When do YOU use Return to Home?

[Luckyguy9]

OMG - One of my first flights with my mini pro 4 - I took it out over a lake to see how far out I could get. Suddenly had a disconnect and I panicked a bit but return to home brought it back in range and I took over manual flight again.

I now use it regularly after completing a planned flight.

how far did you get before the disconnect?

 

[Robert Prior]

Suddenly had a disconnect and I panicked a bit but return to home brought it back in range and I took over manual flight again.

A friend of mine just lost his first drone (Mini 2). Had a disconnect when it was at the far end of the field, it rose to RTH height and returned home, then just hovered there until the battery drained and it dropped.

I've been trying to persuade him to create an account here and post the logs, because I'm really wondering why it didn't land, either from the RTH or a low battery.

 

[smbishop]

how far did you get before the disconnect?

 

[Telthecelt]

Return to Home is a great feature! It's even nicer with the new Green Glide Slope on the Mini 4 Pro .

Since I started flying a number of years and several drones ago, I always thought of it as a last ditch savior. That I should improve my flying skills so I wouldn't need it.
A parachute -if you will - for when things go wrong like a dying battery, signal loss or when I can't find HOME.

But lately I'm wondering, "why not just use it to get back quicker and easier" instead of flying my way back home.

I'M CURIOUS... WHAT IS EVERYBODY ELSE DOING?

I use RTH every time I'm out! When I've got what I want it's sure the quickest and easiest return..but I often cancel when it's close by and I then hand land my Mini 3 Pro if there's a risk of grass or whatever hitting the drone. But since line of sight is a legal requirement if I lose sight of it (easily done as you know!) then I RTH it until I know where it is. Last week after a flight I noticed a small helicopter coming over the hill, not so high either. And a microlight my drone could easily have caught, although it came from a direction where it's noise arrived a bit before it did. The last thing I ever want to have to resort to is emergency prop stop. As a real amateur I'm a BIG fan of RTH.

 

[WanderLost]

A friend of mine just lost his first drone (Mini 2). Had a disconnect when it was at the far end of the field, it rose to RTH height and returned home, then just hovered there until the battery drained and it dropped.

I've been trying to persuade him to create an account here and post the logs, because I'm really wondering why it didn't land, either from the RTH or a low battery.

Is it possible the drone returned and didn't land because "conditions aren't right for landing"? I've had that happen quite often when returning to a location where there aren't a lot of distinguishing features - smooth pavement, shaded locations, weak light.
The drone just hovers waiting for me to "force" it down. Although I don't know why your friend's drone didn't land on its own when the batteries reached critically low.

 

[Telthecelt]

A friend of mine just lost his first drone (Mini 2). Had a disconnect when it was at the far end of the field, it rose to RTH height and returned home, then just hovered there until the battery drained and it dropped.

I've been trying to persuade him to create an account here and post the logs, because I'm really wondering why it didn't land, either from the RTH or a low battery.

So it dropped from the preset RTH height? I imagine he tried everything? Cancelling RTH or height setting, changing from cinematic or whatever? It's certainly worrying.

 

[Robert Prior]

So it dropped from the preset RTH height? I imagine he tried everything? Cancelling RTH or height setting, changing from cinematic or whatever? It's certainly worrying.

He could see it overhead and tried to land it but it didn't respond to the sticks.

He first said he was at 25% battery a couple of hundred feet away and 10' AGL when the controlle said "return to home initiated". It rose to 100' AGL and flew back to over the landing pad but didn't descend.

He's since found the log and writes that at 20% battery life the warning appeared on the screen and 5 seconds later a RTH was initiated. It flew back to over the landing pad and then there was a lost contact message, a jump of 20 seconds in the log, then contact was reestablished and the drone went into free fall.

As I said, I've urged him to post the log here for some expert analysis and advice.

 

[trevsdad]

Never. I'm a pilot...I fly. You should too.

 

[smbishop]

LOL! Auto Pilot? Doesn’t mean the Pilot is not engaged in the flight…

 

[Bohemian]

Just press the button and start gathering your things.

Yeah, No.

While RTH may sometimes help takeover the actual flying, I like to give the drone my undivided attention when flying. Even when on RTH.

 

[Meta4]

When I've got what I want it's sure the quickest and easiest return.

Check how fast your drone flies in normal flight and compare with the speed it returns in RTH sometime.
RTH is not the fastest way home.

 

[slozukimc]

Never. I'm a pilot...I fly. You should too.

Tell a commercial airline pilot that because they use auto pilot and see what they say……..

