So i got my first spark replaced after disapearance over a lake.

Here is the last video, i found it in the cache files;


This is a screens recording of the flight simulated on the iphone:


This is the log file uploaded ;
http://app.airdata.com/main?share=reiApJ&page_id=GENERAL

I was hesitant to even use DJI products after the nightmare i had experienced, as great as they are i was heart broken because of the confussion with the emails about how the warranty could not cover it when it was clearly not my fault the remote lost connection, no offense but its how i felt, they confirmed the REMOTE was DEFECTED an replaced everything.

Now here we go again yawll!!! the replacement spark just flew away 25mins ago!

Said Abnormal compass error and behaviour then drifted somewhere as i had no control.

This is a screens recording of the flight simulated on the iphone:


This is the log file uploaded ;
http://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/RXJXORRIM9CNNGB986Z1/
http://app.airdata.com/main?flig ... f65&page_id=GENERAL

Here is some more info of the area from skyvector.com   
https://skyvector.com/?ll=48.4653942756127,-4.215820310127278&chart=304&zoom=1


As yawl can clearly see, the flight logs do not match this time, instead they show that the Spark flew eastward from me as to it in the screen video which ha ended in anotehr location earlier (before i arrived back to the office to look at the flight ata).

I will be searching for it now but .... its dark outside.

if i find the sucker i want to send it straight back to DJI for another replacement!

From what i read, the abnormal fly away is happening on an IOS device .. I am now wondering if iphones are having anything other than a normal GPS or GLONASS for position. Maybe you have enabled your phone GPS which is giving a conflicting report with SPARK GPS.  

I was just out flying my spark and also got the high wind velocity issue that went into ATTI mode and compass errors. I don’t think DJI can get ahead in the software arena.

Would you mind uploading your flightrecord to this site http://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/Upload/ and share the link with us? This would allow for more accurate analysis of what might have happened.

S.J Posted at 2018-2-24 11:59
From what i read, the abnormal fly away is happening on an IOS device .. I am now wondering if iphones are having anything other than a normal GPS or GLONASS for position. Maybe you have enabled your phone GPS which is giving a conflicting report with SPARK GPS.

im also wondering this, i went to look for the spark at the last spot showing on the flight records in the link and nothing was there, it seems that it continued on and the spot was the last radio contact.

here are the links for the phantom flight data

http://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/RXJXORRIM9CNNGB986Z1/

Wachtberger Posted at 2018-2-24 13:19
Would you mind uploading your flightrecord to this site http://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/Upload/ and share the link with us? This would allow for more accurate analysis of what might have happened.

what you think http://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/RXJXORRIM9CNNGB986Z1/

shows more then the other flight record link i shared b4

rockmsu Posted at 2018-2-24 12:24
I was just out flying my spark and also got the high wind velocity issue that went into ATTI mode and compass errors. I don’t think DJI can get ahead in the software arena.

you think its the recent firmware?

your using ios as well?

realdeal Posted at 2018-2-24 15:55
im also wondering this, i went to look for the spark at the last spot showing on the flight records in the link and nothing was there, it seems that it continued on and the spot was the last radio contact.

here are the links for the phantom flight data

it is essential that while you see the "high wind velocity" in RED color, it is always better to lower the height by almost half to counter the high wind.

Do you remember the color indicator of the wind message on the mobile ?

I almost face this daily on my SPARK but i do the above action and the message goes away.

Also the continous YAW and speed error indicate the wind velocity was abnormally high !!

S.J Posted at 2018-2-24 19:51
it is essential that while you see the "high wind velocity" in RED color, it is always better to lower the height by almost half to counter the high wind.

Do you remember the color indicator of the wind message on the mobile ?

Is the winds the reason it went to ATTI mode?  I don't think it looks like the pilot can handle ATTI mode on a drone he can't see.

Nop. It is the loss of GPS sync. I followed the recent flyaway cases and I suspected that the video module might cause overheat to f/c or gps and that caused the malfunctioning.

The new MA is redesigned for better air ventilation, so far no single fly away case.

Supong Posted at 2018-2-24 21:42
Nop. It is the loss of GPS sync. I followed the recent flyaway cases and I suspected that the video module might cause overheat to f/c or gps and that caused the malfunctioning.

So fly it back in ATTI mode.  Whats the problem?  Who cares if it has GPS?  RC aircraft have been flown by modelers for over five decades without GPS.  Step up and fly it.

This guy doesn't have GPS on his drone.  Furthermore it isn't even Attitude stabilized. It is flying in Rate mode and he still managed to fly it home.

