Grateful for RTH

[Lady Flyer]

I put my Mini 3 Pro up yesterday afternoon. I was not really "going flying" ... I wanted to take photos of the mountains. They looked epic with the storm cloud sitting right on them. I put the drone up about 100 feet right above my head and next thing I know it's 1000 feet away (according to the DJI RC) at an altitude of 388 feet. According to the flight log he was only 570 ish feet away. I tried bringing it towards home and he went even further way to like 1500 feet (according to the DJI RC - flight log tells a different story). I'm confused ... and would like to know where pilot error came into this so that I do not do it again. I am thinking there may be an issue with the controller as well as pilot error - I have had issues with it not wanting to move except sideways.

Wind was blowing between 7-10 mph and on hover drone appeared stable.

Any help would be much appreciated!!

DJI Flight Log Viewer | Phantom Help

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www.phantomhelp.com

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

Do you have a screen recorder on the controller? Itmight be an idea, they are useful in circumstances like this.

I am wondering if the log you posted is the log for the flight you described?

According to the log the drone reached a maximum distance of 528ft and the heights were high because it was in RTH and the RTH height was set to 120m, 394ft.
That I can see there is no need for such a high RTH height over such an area. it wastes power in both the ascent and descent and risks sending the drone up into strong wind.

As far as I can see the drone's responses are more or less a perfect match for the indicated joystick commands.
I see no sign of any significant wind.

 

[Lady Flyer]

Do you have a screen recorder on the controller? Itmight be an idea, they are useful in circumstances like this.

I am wondering if the log you posted is the log for the flight you described?

According to the log the drone reached a maximum distance of 528ft and the heights were high because it was in RTH and the RTH height was set to 120m, 394ft.
That I can see there is no need for such a high RTH height over such an area. it wastes power in both the ascent and descent and risks sending the drone up into strong wind.

As far as I can see the drone's responses are more or less a perfect match for the indicated joystick commands.
I see no sign of any significant wind.

Thanks for the reply.

Yes, that is the log for the flight I am talking about. What was showing on the controller during the flight does not match the flight log. I NEVER fly at 400 feet ... there is no need where I am at. I wanted to go up to 100 or 150 feet ... take some photos of the mountains but once I launched the drone just went. There was also no need to go anywhere but right above my head ... if the sicks are saying that I sent it there ... I did not. It just went .... and I had to use RTH several times before he started to come back.

LIke I said I am confused as to how this happened because there was no need to go as high as he went and no need to go as far. Why the controller during flight and the flight log don't match - I'm confused.

I do have the ability to screen record and next time I fly I will be employing it. I have the DJI RC - with the screen.

 

[Phantomrain.org]

I noticed the drone was climbing on you , without any input from the sticks or so it appears so something was carrying you up . WInds up there were stronger than on the ground so maybe 20 mph winds pushing you while you were just hovering but that does not explain the drone climbing.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain. Land on the Water.

 

[slup]

Agree fully with @Yorkshire_Pud ... you initiated RTH 4 times during the flight & the set height for that was what brought your drone up to those heights... and as said, all horizontal moves your drone did perfectly match the stick inputs you gave.

We can't say anything about what kind of distance or height values your RC showed as you haven't provided anything about that.

And...

Have so far during several years log investigating never seen a flight log that lies... but have seen many pilots getting really confused making control inputs in the wrong direction or with the wrong stick & setting the RTH height wrong. As far as we know (out from the log you provided), the horizontal movements came from stick inputs & the ascend up to 394ft came from app initiated RTH.

I noticed the drone was climbing on you , without any input from the sticks...

He initiated RTH... with a set height of 394ft.

 

[Lady Flyer]

Agree fully with @Yorkshire_Pud ... you initiated RTH 4 times during the flight & the set height for that was what brought your drone up to those heights... and as said, all horizontal moves your drone did perfectly match the stick inputs you gave.

We can't say anything about what kind of distance or height values your RC showed as you haven't provided anything about that.

And...

