RTH or fly home?

[m0j0]

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.

Pretty smart actually. That is actually one of the scenario's I have on my emergency check list. I used to take some long flights... I don't do that anymore. but when I did that was definately something that I thought about as a course of action should things go south. That and planning an alternate landing site.

 

[m0j0]

Even then if you for some reason the app crashes and you can't get it to work again during flight ( happened to me in android once) you can look at the distance read out on your transmitter and move the sticks until the distance number gets smaller and smaller until you see it in view.

To be honest... In that situation my response would be different. I would hit RTH and watch the telemetry. The Mavic will turn directly to the home point as soon as it starts coming back, evidenced by the distance on the RC telemetry, press the RTH again to cancel RTH and come back at full to 3/4 throttle. Same premise as yours but I want to know that I am chosing the most direct route back to the home point to regain LOS.

 

[quick_dry]

Is there a way to show your home point on the video feed/screen? I know there is the map, but on Solo the camera view has the home point superimposed as one of those map marker teardrops. (Obv I'm maintaining VLOS, this just makes it easier to line up dead on instead of using objects as markers)

 

[tcope]

I am of the opinion of using/testing the RTH feature to insure it's reliability before it is actually needed!

It does not always behave the same way. For example, I used it yesterday when my signal was lost at 4000'. I waited for about a minute and the signal never picked back up. The app view had gone grey. I shut the app down and brought it back up. Turns out the Mavic was hovering in the same spot. it had not moved. I checked and RTH was set to Return To Home. So it would have just hovered until 10% battery and then landed... who knows where 4000' away.

 

[Saylor101]

Pretty smart actually. That is actually one of the scenario's I have on my emergency check list. I used to take some long flights... I don't do that anymore. but when I did that was definately something that I thought about as a course of action should things go south. That and planning an alternate landing site.

I'm very interested in the info on your emergency checklist. Do you have it written out? Willing to share?

 

[m0j0]

It does not always behave the same way. For example, I used it yesterday when my signal was lost at 4000'. I waited for about a minute and the signal never picked back up. The app view had gone grey. I shut the app down and brought it back up. Turns out the Mavic was hovering in the same spot. it had not moved. I checked and RTH was set to Return To Home. So it would have just hovered until 10% battery and then landed... who knows where 4000' away.

That is because you likely did not lose TX CONTROL. Losing video and or connectivity in the application is not the same as losing TX control. It is likely that you could have flown the Mavic back. In that situation manually hit the RTH. It will behave as you specified I'm the application.

 

[m0j0]

Is there a way to show your home point on the video feed/screen? I know there is the map, but on Solo the camera view has the home point superimposed as one of those map marker teardrops. (Obv I'm maintaining VLOS, this just makes it easier to line up dead on instead of using objects as markers)

Yes, the default is to have two displays running in the app. The video feed and the map view. Tap the map view to swap the feeds. Additionally, use the radar when on iOS it is pretty accurate.

 

[tcope]

That is because you likely did not lose TX CONTROL. Losing video and or connectivity in the application is not the same as losing TX control. It is likely that you could have flown the Mavic back. In that situation manually hit the RTH. It will behave as you specified I'm the application.

The app reported that I was disconnected. As I usually do, I attempted to fly the Mavic back by holding the stick in the correct direction (as I don't use RTH unless there is no other choice as mentioned). Did so for about 30 seconds. So if I still have control, the Mavic should have flown some distance. It did not.

Which reminds me, I should take a look at the logs to see what they reported.

 

[dwallersv]

Wow, this thread has the feel of one of those "my body part is bigger than yours" type of discussions that show up on car enthusiast forums all the time.

I use RTH almost every time I fly. I'm a very skilled and experienced pilot. Been flying RC for 30 years, gliders, helis, and now drones. I've done brain-driven "precision" landing so many times with RC helicopters I could do it in my sleep -- and I'd venture to say that most posting here couldn't.

There -- that's how big mine is . So that said, when I'm done flying I see a great benefit in the technology that brings the thing back and lands it within an inch or two of where it took off. Even in windy, difficult conditions. I land myself now and then, but to me it's just another control, no different than the sticks.

 

[normr]

I am amazed at how precise the landings are, I also have one of those foldable landing pads and I'll set my Mavic right on the H, take off go to 30+ feet and hover there for a few seconds while I check my screen insuring good signals and then fly out a distance and do an RTH and it comes back and lands almost precisely back on the H maybe off an inch or two. All I can say is wow!

 

[m0j0]

The app reported that I was disconnected. As I usually do, I attempted to fly the Mavic back by holding the stick in the correct direction (as I don't use RTH unless there is no other choice as mentioned). Did so for about 30 seconds. So if I still have control, the Mavic should have flown some distance. It did not.

Which reminds me, I should take a look at the logs to see what they reported.

I think you should check the logs. I'm not trying to be ugly or point fingers at you. Im just saying it is likely the TX did not disconnect. The app reporting a disconnect is not an indication that you have no control over the Mavic. It's an indication that you have no video or that the app has disconnected. My course of action in your scenario, where you do not have VLOS, would be to hit RTH and watch the telemetry on the TX. Once you determine it is coming back.... evidenced by the distance indication, try to reconnect. If the application is dead, restart it. If it is just disconnected wait for the Mavic to reconnect.