Gunship9 Posted at 2018-2-24 22:19
So fly it back in ATTI mode.  Whats the problem?  Who cares if it has GPS?  RC aircraft have been flown by modelers for over five decades without GPS.  Step up and fly it.

This guy doesn't have GPS on his drone.  Furthermore it isn't even Attitude stabilized. It is flying in Rate mode and he still managed to fly it home.

sudden wind caused atti mode, no video sync...fly what, where, cant see it any where near the last spot in the video cache..

whats DJI's solution for this?

now i understand how a fly away actually takes place...ATTI mode!

realdeal Posted at 2018-2-24 22:27
sudden wind caused atti mode, no video sync...fly what, where, cant see it any where near the last spot in the video cache..

whats DJI's solution for this?

Oh, you flew it beyond your eyesight.  Ouch, yes,...lots of radio control aircraft pilots have crashed or lost their aircraft when it flew beyond where they could see it (near a 100 percent at our club).  In the USA, the FAA instilled a rule to keep drones within eyesight so they wouldn't be lost if local interference cuts the video.  

All the latest flyaways are coming after a run in Sport mode and then a steep turn, most of the times in high wind, which alert looks to be underestimated by pilots.

Gunship9 Posted at 2018-2-24 22:37
Oh, you flew it beyond your eyesight.  Ouch, yes,...lots of radio control aircraft pilots have crashed or lost their aircraft when it flew beyond where they could see it (near a 100 percent at our club).  In the USA, the FAA instilled a rule to keep drones within eyesight so they wouldn't be lost if local interference cuts the video.

your accusation is factitious and dishonest,  of course i never flew beyond site, i lost site in the matter of seconds while investigating what went wrong on my phone....duh!

please stay on the subject as its clearly a malfunction in the compass as well as ATTI and RTH...as the flight logs indicate the drone clearly know where the home was an NEVER returned after losing video feed.,

This was tested by DJI engineers, i was hesitant to even open the box and fly it after the horrible experience i went through the first one trying to make sense of the warranty policy and after flying it and writing somehting nice about it this happens hours later.  

Enri Posted at 2018-2-24 23:50
All the latest flyaways are coming after a run in Sport mode and then a steep turn, most of the times in high wind, which alert looks to be underestimated by pilots.

1-It was not a windy day, the one flight logs shows this as well.
2-there where sudden breezes, maybe they show up more stronger during flights in sports mode.
3-it was rather chilly...the second flight record link describes the temperature on the ground etc.

So whats the conclusion here, i this something that is a ios issue with dji?
imagine how far away the spark already flew during the 5 seconds you spent trying to figure out why the video feed was lost....an no RTH worked when i used the remote again.

here is some more info of the area from skyvector.com   
https://skyvector.com/?ll=48.4653942756127,-4.215820310127278&chart=304&zoom=1

realdeal Posted at 2018-2-25 00:06
1-It was not a windy day, the one flight logs shows this as well.
2-there where sudden breezes, maybe they show up more stronger during flights in sports mode.
3-it was rather chilly...the second flight record link describes the temperature on the ground etc.

RTH cannot work in ATTI mode. I have looked at your flightrecord above but do not have an explanation what might have caused the many serious errors. Have you sent it to DJI already? I recommend opening a new support case if not yet done.

Wachtberger Posted at 2018-2-25 00:24
RTH cannot work in ATTI mode. I have looked at your flightrecord above but do not have an explanation what might have caused the many serious errors. Have you sent it to DJI already? I recommend opening a new support case if not yet done.

First off this SPARK was sent to me from a DJI engineer to replace my first one that suddenly  lost power over a lake (both flight log sites show it ending over a lake) , The engineer said they tested it and it worked perfectly.

But the same thing happened again, no video, no RTH, and this time i got flight logs showing it continued to drift somehwere rather then end at the same exact position where the video of the flight in my screen recording indicated..

I failed to find it during my first search which was according to the site i uploaded my flight log
im in france so it was around 2 am when read your comment. about uploading the flight log to a diferent site, phantom etc, i will try looking at the site of the second flight log  now.

Shows it was well over 100 m high, Do you think it landed at the last position or continued ?

