Increase in Spark Fly Aways.......why?

[Mark M]

I've been a Spark owner since May 2018. I have over 15 hours of logged flight time = 950k feet. I follow a detailed pre-flight checklist every time and have had solid performance from the Spark.

I also drop in on this forum occasionally and have noticed what looks like a spike in Fly Aways. Is there a consensus as to what is causing it?

Out of curiosity, I hopped over to the Mavic forums and began digging. In the 25min I spent combing through Mavic Pro / Help discussions, I could not find any mention of Mavic Fly Aways. Am I missing something?

Is this really a Spark specific phenomenon? I don't buy the 'user error' line. I'm thinking there is more to it, DJI may not be fully transparent on this matter.

 

[Tom Bennett]

1. I think, based on a lot of the questions, that people are more and more flying without studying the manuals.

2. There are flyaways, just more creative thread titles. Reference #1 above

3. Part a) no, Parts b&c) why not? And always an unprovable consideration.

Fly right! Have fun.

 

[msinger]

Is there a consensus as to what is causing it?

There are a lot of possible causes. I covered nearly all of them in this guide:

Prevent a Crash or Flyaway with Your DJI Drone (The Complete Guide)

 

[Multikoe]

I agree with Tom Bennet: There is an big increase in Drone buyers and there's bound to be an increase in reported problems as well. Also: one of the main reasons people are joining forums like this one is that they seek answers after encountering problems. I don't know for sure, but my guess is that many first posts of new users are about something that either went wrong or they need an answer for some problem.

 

[nilanjan118]

Out of curiosity, I hopped over to the Mavic forums and began digging. In the 25min I spent combing through Mavic Pro / Help discussions, I could not find any mention of Mavic Fly Aways.

This is not true at all. I searched just now and found quite a few threads regarding this topic on MavicPilots. And there are cases as recent as January 2019. Refer the links below.

Peculiar fly-away
Mavic Pro fly away.
another mavic air fly away

 

[pmshop]

Personally I have read hundreds of posts about fly-aways spiking right about the time you came on the Spark scene @Mark M
They all had the following issues in common:
YAW error
Compass error
IMU error
Speed error

No idea what caused all of them to go faulty but maybe a mainboard revision that went south?
There was never any documentation disclosed about that but something happened.

That spike seemed to subside once the summer '18 was over.

But rest assured, ALL drones are prone to fly-aways since there is a human attached

 

[Kendallfordguy]

I also think that the Spark is more of an entry level drone that translates to inexperienced entry level pilots. Many including myself are first time drone pilots.

 

[pmshop]

I also think that the Spark is more of an entry level drone that translates to inexperienced entry level pilots. Many including myself are first time drone pilots.

Very true

 

[Andre Levite]

When analyzing the threads on this forum you are only looking at the subset of pilots who are having problems. However, the overall numbers of pilots is growing and the vast majority are not having problems. This flaw in data collection is referred to as selection bias and invalidates this sort of statistical analysis.

The number of fly-aways in the bigger group of all Spark owners could in fact be decreasing or due to other factors such as pilot inexperience or seasonal flux (example: drones given as Christmas gifts).

 

[Pegasus]

I fly my spark mostly in two places quite apart from each other and the response, control and image-wise, is different. In one place, the flight is a sheer pleasure; in the other, it is a nerve wreacking experience: signal comes and goes, controls lag... My guess is that the electromagnetic energies differ from one place to the other.

 

[pmshop]

I fly my spark mostly in two places quite apart from each other and the response, control and image-wise, is different. In one place, the flight is a sheer pleasure; in the other, it is a nerve wreacking experience: signal comes and goes, controls lag... My guess is that the electromagnetic energies differ from one place to the other.

Yes indeed.
If you are FCC regulated, try this:
Discovery at the DJI Photo Academy...for FCC mode

 

[Pegasus]

Thanks for the advice; however, I don't know if my country is FCC regulated. I live in Colombia.

 

[pmshop]

Thanks for the advice; however, I don't know if my country is FCC regulated. I live in Colombia.

that should be non FCC - shorter range?