The bottom line is you lose nothing by hitting RTH. If you truly lost TX signal then it likely already initiated RTH. If you didn't lose TX then once again all you did was ensure that it is coming home.

My experience with RTH and DJI products has been perfect. That said though I follow the manual and properly record RTH and the parameters for RTH on the first flight every time I bring the Mavic out.

That's my .02 YMMV - again I'm not trying to be an azzz I'm just sharing my experience.

 

[tcope]

I think you should check the logs. I'm not trying to be ugly or point fingers at you. Im just saying it is likely the TX did not disconnect. The app reporting a disconnect is not an indication that you have no control over the Mavic. It's an indication that you have no video or that the app has disconnected. My course of action in your scenario, where you do not have VLOS, would be to hit RTH and watch the telemetry on the TX. Once you determine it is coming back.... evidenced by the distance indication, try to reconnect. If the application is dead, restart it. If it is just disconnected wait for the Mavic to reconnect.

No problem. I described the situation as I recall (it was pretty straight forward) but there is always the possibility that something else was happening. I don't mind the input.

I reviewed the logs and there is a loss of data connection.It appears to last for about 20 seconds. It's during this time that I would have attempted to fly back. When I did not regain control, I pressed the RTH button. However, now that I'm writing this, I think I'd need to have held it for 3 seconds? Regardless, it also did not initiate an auto RTH within that time.

The log ends as I shut down the app and restarted it. It reconnected just fine and I was able to fly it back. I won't say everything was fine as I still kept getting the restricted area pop up message ever 2-3 seconds. Let me tell you... DJI needs to fix that crap! I kept checking both boxes and it would go away, just to pop up 2 seconds later. It pops up right in the middle of the screen so you can't see the video feed. SUPER annoying.

Airdata UAV - Flight Data Analysis for Drones

 

[MavPro75]

My new landing pad arrived, (3 Ft Diameter Drone Launch Pad - HDLP3 in Launch Pad) and I tried it on my driveway, and it still didn't land, I got the same error, Ground Not Suitable for Landing. I then put the new landing pad in the grass, and tried the precise landing again, and it worked perfectly. I am not sure what the Mavic has about my concrete driveway, but is sure doesn't like to land by itself on or near it.

Do you have rebar in your concrete driveway? Maybe it is confusing the compass. Just a guess!

 

[stratos]

To be honest... In that situation my response would be different. I would hit RTH and watch the telemetry. The Mavic will turn directly to the home point as soon as it starts coming back, evidenced by the distance on the RC telemetry, press the RTH again to cancel RTH and come back at full to 3/4 throttle. Same premise as yours but I want to know that I am chosing the most direct route back to the home point to regain LOS.

My advice would be to find an alternate landing place, which is easy reachable and set the drone to hover. Then run, drive, cycle to the location and luckly it will still be there waiting for you.
Many times is faster for you to get to the landing location than the quad to go all the way back, but well it all depends.

 

[Michael Ainsworth]

Wow, this thread has the feel of one of those "my body part is bigger than yours" type of discussions that show up on car enthusiast forums all the time.

I use RTH almost every time I fly. I'm a very skilled and experienced pilot. Been flying RC for 30 years, gliders, helis, and now drones. I've done brain-driven "precision" landing so many times with RC helicopters I could do it in my sleep -- and I'd venture to say that most posting here couldn't.

There -- that's how big mine is . So that said, when I'm done flying I see a great benefit in the technology that brings the thing back and lands it within an inch or two of where it took off. Even in windy, difficult conditions. I land myself now and then, but to me it's just another control, no different than the sticks.

It's not how big but what you can do with what you have, lol

 

[jkaiser]

I like to use RTH to bring it closer to where I am, and land it manually. The sun and glare in Singapore makes it a bit hard to spot the drone sometimes.

 

[Michael Ainsworth]

As jkaiser said get it back and in reach then manual land if you want.
All the extra functions are cream on the cake. Lick it if you want or not, your choice.

 

[CyberdyneSystems]

I mostly just fly back manually. Pop up the map, turn the Mav in line with the return vector line, grab some altitude and just punch it full speed in sport mode. Wait till I can hear it and guid it in for a hand landing once I can clearly see it.

Mainly I just don't want to listen to the beep beep all the way in.

 

[Peregrine]

I nearly always use RTH, unless I am flying in a wooded area. I find the technology incredibly impressive, and enjoy watching it do it's thing. I don't get it when people say you should fly it home manually, because RTH can fail. If it fails THEN I'll bring it home manually. It's not exactly hard to fly. It's a fully stabilised aircraft that displays all of the data I want should I need to bring it home. I think there is merit in both camps, and that it is important that you CAN bring it home safely using both methods.

 

[Kestrel]

The one problem I see with RTH is the reaction time it takes to take it off RTH if an emergency happens like a plane appears or something, manually flying to me feels safer in that I feel like I could make it descend faster than I could turn off RTH.