I know it's probably somewhere in the manual but I dont have it in front of me so does anyone know?

I don't think anyone has managed to keep a Phantom in the air in manual mode long enough to find out.
But why don't you give it a try and let us know how you get on...

The manual does not mention about the modes, it just says on critical battery level it will begin to descend and land.

I actually tried to test this before my crash.  I flew the bird until battery was low - switched to manual mode and flew until I got the low battery warning.  It never acted like it would land on its own, but then I got a message "land in 10 seconds" so as to not tempt fate, I landed.  Not sure what would have happened.  

I have glanced through the manual, it does not say it will not, at least anywhere I could find.
I would think as long as you had sat lock prior to take of and had a home point established it should work the same as with any other RTH scenario.

Thanks...It looks like the answer is No. This is going to add an extra element to the sheer joy and terror of flying in manual mode. Ill need to buy a timer with an alarm!!

nrgwise I think it was you that has a Hubsan X4. I'm thinking of ordering the hubsan and know it has a gyroscope to help maintain level flight. Do you know if the gyroscope can be turned off? I would like to turn it off because I'm assuming the phantom doesnt have a gyroscope and that is why it is so difficult to fly in manual mode. Thanks.

Northofthe49th Posted at 2015-3-25 22:04
I have glanced through the manual, it does not say it will not, at least anywhere I could find.
I wo ...

Interesting...I didnt think about that but I guess I could always flip it back to GPS mode as the battery gets lows so it will auto land if it ever reaches critical level.

I hope to get as good as this guy. It doesnt appear based on the description he is using using all stock equipment. Looks like he upgraded the motors and props. I wonder if a stock phantom can still fly so well in manual mode?



Actually he looks like he is in some type of gps mode until the 1:30 mark and then swithches to manual and starts to pick up some speed and does a couple of flips at the 2:50 mark. Sweet.

rdc4444@hotmail Posted at 2015-3-25 22:09
Thanks...It looks like the answer is No. This is going to add an extra element to the sheer joy and  ...

Not to my knowledge.  You can disable it on the board electrically.  But really, you would not know if it was on or off with the Hubsan.  You really need control of the sticks even with it.

The Phantom is not difficult to fly in manual mode - actually failry easy IF you know how to fly with just sticks.  I think on here it is made out to be more difficult because a lot of people want to do it right away with their Phantoms and most of us here warn that off until you learn to fly that way - hence the Hubsan.  I think if you get the Hubsan and learn to fly it, when you are at the point where you can make it hover failry evenly, bank to either side and recover without falling out of the air (harder than you think when you first try), fly in any room without hitting anything, be able to fly any 'pattern' with confidence, then you can switch the Phantom into manual and see how you do.  It doesn't take long to learn to fly it manually, but it does take a while to do it with confidence and not worry about where your quad is going to end up.  The Hubsan will give you the confidence if you take the time to learn it.

nrgwise@gmail.c Posted at 2015-3-25 22:27
Not to my knowledge.  You can disable it on the board.  But really, you would not know if it was o ...

Thanks...So does the phantom handle like the Hubsan x4 while in manual mode or is it more difficult to fly?

No - they handle completely differently.  If you can fly the Hubsan you will be able to fly the Phantom with slight adjustments.  Mostly it is responsiveness - the Hubsan is very quick and agile and turns on a dime.  The Phantom, although very responsive will seem sluggish at first until you get used to the response time and how to make the same turn on a dime move.  Then as you gain confidence you will naturally start doing the same things faster.  I think the Phantom is a bit harder to maintain a steady hover than the Hubsan, but overall a much more rewarding flying experience.

The only thing I have not done in manual is land.  I prefer to have the control GPS mode offers for that.  The Phantom can do some very tight banks - 90/180/360, can fly very tight donuts both in and out facing, and as you see in the video you posted, can do flips and rolls.  I think for the flips/rolls I would take my camera/gimbal off.  But that is just me.

johnwarr@live.c Posted at 2015-3-25 21:51
I don't think anyone has managed to keep a Phantom in the air in manual mode long enough to find out ...

Johnwarr, rdc4444 has been asking about flips and rolls in another post.  I guess that is the reason for his questions about auto-land in manual mode. I'm sure that the auto-land would not work in manual. The only reason I would consider using manual is if I screwed up and had to get the craft down from high altitude before the battery drained.

Yeah it looks like it doesn't auto land in manual mode. I plan on  taking  off in GPS mode after acquiring home lock and then switch to manual mode after obtaining some significant height.  I'll will then switch back to gps mode when the battery gets low so it will hopefully auto land if it ever needs too. I wonder if it will also keep its home point? Oh well I'll end up testing it and letting everyone know. BTW I ordered the HUBSAN X4!!! It should arrive by friday.!!! My quest for manual flight has just begun. or possibly when it comes crashing down...

nrgwise@gmail.c Posted at 2015-3-25 22:52
No - they handle completely differently.  If you can fly the Hubsan you will be able to fly the Phan ...

