RTH mistake

[stujol]

I do like Litchi and GS mode. Set the way points being sure to set the altitude for each and use user defined for heading. Then all you have to control is gimbal and yaw. Great for videos or stills. And Litchi has dynamic home point which is another feature I love. I plan on using a boat for some videos next summer so dynamic home is a must have feature.

 

[Dounin Front]

I may not be in the majority here but I stand by this.... I never recommend RTH unless there is _no_ other way to get the Phantom back home. Turning over the flight to an automated process is never a good idea in my book. Always better to manually fly it back home. Just too many things can go wrong. Case in point... RTH cannot see a tree in the flight path while you could.

Actually, most everything the P3 does is an automated process - especially in GPS mode. IMO, RTH is the best thing ever. It's like whistling to your dog and watch it come running. But you need to set 2 parameters first - minimum altitude and home point. (Home point it sets itself, but you can reset it in the air if you want.)
It may not always be possible, but if try to always takeoff from a vista point where you can scope out obstacles in advance, you will eliminate a lot of nightmares.
PS - love my RTH and use it almost every flight, but always cancel it before it auto-lands. That's the pilot's job.

 

[KMD1984]

Actually, most everything the P3 does is an automated process - especially in GPS mode. IMO, RTH is the best thing ever. It's like whistling to your dog and watch it come running. But you need to set 2 parameters first - minimum altitude and home point. (Home point it sets itself, but you can reset it in the air if you want.)
It may not always be possible, but if try to always takeoff from a vista point where you can scope out obstacles in advance, you will eliminate a lot of nightmares.
PS - love my RTH and use it almost every flight, but always cancel it before it auto-lands. That's the pilot's job.

I feel the same way. I fly around, pretty far out, and when it's time to come back I hit RTL. When my Solo comes close enough for me to really see it, I get out of RTL... Love it.

 

[GadgetGuy]

I have read the manual, watched 100's of videos and did adjust my return to home altitude before ever flying the drone. I am amazed that you are amazed at something you could not possibly know. And it is 20 meters away from home point not 20 feet. Which I knew but actually did not realize It was with in 65 feet of home point. If I would have been the one at the controller I would not have initiated RTH so it would not have happened. I was just telling a funny story about how easy it is to look foolish in front of your wife. Yes it was a stupid mistake. Will I make make more stupid mistakes in my life ? Undoubtedly.

Just for the record, in earlier versions of the P3P documentation, the within 20 meter Autoland after initiating RTH, was not documented! I had to learn of it here in the Forum, when BladeStrike told us about it. Knowing that has saved my bacon many a time, when it otherwise might have seemed like a good idea!

 

[kphantom]

DJI could do a lot just by making the app have a better UI. There are tons of hidden menus and options. Even after playing with it for months, I often can't find the option I just hit. Bad UI kills birds.

DJI should really change RTH to be rise to a pre-set height and return home. I know this mode is the normal RTH unless 20 meters away, where it just lands.

 

[Sneaky_ru]

I've done the same thing, sort of. Crashed into a tree while RTH. Now, if I have a visual on the drone, I ALWAYS bring it in manually. If I'm waay out there, I'll RTH until I can see the bird, then switch to manual. Just safer that way. Sometimes I do let it come back on its own if I'm in an open area.

 

[Wingman624]

I may not be in the majority here but I stand by this.... I never recommend RTH unless there is _no_ other way to get the Phantom back home. Turning over the flight to an automated process is never a good idea in my book. Always better to manually fly it back home. Just too many things can go wrong. Case in point... RTH cannot see a tree in the flight path while you could.

I share the same opinion...I would much rather be in control of my bird than an automated function.

 

[plasrobin]

I see return to home as Fail safe things like they are designed for. I always to a manual come back, the reaction time and fpv plus map view is amazing. Most accidents happen with automatic functions they will work 99% of the time, but i always prefere to be in control and use these other functions only when i realy have to.

 

[JamesBandes]

Ok being a proud 1 month old owner of a P3P I decided Sunday afternoon was a great time to show the wife how easy it is to fly. So we are out in yard and she is flying it around pretty good. We are rural so she went out about 1500 ft. and back no problems. I thought I should have her fly it around until the battery hit 30% and show her how the return to home works. Well She ends flying about 20 feet over a tree in yard so I start getting nervous because I have already discovered how treacherous trees are. About that time the thirty percent warning came on and I told her to hit the RTH button. Some of you have probably guessed what happened. Apparently said tree is within 20 meters of the home point so the drone immediately started descending and by the time I realize what is happening it is too late. A nasty 50 foot tumble. But the sturdy little bird lives to fly another day. The prop guards and props were trashed but everything else is fine.

replacing prop guards and props ahh not so bad

accepting yet another blow to pride ahh not so bad

The really bad thing "Honey it was not your fault, It was really my fault"

When you press RTH I thought it climbs to the RTH altitude before coming home ?

