Sport mode losing altitude, crash.

[btucker]

I have had my Phantom 4 a few months and flown it quite a bit. I have flown over fields and forests mostly. I began flying in sport mode recently and was amazed at the speed and agility. But, I noticed that when flying at higher speeds the drone loses altitude. I didn't pay it too much attention. But last week I flew out over a forest in sport mode. I had it at an altitude of 160 feet which was well over the height of the trees. When I started returning it back, I had it running wide open. Then I lost signal and it did not return home. Tracing the flight I found it in a tree and was able to retrieve my badly damaged drone. It was stuck about 60 feet up in the tree.

My question is this normal for the drone to lose altitude when flying fast forward in sport mode? I have watched the flight over and over and I did not touch the left control or do anything to lower the altitude.

Any thoughts will be appreciated.


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[Mako79]

that's normal. Sports mode turns off all the sensors on the P4 non pro. When the quad is pitched fwd or back, it will lose gradual altitude over a certain distance.

Sports mode is basically how the Phantom 3's all fly.

 

[kingkong90210]

I haven.t noticed this. I happily fly sport mode 10m above ocean for several km without it losing altitude. More likely the ground had a slope to it

 

[Erised]

Is your RC calibrated?
I have many flights over 40,000 feet total distance (s mode) and my altitude remains stable.
Your flight logs will show how your bird flew. msinger, by looking at your data can determine the probable causes of your unfortunate incident.
I hope you can get back in the air soon.

 

[Geoelectro]

With my P2V I went out after reading forums to try a speed test. First in normal mode, then in ATTI mode. I understood that ATTI mode was faster. Well, I was flying over a lake and looked up to see the bird just as it went into the water! I learned the hard way that in ATTI mode for the P2V it loses altitude. Maybe that's why it goes faster in ATTI mode cause it's also going down! I suspect sport mode on the P4 is the same.(?)
The main thing I learned is the phantom is a flying camera, not a racer. I shouldn't have been trying speed tests. Just flying it to photograph as it was designed.

Geo

 

[zgembit]

I have had my Phantom 4 a few months and flown it quite a bit. I have flown over fields and forests mostly. I began flying in sport mode recently and was amazed at the speed and agility. But, I noticed that when flying at higher speeds the drone loses altitude. I didn't pay it too much attention. But last week I flew out over a forest in sport mode. I had it at an altitude of 160 feet which was well over the height of the trees. When I started returning it back, I had it running wide open. Then I lost signal and it did not return home. Tracing the flight I found it in a tree and was able to retrieve my badly damaged drone. It was stuck about 60 feet up in the tree.

My question is this normal for the drone to lose altitude when flying fast forward in sport mode? I have watched the flight over and over and I did not touch the left control or do anything to lower the altitude.

Any thoughts will be appreciated.


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots

Were you on latest firmware update? I remember one of the earlier updates resolved issues with altitude drop. I remember having that problem when flying in faster modes but drone will drop only 1-2 meters approx., after I updated firmware it flew better.

 

[Kirby Johnson]

that's normal. Sports mode turns off all the sensors on the P4 non pro. When the quad is pitched fwd or back, it will lose gradual altitude over a certain distance.

Sports mode is basically how the Phantom 3's all fly.

I'm afraid that is a little inaccurate about the 3s concerning altitude.. I have not heard of them losing altitude. I have made a 12000 feet trip with mine and it came back at the same height.

Does the 4 turn off the baro altimeter in sport mode? I don't know.

IE: The birds use a barometric altimeter, not those little ultrasonic sensors for maintaining altitude, which is independent of the birds pitch or yaw. The others are good for about as far as your TV remote will work.

 

[btucker]

I was on the latest firmware but had not recently calibrate remote. Without question, I have observed altitude loss when flying fast in sport mode. This did not happen in P mode. Looking at the flight record, the drone was at 126 feet when it crashed. I am thinking the loss of altitude and hilly terrain was the main contributor.


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[Mako79]

I'm afraid that is a little inaccurate about the 3s concerning altitude.. I have not heard of them losing altitude. I have made a 12000 feet trip with mine and it came back at the same height.

Does the 4 turn off the baro altimeter in sport mode? I don't know.

IE: The birds use a barometric altimeter, not those little ultrasonic sensors for maintaining altitude, which is independent of the birds pitch or yaw. The others are good for about as far as your TV remote will work.

Try it low altitudes, at a beach or flatlands and you will see it drop altitude gradually when you are gunning it for long distant.

Speaking from memory - correct me if I am wrong, but vps is disabled at certain speeds, textures, and lighting conditions.
The VPS (both vision and sonar) is disabled at speeds greater than 28kph on the P3 and at 36kph on the Mavic.
The P4 does the same (I don't know the speeds).
The P4Pro might be a different beast though as it scans the terrain and may have a more advanced VPS system..

