RTH speed vs Manual speed

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Hello!

Today did a new range record with my P3A on stock antennas - 4.2km. Had some heart racing and 26% landing battery.

When achieved 4.2km i pressed RTH and drone started coming back. On average the speed was around 10m/s. Which was enough to make it home. But i had the feeling that it would be home on a very low % battery due to wind. But i was still calm. Cause i knew it would make it.

But somewhere during coming back i pushed the right stick forward and the speed went drastically up. Around 13-14m/s. Which won me time and landing battery %26. But i noticed that during that voltage was yellow color.

So my question is, when on a low battery and coming home, but manually not rth, what are the cons and pros? And what is more recommended to use?

Thank you!

Sent from my SM-G900FD using PhantomPilots mobile app
 
I would always let the RTH go at it's natural speed, but if battery is low I tend to push the sticks to accelerate... Even tho this will drain the battery quicker. It's really balancing it

Sent from my Power using PhantomPilots mobile app
 
The world class distance guys haul *** out and in. They generally don't waste time with RTH except for using it to line up the heading home.
 
I would always let the RTH go at it's natural speed, but if battery is low I tend to push the sticks to accelerate... Even tho this will drain the battery quicker.
You will fly further at 13-14 m/sec than at 10 m/sec.
Traveling at RTH normal speed is wasting battery.
 
Yes, but what about voltage going low on a already low battery?
If you have run your battery down that much, you might learn an expensive lesson about proper planning and safety margins.
It's still better to come home at optimum speed for distance 13-14 m/s (still air) than to waste battery going slowly.
Even more so in a headwind.
 
You can also save on efficiency if you switch to ATTI mode.
 
The world class distance guys haul *** out and in. They generally don't waste time with RTH except for using it to line up the heading home.
Just to be clear, when I said "haul *** out and in" I meant in GPS mode. My hero DB tells me ATTI is bad news on a distance run because it drains the battery too quickly and also risks an early auto land or worse. In fact, he was on a run last week and was running short on time so put it in ATTI and it auto landed 2 miles from home in a field and he had to jump into his car to go get it. He says extended use of ATTI on a distance run also has a tendency to trash the battery.
 
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If you have run your battery down that much, you might learn an expensive lesson about proper planning and safety margins.
It's still better to come home at optimum speed for distance 13-14 m/s (still air) than to waste battery going slowly.
Even more so in a headwind.
But you never answered my question.
Which is safer, pushing right stick and travelling with 14m/s with yellow voltage

or trusting RTH 10ms with green voltage?
 
But you never answered my question.
Which is safer, pushing right stick and travelling with 14m/s with yellow voltage
or trusting RTH 10ms with green voltage?
There are too many variables for an absolute one-size-fits-all answer but as I said ... you will get best distance per battery at the higher speed.
Leaving RTH to drive slowly will not get your Phantom back when things are difficult.
But if you are getting down to a low battery situation before thinking about getting home it might be too late anyway.
 
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