Noob mistake resulting in crash

[Hermey]

I'm glad you were able to get your drone fixed. At a good price.
Some thoughts on this:
(1) In general, when flying a drone, as with several other things in life, I think it's best to retain as much manual control over the activity as you can. Hence I would never use RTH just to conclude a flight, but rather would only use it for "emergencies." Any time you go "auto", and let the machine take over, things can happen that you may not have expected.
(2) If you do use RTH or any "automatic" feature on the drone, be sure you understand fully how to use it, before you use it in the field. For instance, go out on a flight training day and just practice using different features of the controller and app. I did this for my RTH training. I went out and flew the drone only 60 ft away, and about 50 ft elevation. Then pressed RTH and noted the drone was ascending quite a bit, at which I realized the RTH altitude probably needed resetting. I cancelled RTH and checked: indeed it did, RTH altitude was over 300 ft, I didn't need it that high. Retested w/ lower height. Once the drone got over the home point, I took over manually and landed it from there.
(3) I also learned how to use the compass and map on the DJI Fly app, so I could navigate home via one of those if I lose sight of the drone and/or am having trouble locating where I am, when I turn the drone around and try to see my own location via its eyes. NOTE: the map apparently will only work where there is cell signal. So it's a good idea to learn to use the compass in case the map is not functional.
(4) Over-reliance on "automatic" features on machines is creating people who are not learning some basic skills they should be learning, in order to do the activity they are doing. For instance, I have a friend who is very poor at directions. When I go hiking with her, she is surprisingly unable to recognize or locate major landmarks. Instead of learning direction better, she says "I am lazy, I usually go with a group, someone else can do it." That's not the right approach. In my view if you are going to do an activity, you should learn the skills that go with it and not be totally reliant on others. Another example of how she's setting herself up for problems: she recently got a car with all wheel drive, thinking this will allow her to easily drive in 4wd conditions. But the car does not have high clearance, and also she has no skill or even experience driving in conditions like snow, soft sand, rough roads with rocks and holes...any 4wd road conditions. She expects that her car will just "magically" switch to AWD and allow her to drive on conditions she has no skill to be driving on. This is a recipe for problems.

 

[Jug's Life]

You could have used the map or the compass to find your way back instead of RTH....

Probably yes. To each their own. It was more efficient and safe to allow the drone to autonomously return to home, of course I could take over at any time, as required, but I preferred to use RTH when I feel like it. Its a very handy feature.

 

[akdrone]

I'm with @SethB above. DO NOT routinely use RTH to bring the craft back. RTH is more of an emergency thing. As you've seen (and learned), it can be costly.

The way I use RTH routinely is to simply get it headed efficiently in the correct direction and then I take over.

 

[FlushVision]

In the over 8 years I've been flying drones I've never once had an RTH event except for when I was doing my PfCO flight test when the RTH was a requirement to complete the test. I never use it, then, but it's good to know it's there in case of emergencies...you never know when it will save your bacon: there will always be a first time.

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

In the over 8 years I've been flying drones I've never once had an RTH event except for when I was doing my PfCO flight test when the RTH was a requirement to complete the test. I never use it, then, but it's good to know it's there in case of emergencies...you never know when it will save your bacon: there will always be a first time.

Actually I think that that is an unwise thing to do.
The RTH behaviours vary from drone to drone and unless you have a VERY good memory of what you read in the manual I would suggest that you would do better to experience any given models RTH behaviours in a practise session before you might need them in real life.
Every single model of DJI drone I have flown has caught me out with some aspect of its RTH behaviour.

 

[FlushVision]

Actually I think that that is an unwise thing to do.
The RTH behaviours vary from drone to drone and unless you have a VERY good memory of what you read in the manual I would suggest that you would do better to experience any given models RTH behaviours in a practise session before you might need them in real life.
Every single model of DJI drone I have flown has caught me out with some aspect of its RTH behaviour.

I'm not sure if I agree with you or disagree with you...but I agree that you have a point. The fact is that I've never been in a position to need to do an RTH except for that one time back in 2016 in my PfCO test flight (which went well). I will, though, take on board what you say and try an RTH next time i'm in a favourable area/flight but not next time I'm out with it: My next flight will be in a heritage industrial area called **** ****** next ******** that includes at least two rather tall smoke stacks. The one after that, then, maybe the same day at a local disused boating lake ( I plan my flights well in advance).
Edit to say that for the last few years I've been flying a Yuneek H480 hexecopter, not a dji drone not that it makes any difference to this thread's discussion.

 

[FlushVision]

I would suggest you delete reference to WHERE & WHEN you will be flying, Karens & thieves and all that. you can edit your post and delete etc. etc.

done, but I can't edit what you have quoted though

 

[Droning on and on...]

I'm with @SethB above. DO NOT routinely use RTH to bring the craft back. RTH is more of an emergency thing. As you've seen (and learned), it can be costly.

I have the exact opposite view.

I've been flying 10 years since getting a P3. I've owned every DJI folding drone except the Mini 1 and SE. Still have the original Mavic Air, Air 2S, Mini 3P, FPV and Avata, and will be adding the Mavic 3 Pro to the Squadron this fall. Needless to say, I've done a lot of flying.