So therefore the mavic's (sports mode) and P3's top speed (no head wind) will disable vps when within the VPS max altitudes.

 

[btucker]

The crash destroyed one side of the landing gear where there now wires hanging out. And it busted two propellers. Both places where the props were busted, it damaged the pieces that hold the props on and cracked the body where those pieces screw to the body. Any suggestions on the best way to go about getting it repaired?


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[btucker]

Correction. It busted the body where the landing gear connects not the blades. Trying to figure out how to post picture.

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[hoop826]

How about your height when signal loss occurs maybe not high enough?


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[Quamera]

that's normal. Sports mode turns off all the sensors on the P4 non pro. When the quad is pitched fwd or back, it will lose gradual altitude over a certain distance.

Sports mode is basically how the Phantom 3's all fly.

Sports mode does not turn off all the sensors on a P4, read your manual. It turns off Obstacle Sensing but VPS, GPS and Barometric altitude are still fully functional. My P4 won't unintentionally loose altitude over 500 m in P, S or A mode flying flat out 15m or 100m off the ground.

I'm afraid that is a little inaccurate about the 3s concerning altitude.. I have not heard of them losing altitude. I have made a 12000 feet trip with mine and it came back at the same height.

Does the 4 turn off the baro altimeter in sport mode? I don't know.

IE: The birds use a barometric altimeter, not those little ultrasonic sensors for maintaining altitude, which is independent of the birds pitch or yaw. The others are good for about as far as your TV remote will work.

No P4 ever turns its barometer off in any mode and I suspect the same applies to every other Phantom. VPS will override the barometer when it has the right conditions but if the Phantom can't obtain a good VPS reading then it will default back to the barometer which will not be as stable in close quarters as a properly functioning VPS.
.

 

[Kirby Johnson]

Sports mode does not turn off all the sensors on a P4, read your manual. It turns off Obstacle Sensing but VPS, GPS and Barometric altitude are still fully functional. My P4 won't unintentionally loose altitude over 500 m in P, S or A mode flying flat out 15m or 100m off the ground.

No P4 ever turns its barometer off in any mode and I suspect the same applies to every other Phantom. VPS will override the barometer when it has the right conditions but if the Phantom can't obtain a good VPS reading then it will default back to the barometer which will not be as stable in close quarters as a properly functioning VPS.
.

Thanks Quamere
Yeah, that is pretty much what I knew, but as I don't have a P4 I didn't want to step on anybody's toes here. This seems to be a really sensitive crowd sometimes who posts things even when they are not correct.

 

[Neon Euc]

I think personally sports mode/ATTI mode is like when the drone drifts with the wind and this is what happened. The wind was blowing at an angle pushing the drone down. Other days it could push the drone up. Experienced it myself last year.

Neon Euc

 

[Kirby Johnson]

I think personally sports mode/ATTI mode is like when the drone drifts with the wind and this is what happened. The wind was blowing at an angle pushing the drone down. Other days it could push the drone up. Experienced it myself last year.

Neon Euc

Hey Neon: Is sport mode actually like ATTI mode on a P3? I don't know, and am just curious. I have never really played with ATTI because here on the coast of Floriduh it is so windy ATTI is useless except for testing upper wind speed.

 

[Mako79]

Hey Neon: Is sport mode actually like ATTI mode on a P3? I don't know, and am just curious. I have never really played with ATTI because here on the coast of Floriduh it is so windy ATTI is useless except for testing upper wind speed.

Sports uses gps and imu and it may disable vps on some systems.
Atti uses imu and vps if requirements are met (height, lighting, surface conditions).

The P3 at altitude above 3m is basically flying in sports mode.

 

[btucker]

Well I shipped my badly damaged P4 to DJI for repair quote today. I've read horror stories about their service but we will see. Hopefully the price will be reasonable and I can get it back in a few weeks. Lessons learned about altitude and sport mode.

 

[Neon Euc]

Hey Neon: Is sport mode actually like ATTI mode on a P3? I don't know, and am just curious. I have never really played with ATTI because here on the coast of Floriduh it is so windy ATTI is useless except for testing upper wind speed.

It is indeed. You have to make sure tho that the wind isn't to strong as it will send the drone drifting in that direction

 

[Kirby Johnson]

It is indeed. You have to make sure tho that the wind isn't to strong as it will send the drone drifting in that direction

Yeah that is what I do if it is windy. I send the bird up a couple hundred feet and switch to ATTI and let it drift a bit to guage the wind speed and direction. Then I switch back to a GPS mode and bring it back.