 

[mobilehomer]

Check how fast your drone flies in normal flight and compare with the speed it returns in RTH sometime.
RTH is not the fastest way home.

I have done just that. It depends on how much battery is left for the distance. With enough battery, it flies N speed, as battery depletes, it slows. The flight controller makes sure you have wnough to get home.

 

[Meta4]

I have done just that. It depends on how much battery is left for the distance. With enough battery, it flies N speed, as battery depletes, it slows. The flight controller makes sure you have wnough to get home.

Perhaps DJi have made more changes to RTh with the latest models.
RTH speed always used to be less than max speed for N mode.

 

[Robert Prior]

Just press the button and start gathering your things.

Not legal up here. As a pilot you are still required to watch your drone (VLOS) and be ready to take control.

 

[MS Coast]

Not legal up here. As a pilot you are still required to watch your drone (VLOS) and be ready to take control.

Same in the US.

 

[Martien]

Return to Home is a great feature! It's even nicer with the new Green Glide Slope on the Mini 4 Pro .

Since I started flying a number of years and several drones ago, I always thought of it as a last ditch savior. That I should improve my flying skills so I wouldn't need it.
A parachute -if you will - for when things go wrong like a dying battery, signal loss or when I can't find HOME.

But lately I'm wondering, "why not just use it to get back quicker and easier" instead of flying my way back home.

I'M CURIOUS... WHAT IS EVERYBODY ELSE DOING?

I also thought in the beginning that RTH was a recovery function for emergency cases. When I tried it the first time, to get familiair with my first Phantom (many years ago) I was surprised that it worked so well. Since than I always use it when the battery gets low or when I loose sight on the drone. In The Netherlands we always have to keep a drone in sight, which is not always easy as you know. When I don't see it anymore, I don't panic but after a while I think it is wise to bring it back in sight and press RTH. When I see it approach me I sometimes quit the RTH procedure and fly further. But often I do not interrupt the procedure and enjoy to see my toy land automatically at less than an inch from its original starting point.

My RTH-altitude is always 130 feet or more, to avoid tall trees.

 

[Droning on and on...]

^Have you not had a disconnect before? Because you're right, feels like a complete loss of control (and it is a partial loss of control).

I'd argue a disconnect is a total loss of control (and telemetry), as there is nothing you can do to affect the flight behavior of the aircraft. Heck you don't even know if its flying or not if out of VLOS.

This is what RTH feels like but not quite because you can interrupt the process and sometimes you can control the sticks. You should try it because it kinda reminds me of cruise control.

Very good analogy. Similarly, after 45 years of driving, I feel no need to practice my speed-control skills. The idea that I'm losing my edge in that skillset by using cruise control is comical.

For me, bringing my drone home from some distant locale of interest is no different.

Where I do practice doing it all myself on takeoff and landing regularly is manual flight with the Avata and FPV. This what really should be viewed as truly controlling the aircraft on takeoff and landing, and the skill level by comparison is in the stratosphere.

It's fiction that much skill is required to land in N and S modes. The skill required is positioning over the LZ and telling the drone to land. YOU don't land it. The drone lands itself, controlling the descent profile, using VPS to stay horizontally in place, slowing nearly to a stop inches from the ground, then gently touching down and stopping the motors. YOU are just standing there drooling with the throttle held full-down. Try that with an Avata in manual mode

I say none of this to offend, rather to inform. Once you land a drone in true manual mode, your idea of what skill is involved in landing a DJI bird in N/S modes dramatically changes. Once you've actually had to provide all the control inputs to descend smoothing and touch down gently, vertically, you'll understand there is almost no meaningful pilot skill at all in landing in N/S.

I have a few hundred hours now flying the Avata in manual, including landings. I still come down too hard more than I'd like, have some horizontal drift when I touch down, and other common mistakes. It's really hard!!!

 

[Droning on and on...]

A friend of mine just lost his first drone (Mini 2). Had a disconnect when it was at the far end of the field, it rose to RTH height and returned home, then just hovered there until the battery drained and it dropped.

I've been trying to persuade him to create an account here and post the logs, because I'm really wondering why it didn't land, either from the RTH or a low battery.

It should have reconnected and regained control.

That didn't happen?

And yeah, the critical battery landing feature should have resulted in a controlled descent and landing automatically when battery was near depletion, so that's a mystery too.

 

[Droning on and on...]

Never. I'm a pilot...I fly. You should too.

Okay.

Do you actually land your drone, or just hold the stick down and let the automation take care of all the important control of the landing process?