RTH or fly home?

[AlanTheBeast]

I'm with tcope on this. That is an emergency feature, not a convenience. ALWAYS KEEP VISUAL CONTACT AND FLY YOUR BIRD HOME.

And from time to time practice emergency procedures (such as RTH) so you know what to expect and verify that it is setup correctly.

 

[AlanTheBeast]

I only use RTH to show off how cool the tech is and a few times when I lost signal. Ok once I used it when I realized I wasn't going to make it home due to wind so I had it RTH while I ran to my car and drove to it to meet it half way and get it over a park before forced landing.

Suggest you try:
-Disabling OA in P-mode. That will give you 50 km/hr fully pinned which should be enough for most wind you would be flying in
-Use sport mode to fly home against the wind.

 

[Rbruz]

I'm with tcope on this. That is an emergency feature, not a convenience. ALWAYS KEEP VISUAL CONTACT AND FLY YOUR BIRD HOME.

Exactly-Bingo

 

[George747]

We all view things thru different lenses. Mine is from an airline aviator view. We have what are called SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) and Technique. SOP must be followed and technique is how you want to do it. For example, if I am flying at Flight Level 290 (29,000') and Air Traffic Control instructs me "descend to and maintain FL250" then I must do it and am expected to use a minimum descent rate. There are other company procedures that are required in setting up the required instruments for the altitude change. Those are SOPs. Whether I fly the descent off autopilot or use automation is technique. Also, whatever automation mode I choose to use for the descent is also technique. My options might be Vertical Speed, Flight Level Change, Vertical Navigation, Flight Path Angle, etc.
There are times when I want to fly manually to keep up my hand-flying skills and there times I want to use the automation. One reason for using the automation is to reduce workload if other things are going on. e.g. high traffic area, issues in the cockpit, briefing the approach, etc. Another very valid reason for using the automation is to be familiar with it. Whether it's flying the jet or my Mavic, I want to be proficient with it's automation. I may not use all the automation available but I want to be at least knowledgeable with it if I want, or need to use it. It is not uncommon in our initial briefings for the Capt say he/she expects the crew to follow SOP but use your own technique. In my years of flying I have seldom seen pilots corrected for their Technique. Suggestions might be offered but seldom required. I don't see any difference with Mavic pilots. How one wants to fly is a matter of technique. Again, that's my perspective thru my lens.

 

[FatherXmas]

I am curious on how many people use the RTH to get their mavics home and how many just pilot home? My mate has a mavic as well and he uses the RTH almost every time. Me, I haven't activated my RTH once. Wondering what the % for either are and why to both questions.

I've tried RTH several times, doesn't seem to work for me very well. Once it even tried to come down into a tree more than 10 feet away from the take-off point, fortunately, obstacle avoidance stopped it.

 

[Gp™]

I reallllly do not understand why buying a sofisticated drone if not gonna use what comes with... I DO RTH PLENTY OF TIMES, and just enjoy the tech working

 

[Gp™]

made myself this land pad (50x50cm) and my mavic always hits the center of it when landing, on RTH. THATS WHAT I'VE PAID FOR

 

[dtwrlewis]

newbie here... my home launch site has a relatively narrow vertical window (house 10m behind, big trees 10m in front) but very open diagonally to right. I launch manually, rise 10m and hover for 15 seconds (to get the precision landing thingie set - although get no notification that this has happened - should i?) . Then turn 45degrees left, fly forwards for 10-20m into the open area and then climb to 40m which gives me obstacle free access in any direction. I haven't used RTH yet as i'm worried that my landing site is to tight for a safe return (either trees or house). I suppose i could fly it out to the open area of my property, land it there and set home... would that work?

 

[George747]

@dtwrlewis, geez sounds like the noise abatement takeoff out of FRA. LOL. I'm also a newbie but it seems like you are being conservative not knowing exactly how it works. I'm the same way with a lot of the features. IMO that shows great discipline.

 

[dtwrlewis]

@George747 , yup i'm a bit cautious... probably from reading the posts on this forum for 1 month before i started flying!....

You can get an idea of my site from my wunderground webcam here: Rothesay Weather | Personal Weather Station: INEWBRUN36 by Wunderground.com | Weather Underground

My launch deck is to the left of the webcam. It's the big trees on the left that i'm most worried about, as a direct RTH would bring them into contention.

