eYeSkYeYe Posted at 1-30 15:05
I always fly drones away and back to me.... sometimes in circles around me as well.... so every  time i fly my drones i experience both fly aways and fly ins....

You should try to fly up and down as well

Ive had a few flyaways and been able to regain control of them quickly. Perhaps its my experience of no-GPS drones that have helped me.

I wonder if there are different hardware batches of the spark becuase some of the flyaways are difficult to explain. Maybe we should do the same poll for flyaways vs the manufacturing date or hardware version from the unit?

My Spark flew away out of control just after getting an update, and, luckily struck a tree instead of continuing its path toward more populated areas. I complained to DJI and sent the drone to them for evaluation. Here is their reply:

Thank you for your patience.

This is Ken from Technical Support team, and I will be assisting you on this case from now on for related inquiries about data analysis.

Here's the result of the data analysis on your case number: CAS-2657751-T9L9F7.

1. Unit was in P-GPS mode and was responsive to RC input.
2. Unit recorded external impact, at relative height(m) and flight time: 99 secs 32 meters
3. User commanded throttle down and crashed
4. Unit obstacle avoidance cannot tree branches
Incident date: 2019 01 05
Incident GPS location: REDACTED


According to the analysis, the the incident was not caused by any product malfunction.

We can still proceed with the repair, however, you will cover the repair charges.

Your understanding and and cooperation will be highly appreciated.


Best regards,
Ken
DJI Technical Support
Website: DJI Support – Here for You – DJI

So, they are holding me responsible, saying it was a user stick error, because I throttled down, AFTER the Spark flew out of control and struck a tree! They want to charge me $109.00 for the repair, which I refuse to pay, since it was not my fault.  According to DJI, "External Impact" is not a crash, apparently. The crash happens after the Spark drops like a sack of potatoes AFTER the "External Impact." I have hours of flying experience on a Mavic Pro, and thought a Spark might be a fun supplement. Well, I would never trust a Spark again, because "ready to fly" may actually mean, "ready to fly away." I would discourage anyone from purchasing a Spark and am evaluating my choice of the Mavic Pro, which could cause even more mayhem if it flew out of control as the Spark did. This consumer's confidence in DJI products is very low. Look for my Spark on eBay for sale for parts in the near future.

fans7f2768d4 Posted at 2-5 17:04
My Spark flew away out of control just after getting an update, and, luckily struck a tree instead of continuing its path toward more populated areas. I complained to DJI and sent the drone to them for evaluation. Here is their reply:

Thank you for your patience.

I am sorry for your lose. It is a really disapointing case and I started this topic to collect exactly the same information. An amount of flyaways during recent few weeks are huge and frightening. Did you write a separate post about your situation? Can you share a link?

None, if you stick to version 4.1.15 with OTG cable !

fans7f2768d4 Posted at 2-5 17:04
My Spark flew away out of control just after getting an update, and, luckily struck a tree instead of continuing its path toward more populated areas. I complained to DJI and sent the drone to them for evaluation. Here is their reply:

Thank you for your patience.

I suggest make a new thread and upload your flightlog
https://www.phantomhelp.com/logviewer/upload/

so other people on this forum can take a look and analyse

I chose three, having not had a flyaway, and am amazed that many think that a flyaway is the fault of DJI, when it was not DJI at the controls....I'm not an Ace Flyer though, a cautious one who has watched many, many tutorials and think that sometimes it's better to pack up and fly another day when the weather, phone signal, or magnetic interference will not cause the drone problems. ..

ChrisJG Posted at 2-6 11:25
I chose three, having not had a flyaway, and am amazed that many think that a flyaway is the fault of DJI, when it was not DJI at the controls....I'm not an Ace Flyer though, a cautious one who has watched many, many tutorials and think that sometimes it's better to pack up and fly another day when the weather, phone signal, or magnetic interference will not cause the drone problems. ..

Good old prudence. I am trying to do the same way (but sometimes it is so hard to resist the temptation).

