I am thinking of getting a Spark as it’s size is an important factor for me. I have read post after post on flyaways and gps/compass errors and whilst some of these must be genuine malfunctions there seems to be a lot of of newbie mistakes with people not responding to error messages or ensuring proper calibration/pre flight checks.

There must be plenty of people out there who are successfully flying their  Spark who are getting similar errors or problems, rectifying them and continuing to fly safely and successfully. Instead of all the horror stories can people give advice on what they are doing right ensuring they continue to enjoy their Spark for longer than a handful of flights before disaster?

Don't ignore error messages. Always wait until you have a SOLID GPS lock. Don't force it and fly in areas with bad connection, GPS signal, wifi signal, or densely populated areas there have too much electrical interference. Maintain your equipment. Do all the required updates. Don't fly in restricted areas.
This about covers it. I have 350+ miles on my Spark and have only been worried about it probably 2-3 times. When you get into a hairy situation just stay calm and trouble shoot while bringing  your drone back safely. DON'T just hit "Return to Home" and expect it to come back to you (especially when you're having compass errors or sketchy GPS signal)

There are a lot of tips about avoiding fly aways.
Just 2 threads from this forum:
https://forum.dji.com/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=140027
https://forum.dji.com/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=87212

That would be a good starter for preventing them.

Early flights should be done in areas that are clear enough of people, structures, and trees, that you would fly a model airplane in.  A grass field would be nice in case you have to crash land on it.  Save the riskier flights like you see in youtube for when you have a better feel for the drone's capabilities and limitations.   I find new owners first flights on long distances across their housing tracks, in their house, off sea cliffs across the ocean, or by city buildings, very humorous.  

get a small cheap quad copter and practice flying before stepping up to one of DJI's drones.  Knowing how to actually fly an aircraft is important if all of the nannies decide to quit.  

RobertWSimpson Posted at 2018-3-15 14:18
get a small cheap quad copter and practice flying before stepping up to one of DJI's drones.  Knowing how to actually fly an aircraft is important if all of the nannies decide to quit.

That is actually a great tip!

RobertWSimpson Posted at 2018-3-15 14:18
get a small cheap quad copter and practice flying before stepping up to one of DJI's drones.  Knowing how to actually fly an aircraft is important if all of the nannies decide to quit.

I only had an issue getting familiar with the layout of the controls,  since my cheap RC heli had an unusual stick layout.

Thanks for the tips. The videos are good. I should have probably said I’ve flown Quadcopters before, I’ve actually built a couple on open source platforms albeit a couple of years ago. I have flown manually and know with even the slightest breeze your ac will drift and I know how when panic sets in things get out of control quickly so I get why people who don’t have experience of flying ATTI mode would struggle to retain their ac in such a situation. However, I never owned a DJI product and am curious to know if the errors that people I see posting and subsequent flyaways are mainly pilot error from not performing calibrations after firmware updates, checking compass offsets or any other preflight checks etc.. I am not familiar with the Dji go app but I would imagine all relevant  information can be viewed pre flight to determine if it is safe to fly.  I am just curious to hear what routines people have who have been successfully flying a Spark for some time have,.

For me, I just ensure I don't fly until the home point has been updated.

I use OTG which gives me better video range.   (older firmware and go4 version)

I've flown as far as 1.2km and used RTH (automatically) only once when it disconnected.

Never had any gps/compass/imu errors...

I put together this video a while back after seeing a lot of new owners doing some crazy things.  It’s a bit in your face, so full screen may not be the way to go... Lol!

How NOT to lose your drone - The ultimate guide for DJI Spark, Mavic Pro, and Phantom pilots

No problems here either. So far I've always flown in very isolated places while on various outdoor adventures, so chances of any interference are basically zero.

Agree with the other posters who have said wait till home point is recorded, always check sensor states before takeoff, etc etc.

Cookster670 Posted at 2018-3-15 16:28
For me, I just ensure I don't fly until the home point has been updated.