I have been getting abnormal altitude readings since last update.... nearly lost my drone this afternoon as a result... it was flicking between like 3 meters and the actual altitude over and over. As result i couldnt get it to land as it was trying to tell me i was negative 1.8 meters when i was well over 100 meters straight above me. It used the whole battery refusing to go any lower it wasn't until critical battey warning kicked in it forced it to land. As a result it landed very very unstable as it thought it was already at ground level. Has anyone else had this issue since latest app update? Im using samsung galaxy s5 have tried two different phones and both of them running the same version of the app. Its only started doing this since the latest app update for android. The previous one worked perfectly!

At the end of your flightrecord it was flying at 161 meter altitude and almost 34 km/h speed with 71 % battery left. I fear it can have gone much further than that last position.

Sorry to hear you lost another aircraft, how could it have happened ?

Compass error yaw error aircraft dropping gps in favour of compass, this is what happens when Aircraft experiences compass problems, and very early into your flight you had a warning of compass error, it is quite possible that you picked up interference from launch site, if you launch close to cars metal objects rebar concrete, it is also advisable to hover aircraft at low altitude for at least a minute or so to check everything is ok and working well.

When your aircraft received compass error you still had gps and where close to home , however you continued flying 100% elevator and soon after you received yaw error this is a direct cause of bad compass, gps was dropped and you were now in Atti mode again you continued going forward you should have at this stage attempted to land aircraft or turned it to try flying it home , but I expect because it was so high and so far away you really didn’t know where it was or where it was going. But it is clear by your log that your aircraft responded correctly to all stick movements when you were in Atti mode, problem was they were very random to the extent I believe you had lost sight and heading of aircraft.
That’s what happened during your flight.
Will dji offer warranty, I have seen similar cases where they have and others where they have refused.

Just a tip I believe that every pilot of these aircraft needs to have a plan for these circumstances and he should do his best to carry out this to the best of his ability.
If we don’t have some plan and fully depend on Aircraft then we will always risk loosing it.

Spark in the Park Posted at 2018-2-25 00:50
I have been getting abnormal altitude readings since last update.... nearly lost my drone this afternoon as a result... it was flicking between like 3 meters and the actual altitude over and over. As result i couldnt get it to land as it was trying to tell me i was negative 1.8 meters

and IF you lost site of your drone during a few seconds of monitoring the issue on the remote would you accept anyone critisizing you for it as if its your fault the compass behaved abnormal, and a sudden breeze put the drone in atti mode?

I went through hell last time with these a55holes posting  on DJI forums trying to gaslight pilots about the abnormal behavior of a compass, no RTH error error etc,  why would a customer accuse a pilot of causing this and fight to convince me i should buy another spark at 30% , even 50% at the last second they shipped the first replacement..

check this out, when they shipped it they only put that they shipped the remote back while offering 50% off, i refused and an attorney who works for us said it was absurd they behave like this, i warned DJI as there are holes in the way they handle warranty to fix and save this stress and time both for customers who lose their drones and public safety.

hallmark007 Posted at 2018-2-25 00:53
Sorry to hear you lost another aircraft, how could it have happened ?

Compass error yaw error aircraft dropping gps in favour of compass, this is what happens when Aircraft experiences compass problems, and very early into your flight you had a warning of compass error, it is quite possible that you picked up interference from launch site, if you launch close to cars metal objects rebar concrete, it is also advisable to hover aircraft at low altitude for at least a minute or so to check everything is ok and working well.

never received a compass error until mins into the flight, the screen recording of the flight history is what i saw on my phone and i lost site as i tried to spot its exact position,  

This is a screens recording of the flight simulated on the iphone:


The flight logs turned out to be much diferent once i got home to check them

Wachtberger Posted at 2018-2-25 00:52
At the end of your flightrecord it was flying at 161 meter altitude and almost 34 km/h speed with 71 % battery left. I fear it can have gone much further than that last position.

i will check in the next hour...

Back to the warranty?

realdeal Posted at 2018-2-25 01:11
i will check in the next hour...

Back to the warranty?

Yes, you should open a support case with DJI in my opinion.

realdeal Posted at 2018-2-25 01:02
never received a compass error until mins into the flight, the screen recording of the flight history is what i saw on my phone and i lost site as i tried to spot its exact position,  

This is a screens recording of the flight simulated on the iphone:

I’m not debating whether compass/yaw errors is your fault or a malfunction in aircraft, but in both of your Aircraft losses, you were flying your spark on the outer limits of VLOS and you had no real plan of what to do if something went wrong , as it did the chances of loosing your aircraft are always going to be higher flying this way.