 

[Pegasus]

yes, 500 meters is the range I get.

 

[pmshop]

yes, 500 meters is the range I get.

Sadly what I learned does not apply to your location.
If you travel out of country, keep it in mind though.

 

[Excesstext]

I know I had some interesting moments with my Spark when the IMU and compass calibrations were not at their best.

The aircraft/app didn’t tell me the calibrations were bad, but flying in some locations was near impossible. I did the calibrations and flying was good again.

If I didn’t have experience with DIY quads/drones I probably would have persisted and had a fly away situation.

The Mavic’s have greater system redundancy so can somewhat logic their way out of a bad situation, while a Spark only has one set of instrumentation to trust and must follow it.

Add inexperienced but adventurous pilots pushing the limits of range and interference tolerance and it’s recipe for fly-always and control loss.

I love my Spark, but I also am realistic about just what my expectations are for the platform, others my not be ...

 

[AlanMS]

I had a Spark “fly away” recently, not a pleasant experience. In my case the connection between the drone and controller was lost (something that has happened many times and never been an issue as it usually re-establishes connection after a short while or initiates RTH) and never reconnected. In addition to the connection issue there was a simultaneous GPS failure which meant the drone went into ATTI Mode and literally blew away (by this time it was already out of sight). In my case even the best drone pilot in the world would not have been able to steer the drone back (unless there were Superman and could fly up and pluck it out of the sky). I would be interested to know how many others have had this happen?
I have sent the flight logs etc to DJI....I await their feedback.....

 

[Swedephoto]

Thanks for the advice; however, I don't know if my country is FCC regulated. I live in Colombia.

You can trick the controller into FCC mode, youll get about 4 times the range and MUCH more stable transmission.. search youtube for this.

 

[pmshop]

I had a Spark “fly away” recently, not a pleasant experience. In my case the connection between the drone and controller was lost (something that has happened many times and never been an issue as it usually re-establishes connection after a short while or initiates RTH) and never reconnected. In addition to the connection issue there was a simultaneous GPS failure which meant the drone went into ATTI Mode and literally blew away (by this time it was already out of sight). In my case even the best drone pilot in the world would not have been able to steer the drone back (unless there were Superman and could fly up and pluck it out of the sky). I would be interested to know how many others have had this happen?
I have sent the flight logs etc to DJI....I await their feedback.....

I have had ATTI mode kick in a few times and it is only by a blessing of having home made drones first & non GPS assisted drones that I was able to bring it home each time.
True, RTH cannot initiate if the GPS signal is bad or a home point was not set.
Hoping for a favorable outcome with your case and DJI

 

[Ophidia Snaketongue]

This time last year, we had the same thing- a flush of Spark flyaways. I think we get them when we get the first good weather in the northern hemisphere after Christmas.

I learnt to fly on a Spark, and by a cruel twist of fate, I now teach people the basics of flying drones. The very first thing I teach them is DON'T RELY ON RTH. I expect them to know which way the drone is facing and where it is at all times, even if they lose VLOS. I believe a lot of the flyaways are caused by people panicking and pressing RTH, and the Spark is less forgiving of these mistakes than the larger, more expensive drones.

I love my little Hoverbee (yep, Sparky is named Hoverbee), but it is more difficult to fly in a solid and bomb-proof way than the more expensive drones- you need a more thorough understanding of its capabilities and it is less forgiving than the larger DJI drones.

When training people to fly drones, I use a Phantom Pro 3. That thing is bomb proof. Its app is simpler, it has more redundancy, it's more stable in the air and it's easier to see at distance. Once they get the hang of the Phantom, then we move on to the Mavic Pro and the more advanced functions. They don't get to fly a Spark.

Even though I have access to a Phantom and a Mavic, if I have to choose which drone to take out with me, I take my Spark. I travel a lot and it's easy to take on a plane, it's very quick to unfold and capture quick moments and it's a great drone ambassador if I meet someone out in the wild. It's cute and non-threatening.

But a good starter drone? Actually, nope.