 

[JamesBandes]

DJI should really change RTH to be rise to a pre-set height and return home. I know this mode is the normal RTH unless 20 meters away, where it just lands.

Wow I did not know that so if it's within 20 meters and you press RTH it just lands ?

 

[Solar Deity]

When you press RTH I thought it climbs to the RTH altitude before coming home ?

It will climb to the RTH altitude if it is LOWER than the set altitude. It will just RTH if you are already above the set limit.

I'm on the other end of the spectrum. I always use the RTH function as I like to pan the P3 as it's returning. You can control its RTH speed, altitude and orientation as it's returning. A lot of the accidents would never happen if the RTH altitude was at 300-400 feet. It would take a very special circumstance to hit something fixed that high up. I personally use 61 meters (~200 ft) as all my local obstructions are a lot lower than this. Once I see the P3 is clear, I will lower my altitude below the set limit so I don't wait as long for it to descend once over the home point. I always cancel the auto land and land manually, although i have tried it and it works. I'm not a fan of hand catching. It's easy enough to land on its gear.

SD

 

[stujol]

It will climb to the RTH altitude if it is LOWER than the set altitude. It will just RTH if you are already above the set limit.

I'm on the other end of the spectrum. I always use the RTH function as I like to pan the P3 as it's returning. You can control its RTH speed, altitude and orientation as it's returning. A lot of the accidents would never happen if the RTH altitude was at 300-400 feet. It would take a very special circumstance to hit something fixed that high up. I personally use 61 meters (~200 ft) as all my local obstructions are a lot lower than this. Once I see the P3 is clear, I will lower my altitude below the set limit so I don't wait as long for it to descend once over the home point. I always cancel the auto land and land manually, although i have tried it and it works. I'm not a fan of hand catching. It's easy enough to land on its gear.

SD

That is not quite correct. If it is within 20 meters of home point it just lands. If it is out past the 20 meter point it will climb to RTH attitude first then return home. So ideally make sue there is nothing with 20 meters of home point. That is impossible in my yard but until I feel proficient that is where I am going to fly. I would rather have to repair the drone than worry about damaging property or worse yet injuring some one.

Aircraft automatically descends and lands if RTH is triggered when the aircraft flies within a 20
meters (65 feet) radius of the Home Point.

 

[mcphipps]

Been there and had the feeling. Now I leave lots of margin in battery usage. You do not want to run it down to far. I swear the last half goes faster.
And usually RTH is really your friend!

It's like the gas gauge in your car......after you pass halfway it seems to go twice as fast..lo

 

[JamesBandes]

It will climb to the RTH altitude if it is LOWER than the set altitude. It will just RTH if you are already above the set limit.

I'm on the other end of the spectrum. I always use the RTH function as I like to pan the P3 as it's returning. You can control its RTH speed, altitude and orientation as it's returning. A lot of the accidents would never happen if the RTH altitude was at 300-400 feet. It would take a very special circumstance to hit something fixed that high up. I personally use 61 meters (~200 ft) as all my local obstructions are a lot lower than this. Once I see the P3 is clear, I will lower my altitude below the set limit so I don't wait as long for it to descend once over the home point. I always cancel the auto land and land manually, although i have tried it and it works. I'm not a fan of hand catching. It's easy enough to land on its gear.

SD

That is not quite correct. If it is within 20 meters of home point it just lands. If it is out past the 20 meter point it will climb to RTH attitude first then return home. So ideally make sue there is nothing with 20 meters of home point. That is impossible in my yard but until I feel proficient that is where I am going to fly. I would rather have to repair the drone than worry about damaging property or worse yet injuring some one.

Aircraft automatically descends and lands if RTH is triggered when the aircraft flies within a 20
meters (65 feet) radius of the Home Point.

one solution would be to make sure you trigger RTH more than 20 Meters away and then you can fly it in manually the rest of the way.

 

[BVC]

I may not be in the majority here but I stand by this.... I never recommend RTH unless there is _no_ other way to get the Phantom back home. Turning over the flight to an automated process is never a good idea in my book. Always better to manually fly it back home. Just too many things can go wrong. Case in point... RTH cannot see a tree in the flight path while you could.

I agree with you.

Only time I use RTH is when I have visual clear sight of the drone and the objects between it and I. I usually use this function quite often to automate its flight back to me but regain controls about 50' from ground and land the bird under my control. I do this to rest my thumbs between here and there

I set my RTH at 250' elevation simply to avoid trees & other objects..

 

[Solar Deity]

That is not quite correct. If it is within 20 meters of home point it just lands. If it is out past the 20 meter point it will climb to RTH attitude first then return home. So ideally make sue there is nothing with 20 meters of home point. That is impossible in my yard but until I feel proficient that is where I am going to fly. I would rather have to repair the drone than worry about damaging property or worse yet injuring some one.

Aircraft automatically descends and lands if RTH is triggered when the aircraft flies within a 20
meters (65 feet) radius of the Home Point.

Sorry, my bad. I neglected to say outside of 20 meters from the home point.