Thanks nrgwise you have been great help. I would prefer that the phantom be a little more sluggish till i get the hang of it. The fact that it is harder to maintain a hover worries me a little and is probably due to the fact it doesnt have a gyroscope. I'll always be prepared to switch back to GPS mode in an emergency.

Have you ever gone from manual to GPS mode while inflight while it was in trouble and does it kick in right away? I have two FC 40's so if I get good at manual mode I can record using the fc40 camera. Its a cheap little camera and I wont lose any sleep if I lose it.
I'll have an extended drone family.. Two P2V+, Two FC40's, One Phantom 1, 3 ARdrones 1.0, and now a baby Hubsan X4... I will eventually get the grand daddy Inspire 1 in the near future.

rdc4444@hotmail Posted at 2015-3-26 00:32
Thanks nrgwise you have been great help. I would prefer that the phantom be a little more sluggish  ...

I have gone from manual to GPS while in flight only to land, not because I was in trouble.  It was pretty much instant.

As for the hover, harder mainly in the beginning.  You will see with the Hubsan, at first you think it can't be done, then you get just the right stick combination and the Hubsan will sit right there in front of you.  It is the same with the Phantom.  Since the sticks are different, it really is a matter of translating the Hubsan stick move to the Phantom controller.  Just takes a bit of practice.

As long as you maintain GPS coverage, switching to manual doesn't change that - you will still have the GPS lock on sats.  Just in manual mode the bird ignores the signal line.  It literally is switched out when you flip the switch to manual.  When you switch back you are putting the GPS line back in the circuit.

nrgwise@gmail.c Posted at 2015-3-26 01:09
I have gone from manual to GPS while in flight only to land, not because I was in trouble.  It was  ...

Thanks...I've learned a lot from you.  It's giving me more confidence to fly in manual mode. Would you recommend being high up in the air or low to the ground when first switching from GPS to manual mode? I figure if it is low to the ground and crashes (ill be in an open grass field) it wont do much damage.

When you first fly for manual, I would keep it lower to the ground and closer to you.  That way you can keep a real good visual on the quad until you are comfortable with how it handles and that you can control it.  If you learn to fly well with the Hubsan, I would suspect you would feel comfortable enough to take off in manual.  But landing I would always use GPS.  I have never switched to manual while in flight - taken off in manual.  I have no problem switching from manual to GPS, but somehow I don't feel as comfortable going from GPS to manual.  When you do that the bird suddenly loses all its control and you have to be ready immediately to control it.  If you take off in manual then you always have the control.

nrgwise@gmail.c Posted at 2015-3-26 02:09
When you first fly for manual, I would keep it lower to the ground and closer to you.  That way you  ...

Good points...I'll take your advice.. I need to order some phantom 1 prop guards because I'm sure I'm going to crash a few times when I first try manual mode.

I believe it will go into Failsafe in Manual Mode.  I've read it somewhere else, but this is out of the NAZA-M Quick Start Guide.  Read the last paragraph.

Not sure about manual mode but it sure works in ATTI!
So I am in ATTI tonight, went into Failsafe due to low battery, thought I would just see what happened, anyhow, as soon as it reached my RTH spot, I had full control, not fun to try to land in ATTI with a bit of wind but I figured WTH (what the heck), anyhow, I have a few grass stained props is all I am going to say but it was fun!  By the way. I know I could have switched back to GPS but once committed I was in it for the long haul...

According to someone at DJI if you put it in manual it will stop the auto-landing. However I was just filming a time-lapse in my neighborhood which has tons of houses. I had the critical power lever set to 10%. I noticed the battery got to about 18%, so I started to fly it back. While I was flying it back at about 12% it gave the message to auto-land. I flipped the toggle to A, but the aircraft didn't leave the auto-landing. I got it back to me and landed it safely, but I was unable to stop it. So I would say putting it in A doesn't stop it.

Not sure about some of your explanation, not sure what "A" is.
Not sure if you were in GPS or NAZA mode? I fly only in NAZA and it has some other benefit of IOC etc...Really cool feature!

I have a P2V+ V3.0 and i have my auto land set up through the Assistant to "go home and land" in an RTH which is what it sounds like your Phantom did,
In the case of the RTH, it will ascend to the prescribed height you have set in the assistant or stay at the height it was if already higher than the RTH heigt, then Return Home, then land,
It is only once the Phantom reaches the RTH point overhead that you can regain control and steer it for the landing. I have done this a lot of times and has worked flawlessly.
OR....You can take it out of the RTH state during the RTH as long as you have communication with the RC by switching S1 all down and up quickly and regain full control as if you never lost it, but be careful...especially when low battery like you described.