(Warning) Avoid this low battery RTH mistake

[Huge Bama Fan]

I had a situation ( my first battery error) where I didn't feel comfortable flying back to the home point and landed at my friends house about 3/4 of a mile away. I landed using the app and while it was landing I lost connection. When pulled up to his house there she set waiting with motors off. I gotta go with the majority and guess the motors didnt shut off.

Thanks OP for posting

 

[garrion]

Thanks a million.

 

[Pcarlsen]

Great post, good stuff for others to learn from.

There's a very simple rule in RC (outside, and way before drones were a thing): Always turn on your aircraft LAST, and turn it off FIRST.
Never, ever, turn on an aircraft without first having a binded transmitter ready to go and fully on.

 

[ScubaBob]

Great post, good stuff for others to learn from.

There's a very simple rule in RC (outside, and way before drones were a thing): Always turn on your aircraft LAST, and turn it off FIRST.
Never, ever, turn on an aircraft without first having a binded transmitter ready to go and fully on.

Just curious. Why? I always turn my drone on first and then my RC and then my app on my phone. Why does the sequencing as you proposed so important.

 

[Pcarlsen]

Just curious. Why? I always turn my drone on first and then my RC and then my app on my phone. Why does the sequencing as you proposed so important.

Because you want control of the aircraft from the moment you turn it on. Today, the bind between controller and the receiver in systems like the mavic is quite secure - and the likelihood of anything happening is small. But it is still good measure, for safety's sake. In the time frame where your aircraft is 'live' and not bound to a controller, you are leaving the full responsibility with the craft.

In the past (flying analog), an aircraft could react to interference, signals from other transmitters etc. and accidentally gas up the engine. Of course this should be impossible with 2,4GHz digital systems of today as they are protocol driven - but the argument is still real, as you have no control of the craft and leave everything to the flight controller.

So sure, I can see that this 'ritual' can be seen as a relic today. However, it would also have prevented an issue like the one OP saw here.

 

[ScubaBob]

Because you want control of the aircraft from the moment you turn it on. Today, the bind between controller and the receiver in systems like the mavic is quite secure - and the likelihood of anything happening is small. But it is still good measure, for safety's sake. In the time frame where your aircraft is 'live' and not bound to a controller, you are leaving the full responsibility with the craft.

In the past (flying analog), an aircraft could react to interference, signals from other transmitters etc. and accidentally gas up the engine. Of course this should be impossible with 2,4GHz digital systems of today as they are protocol driven - but the argument is still real, as you have no control of the craft and leave everything to the flight controller.

So sure, I can see that this 'ritual' can be seen as a relic today. However, it would also have prevented an issue like the one OP saw here.

Thank you very much. That makes complete sense and I greatly appreciate the information.