JJBspark Posted at 2018-10-14 23:06
Hi White Heron,

Try do understand your flightlog, its a flight of 7m 48 secs. Its last record is in Sport mode low altitude but no landing?  What happend.

It would be useful to understand which portion of the video relates to the log.  In the original post, White Heron mentions that she gain altitude immediately after it started behaving abnormally in order to try to get control.  At just before the 4min mark, there is a gain from around 30ft up to almost 100ft.  This is the only signicant height gain I can really see.  However, I don't see any associated sudden yaw changes or anything like what is seen in the video around that point.

White Heron, if you've got further info to be able to help point us in the right direction, I think that would be useful.

what is counter intuitive with the spark is that while gaining altitude to 'restore' control works if you are loosing contact with the controller.. what normally precipitates a jump to atti is GPS issues ... and if its GPS signal loss than being below 30FT ... and more like 20... provided you have line of sight will the permit the VPS to activate and the drone will stabilize somewhat provided you are not over the aforementioned bad surfaces for VPS

DeuceDriv3r Posted at 2018-10-17 15:22
what is counter intuitive with the spark is that while gaining altitude to 'restore' control works if you are loosing contact with the controller.. what normally precipitates a jump to atti is GPS issues ... and if its GPS signal loss than being below 30FT ... and more like 20... provided you have line of sight will the permit the VPS to activate and the drone will stabilize somewhat provided you are not over the aforementioned bad surfaces for VPS

I disagree that it’s loss of GPS signal that normally causes the Spark to jump into ATTI mode. I’ve investigated the logs of a large number of incidents that users have posted on this forum and they are almost always compass/yaw issues that cause it to go into ATTI mode.  There are some notable exceptions to that where one user was flying in a canyon and a few others flying into covered areas such as caves, culverts, under bridges,etc. However, the vast majority of the incidents I’ve investigated were compass/yaw errors.

KlooGee Posted at 2018-10-17 19:51
I disagree that it’s loss of GPS signal that normally causes the Spark to jump into ATTI mode. I’ve investigated the logs of a large number of incidents that users have posted on this forum and they are almost always compass/yaw issues that cause it to go into ATTI mode.  There are some notable exceptions to that where one user was flying in a canyon and a few others flying into covered areas such as caves, culverts, under bridges,etc. However, the vast majority of the incidents I’ve investigated were compass/yaw errors.

start your motors on the ground.. don't take off but be connected to the App

hold your hand over the spark for a couple seconds... it will loose sats almost immediately and jump to atti in less than 3 seconds...

you get ANYWHERE where GPS signal drops, under trees,  near interference like power lines, flying though a microwave repeater between 2 towers (most are at or below 400'), or depending on the GPS rejection algo in the GPS chip, in places where the GPS signal can be bouncing off building etc thats called multipathing and the GPS will drop any satellite that it doesnt 'trust' and won't be allowed back in the solution
some of that same interference also spins the compass.. but regardless of WHY it goes into ATTI... if you have the sticks in full ... the AIRCRAFT is already going full tilt BEFORE you get the WARNING.. and if its at the edge of your VLOS .. you will have a very difficult time in a hurry... if you were close to an object.. it may be too late before you even have a chance to get off the sticks it will jump into full tilt and leap dozens of meters before it tells you its doing so...

... atti mode.. BOOM

Spark ATTI mode fly away.  

Spark owner gives wrong stick inputs twice (then no inputs as he stabs at RTH button) because he doesn't have correct orientation with the aircraft.  Sparks drifts off because it is tilted and not perfectly level.  Spark in ATTI mode can't RTH and relies on pilot to fly it home.  It will keep flying as long as it has signal from the remote.  

If he lets it drift away, signal is lost and Spark will then implement autolanding.  Autolanding is DJI's policy to prevent aircraft from flying across the nation's airspace out of control.  The Spark in the video regains GPS-P mode just before landing and implements RTH because it now knows where it is but, still doesn't have a signal from the remote controller.

After doing some spins in place, Spark surprised me and accelerated faster than expected.  Maneuvered the sticks to avoid collision with tripod mounted camera.  When the Spark doesn't behave as expected, it is time for the pilot to do some of that pilot sh*t.  Quit being a photographer and start being a pilot in command because no autopilot is fully trustworthy (especially the Spark's).