ATTI Mode Crash

[CodyH]

*Disclamer: Yea it was a stupid time to fly so save those comments to yourself because I'm writing this as an informative piece for others to learn from my mistake.*

With that said!

I had been flying in this area at my condo in Bangkok for the last few days with no real issues, GPS signal seemed to be a little shadowed by the skyscrapers at times but for all practical purposes I was green and ready to fly.

I had the bright idea to fly it from my living room, out the window and back in through the window (which I had done before no problem). This time the ATTI Mode was on because it couldn't seem to get a GPS signal where it normally would be receiving around 10 satellites. Long story short it took off on its own out of control and smashed into the side of my condo and slid rotor side against the building for about 50 feet before getting caught in some low bushes by the pool. Scrapped the hell out of my rotors but other than that I am impressed with how it held up to the impact and there don't seem to be any issues with the machine a week after the incident.

Don't be like me and get overly confident, trust the sensors and when it's not getting a solid positioning fix just put it away.

Curious if anyone else on here has any similar issues with the drone wandering when using the ATTI mode?

 

[Lastrexking]

*

Curious if anyone else on here has any similar issues with the drone wandering when using the ATTI mode?

As there's no GPS to keep in in place it will drift. All drones will do that.

 

[Sparkbart]

Yup, its gonna drift in ATTI mode it no longer has a GPS lock to keep it in position...

Rather than just put it away, I'd suggest learning to fly a drone without GPS. Buy a cheap 100 buck drone and learn to fly without any "positioning" aides. I have no "piloting" issues if and when my drones go into ATTI mode or I put them in that mode (Phantom 4). Its also a good skill to have for instances when you are in an open area and some interference occurs forcing your drone into ATTI mode...

*Disclamer: Yea it was a stupid time to fly so save those comments to yourself because I'm writing this as an informative piece for others to learn from my mistake.*

With that said!

I had been flying in this area at my condo in Bangkok for the last few days with no real issues, GPS signal seemed to be a little shadowed by the skyscrapers at times but for all practical purposes I was green and ready to fly.

I had the bright idea to fly it from my living room, out the window and back in through the window (which I had done before no problem). This time the ATTI Mode was on because it couldn't seem to get a GPS signal where it normally would be receiving around 10 satellites. Long story short it took off on its own out of control and smashed into the side of my condo and slid rotor side against the building for about 50 feet before getting caught in some low bushes by the pool. Scrapped the hell out of my rotors but other than that I am impressed with how it held up to the impact and there don't seem to be any issues with the machine a week after the incident.

Don't be like me and get overly confident, trust the sensors and when it's not getting a solid positioning fix just put it away.

Curious if anyone else on here has any similar issues with the drone wandering when using the ATTI mode?

 

[Wombatclay]

*Disclamer: Yea it was a stupid time to fly so save those comments to yourself because I'm writing this as an informative piece for others to learn from my mistake.*

With that said!

I had been flying in this area at my condo in Bangkok for the last few days with no real issues, GPS signal seemed to be a little shadowed by the skyscrapers at times but for all practical purposes I was green and ready to fly.

I had the bright idea to fly it from my living room, out the window and back in through the window (which I had done before no problem). This time the ATTI Mode was on because it couldn't seem to get a GPS signal where it normally would be receiving around 10 satellites. Long story short it took off on its own out of control and smashed into the side of my condo and slid rotor side against the building for about 50 feet before getting caught in some low bushes by the pool. Scrapped the hell out of my rotors but other than that I am impressed with how it held up to the impact and there don't seem to be any issues with the machine a week after the incident.

Don't be like me and get overly confident, trust the sensors and when it's not getting a solid positioning fix just put it away.

Curious if anyone else on here has any similar issues with the drone wandering when using the ATTI mode?

Get yourself a $30 Hubsan X4 and learn to fly it.... Atti mode on the Spark to me still feels very automated compared to other aircraft I have (MCPX, Blade 450 3D, Hubsan X4, Hubsan H502s). Use prop guards if you want to do that sort of flying. I do what you described all the time... even in fpv mode with phone on my face. I fly around my 3rd story unit and fly out 1 set of sliding doors out over the balcony and back in thru another set of doors. What I find strange is when it becomes stable all by itself when it gets GPS.... I'd prefer a selectable Atti/GPS function but the Spark does a fantastic job.

 

[Wombatclay]

Oh and change the title to pilot error.... Atti didn't make you crash. Inexperience is what made it crash.....

 

[CodyH]

Oh and change the title to pilot error.... Atti didn't make you crash. Inexperience is what made it crash.....

Yea well like I said, quit being a keyboard warrior.

 

[thrownose]

Get yourself a $30 Hubsan X4 and learn to fly it.... Atti mode on the Spark to me still feels very automated compared to other aircraft I have (MCPX, Blade 450 3D, Hubsan X4, Hubsan H502s). Use prop guards if you want to do that sort of flying. I do what you described all the time... even in fpv mode with phone on my face. I fly around my 3rd story unit and fly out 1 set of sliding doors out over the balcony and back in thru another set of doors. What I find strange is when it becomes stable all by itself when it gets GPS.... I'd prefer a selectable Atti/GPS function but the Spark does a fantastic job.

Great idea mate, the hubsan x4 was my first drone and it is great for learning to fly without GPS.

 

[Lastrexking]

Great idea mate, the hubsan x4 was my first drone and it is great for learning to fly without GPS.

The tiny Hubsan Q4 was my first drone. Also great for learning control, and running through the house.

 

[Spark 317]

I recently won a little drone that has no GPS and fly on WiFi.

Great little practice drone with the same stick configurations as the Spark.

This drone has a "headless" mode that can be switched on to fly the drone if you lose orientation of it.

Why is this not an option for a $500 quadcopter vs. a $60 one?

Seems like it would come in handy from time to time?

 

[Chrislaf]

I recently won a little drone that has no GPS and fly on WiFi.

Great little practice drone with the same stick configurations as the Spark.

This drone has a "headless" mode that can be switched on to fly the drone if you lose orientation of it.

Why is this not an option for a $500 quadcopter vs. a $60 one?

Seems like it would come in handy from time to time?

My Phantom has Course Lock and Home Lock which are similar to headless mode. Don’t have a spark but I think it has them too.

 

[Blue Baron]

So, in the middle of a mountain range, my Spark - for the first time ever - went into ATTI mode! Moreover, there was strong wind and wind gusts.

I still managed to land the Spark, it was still within VLOS (200m away and 100m high). It doesn't fly that bad if it goes ATTI, so going ATTI alone doesn't explain the fly aways.

Btw, it turned out that this particular mountain range triggered unusual compass errors. I had to keep calibrate the compass to avoid ATTI mode there. Interesting.

 

[peejay]

(...)

Curious if anyone else on here has any similar issues with the drone wandering when using the ATTI mode?

my kinda similar adventure: Spark goes berserk after hitting a tree - but it's alive!

TL;DR: banged on some tree in sport mode, and then drone went ATTI mode + random hit'n'fly in the woods. luckily I've turned off the engines with CSC mentioned in the documentation (at last I believe I did it, 'cause it turned off and fell down). spark lives, no issues other than one torn prop and one lost.