Fly Away?

[lostshoecharlie]

New to the forum so first of all hello, Just purchased a Phantom Advanced for my son and I. Have been keeping it in beginner flying squares and getting use to controls. On our last flight we were letting it climb to max around 95 feet when the craft took off on its on probably with the wind. It seemed that it lost contact with the GPS. Everything was showing OK before takeoff. I was able to quickly hit RTH and craft returned OK. The flight log recorded Aircraft out of range just after the max distance and height warning. We were having 15 to 20 mph gusts during the flight. Is this normal or was I flying with too much wind? Thanks

 

[beamerbuilder1]

I personally wouldn't fly in wind gusts that high.


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots

 

[lostshoecharlie]

I personally wouldn't fly in wind gusts that high.


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots

Thanks I thought so

 

[Meta4]

New to the forum so first of all hello, Just purchased a Phantom Advanced for my son and I. Have been keeping it in beginner flying squares and getting use to controls. On our last flight we were letting it climb to max around 95 feet when the craft took off on its on probably with the wind. It seemed that it lost contact with the GPS. Everything was showing OK before takeoff. I was able to quickly hit RTH and craft returned OK. The flight log recorded Aircraft out of range just after the max distance and height warning. We were having 15 to 20 mph gusts during the flight. Is this normal or was I flying with too much wind? Thanks

The Phantom can easily deal with 20 mph winds and maintain position.
That it returned home, indicates it had GPS and that it did not "fly away".
Disorientation and incomplete understanding can make you wonder what's going on with your Phantom but it has a flight data recorder that helps with explanations.

If you want to find out what actually 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.

 

[lostshoecharlie]

Phantom Log Viewer - PhantomHelp.com
I'm new to this but it looks as if the craft was returning anyway as I started the RTH function. At the time the craft moved away the controls were untouched and I can't understand why it didn't remain stationary in hover unless it was just the wind. Any help would be appreciated

 

[Meta4]

Phantom Log Viewer - PhantomHelp.com
I'm new to this but it looks as if the craft was returning anyway as I started the RTH function. At the time the craft moved away the controls were untouched and I can't understand why it didn't remain stationary in hover unless it was just the wind. Any help would be appreciated

The only think I can see i the flight data is that the Phantom was traveling at 10 mph and crossed the 100 ft range limit.
It slowed down without any control input but drifted 23 feet past the limit distance.
At all times, the Phantom had perfect GPS signal and was aware of its position.
It came back to the 100 ft distance limit on its own with no control input 9 seconds after crossing the limit.
I'm not a fan of setting a limit and I suspect that without it, you wouldn't see any unusual behaviour.

 

[lostshoecharlie]

The only think I can see i the flight data is that the Phantom was traveling at 10 mph and crossed the 100 ft range limit.
It slowed down without any control input but drifted 23 feet past the limit distance.
At all times, the Phantom had perfect GPS signal and was aware of its position.
It came back to the 100 ft distance limit on its own with no control input 9 seconds after crossing the limit.
I'm not a fan of setting a limit and I suspect that without it, you wouldn't see any unusual behaviour.

Thanks for the help I'm guessing the wind kept it from controlling a hover. The log that I looked at initially on the go app stated that at one point "Aircraft out of range" but the flight log didn't mention so I guess the out of range is past the set limit of the beginner mode. Thanks for your help. I will try to pay closer attention

 

[kirk2579]

New to the forum so first of all hello, Just purchased a Phantom Advanced for my son and I. Have been keeping it in beginner flying squares and getting use to controls. On our last flight we were letting it climb to max around 95 feet when the craft took off on its on probably with the wind. It seemed that it lost contact with the GPS. Everything was showing OK before takeoff. I was able to quickly hit RTH and craft returned OK. The flight log recorded Aircraft out of range just after the max distance and height warning. We were having 15 to 20 mph gusts during the flight. Is this normal or was I flying with too much wind? Thanks

while many do and I have at the beach
I tend to use 15 max as a rule

good luck and have fun flying!

 

[Meta4]

Thanks for the help I'm guessing the wind kept it from controlling a hover.

The Phantom can easily hold position within a foot or two in 20+ knot winds
It won't be blown 20 feet off unless the wind was very strong and then dropped off immediately after.
And probably wouldn't even think of flying in a wind strong enough to do that.