I use OTG which gives me better video range.   (older firmware and go4 version)

I don't understand how OTG gives better video range...my understanding is that OTG only is the connection between the RC and mobile device.  

Rustic17 Posted at 2018-3-15 22:39
I don't understand how OTG gives better video range...my understanding is that OTG only is the connection between the RC and mobile device.

Because You free up both 2.4GHz & 5.8GHz to comunicate between
RC and AC. Here In EU we have a heavyly reduces transmitpower on both
band. So If We only can use 5,8GHz between RC and AC we can fly aproximaly
50-70 mtrs away max.
2,4GHz reaches much longer.
As I know, without OTG cable, the 2.4GHz is used to communicate between
phone & RC.

Another thing is, that you reduce inteference from the phones wifi network, because
with OTG cable you can turn off all radios in the mobilephone. (Flight mode)

RobertWSimpson Posted at 2018-3-15 14:18
get a small cheap quad copter and practice flying before stepping up to one of DJI's drones.  Knowing how to actually fly an aircraft is important if all of the nannies decide to quit.

Definitely the best answer!!! I would even recommend something that does not have altitude hold so pilot and not electronics is actually controlling the craft. Once you learn to fly untwinkled, flying highly automated DJI birds should be very easy.

eYeSkYeYe Posted at 2018-3-16 01:34
Definitely the best answer!!! I would even recommend something that does not have altitude hold so pilot and not electronics is actually controlling the craft. Once you learn to fly untwinkled, flying highly automated DJI birds should be very easy.

"untwinkled" -  apt and colorful way of describing it.

I wholeheartedly agree that you should get a cheap drone to experiment with first. mine was a Syma X5. great little craft. But other than that reading and following the manual is soo important. pay attention to your surroundings, not just for people and animals but also for things which could interfere with your WIFI signal, and/or your compass. Don't fly Sport Mode straight away. Fun as it may be you need to be confident in your controls. Don't fly without a controller at any time, and as ever, be careful of wind. this little fella doesn't like wind too much, well certainly not as much as his big friends.
You worry about all the problems there are reported on here. Work out how many Sparks are purchased each year and ask how many have reported problems on here. A very very small proportion. like many have enjoyed lots of fun flying this great little drone as you will too.

RobertWSimpson Posted at 2018-3-15 14:18
get a small cheap quad copter and practice flying before stepping up to one of DJI's drones.  Knowing how to actually fly an aircraft is important if all of the nannies decide to quit.

This is great advice, I would include do not practice flying in headless mode, it teaches very bad habits. I fly my inductrix around the office all the time, my left/right coordination when flying towards me is automatic now, headless mode doesn’t hone this skill.

You've been given some good advice so far. To that I'd like to add: don't be in any hurry to get that terrific cinematic footage or panoramic photo. Above all, practice with your Spark, or get a cheap quad and practice with that. You can practice indoors with the Spark with the prop guards on in Beginner mode if you have a large room with a high ceiling. Getting that left/right/forward backward coordination with the Spark flying toward you takes practice, as does getting a feel for how it responds to the controls. Above all, you want to feel comfortable with those controls. Being comfortable and confident with the controls will let you pay more attention to your surroundings and your phone/tablet so you can be alert to any issues that arise and respond to them.
What I've observed is that while some incidents that have been reported here were the result of bad luck/defective Spark, others were definitely were caused by the pilot doing too much too soon/pushing the limits, which resulted in them getting themselves into a jam.

Bluebouye Posted at 2018-3-15 14:51
Thanks for the tips. The videos are good. I should have probably said I’ve flown Quadcopters before, I’ve actually built a couple on open source platforms albeit a couple of years ago. I have flown manually and know with even the slightest breeze your ac will drift and I know how when panic sets in things get out of control quickly so I get why people who don’t have experience of flying ATTI mode would struggle to retain their ac in such a situation. However, I never owned a DJI product and am curious to know if the errors that people I see posting and subsequent flyaways are mainly pilot error from not performing calibrations after firmware updates, checking compass offsets or any other preflight checks etc.. I am not familiar with the Dji go app but I would imagine all relevant  information can be viewed pre flight to determine if it is safe to fly.  I am just curious to hear what routines people have who have been successfully flying a Spark for some time have,.

