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New Pilots - My 3 hard lessons-crashes. 2 RTH related. 1 trust related.

ScottM2Zoom1

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Avoid my mistakes. I have 66 hours now in 2 months. My early crashes could have been avoided. 1) RTH....you're out flying around....RTH is set to return at predetermined altitude. You fly you bird in for selfie....sitting under a tree by campfire in winter....no leaves on tree....RTH kicks in....bird goes up....hits tree ....bam 2) RTH kicks in .....you decide to fly more and cancelled....happy hunting.....it will land right where it is ....in tree, power line, or lake ....it is going to land. 3) Launching from raised platform. Unless it's 20x20 or bigger....you can't trust a perfect landing every time. To the credit of DJI 99% of the time mine lands within 3-6 inches of launch point. The 1% from raised platform will be a crash if you get spoiled to eyes off trust. Just sharing my 3 lessons.
 
Any pictures of your raised platform? I've been considering building one off of the back deck.
 
Avoid my mistakes. I have 66 hours now in 2 months. My early crashes could have been avoided. 1) RTH....you're out flying around....RTH is set to return at predetermined altitude. You fly you bird in for selfie....sitting under a tree by campfire in winter....no leaves on tree....RTH kicks in....bird goes up....hits tree ....bam 2) RTH kicks in .....you decide to fly more and cancelled....happy hunting.....it will land right where it is ....in tree, power line, or lake ....it is going to land. 3) Launching from raised platform. Unless it's 20x20 or bigger....you can't trust a perfect landing every time. To the credit of DJI 99% of the time mine lands within 3-6 inches of launch point. The 1% from raised platform will be a crash if you get spoiled to eyes off trust. Just sharing my 3 lessons.

I usually take back control as soon as I can with an automatic RTH and then land myself. I almost find it strange when people talk about using RTH as their primary method of getting the Mavic home. You should be able to do that not saying otherwise but I just like flying it I guess.

If you use RTH all the time you are missing one of the more fun things with the drone. Negotiating a landing. I love flying it in like a plane and practicing hand catching or doing a close downward spiral around myself. It’s an exercise in trust getting it as close to me as possible without hitting me.

Idk that’s just my opinion. I can’t remember the last time I actually used RTH other then just making sure I still remember how it works. Cannot remember that last time my drone actually has a failsafe RTH. Maybe only has happened like 3 times since I actually figured out how to fly the thing.
 
Big no no there, gps is not always accurate, at times it can be 50 ft off or even more. I would like to see you raised landing pad your working on off your deck.. Unless its a big deck, I wouldn't even take off & land within 20 ft of the house.
yes it is somewhat accurate most times, but certain interference can cause it to land pretty far from home point.
 
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Any pictures of your raised platform? I've been considering building one off of the back deck.
I no longer launch from anything above ground level and would strongly discourage platform launches. It's not if...but when one will be replacing parts.
 
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I've been launching and landing from my pickup bed lately. I like the return to home function mostly because I'm still amazed this little machine can do it so accurately. That being said, the precision landing has failed enough times that I always stand close by with my hands on the sticks.
 
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this is why when you first start to learn to fly ,it is always best to fly the UAV yourself and not use the RTH to land it,it is much more fun to land it yourself and is good practice to learn fine control of the sticks i only use RTH if i loose orientation out at distance and then cancel it once i have it in sight, although the built in flight programs are good for some situations,i still prefer to fly myself but we are all different i guess
 
Remembering all the broken dreams and gear from crashing when landing numerous rc airplanes makes me chuckle to myself every time I see the little "returning to home" flash on the screen.
 
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Remembering all the broken dreams and gear from crashing when landing numerous rc airplanes makes me chuckle to myself every time I see the little "returning to home" flash on the screen.
I come from the same place on RC planes growing up. Still sitting on shelf in our airplane hangar here. Used to take off and land on the grass strip here.....still managed to land in a few trees ? I love RTH....but it's caused me two crashes in the early days ?
 
