Learn from my mistake and always set viable RTH altitude

ivanatora · Jan 1, 2018

So, basically I had set RTH altitude to the default 30 meters, thinking it should be ok. However, in the process of flying I decided to go in between some big rocks, way above this altitude. As many of you may expect, I lost RC signal when the drone went behind the rocks. Mavic started to RTH at the same altitude, flying straight into the rock.
Thankfully drone recovered from this without any damage.

wytnyt · Jan 1, 2018

guess you had to toss that new pair of underwear away that you got for Christmas

ivanatora · Jan 1, 2018

Yup! Change of pants was required at the end of this flight

Plawa · Jan 1, 2018

Can you upload the log from the flight? I'm curious whether you were in sport mode, if your OA was on.. how did the props survive the direct hit?

ivanatora · Jan 1, 2018

Was not in sport mode, and OA was on. I think it is my fault it flew to the wall. I regained control a microsecond before this. I saw it going for the rock face and I may have panicked and smashed the wrong sticks.
Props survived without a scratch! Cudos to DJI flying software for the ability to recover from this crash!

Here is the flight log: 2017-12-30_10-26-49_v2.csv

MadValley · Jan 1, 2018

Note to DJI Lurkers: create an RTH option that follows the outbound path. Wow! How did it ever survive that bump? If you mashed the sticks you must have mashed them exactly right. Beautiful countryside you get to fly in!

Plawa · Jan 1, 2018

You can upload the log directly here - DJI Flight Log Viewer

DJI Flight Log Viewer - PhantomHelp.com

Btw you were in fact in Sport mode, you can see the props come into view at maximum pitch.. but I would expect OA to kick in regardless when in goes into RTH...

Callum · Jan 1, 2018

You did well recovering from that mate.

Shocked there is no damage to props. Not often you see something like that which doesn't end in tears.

Anthony · Jan 1, 2018

Oh you WIN the first lucky B*****D award for 2018.

Your certificate is in the post

Please replace the props as they will have been stressed I'm sure.

ivanatora · Jan 1, 2018

Plawa said:
Btw you were in fact in Sport mode, you can see the props come into view at maximum pitch.. but I would expect OA to kick in regardless when in goes into RTH...

Oh, darn it, you are right! How I missed that... I think OA is disabled in Sport mode.

MadValley said:
Note to DJI Lurkers: create an RTH option that follows the outbound path. Wow! How did it ever survive that bump? If you mashed the sticks you must have mashed them exactly right. Beautiful countryside you get to fly in!

That would be good, but may be not that much battery efficient or even precise (due to GPS error if flying in tight spaces like this). Current implementation of RTH is nice, if the pilot is not a dumbass like me.
It was a really beautiful day with that scenic fog.

Callum said:
Not often you see something like that which doesn't end in tears

We were going to hike this mountain late in the day, so my thought in the first few milliseconds were what ladder would I need to reach that boulder...