Lysak2003 Posted at 2-6 11:52
Good old prudence. I am trying to do the same way (but sometimes it is so hard to resist the temptation).

Better to learn on the cheaper Spark Drone and then benefit from your learning if you buy a bigger / better quality camera drone...I got mine for slightly less money than a brand new one as the box had been opened...I just envision £500 in the sky at the hands of my controller...it focusses the mind!!

Lysak2003 Posted at 1-30 20:57
You should try to fly up and down as well

Checked up that possibility and happily reporting back it's way more fun to move around vertical axis as well.

eYeSkYeYe Posted at 2-7 04:28
Checked up that possibility and happily reporting back it's way more fun to move around vertical axis as well.

It's always worth to try something new. But it's also necessary to take maximum precautions against vertigo while you are moving around. Take care my friend.

Lysak2003 Posted at 2-7 09:13
It's always worth to try something new. But it's also necessary to take maximum precautions against vertigo while you are moving around. Take care my friend.

No vertigo here.... used to thin air and steep peaks.

MavSpa_user Posted at 2-5 23:29
I suggest make a new thread and upload your flightlog
https://www.phantomhelp.com/logviewer/upload/

I put my flyaway flight record and video of it here.

https://forum.dji.com/forum.php? ... p;page=1#pid1920284

fans7f2768d4 Posted at 2-5 17:04
My Spark flew away out of control just after getting an update, and, luckily struck a tree instead of continuing its path toward more populated areas. I complained to DJI and sent the drone to them for evaluation. Here is their reply:

Thank you for your patience.

Yep that is exactly why I refuse to send my Spark to a DJI service center when they wont even allow you to talk to anyone in that service center. Just sounds so dodgy of a business to operate in that way. It's a licence for them to charge whatever they want and tell you whatever they want to fix a drone that is a manufacturers fault.

Never but it's an ever present possibility that can not be ruled out.

Note any ATZ's phone numbers within range just in case ...

I have been flying DJI drones for 3 years
I have had 7 DJI drones
and 0 fly aways.

Lucas775 Posted at 8-3 17:51
I have been flying DJI drones for 3 years
I have had 7 DJI drones
and 0 fly aways.

It's great huge experience!

I've had 4 Total, 2 DJI drones, 1 Parrot drone and the last 1 was HUBSAN i believe. Phantom 2, Phantom 2 Vision+, Bebop, Hubsan(don't remember the model). However i work in Product returns, repairing and testing them, i am happy to say i haven't had any flyaway issues with anything Phantom 3 or newer. Pretty sure that i am very lucky though as i have seen plenty of flyaway flight records.
Been Flying and working with drones for about 6 ish years now. Believe me some of the faults I've seen you can do all the Pre-flight checks you want and still get in a crash, it can put you off flying drones for personal use when all you see are faults and crashes.

When you say flyaway are you referring to the drone flying off by itself having zero control over it to which presumably you lost the drone??...

David Martin Graff Posted at 8-11 03:35
When you say flyaway are you referring to the drone flying off by itself having zero control over it to which presumably you lost the drone??...

Yes indeed!

David Martin Graff Posted at 8-11 03:35
When you say flyaway are you referring to the drone flying off by itself having zero control over it to which presumably you lost the drone??...

Not always lost. I got very lucky.

Lysak2003 Posted at 8-11 06:07
Yes indeed!

That's the worst nightmare for us flyers and this thankfully has yet to happen although I did encounter a serious situation flying my new Mavic 2 Zoom. The drone went into RTH mode but traveled the wrong way with a correct home point recorded, it was traveling at a slow speed and luckily I was connected to the transmission where my simple manual override steered the drone back to a closer return point and I pressed the RTH button again and the drone returned home. I usually press forward on the left stick to accelerate the speed traveling back home, but sometimes the Zoom will just stop dead in its tracks where I'll have to release the stick and it'll start traveling back by itself?

RJB1 Posted at 8-11 13:06
Not always lost. I got very lucky.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCvcof6BnwA&t=62s

Wow - thanks for sharing!

Never had an actual flyaway, but several near-misses.