Remembering all the broken dreams and gear from crashing when landing numerous rc airplanes makes me chuckle to myself every time I see the little "returning to home" flash on the screen.
in all fairness the precision return to home point on the MPP is brilliant but i still prefer to land it myself its very satisfying to get it in the centre of the landing pad even more so if its windy
 
in all fairness the precision return to home point on the MPP is brilliant but i still prefer to land it myself its very satisfying to get it in the centre of the landing pad even more so if its windy
Yes it's rewarding to pilot a great landing. I'm on a rather large track of land and mostly flying (hunting hogs) over 1/2 mile away....RTH is pretty much a necessity for me.
 
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Yes it's rewarding to pilot a great landing. I'm on a rather large track of land and mostly flying (hunting hogs) over 1/2 mile away....RTH is pretty much a necessity for me.
no problem each to his own,being different is what makes the world go round,thats the great thing about the mav,how you choose to fly it is down to the PIC,
 
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I've been launching and landing from my pickup bed lately. I like the return to home function mostly because I'm still amazed this little machine can do it so accurately. That being said, the precision landing has failed enough times that I always stand close by with my hands on the sticks.
The metal bed of a truck? Seems like I risky maneuver.
 
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The metal bed of a truck? Seems like I risky maneuver.
I agree, take a look at your compass in the menu while its sitting on the truck. I bet its not green?? your really looking for problems using you truck or any other metal surface.
 
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I agree, take a look at your compass in the menu while its sitting on the truck. I bet its not green?? your really looking for problems using you truck or any other metal surface.
Even if it is green, I'd still recommend looking at these things too. DJI GO sometimes gives no warning signs when the compass is being negatively affected.
 
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Any pictures of your raised platform? I've been considering building one off of the back deck.

3942959013d8d29b15fea83eba356486.jpg

I hand catch on return.
3450d36cf6071b548c0e9a77ed851686.jpg
 
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Avoid my mistakes. I have 66 hours now in 2 months. My early crashes could have been avoided. 1) RTH....you're out flying around....RTH is set to return at predetermined altitude. You fly you bird in for selfie....sitting under a tree by campfire in winter....no leaves on tree....RTH kicks in....bird goes up....hits tree ....bam 2) RTH kicks in .....you decide to fly more and cancelled....happy hunting.....it will land right where it is ....in tree, power line, or lake ....it is going to land. 3) Launching from raised platform. Unless it's 20x20 or bigger....you can't trust a perfect landing every time. To the credit of DJI 99% of the time mine lands within 3-6 inches of launch point. The 1% from raised platform will be a crash if you get spoiled to eyes off trust. Just sharing my 3 lessons.

Hey Scott, my first serious crash was for exactly the same reason: I was practicing low-level / obstacle maneuvers when the RTH engaged under a big oak tree LOL!! Busted up the gimbal mount! Took me about 3 days after the crash to finally figure out WHY my bird had a "disconnected" message on the screen and then "for no reason" suddenly accelerated straight up and tried to chop its way through the branches to get to the sky. I finally figured out that, when I got the "disconnected" message on the screen, I flipped the controller sideways to access my phone to reboot DJI Go. Turns out that my thumb was on the RTH-button on the controller, so when I flipped the controller I inadvertently held the RTH buttton.

I've since welded a small rubber O-ring around the RTH button so that 1. I know when my thumb is on it and 2. I only press the button when I actually want to engage RTH.

Looks like we share in common the first place I look when a problem occurs while flying is in the mirror. LOL!
 
Just curious why it’s a necessity?
Not exactly sure why you wish to discuss RTH vs Pilot landings. If I have offended you that was not my intent. I will reply to shed light but I do not wish to enter in to a debate. The reasons RTH is right for me vs Pilot landing is the conditions under which I fly and the purpose of my flights. I hunt ferrel hogs with my drone. 95% of my flight time is well beyond visual range. When I spot hogs I have to react quickly. I don't have time to worry about or fly my drone back. I drop the RC , get my hog Terminator (sniper rifle) ready, and head out. If I flew it back - hogs gone by the time it takes me to complete task. Could I fly it back? Yes. Is RTH actually necessary for me? No. This is one of many examples in my flight parameters and missions that ....let's just say....pretty much dictate sound RTH decision. Have a great day.
 
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