Have so far during several years log investigating never seen a flight log that lies... but have seen many pilots getting really confused making control inputs in the wrong direction or with the wrong stick & setting the RTH height wrong. As far as we know (out from the log you provided), the horizontal movements came from stick inputs & the ascend up to 394ft came from app initiated RTH.


He initiated RTH... with a set height of 394ft.

I think the flight log is telling the truth ... I think that the controller has issues. Initiating the RTH sent it up to 394 feet - that explains that. Flight log says the furthest away the drone was from home point is like 528 feet (not looking at the log right now) ... the controller said it was 1500 feet away in the bottom left corner.

I did not send the drone 500 or 1500 feet away. I only needed it to go straight up and the next thing I know its across the street and up the block. If my sticks say I did that .... there is definitely an issue with the sticks. I guess the wind up higher could have taken it ... but the wind on the ground was 7 - 10 mph as per the apps.

I know that pilot error is a factor .... and I know that I am not above it but I would know if I sent the drone where it was. I initiated RTH 4 times because it appeared to do nothing, as per the controller, but go further away. Again, leading me to think there is something hinky with the controller.

 

[slup]

I think the flight log is telling the truth ... I think that the controller has issues. Initiating the RTH sent it up to 394 feet - that explains that. Flight log says the furthest away the drone was from home point is like 528 feet (not looking at the log right now) ... the controller said it was 1500 feet away in the bottom left corner.

I did not send the drone 500 or 1500 feet away. I only needed it to go straight up and the next thing I know its across the street and up the block. If my sticks say I did that .... there is definitely an issue with the sticks. I guess the wind up higher could have taken it ... but the wind on the ground was 7 - 10 mph as per the apps.

I know that pilot error is a factor .... and I know that I am not above it but I would know if I sent the drone where it was. I initiated RTH 4 times because it appeared to do nothing, as per the controller, but go further away. Again, leading me to think there is something hinky with the controller.

Have during the years heard people telling us about mishaps involving catching the sticks with all kind of thing's accidentally... jacket sleeves, lanyards & unknowingly resting some finger on the stick, thinking they have it in neutral but instead applied a command... could something like that happened here also?

And those 1500ft... was it crow flight distance to HP or was it total flown distance?

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

... if the sicks are saying that I sent it there ... I did not

Agreed, it was not stick commands that sent the drone up above 200ft or so, they all left it below 200ish ft.
What sent it up to 394ft was the RTH height setting, which was 120m, you can see that, to the far right, in the 2nd line of text below the replay on the phantomhelp page.
These slider settings are an f'in curse, it's far too easy to accidentally change one whilst changing another, as I know to my cost.
It might be an idea to check the setting in the app.
Incidentally if you have no need of the maximum height I'd reduce that too.
In normal circumstances the RTH height CAN NOT be higher than the maximum height and reducing the maximum height to below the RTH height will reduce the RTH height.

 

[Lady Flyer]

Have during the years heard people telling us about mishaps involving catching the sticks with all kind of thing's accidentally... jacket sleeves, lanyards & unknowingly resting some finger on the stick, thinking they have it in neutral but instead applied a command... could something like that happened here also?

And those 1500ft... was it crow flight distance to HP or was it total flown distance?

Could something like that have happened ... of course.

As for the 1500 feet .... it said in the bottom left corner of remote ... the distance was 15xx feet. I don't remember the exact number because it set off a slight panic as to how the hell I did that and how do I get it to come home.

 

[Meta4]

I think the flight log is telling the truth ... I think that the controller has issues.
... Flight log says the furthest away the drone was from home point is like 528 feet (not looking at the log right now) ... the controller said it was 1500 feet away in the bottom left corner.

The recorded data will be accurate and reliable.
The distance you see on the controller comes from the same data, so it shouldn't be any different.

I did not send the drone 500 or 1500 feet away. I only needed it to go straight up and the next thing I know its across the street and up the block. If my sticks say I did that .... there is definitely an issue with the sticks. I guess the wind up higher could have taken it .

The recorded data clearly shows that you put the drone up 168 ft, close to the launch point.
Then it shows someone or something pushed the right stick to the right at 2:30.9 for 10 seconds, flying the drone sideways to 300 ft out.
Then hovering for nearly a minute, before pushing the right stick to the right and slightly down, taking the drone to 470 ft away from home.
You hovered again until 6:03.3 when the right stick was pushed forward taking the drone to 530 ft from home.

