Strange Phantom 1.1 flyaway

[zaheriley]

I’ve been using phantom for a while and bought 2nd phantom for my long vacation. On my vacation, it flew well with Phantom + Zenmuse + Gopro hero3 black + kumbacam FPV kit. then one time in a hurry, I probably did not let the phantom capture the home location. and started flying from the shore of a lake towards the lake. no problem there. then I flew the phantom in other direction over the ground where it went out of range and started coming back to the position and I though it would land on the shore butbut it went little further into the lake ( 10 meters from the lake shore). As it started descending into the lake we almost gave up the hope (lake was deep and had alligators). As it touched the water I thought of trying switching off and on the RC and after few attempts, i had the control back and i got it back on the ground ( i was so nervous+happy i got it stuck in the tree but i got it back in working condition anyway).

Like this incident wasn’t enough. The next day, I was flying it on a beach without the FPV kit( no charged batteries) and thought of capturing my dad’s para-sailing with phantom. Again, it went well. In overconfidence and blinding relying on fail-safe. I thought capturing water-scooter ride.the phantom went further away into the sea but i still could see it clearly but the heading wasnt visible. So i did not know where was the forward direction. I tried switching to HL in hopes that it will make RC’s backward , phantoms backward but that didnt seem to work. So to be safe I increased the height (around 150 ft from sea level..pun intended) and switched off the RC to get it back to the place i started phantom ( i gave it enough time to capture home location this time). but it never came back and I never lost the sight of it. There are two problems here. 1. home location did not work. 2. fail safe did not work. Has anyone experienced this before? Should I contact DJI regarding this? Thanks.

 

[zaheriley]

Thats what I am thinking as well but there were already people in the water doing rides and they did not see it land anywhere near the shore. So may be it locked home position much later during the flight.

 

[jthorstad]

Mine flew away three weeks ago today.

I did EVERYTHING right - waited patiently, ensured sat lock...by the book. Perfect flying conditions...not a cell tower or powerline within half a mile.

My $800 (Phantom and GoPro) flew beautifully for 4 or 5 minutes. I brought it back to land it, and it flew overhead and kept going...accelerating and climbing until it disappeared, never to be seen again. Horrible feeling.

This is not as uncommon as I wish it was. And don't expect help from DJI. Go to their support page and try calling their so-called support number. It's one guy's cell phone that never gets answered. The voicemail box is full so you can't leave a message. I've emailed them three times with no response.

This is a defect in a certain number of their Phantoms. What it is, I do not know. All I know is that Return to Home is not to be trusted.

Thats what I am thinking as well but there were already people in the water doing rides and they did not see it land anywhere near the shore. So may be it locked home position much later during the flight.

 

[archersc]

...i gave it enough time to capture home location this time...

Technically, it's not about giving it "enough time" per se. Power it up with the controller in GPS mode and don't take off until you've seen the second long series of green flashes on the Phantom's indicator -- that lets you know that it's achieved marking its home position. If you're not reading the indicator, you're taking a big gamble.

 

[MenaceCat]

...i gave it enough time to capture home location this time...

Technically, it's not about giving it "enough time" per se. Power it up with the controller in GPS mode and don't take off until you've seen the second long series of green flashes on the Phantom's indicator -- that lets you know that it's achieved marking its home position. If you're not reading the indicator, you're taking a big gamble.

'

I agree. Am an experienced pilot. Yesterday, I got sloppy and sent a Phantom 2 with iOSD and FPV up in the air after waiting about 1.5 min from a cold start with a half full battery. I noticed something was amiss when distance from the home point at takeoff was not registering even though 5 satellites were locked on.

I took the bird forward about 100m and then the distance indicator started counting up from that point. After some flying for a few minutes I lost sight of the craft over the forest and pulled back on the stick in HL mode to get it home. It returned to 60m above the displaced 'home point' 100m from where I was standing and hovered there. I noticed the craft wasn't moving horizontally from FPV and sensors but it did not register at that time that it would not move further in HL mode as it was already 'home'.

I would have to turn off HL and bring the bird back using the FPV. Unfortunately, line of sight view was blocked by branches directly in front of me. The battery was running low to a level 2 alert at this point in time and the craft descended into a valley with tall grass behind a grove of trees. The battery indicator on the iOSD was incorrect in suggesting I had more time (so warning to those trusting this). I recovered the craft after a bash through tall grass but it was a lesson to wait for the second series of lights and to check that the home point is properly registered!