Scary flight today

[A.O.]

You might want to experiment some more with your iPhone 7, but well within VLOS. I used the Fly app for a brief time when I had a Mavic Mini (I returned it) with my iPhone XR and it crashed on me during flight. I have never had this happen with DJI GO, DJI GO 4, or Litchi and rarely with a variety of other 3rd party apps I use. I am not sure but I seem to remember reading that the Fly app requires a more current phone. Although the iPhone 7 and my XR are compatible, maybe it is taxing these older phones more than the newer ones causing an app crash.
One other thing, do you keep your iPhone 7 updated to the latest iOS? This may help. I always keep my devices including my drones updated to the latest software/firmware.

Chris

DJI GO?? Please explain, and yes I do the updates on my phone, and the one my MA2 required when I first got it.

 

[A.O.]

Wonder if he had flipped the wifi/RC switch.

And where is this switch?

 

[lookout]

And where is this switch?

Oh MA2...they may have done away with that kinda useless switch...

 

[Repaid1]

DJI GO?? Please explain, and yes I do the updates on my phone, and the one my MA2 required when I first got it.

DJI Go, originally the Pilot App was for the old Inspire 1 and Phantom 3 series, Some of us like to call it Go3 and the other Go4 and now the latest App for DJI Aircraft is The Fly App, which is what your using. I run all three, so things can get confusing.

 

[Repaid1]

And where is this switch?

Wrong aircraft.

 

[Meta4]

At this point hoping the controller was still hooked up to the drone I hit RTH (my first emergency RTH). Phone was still in home screen but RTH seemed to be working as the drone was heading my way.

Losing your phone or the app doesn't affect the control signal connection from your controller.
You still had full control to use joysticks or the RTH button.
Or if in doubt about what's going on, you can always shut down the controller which will force RTH to initiate.

I watched it stop overhead to start its landing and noticed it was a little off target, not much maybe 5 feet or so, not a huge deal as it would just land in the grass instead of the concrete.

+/- 5 ft is not off target.
Consumer GPS is not pinpoint accurate and can ebe a little more out than 5ft.
It's always a good practice to ensure the launch spot is clear of nearby obstacles to allow for an unexpected RTH.

 

[Meta4]

you can check this out by flying 50ft out and then switching off the RC ,at that distance the drone will just land

The MA2 does not work like this.
It performs differently from the earlier DJI drones and it's important to read the RTH section of the manual to understand how it behaves in RTH and Loss of Signal.

 

[DanMan32]

Oh MA2...they may have done away with that kinda useless switch...

That wouldn't be the problem anyway. The switch is on the AC, and he was able to fly with the RC.

 

[DanMan32]

DJI Go, originally the Pilot App was for the old Inspire 1 and Phantom 3 series, Some of us like to call it Go3 and the other Go4 and now the latest App for DJI Aircraft is The Fly App, which is what your using. I run all three, so things can get confusing.

Around 2016 or 2017 DJI had split Go into Go3 for older models and Go4 for newer models.

 

[DanMan32]

A good way to get orientation or at least know you're flying home is this:

Fly straight using right stick. Observe left-right direction AC is flying. Whhile still flying straight yaw in that direction until it stops moving left or right. It is now flying towards you.

If you don't see it moving left/right, it's flying toward or away from you. Yaw until you see it moving left/right.

 

[Repaid1]

Around 2016 or 2017 DJI had split Go into Go3 for older models and Go4 for newer models.

Yes I am aware of the Go 4 update/Split, in fact my Go 3 App still controls the Mavic Pro, I haven't updated it in that long

 

[DanMan32]

Just expanding on what you said for his benefit.

 

[Repaid1]

Just expanding on what you said for his benefit.

Understood, just Jeopardy knowledge at this point though. I commend you for teaching him the Yaw maneuver. At this point I just put a small Strobe on my rear of aircraft. I just stop and yaw when I see the strobe I just adjust Yaw till it is about brightest, then pull back left stick...works for me, it's flying towards home.

 

[DanMan32]

I learned the yaw trick on a YT video. It was made with cheaper drones in mind and I only had a Syma at the time.

I also fly most of the time straight, making turns with yaw rather than banking. You keep perspective better that way.

