Prevent Flyaways ?

[Phantom-man]

I'm really causes on when it comes to flying my phantom, but when i dont see i cant bare to worry. The worst thing i scared of is a flyaway, is there any way to prevent it?Is a fly away really that bad? When flying and you lose visual sight of you phantom do you trust you phatom? And does anyone trust the return to home function? i'm scared to use it thinking it won't land properly.

 

[CoolClownFish]

Flyaways are awesome. You get a lot of exercise searching for it.

 

[BadOleRoss]

I am new to flying the Phantom and am also very cautious. I have only had the Phantom on one flight where it was out of my sight and out of my control when it was on a trip using ground station and waypoints. I am not ready to do anything like that again. I was on pins and needles for 9-10 minutes waiting for it to return. I enjoy flying it around, in sight where I can see what it is doing. Maybe later I will invest in a range extender so I can venture further away...maybe not. As far as preventing flyaway, I don't think anything is fool proof, just make sure you go through all of your preflight checks, gps, home lock, battery levels, etc. If you're scared to fly it thinking it won't come back you might as well sell it. Just get out there and practice! Flyaway do make great stories!

 

[N017RW]

You must accept possible loss or damage everytime you take command and launch your aircraft.
These are radio controlled toys.

Crashes, collisions, lock-outs, equipment failure, and other types of control losses will occur.
At least that's the way it's been for me since the 70s.

 

[mad in nc]

....... At least that's the way it's been for me since the 70s.

And thats when you got your driver license - right?

 

[fatal_emission]

nothing can guard against a sudden electronics failure, other causes can be avoided though.
I don't use dynamic home point so I know it remains correct. Before flying off check the home location in find my phantom. Take it out a distance and switch to home lock, check it comes back correctly. Don't fly if gps reception is border line.

Be familiar with switching to atti mode.

I have manual mode available too. Not easy to fly but can gently limp to a non fatal landing if needs be.

Most fly aways can be avoided by doing proper checks before flying off long distance and being practised with the various flight modes.

 

[RoyVa]

The very fist key to prevent a fly a way is getting proper compass calibration. The calibration sets up the proper orentation of the quad for directions I.E. NORTH. With proper compass orentation the quads GPS system will then travel to the proper coordinates. If the orentation and direction are set up wrong the quad will fly wrong, hence could be a fly a way. So the moral of the story is start out right with proper compass calibration so map coordinates are right.

 

[tcope]

I felt the same way. As I flew (and fly) more and more I've become more trusting. I started out with a short GS run. I then went to 5900' for my 3rd GS flight and felt much better. I've had my P2v for about 3 months and only recently flew it out to 1200'. Video was a little choppy so I brought it back. To me, that is pretty far. The video looked great. I used RTH once when my video locked up and I had no idea where the P2 was (I has been taking video while backing up from my subject so I only knew the general direction). No choice but to hit RTH. I stood there for what seemed like 10 minutes. After a few minutes I heard the buzz and felt much better. It got louder and I still did not see the P2. Looked straight up and there it was. Went to Atti and then back to GPS and everything was just fine. So I feel pretty good about RTH but I have only used it as a last resort.

I don't think I take as big of chances as many other people. I know of people that fly there dones in crazy places (around buildings and trees, etc). To each their own but then I question if some of these people complain about fly aways. We yeah.... you were doing something a little crazy and/or perhasp rushed to flight. I suspect something like this might happen to me some day and I will change my mind.

I recently picked up the P3 and have already flown it out to 2500'. I don't feel nervous at all.

 

[ocatcr]

remember to check the S1 switch before each flight. last time we tested our app, our phantom almost got flyaway since our phantom could not be switched back to GPS mode due to the defective S1 switch!

 

[Meta4]

And does anyone trust the return to home function? i'm scared to use it thinking it won't land properly.

You really need to test RTH so that you know you can trust it and to understand how it works when you need it.
Some flyers have had crashes because they did not understand RTH when it happened and they thought their Phantom was flying away.

