Failsafe fineprint

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I'm used to failsafe for the f550 and s1000, and I've watched Ty's vid on P3 failsafe, but I've got a few questions about the fine details which came to mind reading that thread about the chap who walked his P3 home and had it fly-away to a failsafe landing at the take-off home point:

Does the vision positionning sys kick-in during the last few meters of a failsafe landing or does the P3 just return to a recorded GPS altitude which is bound to have error in it? Does a single click on the return home button always return control to the pilot in any situation? What about the old trick of flicking the IOC switch? Does that still work? Maybe I'm old school, but unless I'm actually passed out, I'd rather take control for the last descent and land myself. I've heard that in accreditation courses, failsafe landings are regarded as the ultimate backup for when the pilot is ill or loses contact.

And finally, in the app, there is an option to set the home point at the RC. Is this function active? Presumably it takes the GPS XYZ coords from the tablet? If so, how does the P3 manage a failsafe landing if the ground changes height (I guess this relates to my 1st question about the VPS)?



~Thx
 
does the P3 just return to a recorded GPS altitude which is bound to have error in it?
Per the Phantom specs, the horizontal accuracy is within 4.9 feet. So, when choosing your home point, you should select a location where it's okay if the Phantom lands up to 4.9 feet away from the home point.

Does a single click on the return home button always return control to the pilot in any situation?
Yes -- unless your Phantom is RTHing due to a low battery. The DJI Pilot app will display a notice when the low battery warning is triggered. You have up to 10 seconds to cancel the RTH procedure. Search the Phantom manual for "RTH" -- there is a lot of good information about that feature.

What about the old trick of flicking the IOC switch?
The Phantom manual does not mention flipping to A-mode in order to cancel the RTH procedure. Pressing the RTH button to cancel would be easier though since it's in an easy-to-access location on the front of the remote controller.

I've heard that in accreditation courses, failsafe landings are regarded as the ultimate backup for when the pilot is ill or loses contact.
Correct.

Furthermore, I do not trust RTH for a few reasons:

1) The descent speed is too fast for my liking. In order to avoid VRS, I do not descend straight down at more than 3 MPH.
2) The landing position will be fairly closing to the home point, but it's not dead accurate.
3) Since the landing position is not dead accurate, the Phantom could land on unlevel ground.
4) The Phantom will land harder than if I'm easing it down and landing myself.

how does the P3 manage a failsafe landing if the ground changes height
The Phantom does not know where the ground is, so it will continue to descend until it hits the ground. The motors will shut down 3-5 seconds after it stops descending.
 
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In the app you can't reset the home point but I'd you are flying and are over an area you want as home point the S2 switch flipped from GPS to CL 5 times you should see the Phantoms lights flash yellow then back to green, reset the home point. Also if your phone or camera you are using has GPS you can set the dynamic home point and your camera or tablet location wil be home point within about a few meters.
 
the S2 switch flipped from GPS to CL 5 times you should see the Phantoms lights flash yellow then back to green, reset the home point
There is not an S2 switch on the Phantom 3 remote controller.
 
S2 switch???
 
There is not an S2 switch on the Phantom 3 remote controller.
Ops my error,brain was on the P2 controller,my apologies.
 

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