MA2 Fail Safe RTH behavior

[jaivuetasoeur]

Hello all, first thing in order, I've read the user manual and still consulting it from time to time. As for the behaviour of the Fail Safe RTH while signal is lost, the aircraft is supposed to track back 50 feet and then initiate a RTH if signal is not available. So yesterday I flew my MA2 over a deer and started to decent to have a closer look, doing so, I lost signal. What the drone did is gaining altitude thuss recovering the signal. I'm perfectly ok with that behavior but I'm a bit puzzled as why it did that which is not described in the UM. Did I miss something?

Also, I went through other thread and did not found an answer.

Thanks

 

[sar104]

If the loss of signal occurred while descending then reversing its track will lead it to ascend, and if it regains the signal while doing that then the failsafe response is complete. Isn't that fully consistent with the process described?

 

[jaivuetasoeur]

The way it is written make me tough that 50 ft is an horizontal distance, not really 50ft linearly of whatever maneuver I did prior to the FS RTH. But by the number of reply to this thread I think that I'm am too picky!

 

[sar104]

The way it is written make me tough that 50 ft is an horizontal distance, not really 50ft linearly of whatever maneuver I did prior to the FS RTH. But by the number of reply to this thread I think that I'm am too picky!

You are not being too picky, you have simply misunderstood the description of the failsafe function:

If the Home Point was successfully recorded and the compass is functioning normally, Failsafe RTH automatically activates after the remote controller signal is lost for more than 11 seconds. The aircraft will fly backwards for 50 m on its original flight route, and then enter Straight Line RTH.​

It will retrace the flight route for 50 m and that track is 3-D, so it will ascend as needed to follow it. And simply flying the horizontal projection at the altitude it is at, having lost signal, would be a very poor strategy anyway:

1. Since it lost signal it is quite likely now to be below the height of at least some nearby obstacles;
2. If signal is lost during descent then the obvious way to regain signal is to go back up to the location where it had signal.