Almost had a fly-away with my P3P. Why??

[hrosee]

In its windy and the quad for whatever reason goes into ATTI it can easily get push away by the wind resulting in a perceived fly away.

 

[deltamike]

In its windy and the quad for whatever reason goes into ATTI it can easily get push away by the wind resulting in a perceived fly away.

Very true. I wonder just how many 'flyaways' have been caused by an auto switching to Atti mode.

We will never know I reckon.

 

[Not A Speck Of Cereal]

Very true. I wonder just how many 'flyaways' have been caused by an auto switching to Atti mode.

NONE. I believe that no 'flyaways' have been 'caused' by ATTI mode if the following 2 points hold true:

1. You are aware of your control of the craft, so you know when your controller automatically switches to ATTI mode
2. You know how to fly in ATTI mode (because you practiced it), so the wind should not 'push it away'.

If the wind is so strong that you cannot control the craft without a GPS lock, you probably shouldn't have been flying in the first place.

A true 'flyaway' is rare, and that's a craft that flies away due to total lack of control from the controller or autonomous flying. Letting the wind 'push it away' in ATTI mode is not a flyaway.

Chris

 

[Jojoned]

View attachment 85530 was flying in my usual spot at the end of my entrance on the road.
There are 4 heavy electrical wires above the entrance but I never fly over the wires. I always stay clear and fly the other way for the last year and a half. Never had a problem.
Tonight, after confirming GPS location I went straight up about 100 metres to take pics of the red sunset, when all of a sudden the bar went red and this message appeared on screen...
"!Warning
Warning Compass Error. Exit P-GPS Mode"
Then the bird started to fly North.
(All I could see were the red bar and the word Warning. I did not read Exit GPS mode)
I hit the "Return Home" button.
No response.
The red "Compass Error" was still on screen
Then the bird regained the green "Ready To Go (GPS)" signal and the "Return Home" kicked in.
And I was able to bring it home.
Lesson learned about switching over to Atti Mode if I lose GPS signal again.

Any thoughts as to why I lost the GPS Signal. There were 16 satellites on screen.

Possibly GPS interference? FAA publishes notifications of test areas that may cause loss of or interference in GPS signals.

 

[deltamike]

NONE. Letting the wind 'push it away' in ATTI mode is not a flyaway.

Chris

But might be construed as one if the pilot has not learnt how to fly in Atti. perhaps

 

[Jthomp]

To me any time the UAV is NOT doing what the pilot intends for it to do it should be called "uncontrolled flight into the nether regions of the atmospheric environment" (or UFITTNROTAE,for short).

spoken by a 20-year military retiree Me!

 

[Eddie258]

It was an ambulance helicopter flying low along the river route in cottage country.
It did not fly directly underneath me. But close enough. I was higher than the helicopter which was low-flying.
Once I realized what it was I was hearing, saw how low it was and saw where it was in relationship to me, I knew no one was in danger. I always see my bird.hate loosing sight of it, so I never fly far just high. So I just hovered where I was, and of course tried to take a pic of it below me, but no luck. Took me too long to figure my orientation and trying to quickly point the camera in its moving direction proved quite challenging.
But lesson learned...Listen for planes flying in our airspace!

I had a life flight heli come close one time myself. Freaked me out.

 

[andyimages]

IMO, if you can't fly in attic mode you should't be flying more that 25 feet out and in low wind until you are proficient. I think most fly always are when it switches to atti and inexperienced pilots don't know what to do.

I flew RC planes and copters for 40 years before this so what is called ATTI mode or no gps is no problem for me.

Everybody is too dependent on gps always working properly.

Probably so......my Phantom flies pretty poorly in MANUAL, (ATTI is a really poor label) any flying tips you care to share?

 

[Meta4]

Probably so......my Phantom flies pretty poorly in MANUAL, (ATTI is a really poor label) any flying tips you care to share?

Your Phantom flies quite well in atti mode - but you might not be great at piloting it that way.
Unless you are flying a P2 or P1 series Phantom, there is no manual mode.
If you were to try to fly in true manual mode, you'd probably crash in 10 seconds.
Atti mode is a long way from manual, it has all the flight aids except GPS position holding.
It still maintains altitude and you can take your hands off the joysticks safely.

 

[andyimages]

Your Phantom flies quite well in atti mode - but you might not be great at piloting it that way.
Unless you are flying a P2 or P1 series Phantom, there is no manual mode.
If you were to try to fly in true manual mode, you'd probably crash in 10 seconds.
Atti mode is a long way from manual, it has all the flight aids except GPS position holding.
It still maintains altitude and you can take your hands off the joysticks safely.