 

[A.O.]

Losing your phone or the app doesn't affect the control signal connection from your controller.
You still had full control to use joysticks or the RTH button.
Or if in doubt about what's going on, you can always shut down the controller which will force RTH to initiate.

Ahh, but I'm a new guy and I didn't know that.. My first thought was screen is gone so is control, but again I learned something!

+/- 5 ft is not off target.
Consumer GPS is not pinpoint accurate and can ebe a little more out than 5ft.
It's always a good practice to ensure the launch spot is clear of nearby obstacles to allow for an unexpected RTH.

Yep, I'm familiar with civilian GPS accuracy, but on all my test RTH's it has landed right on my pad.

 

[Papabri]

Ok, still a rookie here, 6-12 flights so far MA2, iphone7, until now everything has gone as planned except a couple times when the buzzards got too curious and I just landed and quit flying.

But today... After reading the discussion on what to start first AC or RC I started the RC first, I normally start the AC first. So I fired up the RC and of course without the AC on it starts beeping, no big deal I knew that would happen. Then I turned on the AC (batts in both were full) but the RC kept beeping, said something about trying to find AC...Hmmmm??? Turned the app on and off a couple times and it finally seemed ok, said home point was re-established so I was good to go.
Flew it like normal, auto take off then hover about 20-30 feet of the ground to get its bearings and off I go. Across my pond over to the field on the other side like I've done before.. all of a sudden I get the low charge warning on my phone, I let it hover, went to control and turned on the charge phone feature then continued flying. just flying around looking at stuff and all of a sudden my phone went to the home screen!!! AHHHHH whats going on??? Played with the phone got the Fly app back up, but just for a few seconds and it went to home screen again, did this a couple times and now I am CONCERNED!! At this point hoping the controller was still hooked up to the drone I hit RTH (my first emergency RTH). Phone was still in home screen but RTH seemed to be working as the drone was heading my way... YAY!! I watched it stop overhead to start its landing and noticed it was a little off target, not much maybe 5 feet or so, not a huge deal as it would just land in the grass instead of the concrete. Still no FLY app on the screen but I hit the button on controller face to stop RTH about 10 feet off the ground and it worked.. at that point I used my sticks to maneuver it into correct position and landed!!!

Yeowza!!! what the heck happened and how do I prevent this in the future?

At end of flight controller had full battery, AC had 3 lights or 75% battery, and phone had 17% battery

Probably nothing to you guys, but I've been flying all of about 2 weeks and it sure gave me pause. BUT... safe return and at that point I packed it up and came in.

Sorry to hear that. This is one reason why I went for the Smart Controller. No fears about phone batteries or phone anything.

 

[A.O.]

Sorry to hear that. This is one reason why I went for the Smart Controller. No fears about phone batteries or phone anything.

Heck I was pushing it to get a $800 drone, wasn't going to spring for an $800 controller too. And it was my fault letting the phone go down that much, If I was dumb enough to let the smart controller go down that much it wouldn't have worked either!

 

[cgmaxed]

I want to thank all of you that replied (and those that will later when they see this) for helping with this. It never dawned on me that the phone would shut off the fly app when low on battery. I also thought that "charge phone" feature would do more, I wont rely on it again. It is also good to know that the AC and RC will still work together without the app. Being new I did not think that they would and without the viewing screen I could not tell if RC inputs were working. I'm thinking I need something which will give me a better indication of AC orientation at distance. My thought is lights on the front (I've seen some of you have them on the front arms) then I would at least know when the AC was facing me... more research to follow.

Again thanks everyone and a another couple lessons learned without paying a high price for it! So I'll chalk this up as another successful flight

I keep the phones I use on full power mode, without any battery saving functions. I have to charge them almost daily. I also shut down all apps, so only the flight APP is running.

 

[A.O.]

I keep the phones I use on full power mode, without any battery saving functions. I have to charge them almost daily. I also shut down all apps, so only the flight APP is running.

Yeah, all other apps were off, I just forgot to check my phone charge.
Added it to my check list.

 

[elborak]

I'm familiar with civilian GPS accuracy, but on all my test RTH's it has landed right on my pad.

The Precision Landing feature is covered in the User Manual.