RTH is a tool. As outlined in the manual, it serves both in emergencies, or as an automated means to bring the drone back.

Flying back in a straight line, and then landing is boring as watching paint dry. No, it's more tedious. It's not something I need any "practice" doing. At all.

I use RTH to come back every time I'm far enough away to make it meaningful. And monitor the flight continuously, of course.

The idea that RTH is unreliable in any significant way is laughable.

 

[Droning on and on...]

Couple more thoughts… if you choose to fly under a canopy of trees, you should turn off auto RTH if signal is lost. The saving grace is that if you are purposely under a canopy, you probably are very close to the AC and unlikely to lose signal.

Better idea is to find the nearest clearing aloft, go hover over that area and reset the home point.

 

[Droning on and on...]

The way I use RTH routinely is to simply get it headed efficiently in the correct direction and then I take over.

Why?

Do you actually enjoy holding the pitch stick forward for several minutes? I find it exceedingly dull and boring. The same way I find trying to hold speed on the highway for hours driving.

I use automation – cruise control – and I would bet real money every one of you do too. In fact, this is arguably a (minor) safety improvement reducing fatigue.

@akdrone, if you start RTH to get flying in the right direction then cancel it, what's the difference in letting it continue, monitoring, and canceling if something goes awry? How is that riskier?

Every RTH failure in this thread has been pilot error. Not setting RTH up correctly for the mission flown. Not a single case has been the automated feature failing unexpectedly while properly configured.

And in 10 years I've never come across a single story like that. After hundreds of RTH events, most of them self-initiated, a few low battery and a few lost signal, I've never had a single failure.

 

[@Rip]

In my experience RTH works great! I RARELY USE IT. My suggestion is to learn to fly your craft manually before employing autonomous flight modes. ("your mileage may vary")

Practice a lot in areas that provide enough space to make mistakes. Learn to fly around things, under things and through things. Slowly, of course. Take your sweet lovin time! Rinse and repete ...You'll gain experience and loose your limitations.
Then do the same with programmed flight modes. Practice.
You'll get to a point where you don't have to think about your next move and be better, safer pilot as a result.
My 2 cents.

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

done, but I can't edit what you have quoted though

I can deal with that

 

[akdrone]

Why?

Do you actually enjoy holding the pitch stick forward for several minutes? I find it exceedingly dull and boring. The same way I find trying to hold speed on the highway for hours driving.

I use automation – cruise control – and I would bet real money every one of you do too. In fact, this is arguably a (minor) safety improvement reducing fatigue.

@akdrone, if you start RTH to get flying in the right direction then cancel it, what's the difference in letting it continue, monitoring, and canceling if something goes awry? How is that riskier?

Every RTH failure in this thread has been pilot error. Not setting RTH up correctly for the mission flown. Not a single case has been the automated feature failing unexpectedly while properly configured.

And in 10 years I've never come across a single story like that. After hundreds of RTH events, most of them self-initiated, a few low battery and a few lost signal, I've never had a single failure.

I'm usually 3 or 4 miles away and 2500 feet over flat ground so it's faster to come back manually in Sport mode. Just kidding...but yeah.. hitting return to home gets it oriented easily and quickly and then I typically fly back in Sport Mode more quickly than RTH would get me back.

 

[Droning on and on...]

FURTHERMORE

One thing is clearer than Waterford Crystal: Properly setting up RTH, and adjusting settings as necessary is an essential part of preflight preparation. It is for me, and perhaps that's why I've never had a problem, and trust it as a regular feature to use when flying.

At every arrival and set up at a flying location always:

• Review the lost signal setting. You want your drone back. Given your mission plans, which setting will give you the greatest chance to recover your aircraft? In almost all cases it will be RTH, after that Hover, least useful most of the time and risky, Land. However, depending on the mission, Land may be the best choice.
• Review the RTH height and make sure it's set high enough to clear any obstacles that may come between you and the drone.
• If the takeoff location is unsuitable for the Home Point, immediately find an adequate place near by after getting in the air, and reset the HP there. Failsafe simply ain't if your drone comes down in treetops upon an RC being a rare hardware failure statistic.
• If the drone has the Precision Landing feature, make sure to capture a landing image at takeoff, like this: Take off manually by starting the motors with the CSC; do a controlled vertical ascent to 20-25ft, pause for a count of 5, then carry on with your mission. RTH will return and land within a few inches of the takeoff location. It is critical that you do not give any yaw, pitch, or roll input before the PL image is captured... this will cancel the PL process for the flight, and RTH will operate with GPS accuracy.

Now here's a bit of irony: If you do use RTH to routinely bring your drone back, reviewing settings easily becomes habit, and the chance of an emergency RTH resulting in catastrophe is much lower.

 

[Droning on and on...]

I'm usually 3 or 4 miles away and 2500 feet over flat ground so it's faster to come back manually in Sport mode. Just kidding...but yeah.. hitting return to home gets it oriented easily and quickly and then I typically fly back in Sport Mode more quickly than RTH would get me back.

