P4 features not mentioned (CSC)
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...actually, not.
I flew a Walkera QR x350 pro for about a year. Arming the motors for that quad is left stick (throttle) down and to the left...shutting them down is the same move. BTW, there was never any discussion, or instance as far as I know of accidentally disabling the motors in flight.
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People don't usually know that's what happens by the mere accidental nature of it. They think their bird just fell out of the sky.
DJI and their very good R&D team are constantly trying out why things went wrong and definitely in their top 10 reasons for RMAs and listed at #1 but we don't know if that means #1 is because the motors shut off during flight because of an "emergency" CSC.
Look CSC just mean a macro set by the stifle. In other words if you did "up down, left rift up up"' in Ataris Contra it will give you infinite lives.
For a specific transmitter you can macro it to mean "do a flip". CSC just means that "Control Stick Command". Your RTH button is a button command.
Meta4
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DJI didn't do anything to the P3s.
They just updated their conservative specs to reflect the real range users were getting.
Interesting. I was curious what had prompted that huge 2.5x increase in stated range. It was rather brilliant of DJI to have all P3 aircraft uploading flight data to a central database. I mean this in the sense that it allows DJI to get scores of real-world data on battery flight time, range, etc..
It has the same stated range as the P3P, DJI has changed what the P3P/A range is on the website. When the P3 was first released they had a stated range of 1.2 miles but the P3 users showed that this was not an accurate estimate of it's capabilities. The P4 controller has an increase of 3 dBm over the P3P/A in FCC mode and 1 dBm increase in CE mode. I don't know the specs for power output on the video transmitter but when I would lose signal with my P3P it was video signal and I never lost control signal. So even though the controller has an increased power output, I think that will just help to stay in control of the bird, not increase the capable distance unless you don't mind flying without video feed.
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It's doubtful that the power output changes from the controller, by themselves, are going to meaningfully translate into range increases. Effective range is going to depend on a whole host of other factors such as antenna design and placement, software changes and even hardware quality. DJI might well have managed to push the range somewhat, but the power output is going to be more useful for marketing (More Power!!!!) than anything else.
If I were a DJI communications engineer, I would be focusing more on robustness of the comms rather than pure range. We're already well over Visual Line of Sight ("See that tiny little dot? That's the drone."). I am, in fact, rather surprised that DJI marketing is tweaking the FAA's nose, so to speak, buy showing videos and expounding on capabilities that clearly do not adhere to the FAA's 'recommendations'.
They are playing a funny game. I'm not even sure what the rules are.
If I were a DJI communications engineer, I would be focusing more on robustness of the comms rather than pure range. We're already well over Visual Line of Sight ("See that tiny little dot? That's the drone."). I am, in fact, rather surprised that DJI marketing is tweaking the FAA's nose, so to speak, buy showing videos and expounding on capabilities that clearly do not adhere to the FAA's 'recommendations'.
They are playing a funny game. I'm not even sure what the rules are.
Meta4
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The FAA only rules the airspace in a small part of the world.
DJI are selling well beyond FAA territory.
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True, but the USA is a big, really big market. And it seems all of our Poodles, err, friends have similar restrictions.
msinger
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From the latest P4 release notes:
"Changed procedure for stopping motors during flight. To stop motors during flight, pull the left stick to the bottom inside corner while simultaneously pressing the Smart RTH button. This new procedure will only become available when Remote Controller firmware is updated to the latest version."
Finally, hopefully, we'll stop hearing that debate over CSC and the users that patronize others for " must be flying like monkeys " just because they think it makes no sense that a simple stick placement can shut down the motors mid air.
msinger
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Change only seems to apply to P4. P3 & earlier aircraft still work the old way. P3S & earlier craft have no RTH button. Now we have different methods for emergency shutdown procedure across various models.
Pilots are supposed to know how to control their aircraft. Don't pull right stick into that tree. Don't pull down & crash onto the ground. Don't do a CSC & shut down your motors mid flight. JMHO
Pilots are supposed to know how to control their aircraft. Don't pull right stick into that tree. Don't pull down & crash onto the ground. Don't do a CSC & shut down your motors mid flight. JMHO
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New pilots don't know those things though. And, most pilots do not have an advanced understanding of how the Phantom works. Case in point -- how many advanced pilots are accidentally doing a CSC mid-flight?
DJI's top 10 aside, I find it hard to fathom many pilots of any skill level accidentally do a mid-air CSC! The good thing is I've never needed to do a mid-air emergency shutdown & hope to never need to! 
Db, I understand you were programmed to know CSC (you and many others probably have it engraved since the p1's), but it's not a good feature and that is why DJI is moving away from it.
I never csc'd, but I don't like the fact that it has to be on my mind every time I fly. That the sticks I use to control the bird can also bring its demise.
In your example, the first two are obvious visible obstacles, the third is a made up fugazi with far more devastating results.
Lastly, who here had actively used CSC and lived to tell about it? I remember only one story out of thousands were it was used. I'm sure there have been far more tragic csc's than deliberate ones.
I would use (and have used) every other tool in my bag before i CSC.. And by the time I would CSC it would probably be too late anyway. Not to mention FlyAway's are rare compared to prior generations and mid air CSC is not needed as much anymore. Welcomed change. Than your DJI.
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I know how to pilot extremely well, but in a panic one time as I got near a tree and wind gust came over, I pushed both stick down to the corners causing a CSC. To me this is a welcome changed. Even a highly trained pilot when drowning can make bad calls. It would be like a 747 have two buttons next to each other saying stop engines ;-) I welcome the change. I won't lie it will take getting used to since I already know the CSC. However it removes error, and makes emergencies a deliberate action not something that could happen by chance.
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