeling over some trees not far from my caravan and as the battery seemed to be performing as before, I thought that I’d have enough time left to bring the Fimi back safely as the battery was still showing around 50%. However, without warning it suddenly gave a message that it would have to land immediately and started to do so.

I tried to cancel the landing but it ignored my command and descended into a tree. It was a soft landing and I don’t think that there was any chance that the Fimi was damaged. However, it’s supported something like 30 or 40 feet up in a canopy of oak leaves. The question now is, how do I retrieve it as it would be impossible to put a ladder up or climb up there?

I could leave it for a while to see if it become dislodged by the wind but I don’t like that idea as although the Fimi’s body is waterproof, I’m not sure that moisture couldn’t get into its electric motors. Here’s another shot taken using my Zino quadcopter which shows that the Fimi is actually on its side, which could be a good thing.

Being on its side effectively makes it narrower. I think that I’m going to have to put a weight onto a strong, thin cord and see if I can throw it up over the branch that the Fimi’s stuck on and see if I can either catch it on one of the upward pointing motor arms or shake it around a bit and dislodge it, catching it before it hits the ground if it does fall.

If that doesn’t work, and it doesn’t look encouraging because although I might have been able to throw a weight that high when I was a bit younger, after experimenting with a few rocks, I can’t now. I don’t know what else to do – maybe a bow and arrow would work – otherwise I’ll have to see if the wind does dislodge it. However, we’re not expecting winds of any strength at all until this coming Sunday and then we’re also likely to be getting quite heavy rain. Taken all round, it’s another frustration that I really don’t need right now. And a rather expensive one at that 🙁

FOOTNOTE

I’m back to say that after thinking about it, I’ve ordered a bow and arrow set. Wim is a keen archer and has one but he’s off with Sophie for a short break and won’t be back until after the week-end when we expect to see some quite heavy rain. That won’t do the Fimi any good at all if it’s still up in the tree. Here’s what I’ve ordered, which should be delivered in a couple of days – can’t do anything about that unfortunately, and we’ve been getting some heavy overnight dew lately.

It’s what is referred to as a ‘débutante’s’ kit – ie for an adult beginner that’s a good step up from a child’s toy, which I wouldn’t think would be at all suitable. The bow is a 60″ with a pull pressure of 26 lbs. If I can’t throw a weight on a string high enough into the tree the only alternative, aside from calling the Incredible Hulk, will be to fire it up there and I think a bow is the only practical alternative. It comes with three or four arrows and I only hope that I don’t lose them all in the tree while trying to rescue the Fimi…