 

[Boog0822]

Always fly home.

 

[Flawless]

(to get the precision landing thingie set - although get no notification that this has happened - should i?) .

Precision Landing requires you to have GPS lock and use the auto-takeoff function. When you hit the button to auto-takeoff, there's a checkbox to record data for precision landing. This increases the takeoff height to just over 5m (from 1.6), but records more data that the Mavic can reverse for a precision landing.

There is no data recorded for precision landing if you take off manually, even if you hover for five minutes.

 

[idiogenic]

Precision Landing requires you to have GPS lock and use the auto-takeoff function. When you hit the button to auto-takeoff, there's a checkbox to record data for precision landing. This increases the takeoff height to just over 5m (from 1.6), but records more data that the Mavic can reverse for a precision landing.

There is no data recorded for precision landing if you take off manually, even if you hover for five minutes.

This is not my experience. I never use auto-takeoff (just cannot fathom why anyone would?) and precision landing works fine.

From the manual:

Precision Landing performance is subject to the following conditions:
a. Home point is recorded upon take off, and cannot not be refreshed during ight.
b. Aircraft must take off vertically. Take off altitude must be greater than 10 meters.
c. Home point terrain features remain largely unchanged.
d. Home point terrain with no distinctive features will affect the performance.
e. Lighting conditions cannot be too light nor too dark.
The following actions are available during landing:
a. Pull throttle down to accelerate landing.
b. Moving the control sticks in any other direction will stop Precision Landing. The Mavic Pro

Nothing about auto-takeoff at all.

 

[dtwrlewis]

Precision Landing requires you to have GPS lock and use the auto-takeoff function. When you hit the button to auto-takeoff, there's a checkbox to record data for precision landing. This increases the takeoff height to just over 5m (from 1.6), but records more data that the Mavic can reverse for a precision landing.

There is no data recorded for precision landing if you take off manually, even if you hover for five minutes.

Thanks for that explanation. Will try that next time.

 

[Flawless]

This is not my experience. I never use auto-takeoff (just cannot fathom why anyone would?) and precision landing works fine.

Yep, you're correct. Auto-takeoff offers the tickbox for confirmation of PL recording, but the Mavic will record data for precision landing if you manually take off vertically to at least 10 meters.

Auto-takeoff will accomplish the same at half the altitude, and the Mavic's smart enough to land quite accurately without expending all the effort on a precision landing.

 

[dewster]

It depends. I tried navigating back home over a marsh and was off. RTH brought me right back to the tight spot (between trees) that I launched.

I used RTH while arguing with a security guard on legality of flying.

I like RTH. I use it about 50/50

 

[domination]

Funny question... I've noticed that I avoid using using the auto-launch and RTH functions, preferring to start props manually and land manually as it gives me the artificial inflated ego of pretending to know what I'm doing! It's like one of those things where I can feel in control without the self-degradation of being such a noob. I'm trying to overcome my pilot anxiety by maintaining as much control over the MP as possible (including keeping my eyes on the RC display only), relying less on automated controls. Ironically, I've been using RTH lately so I can at least become more accustomed to how it works (which is much slower to land for my ADHD preference).

 

[Glenn Goodlett]

Is it still a crutch when I hit RTH and the fly my 700 sized 3D heli? Maybe I'll make a sandwich next time.

 

[George747]

@George747 , yup i'm a bit cautious... probably from reading the posts on this forum for 1 month before i started flying!....

You can get an idea of my site from my wunderground webcam here: Rothesay Weather | Personal Weather Station: INEWBRUN36 by Wunderground.com | Weather Underground

My launch deck is to the left of the webcam. It's the big trees on the left that i'm most worried about, as a direct RTH would bring them into contention.

 

[George747]

@dtwrlewis, I dsee

@George747 , yup i'm a bit cautious... probably from reading the posts on this forum for 1 month before i started flying!....

You can get an idea of my site from my wunderground webcam here: Rothesay Weather | Personal Weather Station: INEWBRUN36 by Wunderground.com | Weather Underground

My launch deck is to the left of the webcam. It's the big trees on the left that i'm most worried about, as a direct RTH would bring them into contention.