Spark will NOT fly straight in Sport Mode

JS1500 · Jan 26, 2019

My Spark will not fly straight in Sport Mode. Both the video feed and the actual video recording show that the drone itself is flying several degrees off of where the center of the screen is when I'm going full stick forward in Sport Mode. I'm not sure if this is a problem with the gimbal, a problem with the drone itself, or merely the drone's flight being impacted by slight wind gusts. I have brand new props and I have current stick and IMU calibrations. Can anyone shed light on this? This is the one thing that has bothered me most about my Spark.

Gavieboydgi · Jan 26, 2019

JS1500 said:
My Spark will not fly straight in Sport Mode. Both the video feed and the actual video recording show that the drone itself is flying several degrees off of where the center of the screen is when I'm going full stick forward in Sport Mode. I'm not sure if this is a problem with the gimbal, a problem with the drone itself, or merely the drone's flight being impacted by slight wind gusts. I have brand new props and I have current stick and IMU calibrations. Can anyone shed light on this? This is the one thing that has bothered me most about my Spark.

Mine has always done this, I think it's something to do with how small it is when it hits a bit of wind, I was flying mine the other day in sports mode and it was flying angled at first I thought I had my stick pushes forward angled but it wasn't it was the way the Spark was fighting against the wind.

And my Spark has a feature if I'm pushing up altitude and pushing forward in Sports mode my Spark flicks too the right and back straight again it use to bug the hell out of me, I calibrated everything and it kept on doing it so I just learned to live with it.

Gavieboydgi · Jan 26, 2019

JS1500 said:
My Spark will not fly straight in Sport Mode. Both the video feed and the actual video recording show that the drone itself is flying several degrees off of where the center of the screen is when I'm going full stick forward in Sport Mode. I'm not sure if this is a problem with the gimbal, a problem with the drone itself, or merely the drone's flight being impacted by slight wind gusts. I have brand new props and I have current stick and IMU calibrations. Can anyone shed light on this? This is the one thing that has bothered me most about my Spark.

Crabbing it's called the Spark is notorious for doing this in the Wind.

pmshop · Jan 27, 2019

Mine does it without wind
I see it a lot on RTH and Litchi Missions when I do a POI.
POI pin where I want to focus has always been a few degrees off from actual.
Focus here is the top of the hill with a waypoint 0:00 to 0:16:

JS1500 · Jan 27, 2019

pmshop said:
Mine does it without wind
I see it a lot on RTH and Litchi Missions when I do a POI.
POI pin where I want to focus has always been a few degrees off from actual.
Focus here is the top of the hill with a waypoint 0:00 to 0:16:

It's really noticeable in that video, and that's exactly how my footage is too. It's extremely frustrating that this drone can't fly with it's body oriented exactly straight where I'm telling it to go.

Barbara · Jan 27, 2019

~~In Sport mode, GPS positioning is off.~~ Edit: Only in ATTI mode is GPS off. (My mistake, sorry) Your aircraft is now fully independent of the ground and everything is relative to the air. If you were to hoover, sticks neutral, even the slightest breeze will cause your aircraft to drift, relative to the ground. Relative to the air, it is not moving. A more massive aircraft simply has more inertia and takes longer to match velocities with the air.

Crabbing is a basic principle any pilot learns for navigation. Watch some "cross-wind" landings on YouTube. It can be a hairy experience.

JS1500 · Jan 27, 2019

Barbara said:
In Sport mode, GPS positioning is off. Your aircraft is now fully independent of the ground and everything is relative to the air. If you were to hoover, sticks neutral, even the slightest breeze will cause your aircraft to drift, relative to the ground. Relative to the air, it is not moving. A more massive aircraft simply has more inertia and takes longer to match velocities with the air.

Crabbing is a basic principle any pilot learns for navigation. Watch some "cross-wind" landings on YouTube. It can be a hairy experience.

I understand this, but that still doesn't explain why my Spark is essentially not flying in trim. I understand that the aircraft will drift with wind when in Sport Mode, but even if drifting, it should be flying in the same direction that the center of the camera is pointing.

Andre Levite · Jan 27, 2019

Your props may be warped or bent such that it is imperceivable to the eye but very evident with off-site centered flight.

Swap out for new props. If you don't have any then try swapping sides of current props (keep track of white rings).

Barbara · Jan 27, 2019

JS1500 said:
I understand this, but that still doesn't explain why my Spark is essentially not flying in trim. I understand that the aircraft will drift with wind when in Sport Mode, but even if drifting, it should be flying in the same direction that the center of the camera is pointing.

Without actually seeing what you're describing, it is difficult to troubleshoot. However, I'll take another stab at it.