Unscientifically speaking, perhaps most flyaways  accompany some or all the following : sport mode, turns, high wind, and gps difficulty.
In guessing why this is so, I wonder if the satellite softare mask of I think 5 degrees above the horizon is so suddenly tilted in sport or high wind conditions as to suddenly  lose some satellites, perhaps inportant ones at that time, and/or receive signals too close to the horizon to be reliable.

hallmark007 Posted at 2018-2-25 04:27
I’m not debating whether compass/yaw errors is your fault or a malfunction in aircraft, but in both of your Aircraft losses, you were flying your spark on the outer limits of VLOS and you had no real plan of what to do if something went wrong , as it did the chances of loosing your aircraft are always going to be higher flying this way.

what VLOS?  the hight limit in France is 400m, the property i am flying over is ours, i dont need permission to fly in the levels some french areas control and with tall trees reaching 30-45m you think flying lower will get you anywhere?, not to forget hills and mountains near by.

Malfunction was the cause of this loss, again, until DJI implements a GPS tracking option to find their aircrafts AFTER loss of video i cant see how they can argue with cases like this once they are lost, i certainly cant lie about it but i refuse to go through the BS i went through before where i was told they had no real answers, get a gps tracking option going, it seems to already be there but disappears once video feed is lost.

I guess they dont want people flying drones too far with no video feed.

realdeal Posted at 2018-2-25 05:55
what VLOS?  the hight limit in France is 400m, the property i am flying over is ours, i dont need permission to fly in the levels some french areas control and with tall trees reaching 30-45m you think flying lower will get you anywhere?, not to forget hills and mountains near by.

Malfunction was the cause of this loss, again, until DJI implements a GPS tracking option to find their aircrafts AFTER loss of video i cant see how they can argue with cases like this once they are lost, i certainly cant lie about it but i refuse to go through the BS i went through before where i was told they had no real answers, get a gps tracking option going, it seems to already be there but disappears once video feed is lost.

I think the problem here is you have no respect for the rule of flying your drone in VLOS , first height limit in France is 150 metres, you think if you fly out of VLOS somehow it’s somebody else is fault you accept no responsibility for anything you do, you flew out of VLOS you didn’t have a clue what to do when something went wrong, you then show up here trying to blame everything else because of your lost Aircraft, Grow up and take some responsibility it’s the second drone you lost because 1/ you don’t know the rules for the country your flying in and 2/ you chose to fly out of VLOS . If trees are 35 metres high you don’t have to be more than 10 metres above them, also if your envoirment is not good for drones pick another one you can’t blame dji for the envoirment your flying in.

realdeal Posted at 2018-2-25 05:55
what VLOS?  the hight limit in France is 400m, the property i am flying over is ours, i dont need permission to fly in the levels some french areas control and with tall trees reaching 30-45m you think flying lower will get you anywhere?, not to forget hills and mountains near by.

Malfunction was the cause of this loss, again, until DJI implements a GPS tracking option to find their aircrafts AFTER loss of video i cant see how they can argue with cases like this once they are lost, i certainly cant lie about it but i refuse to go through the BS i went through before where i was told they had no real answers, get a gps tracking option going, it seems to already be there but disappears once video feed is lost.

Simple rules to understand for France.

realdeal Posted at 2018-2-24 23:52
your accusation is factitious and dishonest,  of course i never flew beyond site, i lost site in the matter of seconds while investigating what went wrong on my phone....duh!

please stay on the subject as its clearly a malfunction in the compass as well as ATTI and RTH...as the flight logs indicate the drone clearly know where the home was an NEVER returned after losing video feed.,

The height limit was 50m in this area and you were flying way over it. Even over 150m the max in France.
Also you were flying in sport mode with high wind which is dangerous.

hallmark007 Posted at 2018-2-25 06:18
Simple rules to understand for France.

[view_image]

your logic has nothing to do with the problem.

We have a clearance of 400m with the perfectuer and Gendarme, you can do it if you own the area! the 30-50m restrictions in a zone D area are results of a private airport rarely used this time of year, we also have airplane in path to a international airport as well as our airforce but none fly anywhere near 400m, they are 3000m above that or more.

If your from DJI your comment contains elements of BLACKMAIL or EXTORTION., the flight restrictions have no effect on the malfunction of yawl, compass errors, battery failures, loss of video, no gps, sudden breeze or wind etc etc.

Please stay on the topic as your using politics to maneuver responsibility of the warranty or claim malfuction based on nonesense., we work with the Gendarmerie, the region is a military community.

realdeal Posted at 2018-2-25 08:24
your logic has nothing to do with the problem.

