It was a windy day today and i made multiple massive errors. I flew the drone 1600 feet up, then it drifted DOWNWIND 2500 feet. Around 55battery life i decided to hit the RTH button. Well the drone seemed to struggle and went 3 mph around 40 battery life and about 2,000 feet out and maybe 800 feet up i started to panic. The wind seemed like it was pushing the drone further away than it was coming back on. Below 30% i pushed the sport mode and tried to manually fly it back, but it kept reverting to RTH mode and going back to 3mph (I was at 12mph in sport). Around 20% battery I lost connection and began to pray.... a final screen popped on for a moment of it landing about a cornfield away, i tried to steer it for the few seconds before it lost signal again (I live on a hill and whenever it descends below 300 feet i seem to lose signal). Any advice IF a ******* like i am and in this situation (yes i know to avoid in future) how would you have gotten back? wind was 20-30mph pushing drone backwards.
how do you override return to home
- Thread starter skinwalker
- Start date
If you are getting pushed by wind you need to drop down to a lower altitude. I was getting my spark pushed by wind so I dropped down and then sport got me back before my battery died
Truthfully, I dont believe you could have gotten back given those circumstances. You did all you could, but height, headwind and distance all conspired against you. Plus winds aloft will always be more than the ground. Cancel rth by holding the button until notified of rth. Load your flight record here so we may be able to get an approximate location of your spark. Good luck.
how do i load my flight record? i am logged into the drone now. Thanks for your help! I never want to make that mistake again, learned ALOT today, but i mostly want to learn exactly which mistakes i made...and why the drone was not making headway on RTH... i think RTH can be a hinderance rather than blessing in the circumstances i was facing.
The drone was not making headway because of the wind. I dont fly in winds over 16mph. Besides flying in high winds, you were so high the winds were probably much higher the 20-30 knots, and you were trying to return into the wind. Always plan your flights out into the wind, so that your return is with the wind.
Follow the instructions in the following link to upload your flight record.
DJI Flight Log Viewer - Phantom Help
uh thats exactly what i did, reread the part where i lose signal below 300 feet due to
where are the log files stored ?
Before flying check "UAV Forecast" it gives good advice regarding wind, plus others to ensure you have a good flight!!!
Yes, wind profile at different levels is important to know when you are planning to go up high. UAV Forecast is both an app and a website, will give you the profile, also Windy.com and its app will tell you. 1600 feet up is not safe in any wind, you are getting into aircraft territory and could cause some serious issues for other flyers. Fly safer!
sorry about the lag in time, i have been very busy today. Here is the log file. PLEASE tell me how many mistakes i made so i can learn from them! Really really appreciate it! Also how you would have flown the drone home after the 55% battery mark...what options did i have?
DJI Flight Log Viewer - PhantomHelp.com
DJI Flight Log Viewer - PhantomHelp.com
First error I see is "Propulsion output has been limited to ensure battery health." which would might indicate you've tweaked things too far in Assistant.... (I think you did right?)... Next error is flying so high... its only a small aircraft, at that altitude the winds could be 10 times that of the ground air speed. As for after 55%, I would have concentrated solely on reducing altitude... Man, that was a wild ride, did you at least get some decent video?
Yes I have read your post. Talking about landing, in a place where you lose control under 300' (and you know that), I mean automatic landing tapping the land icon, in go4 app.
Based on your home point, the higher altitude winds today are just barely manageable, but this can change in a flash.... Windy as forecasted I guess the other day, it was much worse. I have seen in my area the winds at 300 feet get up over 100mph quite frequently. I never checked at 1500 feet!
sorry i just woke up and thought i erased that crappy message on my part, i did not realize i posted it, I apologize if rude. Thank you for advice.
I would have not flown up 1,600 feet and gone out downwind. Lesson for the future, but if I may be frank, before even flying for the first time (especially before flying for first time!), watch a ton of videos and read the forums about the mistakes people make. Flying out with the wind and not being able to get back is near the top of the list.
Considering the Spark has a 32 mph top speed, if you are flying against a wind of 25-30 mph, the best you can get is a net speed of 2-7 mph. So not much you can do, other than land it somewhere safe and schlep over to pick it up. And consider yourself lucky it it wasn't over water.
never said this was my first time, nor did i ask what you would do before the 55% point. I dont need a lecture, just advice in that specific scenario. I disagree agree I wonder if rather than trying to fly home at 1600ft i should have descended to 200 feet first (lower winds?), over rode RTH, and flew in sport mode via GPS directly enroute to home? Flight data is there....
That is the essence of my question, to kill RTH or not to if you know the circumstances your in. I realized them too late. I also did not realize windspeeds are much lower closer to the ground (duh..i know now...)
yes it was a WILD RIDE!! even the recovery was fun. I love this drone, just needed to learn a lesson yesterday about only flying out INTO the wind on any windy days. How would you have handled the RTH? Gone sport mode until 15%? then planned emergency landing? will it auto land above 10% if too high ? (was at 600 feet when it forced a landing) at around 15% battery.
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