To be able to make any useful comment, I'd need to know the details of the waypoint flight, where each waypoint was, your starting point and the recorded flight data from when the controller was in contact.
You need to research the difference between binding and pairing. If you didn't unbind it, then you unpaired it. See above for the significance and how to correct it. It is still bound to the original controller, but you unpaired it, so now you need to repair it to use it again. Binding is different! Switching between controllers always requires repairing, not rebinding, unless you want to fly more than 5 times without repairing to the bound device.
In the third world, you always have to be concerned with the police, because they're very corrupt, and will try to shake you down.
That's not a difference. Once you're flying, it's EXACTLY the same. The permanence is something stupid, that DJI created because they're stupid. If you are paired, do you have less range, more likely to disconnect, more likely to crash. No. It's just a artifical thing DJI made up for no reason. Maybe it gives DJI more information about how many controllers you have, for their marketing people.
Whether you agree with it or not, you now fully understand it. It is for security to prevent found or stolen drones from being used with a different controller than the one to which they are bound, more than 5 times. It is also required for Fly Away coverage that you be flying with the bound controller.
I lost a drone in Boracay, Philippines. Since I no longer have it, I could care less if someone found it and is flying it now. And I never reported it list to DJI. How many drones get stolen? I could see that would be somewhat useful to discourage thefts, but personally i would waive that if i could, because it's more trouble than it's worth. Yes, it's not hard to bind them, but i would rather i didn't have to all the time. But i see your point. But it's not a safety issue. That's my point.
If you were to always use the same controller each time you fly the drone, as most do, you would never have to repair or rebind. The drone was already paired to the RC it shipped with from the factory. Changing that factory RC/drone pairing creates the issues you have encountered, but they are easily dealt with.
I'm not choosing side in this discussion, just weighing in on the facts and opinions. "Security to prevent found or stolen drones from being used..." how so? Do you have a link or a reference to where DJI is explaining this is the rationale? Flyaway I totally agree with.
Consider what might happen if drones and controllers were automatically linked.
Again not taking sides but just responding. If I were DJI and a flight was started, that flight would contain a list of eligible controllers that could take over the flight provided there was one open slot available. Let's say I have 3 remotes in my bag and I'm flying my drone and I drop the remote in a swimming pool. I could pull out my other remote and take control of the flight because 1) there is one open slot available AND 2) all 3 of my remotes are listed as eligible (whereas all other remotes are blocked). This could be helpful should you have a team of 5 members and you wanted to "hand off" your drone over a known range or to fly in a dead spot, etc. This could be a setting.
Well, the net effect is certainly security, and there are several threads where people have privately bought resold drones that have become paperweights because whoever sold it to them didn't have access to the original bound RC to be able to unbind it. The binding establishes ownership, much like a pink slip to a car, that must be released to transfer ownership. Whether they were found drones, or stolen drones is unclear. If the seller never replies to their requests seeking help, he either died or was selling a "found" drone. There's a guy in China that will charge you $250 to unbind the drone, like a corrupt guy at the DMV who will "fix" your stolen title for you for a small fee!
DJI could certainly come up with a more elegant way of allowing an owner to use two different controllers, but that doesn’t make them "stupid" just because the OP voluntarily unpaired the initial controller, and now has created his own set of problems, where he needs to re-pair it with the original RC to use it again.
Having a title on a vehicle does not disable the vehicle so it couldn't operate or drive on the road for those that don't have the title. That's where the "stupid" comes it. And I'm sure you know, just because you have a piece of paper called a title in your hand, doesn't always mean much.
