Heard something that gives pause

[Glenn Goodlett]

How many times has a plane gone off on it's own or crashed while on autopilot?

There are post after posts about people who have used smart RTH and something goes wrong.

I'm not saying Smart RTH does not work nor that it does not work well. It does. I'm just saying it makes sense to avoid it if possible.

I still disagree. There are post after posts of people crashing into trees, etc. while in manual mode.

Sorry, my intent was not to argue but I have successfully piloted my craft over 12 million feet without crashing into anything and think all aspects of the flight controls should be practiced. But, on the other hand, it's your toy, play with it the way you want and I'll do same.

Happy flying!

 

[Kestrel]

I never use RTH but I tried it out the other day I put a rock next to the spot where I took off and low and behold it landed in the exact same spot, I'm really amazed and impressed by that but still I prefer to fly it back.

 

[geigy]

OK, yeah. Smart RTH is a different animal, and I've never used it. "Dumb" RTH is smart enough for me, I guess. Where that would be useful, I guess, is if you wanted some sort of RTH functionality after wandering through a grove of large tree trunks, or similar topography.

Nevermindyourown has an amusing youtube where he plays with smart return to home on his P4P. I have to say I don't understand what he was trying to do, or whether the P4P really keeps an internal 3D map of the home return path, but I found it fun to watch him puzzle it out.

 

[Jamison74]

I think it's a good idea for every owner to familiarize themselves with RTH and how it works. But in my mind it is more of a failsafe (holy crap) feature than a let me push RTH while I light this cigarette feature. There are post after post on this forum and YouTube titled "RTH failed my Navic is lost".
Enjoy the trip home and manually bring her in.

 

[baweber]

I was told that on teh Phantoms if you press RTH when the bird is within 20 meters it will initiate a land in place - not RTH! I was told the Mavic has the same thing except withing 5 meters.
I can think of many scenarios this is n't a good thing and in fact explains once why I almost landed in a tree.
So's this true? Not in a position to test right now...

I hit RTH once when my Mavic was within maybe 15 feet and about 10 feet high, just to see what would happen. As I recall it did not go up to 20 meters but stayed at altitude and moved over the take-off point and then landed. I also have noted that its locating of the home-point may not be very accurate. I took off maybe15 feet from a 2 story house and when finished with my photo shoot hit RTH. It went to 60 feet and then started coming down over the edge of the roof of the house! Had to abort RTH and do it myself.

 

[Ursus Horribilis]

I don't know if it's true or not but WHY would anyone press RTH when the drone is only 20 meters away? Doesn't make any sense at all to me.

I was told that on teh Phantoms if you press RTH when the bird is within 20 meters it will initiate a land in place - not RTH! I was told the Mavic has the same thing except withing 5 meters.
I can think of many scenarios this is n't a good thing and in fact explains once why I almost landed in a tree.
So's this true? Not in a position to test right now...