If you were to look at a video recorded with a cross wind and the aircraft has only forward pitch input, the aircraft will fly in the direction the camera is pointed. The air mass is moving sideways and the aircraft with it. The ground will appear to be moving sideways to the aircraft (as well as forward) and it will appear to the video that you are panning sideways.

This would apply to ATTI mode as well as Sport. Flying in GPS mode eliminates this (mostly) as all inputs and flight path are relative to the ground.

Again, sorry if I'm off base or sounding patronizing, not my intent.

Andre Levite · Jan 27, 2019

Barbara said:
Without actually seeing what you're describing, it is difficult to troubleshoot. However, I'll take another stab at it.

If you were to look at a video recorded with a cross wind and the aircraft has only forward pitch input, the aircraft will fly in the direction the camera is pointed. The air mass is moving sideways and the aircraft with it. The ground will appear to be moving sideways to the aircraft (as well as forward) and it will appear to the video that you are panning sideways.

This would apply to ATTI mode as well as Sport. Flying in GPS mode eliminates this (mostly) as all inputs and flight path are relative to the ground.

Again, sorry if I'm off base or sounding patronizing, not my intent.

He states there was zero perceptible wind but I think you are correct.

The pilot may sense no wind on the ground and see none in adjacent tree tops but the aircraft still may react to localized cross wind or other turbulent air.

I've also seen this phenomenon corrected by swapping out for new props [above]

Barbara · Jan 27, 2019

Oh, another possibility, have you performed the stick calibration on your RC?

Andre Levite · Jan 27, 2019

Barbara said:
Oh, another possibility, have you performed the stick calibration on your RC?

The original post said joystick (and IMU) calibrations already performed. Didn't mention compass tho...

Barbara · Jan 27, 2019

Andre Levite said:
He states there was zero perceptible wind but I think you are correct.

The pilot may sense no wind on the ground and see none in adjacent tree tops but the aircraft still may react to localized cross wind or other turbulent air.

I've also seen this phenomenon corrected by swapping out for new props [above]

Agreed, there is rarely absolutley zero wind velocity. As for the props, could potentially be the issue.

Barbara · Jan 27, 2019

Andre Levite said:
The original post said joystick (and IMU) calibrations already performed. Didn't mention compass tho...

View attachment 8521

Oops, missed that, shoulda gone back and reread the original post....my bad!

lmel2005 · Jan 27, 2019

Barbara said:
In Sport mode, GPS positioning is off. Your aircraft is now fully independent of the ground and everything is relative to the air. If you were to hoover, sticks neutral, even the slightest breeze will cause your aircraft to drift, relative to the ground. Relative to the air, it is not moving.

No, in sport mode GPS positioning is ON.

What you describe, is ATTI mode.

lmel2005 · Jan 27, 2019

JS1500 said:
My Spark will not fly straight in Sport Mode. Both the video feed and the actual video recording show that the drone itself is flying several degrees off of where the center of the screen is when I'm going full stick forward in Sport Mode. I'm not sure if this is a problem with the gimbal, a problem with the drone itself, or merely the drone's flight being impacted by slight wind gusts. I have brand new props and I have current stick and IMU calibrations. Can anyone shed light on this? This is the one thing that has bothered me most about my Spark.

I think you should make some tests.

First fly one direction. Check the video to see if spark drifts right or left.

Then fly to the opposite direction. Check if it drifts right or left. If it drifts to the opposite direction than the first flight, it drifts with the wind.

Post some video here to show the problem, and upload your flight logs, to be checked by someone experienced.

Barbara · Jan 27, 2019

lmel2005 said:
No, in sport mode GPS positioning is ON.

What you describe, is ATTI mode.

You are absolutely correct. Back to reading the manual before I open my mouth.

JS1500 · Jan 27, 2019

How would y'all recommend uploading a clip on here? I have several that are mp4 format, but for some reason it won't let me attach it.

Spark 317 · Jan 27, 2019

Create a YouTube or similar channel and upload your content there.

Copy and paste the link back to the Video / Photo section for us to see under a new thread you create.

Photos may be directly uploaded, but not video.

nilanjan118 · Jan 27, 2019

JS1500 said:
My Spark will not fly straight in Sport Mode.

I have this problem too and still haven't been able to solve it after IMU, compass calibrations or propeller change/swap.

lmel2005 said:
First fly one direction. Check the video to see if spark drifts right or left.
Then fly to the opposite direction. Check if it drifts right or left. If it drifts to the opposite direction than the first flight, it drifts with the wind.

This assumption is actually true. I don't have a video to show this. But I found from the attitude indicator in one of my flight logs that the SPARK is tilted towards one side when flying in one direction and towards the opposite side when flying in the opposite direction. And since this discovery, I have stopped raking my brains over this issue.