Hey all,

I was flying my spark earlier today and everything was working just fine. However when I used the RTH function the AC turned and started flying home just like it should but it was ever so slightly sideslipping to right. The actual direction of travel of the drone was spot on and it returned home with no issue but when reviewing the video you can clearly see that the drone was looking slightly to the left as it flew.
Is this a problem that can be solved with a compass cal? Has anyone else experienced something like this? A quick search of the forums did not turn up anything.

Edit: just to clarify that this only occurs during RTH. The drone flys straight as an arrow in line with the camera while in normal manual flight.

I would try a compas and imu cal.... I fly only with phone, and no rc, so i have no clue if i have a true compas calibration, because i have no live view of mi imap...so i downloaded a free ios app.. Vr pro. And dound out my spark was not slight, but way off.. 20-30 degrees...did a fresh cal, and it got spot on...
So take a look n minimap again, and try a fresg cal in open clear space

Joller79 DK Posted at 2018-6-3 20:29
I would try a compas and imu cal.... I fly only with phone, and no rc, so i have no clue if i have a true compas calibration, because i have no live view of mi imap...so i downloaded a free ios app.. Vr pro. And dound out my spark was not slight, but way off.. 20-30 degrees...did a fresh cal, and it got spot on...
So take a look n minimap again, and try a fresg cal in open clear space

I'll do that the next time I fly. Thanks for the advice!

I am sorry that you are having this issue with your Spark. Let me help you with this issue. Let us try to do some troubleshooting steps. Let us try to update the Spark's firmware with the latest DJI Assistant 2 firmware. Please try to calibrate the IMU and the compass of the Spark as well. After doing these process please try to make a test flight to see if the issue has been resolved. Thank you.

Cross wind maybe?  I know a quad is not like a fixed wing, but a plane would do that in a crosswind. Maybe it is the way RTH is programed.. point the nose at the home point an fly that way correcting for croswind as it goes...??????

Hi there, please refer the above suggestions and test in an open field later. If still no luck, please kindly upload the video for further assistance, thanks!

I've never used RTH, so this is an uninformed opinion only. If the drone actually returned to the Home Point (which you indicate it did), then I consider that RTH is working correctly. As LouisP mentioned above it could have been environmental factors that made the drone fly the way it did. The Spark in P Mode is quite easily affected by a headwind or cross breeze.

To clarify "flying sideways" do you mean the Spark heads straight for home on RTL but the camera is pointed 25° to 45° off from center to the left or right?

This is not an environmental factor but a hardware issue - at least it was for me.
Go through the troubleshooting steps as suggested (refresh the firmware, calabrate IMU, etc...).
But if none of that works, don't play around - get it into service:
https://www.dji.com/service/repair

This is an interesting behavior not seen on here before.  Maybe Joller79 DK might be right on the fix for this.  Give it a try and let us know the outcome.  Thanks

Mine as well flies a bit sideways during RTH. I tought it was the wind...

I’ve noticed this too when doing RTH. Although it comes back to landing spot bang on so I wasn’t too worried, however I have noticed my red symbol indicating the AC in the atti/map screen isn’t always pointing the correct direction upon takeoff, seems to have a wobble when I slide my iPhone 6 into the RC although I haven’t received any warning messages or prompts to calibrate anything. Reading this maybe I should perform a calibration of the compass and the IMU?

@meatwagon....did calibration of the compass solve your issue? Thanks

It's been a bit windy the last fiew days. Shooting for later today to test it westhyer permitting. Stand by

Wind my cause pitch or roll. It should not affect yaw.

Calibration of compass and IMU would be the first thing to do.

If yaw problem persist after calibration than notify DJI support.

djiuser_zTU2rx2gSna2 Posted at 2018-6-7 06:14
@meatwagon....did calibration of the compass solve your issue? Thanks

Happy to report that the compass cal and the IMU cal seemed to fix the issue. Thank you all for the input. RTH seems to be functioning normally now. I think the last time I calibrated it I was a little too near to a pile of corrugated steel roofing panels.

Fly safe!