If you know how to fly a quad, you're miles ahead of the curve already.  

A couple of other things to do before you fly:
1. make sure that you set the home point.  The craft will do this automatically as long as you wait long enough to get a robust GPS signal before you go flying around.  You don't have to stay on the ground, but you do need to stay in the area where you want the home point.
2. make doubly sure to set your RTH altitude.  I've seen videos of sparks flying directly into stuff because the RTH altitude is set to 'current altitude' or too low.  Make sure that you set it higher than the obstacles in the area so that if you do lose connection, your little guy flies OVER them, not THROUGH them.
3. Have fun. It sounds like you're ready!

FarmerMac Posted at 2018-3-16 01:23
Because You free up both 2.4GHz & 5.8GHz to comunicate between
RC and AC. Here In EU we have a heavyly reduces transmitpower on both
band. So If We only can use 5,8GHz between RC and AC we can fly aproximaly

So is that reduced transmitter power because of how your European Spark is configured???  CE or something??? If I bring a US Spark (FCC) to Europe and disregard the WLAN message that will come up when I first power up, won't my Spark be transmitting just like it does in US and I will have the ranges I'm used to getting???

I use the OTG cable usually.  There are plusses and minuses.  plus - you don't have to worry about connecting to the wireless network every time.  Minus - it's an extra thing to plug in and an extra cable to purchase and carry with you.

RobertWSimpson Posted at 2018-3-16 08:54
I use the OTG cable usually.  There are plusses and minuses.  plus - you don't have to worry about connecting to the wireless network every time.  Minus - it's an extra thing to plug in and an extra cable to purchase and carry with you.

Aren't there some other features you lose in OTG??  And if in OTG, do you have to manually select channels?  It would be nice for someone that uses OTG all the time to give us newbies to OTG a checklist of how you set things up initially and what you do each flight (like airplane mode on the phone, etc.)  Thanks

FarmerMac Posted at 2018-3-16 01:23
Because You free up both 2.4GHz & 5.8GHz to comunicate between
RC and AC. Here In EU we have a heavyly reduces transmitpower on both
band. So If We only can use 5,8GHz between RC and AC we can fly aproximaly

And what happens when you get to the 50-70 meter range?  Do you lose connection??  Does the Spark RTH??

Read the manual. Watch the tutorials, research on YT and here and take your time. Oh, and use an iPhone!

Thanks for all the tips. Anyone using Android successfully? I have a Samsung S7.

Bluebouye Posted at 2018-3-17 09:14
Thanks for all the tips. Anyone using Android successfully? I have a Samsung S7.

Yep, I run a galaxy S7 with RC. In Aus. I am finding I am running into VLOS issues before any signal issues. I have been as far as 300m from the take off point and around 110m up with no issues or degradation in signal.

When I travelled up north recently though, and flew in a different city, i found that there was heaps more interference, and I was getting laggy footage and cut outs at not too far away. I checked the WiFi settings and it was in 2.4gHz (first time) whereas most of the time it is in 5.8. I suspect that in 5.8 you get better bandwidth (i.e. video/data stream), but you get greater range and lower attenuation with 2.4?

Either way, should be fine with Samsung.

Bluebouye Posted at 2018-3-17 09:14
Thanks for all the tips. Anyone using Android successfully? I have a Samsung S7.

My Sparks works fine with RC and Sony Xperia M4. In EU/Finland that is. I initially had some connectivity issues indoors, with lots of WLAN interference and tried OTG cable with DJI GO 4 4.1.15 version. That worked well, but as flying outdoors is just fine with WLAN connection to RC I have now used the lates DJI GO 4 version and flown my Spark without OTG.