Thanks, I am a firm believer in practice........so I appreciate your feedback!

 

[kankankee]

It was an ambulance helicopter flying low along the river route in cottage country.
It did not fly directly underneath me. But close enough. I was higher than the helicopter which was low-flying.
Once I realized what it was I was hearing, saw how low it was and saw where it was in relationship to me, I knew no one was in danger. I always see my bird.hate loosing sight of it, so I never fly far just high. So I just hovered where I was, and of course tried to take a pic of it below me, but no luck. Took me too long to figure my orientation and trying to quickly point the camera in its moving direction proved quite challenging.
But lesson learned...Listen for planes flying in our airspace!

I've had a similar experience with manned aircraft flying below 400'. Just as I was getting ready to take off at a nearby lake, two very low flying planes came over the hill behind me at less than 50' above the tree tops. Fortunately they were over me and gone in a flash, but I did manage to react quick enough to get a pic of one of them.

 

[Jnnyr]

I've had one similar experience... and that was one time too many. I can only suggest that you now do as I do; switch to flying in ATTI toward the end of your flights and bring it home manually.
Start with short distances and with very light winds at first say, 200 meters from home. Then, slowly increase those distances with each flight as you gain experience and confidence. Months later, I'm now completely comfortable with flying in ATTI mode from all distances and in all conditions. Fighting a cross wind whilst trying to keep the line to the RTH point is quite a ride and a great experience....

THanks Numone. I had a fly away with a massive hardware failure and was flying blind (lost video). I will take your advice and start getting familiar and comfortable with atti mode. Question for you.....if you are far out, how do you maintain any sort of flight telemetry?

 

[Numone]

THanks Numone. I had a fly away with a massive hardware failure and was flying blind (lost video). I will take your advice and start getting familiar and comfortable with atti mode. Question for you.....if you are far out, how do you maintain any sort of flight telemetry?

When you say you had a fly away, do you mean you lost signal and didn't know where the RC was? Did RTH kick-in?
If you're using Apple products, I use the map to check where the RC is and the radar to know the direction you and the RC should be pointing toward the RC to maintain the signals.

 

[royster]

To begin heading home, Look to the little drone icon in the corner of your screen, make sure to aim that icon's pointy end is towards you, start heading her home, notice your distance reading should be going down too, as you drive back to your home point. I recall the first time I switched my P3A to ATT mode, bird immediately headed away from me at speed! Bit scary, till you realize its the wind blowing much harder up there!
As long as you've practiced flying in ATT mode, its a great feeling manouvering your bird back to home.

 

[Jnnyr]

When you say you had a fly away, do you mean you lost signal and didn't know where the RC was? Did RTH kick-in?
If you're using Apple products, I use the map to check where the RC is and the radar to know the direction you and the RC should be pointing toward the RC to maintain the signals.

It was a long and detailed issue that I dedicated a thread to over a year ago. The drone suffered massive hardware failure (Compass and GPS) and I fought with DJI for a month and finally they gave in and sent out another bird. My P3A went down in a deep forest but the log file from the phone monitored the health of the drone and was 100% conclusive it was the drone that failed. RTH never kicked in and the map was useless as the GPS failed so it showed a back and forth squiggly line so there was no telling where it went down.

 

[Jnnyr]

To begin heading home, Look to the little drone icon in the corner of your screen, make sure to aim that icon's pointy end is towards you, start heading her home, notice your distance reading should be going down too, as you drive back to your home point. I recall the first time I switched my P3A to ATT mode, bird immediately headed away from me at speed! Bit scary, till you realize its the wind blowing much harder up there!
As long as you've practiced flying in ATT mode, its a great feeling manouvering your bird back to home.

Having never practiced in ATTi mode, does the drone still have the ability to hover in place or is that only a virtue with GPS lock?

 

[msinger]

Having never practiced in ATTi mode, does the drone still have the ability to hover in place or is that only a virtue with GPS lock?

When in ATTI mode, it'll hold its vertical position, but drift horizontally with the wind. Try it out in a wide open area and you'll be able to safely see what it does.

 

[Jnnyr]

When in ATTI mode, it'll hold its vertical position, but drift horizontally with the wind. Try it out in a wide open area and you'll be able to safely see what it does.

Thanks. I will try my next time out.

 

[Numone]

To me any time the UAV is NOT doing what the pilot intends for it to do it should be called "uncontrolled flight into the nether regions of the atmospheric environment" (or UFITTNROTAE,for short).

spoken by a 20-year military retiree Me!

Or a Flyaway......