a danger when landing in RTH

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This is something that most might find obvious, but it took me a while to realize what was going on. I started out doing flights only in wide open areas and using RTH with minor corrections using the right joystick. After gaining a little experience and confidence, I started using launch sites that are more restricted. On one of those landings, the drone started getting close to a tree. I pushed the left joystick forward to increase the altitude, but I got into trouble and nearly hit the tree. After the same problem arose a few more times, I finally realized what was happening. When in RTH, you can momentarily use the left joystick to slow the descent, but the drone will resume descending as soon as you release it. I have found that it's best to cancel RTH once it's overhead and bring it in manually. That way, you can stop the descent simply by releasing the joystick. Having the drone in an RTH descent in a tight landing area is a good way to get into trouble.
 
I have found that it's best to cancel RTH once it's overhead and bring it in manually. That way, you can stop the descent simply by releasing the joystick. Having the drone in an RTH descent in a tight landing area is a good way to get into trouble.
That is something you learn with experience. Many use that. However, as a side note, do not attempt that on a low battery RTH. Let it do it's thing. I have seen too many that simply, "dropped the ball" so to speak.
 
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Thanks for the posts. I found the same thing as the OP and had been wondering if others were disabling RTH when the craft gets close. That’s what I’ve been doing. And thanks for the tip about not doing that on low battery. Makes sense to me.
 
Yes YOUR right "with'....I have over 200 flights now and over 130,000 feet traveled and never have used my Return to Hope point command to allow the drone to come back to me on its own electronics system......Its a blast to actually FLY IT Back and land it when i Want To....Cheers !
 
RTH has many advantages but it is not advised to use to complete landing as well.

Many times out at distance and hard to see - RTH is a quick and easy way to orientate AC to be directly aimed at Home Point. (Now someone will chime in and say ... You should not be out VLOS .... yeh yeh yeh !!)
So you are way out there and you have a brain fade .. we all have them ... so tap RTH ... let it fly for a short bit ... cancel RTH and you know she's pointed home ... right stick forward....

I actually let RTH bring her most of the way home - especially now with winter and cold. Lets me put hands in pocket for a few minutes !! Once AC is close by - I cancel and land her manually.

Final point : Auto-landing can lead to tipping over on touch down. Now we don't want that do we. It also can only land within the average accuracy of the GPS and is why some people find it near clipping nearby obstacles.... landing point can be anything up to 2 - 3m from original ... usually not - but can be. Cancel and land manually - play it safe.

Nigel
 
Chime In : Your should always have your drone in " line of Sight " !.....its the law in the USA nation wide ! Correct me IF i'm wrong !
please debate these FAA rules :
Maintain visual line of sight.
This is the technical way of saying to always make sure that you can see your drone in plain sight at all times. You may not rely solely on your drone’s FPV camera or use vision-assisted aides such as binoculars or telescopes (correctional lenses, however, are okay). Also make sure to check your local weather conditions as fog and clouds can impede your vision of your drone as well.

Tell me why you want to openly violate FAA rules of the United States FAA ?
 
MotorCycle-Man ............ you aiming at Me ??

1. I don't live in USA
2. Very few people regardless of USA or not keep to VLOS rule
3. If VLOS is lost for whatever reason - the RTH can be a life-saver.

..............................

Nigel
 
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I actually let RTH bring her most of the way home - especially now with winter and cold. Lets me put hands in pocket for a few minutes !! Once AC is close by - I cancel and land her manually.

Final point : Auto-landing can lead to tipping over on touch down. Now we don't want that do we. It also can only land within the average accuracy of the GPS and is why some people find it near clipping nearby obstacles.... landing point can be anything up to 2 - 3m from original ... usually not - but can be. Cancel and land manually - play it safe.
This is the same approach that I prefer with one additional point: rotate the drone so that it's oriented in the direction that I'm looking so that I will immediately know how to react when making adjustments to the horizontal position. With this approach, I can safely land through an opening between trees even when it's a bit windy.
 
This is the same approach that I prefer with one additional point: rotate the drone so that it's oriented in the direction that I'm looking so that I will immediately know how to react when making adjustments to the horizontal position. With this approach, I can safely land through an opening between trees even when it's a bit windy.

That is understandable .... I fly all sorts and towards me - away is automatic in terms of sticks ... but for some reason on a Quad - I prefer same as you ... turn it so I have left is left .... right is right ...

Why I have no idea ... I can fly 3D ... aerobatics .... and no problem .... but with a Quad ... ??

Nigel
 
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That is understandable .... I fly all sorts and towards me - away is automatic in terms of sticks ... but for some reason on a Quad - I prefer same as you ... turn it so I have left is left .... right is right ...

Why I have no idea ... I can fly 3D ... aerobatics .... and no problem .... but with a Quad ... ??

Nigel
OK, I'll chime in. If I cancel RTH it's only because I want to fly around a bit more. I've let it do its thing a couple of times but only to be confident it would auto-land as it should. Otherwise I cancel RTH and land manually. I've never been able to cancel auto-land, only provide some direction here and there.

I'm surprised nobody mentioned home-lock as an alternative to RTH.
 
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OK, I'll chime in. If I cancel RTH it's only because I want to fly around a bit more. I've let it do its thing a couple of times but only to be confident it would auto-land as it should. Otherwise I cancel RTH and land manually. I've never been able to cancel auto-land, only provide some direction here and there.

I'm surprised nobody mentioned home-lock as an alternative to RTH.

Home lock ? Because in my view that's avoiding learning proper orientation .....

But I come from RC flying ... so I think that's a view generated from that. I prefer to learn to fly all manner.

Nigel
 
Home lock ? Because in my view that's avoiding learning proper orientation .....

But I come from RC flying ... so I think that's a view generated from that. I prefer to learn to fly all manner.

Nigel
Home lock ? Because in my view that's avoiding learning proper orientation .....

But I come from RC flying ... so I think that's a view generated from that. I prefer to learn to fly all manner.

Nigel
Reading the map would be the proper way to learn orientation. Not RTH or Home-Lock. But those features are nice to have at your disposal.
 
Dunno why my post was double quoted ?

Anyway - often the screen is unreadable due to sun or other. I know with low bright winter sun we have where I live .. allied to the snow adding reflected light - reading a map is difficult even with a shade.

Nigel
 

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