Let me set up my senario for you and then let me know what I could have done to possibly prevent this.

I was videoing down a trail in the woods, so I take off, and starting walking the trail.  Have some good footage and all that.  Now my wife and kids have me in a group text and my phone start to blow up.  I wasn't paying attention to the battery life and all of sudden the spark starts a return home (not fair with the all of sudden, as it did as it is suppose to do and the rest of this is human error), I go to hit "cancel" just a one of the texts come in and I end up hitting the text and then it brings up the texting screen, too late to go back into the DJI GO app...spark starts it's climb and hits the trees above...tumbles down, regains it's composure and yupper you guessed it, starts it's climb again, hits the trees above a second time.  This time it tumbles down and lands upside down.  THANK GOODNESS no real damage, just lost two props.  So, is there anyway I could have prevented the RTH feature?  I know I should have put my phone is airplane mode too.  But is there anyway I could have made the controller my "home point"?

Learning experience that you HAVE to pay attention to the battery life.  

Most important when flying with a phone put it in airplane mode and then manually turn on the wifi if you are using it to connect to the controller, if using an OTG cable to the controller you can leave wifi off too.  That way your flight cannot be interrupted.  If you are using maps in the Go App I normally pre-cache them before going flying.

Hummingbird.UAV Posted at 2018-1-22 12:48
Most important when flying with a phone put it in airplane mode and then manually turn on the wifi if you are using it to connect to the controller, if using an OTG cable to the controller you can leave wifi off too.  That way your flight cannot be interrupted.  If you are using maps in the Go App I normally pre-cache them before going flying.

I fly with the controller...going to get the OTG cable shortly.  But is there a way to make the controller the Home Point?  Would have helped me from myself in this situation.

Cruicer Posted at 2018-1-22 13:24
I fly with the controller...going to get the OTG cable shortly.  But is there a way to make the controller the Home Point?  Would have helped me from myself in this situation.

Yes if you are using a phone.  The feature is called Dynamic Home Point.  I am not familiar with the feature as I usually fly with an iPad which does not have a GPS sensor thus it does not work with DHP.
I can update the home point in the GO app based on the Drone location and have used this feature a few times.  I suggest reading the manual to gain insight into this feature and then go into the field and test it in a controlled situation to learn how it works.

Hummingbird.UAV Posted at 2018-1-22 13:35
Yes if you are using a phone.  The feature is called Dynamic Home Point.  I am not familiar with the feature as I usually fly with an iPad which does not have a GPS sensor thus it does not work with DHP.
I can update the home point in the GO app based on the Drone location and have used this feature a few times.  I suggest reading the manual to gain insight into this feature and then go into the field and test it in a controlled situation to learn how it works.

Good deal...I'll have to check it out...thanks for the feedback.

Tough thing with flying under trees.  Set it to return to home point at current altitude and use dynamic home point.  You definitely found a hazard.

I launched my Spark under some trees on a walking trail with good room to maneuver.   Once it was up, I realized any RTH would be a crash.  So I kept a close eye on the battery and returned to my hand with plenty of time left on the battery.  I need to improve my workflow for safe flying along a walking trail.  

RTH at current height?  Hitting the physical "pause" button on the remote if it tries to leave?  Always land early and well away from that RTH point on the screen's timeline ribbon?

If I may add, it was excellent feedback!

Dinamic Home Point:
Dynamic Home Point is available when using firmware v01.00.0700 or higher. If the tracking subject is a
person, the aircraft will automatically set the current position as the new home point when the aircraft is
15  m  farther  than  the  previous  home  point  while  tracking.  Enable  the  Dynamic  Home  Point  function  by  
tapping the icon in DJI GO 4.

Spark Manual here: https://dl.djicdn.com/downloads/ ... 20Manual%20V1.6.pdf
page 18.

Gunship9 Posted at 2018-1-22 14:18
Tough thing with flying under trees.  Set it to return to home point at current altitude and use dynamic home point.  You definitely found a hazard.

I launched my Spark under some trees on a walking trail with good room to maneuver.   Once it was up, I realized any RTH would be a crash.  So I kept a close eye on the battery and returned to my hand with plenty of time left on the battery.  I need to improve my workflow for safe flying along a walking trail.  

Yes...indeed it is a must to keep an eye on that battery.  And trust me, lesson learned in my case.  But I must say, tough little drone, RTH to trees over head, fell about 30 feet to regain it's composure just to fly back up and crash again.  Only two busted props...whew!!!

