Return to Home reversed the route it took

[welbeck]

I was flying round my local village and decided to look for a friend of mine, I flew to the local pub to see if his car was there but it wasn't so I headed for his house, unfortunately I lost signal and RTH was initiated, I watched my monitor till I started to get video back and quickly realised it wasn't returning to home but had turned round and was returning in the direction of the pub, I cancelled RTH as soon as I could and flew it manually back to my home point. As soon as I landed I checked my settings and it was set to return to homepoint.
Was this supposed to happen? I assumed it took the shortest route back home, I'll say assumed as I've only used RTH once before and and that was me flying in a straight line then losing signal and flying straight back.

 

[msinger]

Check out your TXT flight log to see if it explains what happened. You can upload and view it online here. If you'd like other people to review and comment on your flight log, then please post a link back here after you upload it.

 

[welbeck]

Check out your TXT flight log to see if it explains what happened. You can upload and view it online here. If you'd like other people to review and comment on your flight log, then please post a link back here after you upload it.

I'm sorry I'm a bit new to this, would this be the link?
DJI Flight Log Viewer - PhantomHelp.com

 

[Meta4]

Was this supposed to happen? I assumed it took the shortest route back home, I'll say assumed as I've only used RTH once before and and that was me flying in a straight line then losing signal and flying straight back.

This section from the manual answers your question:
Failsafe RTH
The Forward Vision System allows the aircraft to create a real-time map of its flight route as it flies.
If the Home Point was successfully recorded and the compass is functioning normally, Failsafe RTH will be automatically activated if the remote controller signal is lost for more than three seconds.
The aircraft will plan its return route and retrace its original flight route home.
The aircraft will hover for 10 seconds at its current location.
When it regains signal connection it will wait for pilot commands.
The Return-to-Home process may be interrupted and the pilot given control of the aircraft if the remote controller signal connection is re-established.

 

[welbeck]

This section from the manual answers your question:
Failsafe RTH
The Forward Vision System allows the aircraft to create a real-time map of its flight route as it flies.
If the Home Point was successfully recorded and the compass is functioning normally, Failsafe RTH will be automatically activated if the remote controller signal is lost for more than three seconds.
The aircraft will plan its return route and retrace its original flight route home.
The aircraft will hover for 10 seconds at its current location.
When it regains signal connection it will wait for pilot commands.
The Return-to-Home process may be interrupted and the pilot given control of the aircraft if the remote controller signal connection is re-established.

OK, thank you. I assumed it would take the shortest route back to it's homepoint. I presume it know's it has enough battery life to do the journey in reverse. When I saw what it was doing I panicked and cancelled it then flew home in a straight line, I thought it was going to land somewhere else or fly away altogether. I haven't flown since (2 days ago) and I'm getting itchy feet so I think it's time to release my Phantom from remand.

Thanks for the help.

 

[msinger]

would this be the link?

Yes

Per the section of the Phantom 4 manual @Meta4 pasted above, your Phantom was attempting to retrace its previous flight path (to try to get the remote controller back in range). If your Phantom never reconnected, it would have started flying straight back to the home point after about 60 seconds.

 

[Meta4]

OK, thank you. I assumed it would take the shortest route back to it's homepoint. I presume it know's it has enough battery life to do the journey in reverse.

The idea behind it is not to retrace the whole route home - just until it reconnects.
And in many common loss of signal situations, that doesn't take long.
You fly behind an obstacle ... the Phantom backtracks 10 or 20 metres and gets signal.
It's more sophisticated but makes more sense than going the old climb to RTH height and head for home method when good signal is just a matter of going back back a little bit.