Ahhhh... that's a meaningful reason. I'm lazy, want to avoid leaning on that stick all the way home, so I'd rather work on that last beer from the six pack I've been chugging since takeoff.

 

[SethB]

FURTHERMORE

One thing is clearer than Waterford Crystal: Properly setting up RTH, and adjusting settings as necessary is an essential part of preflight preparation. It is for me, and perhaps that's why I've never had a problem, and trust it as a regular feature to use when flying.

At every arrival and set up at a flying location always…

I can’t disagree, and do need to practice RTH. One challenge is that I fly two different “Fly OS” aircraft that I own, and two different “GO 4 OS” aircraft for my employer. I think they all have their RTH idiosyncrasies… which are easier to just bypass by manual flying.

I also don’t do much with other automated modes. It never seems to be exactly the move I want! And the different OS & aircraft complicate that, too.

Third point, I work with a lot of new pilots. I really really want them to learn those sticks! Not blindly depend on auto modes they don’t yet fully understand. And no beer until they leave the area…

 

[Droning on and on...]

I'm 110% with you that new pilots should be flying manually as much as possible. No RTH just to come home like my lazy arse.

But c'mon people, please! After flying back and landing hundreds of times, there's no skill honing to be had! My skills are not "getting rusty" avoiding spending a few minutes holding the pitch stick pedal-to-the-metal all the way home (again!).

And keep in mind landing is entirely automated. You simply command it to land by either pressing a button on the display, or holding the throttle down. The Flight Controller does 99% of the work.

So don't pat yourselves on the back too heartily. Few of you actually have real landing skills. Tape over the VPS cameras and IR ToF sensors on the bottom and then practice your ACTUAL landing skills, which most of you will find you don't have

Or get an Avata or FPV and land in manual mode.

Otherwise all the talk about honing skills is a lot of hot air. Simple "my fill-in-the-blank is bigger than yours" boasting.

 

[KLRSKIR]

I'm 110% with you that new pilots should be flying manually as much as possible. No RTH just to come home like my lazy arse.

But c'mon people, please! After flying back and landing hundreds of times, there's no skill honing to be had! My skills are not "getting rusty" avoiding spending a few minutes holding the pitch stick pedal-to-the-metal all the way home (again!).

And keep in mind landing is entirely automated. You simply command it to land by either pressing a button on the display, or holding the throttle down. The Flight Controller does 99% of the work.

So don't pat yourselves on the back too heartily. Few of you actually have real landing skills. Tape over the VPS cameras and IR ToF sensors on the bottom and then practice your ACTUAL landing skills, which most of you will find you don't have

Or get an Avata or FPV and land in manual mode.

Otherwise all the talk about honing skills is a lot of hot air. Simple "my fill-in-the-blank is bigger than yours" boasting.

Let's be honest here, there is very little if any skill needed to land a GPS drone. It's that simple. When pilots understand and can fly ATTI mode, then we can talk. Additionally, blocking any of the sensors on a GPS drone will not replicate ATTI mode.

 

[Droning on and on...]

Let's be honest here, there is very little if any skill needed to land a GPS drone. It's that simple. When pilots understand and can fly ATTI mode, then we can talk. Additionally, blocking any of the sensors on a GPS drone will not replicate ATTI mode.

Actually, blocking the GPS sensor with a piece of foil will put the drone in ATTI mode when more than 30ft off the ground.

Further blocking of the VPS sensors is necessary to blind the FC to positioning data and near-ground altitude, giving the true manual experience.

Easier is to just try landing the FPV or Avata in Manual.

 

[singram]

With only 10 flights under my belt, I stupidly set the home point under a hemlock tree. During take off I even had to maneuver around the overhead branch which was about 40' high (should've been my first clue).

After a short flight I hit RTH, while it was descending I realized what was about to happen...I frantically tried to cancel RTH but my right palm accidentally touched the media icon on the RC which takes 1-2 seconds for it to load. By the time I got back to the control screen it was too late. It hit the branch and got wedged in good. I got the replace props warning. *CRINGE*

Recovery took about 1 hour. First I put an old foam mattress directly beneath. I used a 28ft extension ladder to get as close as I could. Then I used a fiskars extendable pole pruner to grab it to try and gently lower it but I cut a front arm almost clean off. I had no choice but to cut the branches so it fell about 40' and bounced off the mattress and onto the ground.

I didn't have care refresh but my saving grace was DJI repair was fast and only cost me $159 for 2 broken arms and propellers, amazingly the camera and gimbal survived the fall.

Moral of the story is basically don't set the home point under a tree like I did. From now on I'm more inclined to just land manually when conditions allow.

Thanks for reading!

Glad everything worked out! It'll probably be suggested by others, but first and foremost, I'd recommend getting comfortable flying 100% manually. Just like collision avoidance sensors, RTH should never be a Plan A.

Sounds like DJI really took care of you on the repair. I also had an unfortunate issue with my Mini 2 with no Refresh Plan. Long story short, I crashed it in a tree a mile from takeoff and it spent the next 2 days in the rain. Among other damage, the gimble was completely ripped off. After an approximate 10 day turn-around, I'll have it back as good as new for $71.00 USD. DJI has a customer for life!