I know that pilot error is a factor .... and I know that I am not above it but I would know if I sent the drone where it was. I initiated RTH 4 times because it appeared to do nothing, as per the controller, but go further away.

According to the recorded data, RTH operated normally each time you initiated it.
It started to ascend to your set RTH height but was cancelled before reaching that height.
It never took the drone further away.

Again, leading me to think there is something hinky with the controller.

I don't see anything in the data to suggest any problem with the controller.

As for the 1500 feet .... it said in the bottom left corner of remote ... the distance was 15xx feet. I don't remember the exact number because it set off a slight panic as to how the hell I did that and how do I get it to come home.

Sorry ... but since the controller data comes from the same data we see in the recorded data, I'd write this off to operator disorientation and confusion.

 

[Starz]

wind on the ground

That aspect is for folks that fly 8 feet of the ground on flat ground. Wind speed will mostly be different at where these drones are normally flown. Any wind app used should be considered just a guide and not to be viewed as reliable information.
We all learn from our mistakes. Just takes time!

 

[Lady Flyer]

The recorded data will be accurate and reliable.
The distance you see on the controller comes from the same data, so it shouldn't be any different.

The recorded data clearly shows that you put the drone up 168 ft, close to the launch point.
Then it shows someone or something pushed the right stick to the right at 2:30.9 for 10 seconds, flying the drone sideways to 300 ft out.
Then hovering for nearly a minute, before pushing the right stick to the right and slightly down, taking the drone to 470 ft away from home.
You hovered again until 6:03.3 when the right stick was pushed forward taking the drone to 530 ft from home.

According to the recorded data, RTH operated normally each time you initiated it.
It started to ascend to your set RTH height but was cancelled before reaching that height.
It never took the drone further away.

I don't see anything in the data to suggest any problem with the controller.

Sorry ... but since the controller data comes from the same data we see in the recorded data, I'd write this off to operator disorientation and confusion.

I was not disoriented or confused! But thanks for assuming!

 

[Meta4]

I was not disoriented or confused! But thanks for assuming!

Sorry again, but ... the data is impossible to dismiss and it's not supporting your explanation.
You didn't realise that you had (maybe accidentally) manipulated the right joystick to fly away from you which resulted in disorientation.
You engaged RTH a few times and it operated normally, but you perceived it to be taking the drone further away (it didn't).
You thought you saw distances that couldn't possibly have shown on your controller.
You said that you couldn't remember the exact numbers "because it set off a slight panic as to how the hell I did that and how do I get it to come home".
That adds up to disorientation and confusion.

 

[Meta4]

And those 1500ft... was it crow flight distance to HP or was it total flown distance?

The app always shows the direct, straight line distance.
It doesn't ever show total distance flown.

But even if it did, the total distance flown (when the drone was most distant from the home point, was 830 feet and the total distance for the whole return flight was 1484 feet.

 

[RodPad]

""because it set off a slight panic as to how the hell I did that and how do I get it to come home"."

Yes, us humans.

That's when mistakes get worse.
Been there to many times

Rod ..

 

[Cafguy]

Are you quite sure your controller didn't read 152.00 meters? After all that's 500 ft in americanish.

 

[Zeprider]

If you have concerns about wind speeds at different altitudes, checkout the "AirData UAV" app. It provides this very thing. Peace, and God bless.

 

[Lady Flyer]

If you have concerns about wind speeds at different altitudes, checkout the "AirData UAV" app. It provides this very thing. Peace, and God bless.

Thank you for that info!

 

[Lady Flyer]

Are you quite sure your controller didn't read 152.00 meters? After all that's 500 ft in americanish.

No, I have it set to Imperial ... it read feet.

 

[Meta4]

If you have concerns about wind speeds at different altitudes, checkout the "AirData UAV" app. It provides this very thing.

Wind wasn't a factor in this flight.
The reason the drone flew where it did is all explained by the joystick inputs in the recorded data.