I don't understand my drone flyaway?

jordancl11 · Dec 22, 2016

Hey, there every one, last Saturday I was flying my drone in Atti mode. it was a little gusty and

I was flying far aways. Anyway, my phone cut due to the cold weather while my phantom was still in the air and on its way home because of low battery "RTH". But it never arrived! il have looked at the log and the last data I have of it just before the phone cut the drone wasn't going in the good direction even though it said it was going home.

So my question was; What happens to the drone in a case like this?

Meta4 · Dec 22, 2016

jordancl11 said:
Hey, there every one, last Saturday I was flying my drone in Atti mode. it was a little gusty and I was flying far aways. Anyway, my phone cut due to the cold weather while my phantom was still in the air and on its way home because of low battery "RTH". But it never arrived! il have looked at the log and the last data I have of it just before the phone cut the drone wasn't going in the good direction even though it said it was going home.

So my question was; What happens to the drone in a case like this?

Sounds like you let it blow away but without data, we can't be sure.

If you want to know for sure what happened, go to https://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/Upload/
Follow the instructions to upload your flight record.
Come back and post a link to the report it provides and someone here will probably be able to analyse it and give you an understanding of the cause of the incident.

jordancl11 · Dec 22, 2016

Actually it was is P-GPS mode I was thinking of a different flight. here is the link to the flight. Phantom Log Viewer - PhantomHelp.com

Thanks

Meta4 · Dec 22, 2016

jordancl11 said:
Actually it was is P-GPS mode I was thinking of a different flight. here is the link to the flight. Phantom Log Viewer - PhantomHelp.com

You've already given us a strong clue saying it was gusty.
The cardinal rule of flying in strong winds is : Don't fly away downwind because that means a hard slog to come back against a headwind.
Two other things to remember for flights in these conditions.

1. The wind is much stronger 1000 feet up. If it's strong on the ground, it's very strong aloft.
2. RTH is a slow driver, cruising along at only 22mph (in still air) You can drive at 35 mph if you take control.

You activated RTH at 10:45 2220 feet out and 1245 feet up and the Phantom went backwards at 12mph while attempting to RTH.
RTH was cancelled after 13 secs and the Phantom flown further away at speed until RTH was again initiated at 11:28.
Still going backwards but descending. As the Phantom gets lower, the backward speed slows.
At 14:00 + alt 700 ft the Phantom finally starts to make headway slowly heading home but it's 3385 feet out and battery is low at 32%.
Descent continues to the last record at 340 feet and the Phantom is now at 340 ft and making 7mph in the right direction.
But it is still 3184 feet from home and battery is 28%.
It would take another 5 minutes to get home at 7mph and it won't make it.
It probably went into critical low battery perhaps 4 minutes later and would have landed.

Ken Nash · Dec 22, 2016

Meta4 said:
You've already given us a strong clue saying it was gusty.
The cardinal rule of flying in strong winds is : Don't fly away downwind because that means a hard slog to come back against a headwind.
Two other things to remember for flights in these conditions.

1. The wind is much stronger 1000 feet up. If it's strong on the ground, it's very strong aloft.
2. RTH is a slow driver, cruising along at only 22mph (in still air) You can drive at 35 mph if you take control.
You activated RTH at 10:45 2220 feet out and 1245 feet up and the Phantom went backwards at 12mph while attempting to RTH.
RTH was cancelled after 13 secs and the Phantom flown further away at speed until RTH was again initiated at 11:28.
Still going backwards but descending. As the Phantom gets lower, the backward speed slows.
At 14:00 + alt 700 ft the Phantom finally starts to make headway slowly heading home but it's 3385 feet out and battery is low at 32%.
Descent continues to the last record at 340 feet and the Phantom is now at 340 ft and making 7mph in the right direction.
But it is still 3184 feet from home and battery is 28%.
It would take another 5 minutes to get home at 7mph and it won't make it.
It probably went into critical low battery perhaps 4 minutes later and would have landed.

Thanks for passing on your knowledge.

kingfisher555 · Dec 22, 2016

jordancl11 said:
Actually it was is P-GPS mode I was thinking of a different flight. here is the link to the flight. Phantom Log Viewer - PhantomHelp.com

Thanks

Could of been worse you could of been in the flight path of a small plane at 1000 ft.