 

[Phantom-man]

You really need to test RTH so that you know you can trust it and to understand how it works when you need it.
Some flyers have had crashes because they did not understand RTH when it happened and they thought their Phantom was flying away.

Is there a way to activate it on the remote and not the app?

 

[Meta4]

Is there a way to activate it on the remote and not the app?

The manual answers many questions.
This one is very important and something you should know.

 

[macsoft]

I'm really causes on when it comes to flying my phantom, but when i dont see i cant bare to worry. The worst thing i scared of is a flyaway, is there any way to prevent it?Is a fly away really that bad? When flying and you lose visual sight of you phantom do you trust you phatom? And does anyone trust the return to home function? i'm scared to use it thinking it won't land properly.

I look at this away: Flying a Phantom is like riding a motorcycle. You will hit the ground sooner or later. It can be because of your careless, or because of something you can't control. It could be right on the first week, or years later, but it is bound to happen.
All you can do is to pay attention, be calm and take it thru its passes, follow the learning curve and you will minimize its likelihood. but it WILL happen.
If you can't deal with that certainty maybe you shouldn't fly.
Learn to deal with it, and you will enjoy every flight.
ENJOY IT WHILE IT LASTS!

 

[Jan Erik]

A good Tracker ( waterproof ) 43 $
just in case....;-)
http://www.dx.com/p/veskys-v6-water...ps-locating-tracker-white-347129#.VUpdr_ntmkq

 

[ccase39]

I have been flying these about 6 months now and have not had one fly away. I had a problem with a defective Vision once but that was another matter.I frequently fly outside line of sight and over water. I have frequently set a ground station mission over 4500 feet away and will lose visual and video feed for several minutes. It always comes back. You can spend all your flight time worrying and not have any fun or you can just accept the fact that a crash or flyaway may be a possiblility and just have fun with it. If I worried all the time these things would not be worth the trouble.
Just have fun with them. Dont be stupid, but dont be afraid to fly either. If it scares you to go to far try doing ground stations missions and set them a little farther each time. Flying in ground station is the safest way IMO.
Invest in a GPS tracker.

 

[RoyVa]

Your 100% correct. The key is to fly and enjoy! I too fly beyond control and video capabilities using autonomous GS. The math I use for safe return is battery power and time. Not to worried about the distance as long as I can calculate making it back with need juice in the ole battery. Really makes flying fun calculating the turns, stay time, banks etc. to get the video you are wanting. The area I live in is full of tall trees and a lot of small tidal streams. That makes for interesting flying. You have to be aware of man made objects like 175 ft. Cell towers stuck here and there close to interstates that run through the woods, but other than that it's total fun to pull that SD card slap in in the PC and see how you did. Then it's fun to start the editing and preparation for the next flight to try to get it even better. This is where pilot error can really cost you. A little pucker power once in a while too. There are good third party apps that let you go beyond the little green circle if you need to go out a little further for that shot. All are with you taking a little more chance and excitement. Just Fly but be mindful 100% of the time for Safety. Know your sourroundings and just think if my bird dropped out of the sky... What damage could it do or who could it hurt. I fly and video some sports going on but always along the edge of the area so if I had a failure it would not hit or injure anyone. I don't skimp on safety even for the shot.

 

[hackybrazil]

It´s simply an expensive toy with a 50/50 chance on return after start. If you buy a car you get a recall ..if you loose your dji ....you can only buy a new one.

 

[afx]

nothing can guard against a sudden electronics failure, other causes can be avoided though.

the only one really working system which prevents flyaway is RC-01 Stop Flyaway.
it's 100% working, has alternate radio channel, works with alternate receiver and can turn off Phantom controller if it has an issue.
you may try "33dev" or "rc-01 stop flyaway" in google, it's only one on the market. After first flyaway I have installed it on my P2, half a year later it prevented second flyaway. After that I don't get tired to advice this to all of my friends pilots. Small device which really can save P2.

 

[Mark The Droner]

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