So, a message blocked the cancel button in the go app. What a terrible design.

Cruicer Posted at 2018-1-22 14:25
Yes...indeed it is a must to keep an eye on that battery.  And trust me, lesson learned in my case.  But I must say, tough little drone, RTH to trees over head, fell about 30 feet to regain it's composure just to fly back up and crash again.  Only two busted props...whew!!!

Sir, please pay attention to the power of your spark. I would recommend you fly in a wide place with less obstacles. Dynamic home point may meet your requirement. Keep us updated, if you have problems.

heliman Posted at 2018-1-22 15:02
So, a message blocked the cancel button in the go app. What a terrible design.

Wasn't that a phone message about a message, not an GO4 one?

I have read about and just sunday I had a "AC will return to homepoint in 10 seconds" voice info but NO message on the screen, to cancel it.
That is , in my case, the first time ever this happens.

Is anyone knowing, will the button on RC cancel the countdown, or is that then the last stand as soon the RTH beeping kicks in?
I think I have to test that next time. Only to be prepared
Or just dont fly on lower batteries under trees, huu?

Gunship9 Posted at 2018-1-22 14:18
Tough thing with flying under trees.  Set it to return to home point at current altitude and use dynamic home point.  You definitely found a hazard.

I launched my Spark under some trees on a walking trail with good room to maneuver.   Once it was up, I realized any RTH would be a crash.  So I kept a close eye on the battery and returned to my hand with plenty of time left on the battery.  I need to improve my workflow for safe flying along a walking trail.  

Don't forget, if Spark is more than 20m from home point and you do RTH, Spark will ignore "RTH at current altitude" and it will rise to your RTH altitude setting - probably hitting the tree branches as it rises (I think).

Sounds similar to an experience I had during one of my Sparks maiden voyages.  My battery was low, so I reigned the Spark in to do some close-up flying before shutting it down.  Before I knew it, RTH kicked in and it started climbing up into the tree I had walked under.

As soon as I realised it was climbing, panic set in and I alternated between fumbling about on my phone screen to cancel the manoeuvre, while preparing myself to catch the drone should it fall out of the sky.  I must've looked like a demented juggler.

It hit the branches 3 times before it regained its composure and allowed me to land safely.  There's was no damage to the Spark, however I had to replace the prop's, as a few blades suffered some damage on the way up.  I was very lucky on that occasion.

This episode served as an important reminder for me that you need to be completely aware of your surroundings at every point of your flight.  There sure is a lot of concentration involved with this hobby

I'll look out the video later.

S-e-ven Posted at 2018-1-22 20:11
Wasn't that a phone message about a message, not an GO4 one?

I have read about and just sunday I had a "AC will return to homepoint in 10 seconds" voice info but NO message on the screen, to cancel it.

Yes it was a text message NOT a GO4 message and just as I was about to hit the cancel RTH is when the text came in so I mistakenly hit the text which then opened up the texting screen and all heck happened...

...would be nice if you could program one of the physical buttons to be a cancel RTH button so not to have to rely on the phone's touch screen.  Anyone know if that is possible?  That would be a nice addition for the next firmware!!!  

Cruicer Posted at 2018-1-23 05:46
would be nice if you could program one of the physical buttons to be a cancel RTH button so not to have to rely on the phone's touch screen.  Anyone know if that is possible?  That would be a nice addition for the next firmware!!!

That is a great idea.  You should post your suggestion in the DJI Go app section.

Here's mine:

Cruicer Posted at 2018-1-23 05:46
Yes it was a text message NOT a GO4 message and just as I was about to hit the cancel RTH is when the text came in so I mistakenly hit the text which then opened up the texting screen and all heck happened...

...would be nice if you could program one of the physical buttons to be a cancel RTH button so not to have to rely on the phone's touch screen.  Anyone know if that is possible?  That would be a nice addition for the next firmware!!!

I thought hitting the physical pause button or hitting the RTH button would cancel current RTH operation.

Gunship9 Posted at 2018-1-23 13:22
I thought hitting the physical pause button or hitting the RTH button would cancel current RTH operation.

Not sure...I need to try to it and see...but for sure won't be "testing" that function in the woods...

Vulcan-XH558 Posted at 2018-1-23 13:17
Here's mine:

https://youtu.be/PAAUu8Ze2P4

Ahh nice...here was mine...



But then I was able to get some decent footage.  My first video with Spark Footage.

Very poignant movie, thank you for sharing.
What is it about trees and open water that we drone pilots love so much?