We have a clearance of 400m with the perfectuer and Gendarme, you can do it if you own the area! the 30-50m restrictions in a zone D area are results of a private airport rarely used this time of year, we also have airplane in path to a international airport as well as our airforce but none fly anywhere near 400m, they are 3000m above that or more.

You were flying too high, over habitation, and too fast according to the wind and you lost control creating a risk for people.
Gendarme doesn't have any power about drones (they can't allow, only enforce law). Only DGAS and prefecture can take decisions.

djiuser_a674wNvybfvB Posted at 2018-2-25 08:49
You were flying too high, over habitation, and too fast according to the wind and you lost control creating a risk for people.
Gendarme doesn't have any power about drones (they can't allow, only enforce law). Only DGAS and prefecture can take decisions.

Never flew the drone over anyone's property, i already explained and showed videos showing where I flew the drone.

the rest was the drone malfunctioning which caused it to fly fast and over anything threatening public safety,  not me...

You better get your facts straight and strop trying to assert i did anything to cause the spark to do what it did., this is a warranty issue.

realdeal Posted at 2018-2-25 08:54
Never flew the drone over anyone's property, i already explained and showed videos showing where I flew the drone.

the rest was the drone malfunctioning which caused it to fly fast and over anything threatening public safety,  not me...

No it's twice the same problem, maybe because you take off near a huge metal warehouse that may disrupt the magnetic compass at takeoff. And you start your fly by getting very high and then very fast and this is dangerous for other people. You should better wait 1 minute or 2 to see if everything works fine before sport mode in a windy aera with many buildings (= magnetic issues or wi-fi interferences etc.).Not safe flight is a problem for everybody.

realdeal Posted at 2018-2-25 08:24
your logic has nothing to do with the problem.

We have a clearance of 400m with the perfectuer and Gendarme, you can do it if you own the area! the 30-50m restrictions in a zone D area are results of a private airport rarely used this time of year, we also have airplane in path to a international airport as well as our airforce but none fly anywhere near 400m, they are 3000m above that or more.

Then maybe the gendarme will give you your warranty, if you choose to fly out of line of sight and don’t or are not able to control your aircraft in Atti mode you should stay in beginner mode, dji didn’t give you warranty the first time around and it’s not looking good for you with this one either.

djiuser_a674wNvybfvB Posted at 2018-2-25 08:49
You were flying too high, over habitation, and too fast according to the wind and you lost control creating a risk for people.
Gendarme doesn't have any power about drones (they can't allow, only enforce law). Only DGAS and prefecture can take decisions.

I fully agree with you, the OP lost his first drone because he was flying far to high and never learned any lesson went out and done exact same thing and now has lost a second one. I believe it’s aviation authorities who set the rules in France not gendarme.

hallmark007 Posted at 2018-2-25 09:43
I fully agree with you, the OP lost his first drone because he was flying far to high and never learned any lesson went out and done exact same thing and now has lost a second one. I believe it’s aviation authorities who set the rules in France not gendarme.

1st off, the first drone certainly was gone due to defected remote, DJI CONFIRMED IT!

2nd, the DJI spark is limited to 500m high and 2 klm

3rd your allowed to fly as high as you want over your own property or areas you have permission from owners, local gendarmerie (military police), perfecteur or town hall.

4th this drone has tons of errors a few people here pointed out very well, my final destination is in the flight simulation video.

preposterous trolls, i ask you to stop harassing me and stay on the topic.

realdeal Posted at 2018-2-24 23:52
your accusation is factitious and dishonest,  of course i never flew beyond site, i lost site in the matter of seconds while investigating what went wrong on my phone....duh!

please stay on the subject as its clearly a malfunction in the compass as well as ATTI and RTH...as the flight logs indicate the drone clearly know where the home was an NEVER returned after losing video feed.,

Who's being dishonest?  Your drone was within eyesight but you did not fly it back to yourself when it encountered a compass error/changed to ATTI mode.  Your drone was within eyesight at 160 meters and 180 meters out?  Was it a vague dot that you couldn't find again the second you took your eyes off the dot?  That would result in poor ATTI mode flying by the pilot.

The prior incident was within eyesight also but you don't know what happened to the drone with it.  Don't know with it right there within eyesight?  Surely, you could see it fall or fly off if it was right there in front of you within "eyesight".

Malfunctions of the compass are the pilot's fault.  Don't fly it in areas of magnetic interference is rule number one for pilots with poor ATTI mode flying skills.  

I find it dishonest that a pilot looses two aircraft in the same location, with the same high wind warnings, and blames the aircraft.   Maybe its the pilot.