Phantom 3 Advanced RTH landing vs Standard

[Bull94]

Hi i'm new here, I purchased a Phantom 3 Standard and returned it because I decided the range and signal reliability wasn't good enough for me. I upgraded to a Phantom 3 Advanced and on the RTH landings it doesn't land anywhere as smooth as the Standard. I would've thought that with the added Glonnas and VPS it would atleast be just as smooth. On the RTH landing it just comes straight down where as the standard would come down and increase the throttle right before touching the ground to touch down softly.

Is this normal for a Phantom 3 Advanced? Any help is greatly apreciated.


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[CCDD]

Having owned only a P3P, I can't tell you of any differences in landing habits between the P3A and P3S however, I will tell you that whenever I use the RTH function, I cancel it out about 50ft from the ground and gently bring it down smoothly on my own. I have never let my Phantom auto land and hopefully likely never will unless of an emergency. You're likely to get a number of responses from those that like to hand catch however personally, I enjoy being able to hover and slowly bring it down exactly where and when I want to and have fortunately never had a "hard" or uneven landing.

 

[Sinisalo]

check your firmware, the phantom 3 standard was shipping with the newest firmware at the time. I bought one one November 14th and returned it same day, I did notice the GPS accuracy seemed to be better as far as landing back in the same spot I took off where with my P3P it is a meter or so off. I don't know about the smooth landings though as I always turn off RTH or auto landing once it gets about 10-12 feet off the ground and then bring it down to about 5 or 6 feet so it is at my eye level and then I grab a leg with my right hand straight out and use my left hand to push the throttle straight down to shut off the motors.

 

[Oso]

Unfortunately it is normal. The P3S has been noted to land much smoother during automated landings than does the P3A or the P3P. You can find several threads about it here. Every thread seems to end with many posts to "hand catch" or "land manually" with no real discussion as to why the P3S is smoother landing.

P3P is landing hard | DJI Phantom Forum

NEW P3 Pro Hard Auto Landings Compared to Standard P3. How to adjust? | DJI Phantom Forum

 

[Meta4]

I upgraded to a Phantom 3 Advanced and on the RTH landings it doesn't land anywhere as smooth as the Standard. I would've thought that with the added Glonnas and VPS it would at least be just as smooth.

Glonass would make zero difference.
The Phantom gets no altitude data from GPS because GPS altitude accuracy is very bad.
I'm, not sure why people want to use the autoland feature.
It's a nice gimmick or good if you run out of battery and the Phantom lands rather than crashes but in any other situation the pilot should be able to see and land better than a blind machine anyway.
Why trust it when you can do a better job yourself?

 

[Bull94]

Great so this is something that DJI has messed up and has yet to fix? I know it is a gimmick and great for emergencies but the point is the more expensive model should atleast land as soft as the cheaper model.


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[Grandpa Don]

Could this have anything to do with those proximity sensors on the underside of the P3P? I have both the Standard, and the Pro. I actually was impressed with the landing on the Pro, as compared to the Standard. The Standard came down and sort of felt for the ground before touching down. Whereas the Pro came down without hesitation and just touched down. I didn't think it was hard. Just an instant touch down. I don't use the Auto land Feature very much. I prefer to hand catch. I don't want sand or dirt getting into the Gimbal or camera area. If I remember correctly, I think those sensors can be turned on and off somewhere in the program. Just a thought!

Edit: I just noticed that this is an old thread...

 

[Bull94]

Could this have anything to do with those proximity sensors on the underside of the P3P? I have both the Standard, and the Pro. I actually was impressed with the landing on the Pro, as compared to the Standard. The Standard came down and sort of felt for the ground before touching down. Whereas the Pro came down without hesitation and just touched down. I didn't think it was hard. Just an instant touch down. I don't use the Auto land Feature very much. I prefer to hand catch. I don't want sand or dirt getting into the Gimbal or camera area. If I remember correctly, I think those sensors can be turned on and off somewhere in the program. Just a thought!

Edit: I just noticed that this is an old thread...

Yeah it is old lol. I have tried with sensors on and off.


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[sinxa]

we're on the same boat.... i had a P3s since juli 2016, and replace it with P3a yesterday.
i've just realize that P3s autolands smoother than P3a, then i searched the web for those symptomps and it led me here....
Same thought in my mind, i wish P3a would be better than P3s in any way, even i can land it manually or hand catch, that is another thing.....

 

[Kirby Johnson]

Glonass would make zero difference.
The Phantom gets no altitude data from GPS because GPS altitude accuracy is very bad.
I'm, not sure why people want to use the autoland feature.
It's a nice gimmick or good if you run out of battery and the Phantom lands rather than crashes but in any other situation the pilot should be able to see and land better than a blind machine anyway.
Why trust it when you can do a better job yourself?

 

[trigon]

Learn how to land manually RTH is defacto an emergency system it will hit the ground very quickly. Better to slowly land using manual or hand catch in a windy day.

 

[Goldsaum82]

Solution = Cancel the RTH when it's 20ft from the ground. Slowly descend, then hand catch it. Done. I've never once landed my P3 (4K or Advanced) on the ground.

 

[DeputyDrone]

Having owned only a P3P, I can't tell you of any differences in landing habits between the P3A and P3S however, I will tell you that whenever I use the RTH function, I cancel it out about 50ft from the ground and gently bring it down smoothly on my own. I have never let my Phantom auto land and hopefully likely never will unless of an emergency. You're likely to get a number of responses from those that like to hand catch however personally, I enjoy being able to hover and slowly bring it down exactly where and when I want to and have fortunately never had a "hard" or uneven landing.

Agree 100% here on this.

 

[Fred Guernsey]

Same here - the P3S was sooo smooth whereas the P3A on first auto landing hit the ground hard. I hand catch all the time now


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[ElGuapo]

I hand catch 99% of the time. When I lose to connection to the aircraft and RTH auto initiates I cancel auto landing when the aircraft starts to descend, probably at about 65 ft or so. At that point I initiate manual landing and hand catch.

I do not want to risk the P3P to tip over while auto landing, something that has happened quite a bit to a lot of people on windy days and when auto landing on grassy surfaces.

I think the only time I would the Phantom do a complete auto land would be if the battery is in critical voltage and lands far from me or emergency situation.

 

[sinxa]

i believe, the OP ask for "why P3s smoother land than P3p/a" not "what do you prefer autoland or manual?"...

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[ElGuapo]

No body really knows the reason the P3S' landing is much more smoother than the P3P. That's something that quite a few pilots in this forum consider a negative on the P3P if it is being compared side by side with the P3S. I guess the auto landing of the P3P is an small thing that makes a big difference. I love the P3P and all of the features packed in this nice aircraft.