GrammatonxXXxCleric · Dec 22, 2016

Or towards the huge lake.......

jordancl11 · Dec 22, 2016

Meta4 said:
You've already given us a strong clue saying it was gusty.
The cardinal rule of flying in strong winds is : Don't fly away downwind because that means a hard slog to come back against a headwind.
Two other things to remember for flights in these conditions.

1. The wind is much stronger 1000 feet up. If it's strong on the ground, it's very strong aloft.
2. RTH is a slow driver, cruising along at only 22mph (in still air) You can drive at 35 mph if you take control.
You activated RTH at 10:45 2220 feet out and 1245 feet up and the Phantom went backwards at 12mph while attempting to RTH.
RTH was cancelled after 13 secs and the Phantom flown further away at speed until RTH was again initiated at 11:28.
Still going backwards but descending. As the Phantom gets lower, the backward speed slows.
At 14:00 + alt 700 ft the Phantom finally starts to make headway slowly heading home but it's 3385 feet out and battery is low at 32%.
Descent continues to the last record at 340 feet and the Phantom is now at 340 ft and making 7mph in the right direction.
But it is still 3184 feet from home and battery is 28%.
It would take another 5 minutes to get home at 7mph and it won't make it.
It probably went into critical low battery perhaps 4 minutes later and would have landed.

Thanks for the advice and time you're taking. So basically your saying that after the phone cut it would still be on its way home but slowly ? or gone with the wind ?

Sent from my SM-G925F using PhantomPilots mobile app

Meta4 · Dec 22, 2016

jordancl11 said:
Thanks for the advice and time you're taking. So basically your saying that after the phone cut it would still be on its way home but slowly ? or gone with the wind ?

It was 3000 feet from home traveling at 7mph toward home but would have run out of battery and autolanded before it got there.

GrammatonxXXxCleric · Dec 22, 2016

Those negative altitudes are curious.

Numone · Dec 22, 2016

On a flight a few weeks ago, this tailwind / height problem became all to obvious. IIRC, was out 4000 feet and up around 600 feet. Although the ground wind speed was 7 mph, noticed as I was flying out, the AC was travelling at 45 mph at 1/2 throttle so I knew I had a significant tailwind so it was going to be a struggle getting back. Boy was it; it was stationary when I started to RTH. So I kept the throttle at film and descended. As its altitude dropped, the forward speed increased to around 15mph at 250' and then 20mph at 200'. I got back with 20% battery but the way it was initially dropping was alarming to say the least. Lesson learned. It'd be great if the GOapp had a anemometer on it.

Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots

jordancl11 · Dec 22, 2016

OK thanks.

the negative altitude are because I started the drone un and calibrated it in the yard which is considerably higher than the seroundings.

Sent from my SM-G925F using PhantomPilots mobile app

jordancl11 · Dec 22, 2016

Meta4 said:
It was 3000 feet from home traveling at 7mph toward home but would have run out of battery and autolanded before it got there.

Ok but what is curious is that at the end of theflight log on the return to home has notdirectly in home direction ?

thanks again

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GrammatonxXXxCleric · Dec 22, 2016

At that high altitude the winds are even higher... it was tryin'

FantomFlier · Dec 22, 2016

Numone said:
It'd be great if the GOapp had a anemometer on it.

Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots

How would that have helped you? Unless you intended flying at 6' AGL.

Next time, take your quad to your intended cruising altitude, switch to ATTI mode and let go of the sticks. You will quickly see the direction and speed of the wind, and you can then can adjust your flight plan accordingly.

GrammatonxXXxCleric · Dec 22, 2016

Here is a visual of it's flight:

https://www.flightreplay.com/mytracks/track/rtm-high-wind?thanks=track&thanks=track

(for some reason it won't show path or distance)

jordancl11 · Dec 22, 2016

ok thanks this'll help me figure out where it is. I have been I and down the field countless times yet. but what sucks the most is that there is snow out there[emoji24]

anyway thanks for all your knowledge and info, I will keep you up to date if I ever find it.

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GrammatonxXXxCleric · Dec 22, 2016

Was the Phantom..... white?.......

jordancl11 · Dec 22, 2016

GrammatonxXXxCleric said:
Here is a visual of it's flight:

https://www.flightreplay.com/mytracks/track/rtm-high-wind?thanks=track&thanks=track

(for some reason it won't show path or distance)

Ok I'll try and register to see it.

Sent from my SM-G925F using PhantomPilots mobile app