I purchased (2) of the Phantom 3 professionals to use for training via fire and police in our area. One works flawlessly and does not skip a beat. The other one however has been used three times and on two of those during auto take-off the drone would lift about five feet and then bank sharply and go into a dive. The first time I was able to act quickly and control the craft with the sticks, but not so lucky on the second time and the drone crashed into the pavement tearing off the camera and causing severe damage. This happened before the latest firmware that just came out and also without having any hands on the joysticks.
I had great Sat counts and clear sky with no rain or wind. I calibrated compass prior to lift off.

Has anyone else had an issue like this?

I was on hold trying to reach support for a total of 87 minutes before talking to a live person from DJI that gave me a RMA number and told me if would be covered under warranty but would take six weeks from the time they get it to repair and send back. Not very happy with the time turn around as this interferes with the demo dates we had planned for fire/police but I guess it is what it is.
I noticed in the latest update it just mentions it fixes some bug issues but does not give detail on what those bugs were... wish they would disclose this information

vu.q.le@outlook Posted at 2015-6-17 06:52
If you are working for the police, I hope you crash often. You're helping them to spy on people.

That is a response one would expect from someone that clearly does not know his/her facts and instead of simply asking what the use is for would generate a negative comment.

Our area is along several water ways and marshlands and our intentions are to use them to assist in search and locating lost people as well as small boaters. They are also a useful tool for possible standoff situations. But the use we would get from them would be to help us locate lost people and or property

vu.q.le@outlook Posted at 2015-6-17 07:24
Really?
Our civil liberties are on the decline.....this is just another attempt.  We will probably  ...

You need to familiarize yourself with the forum rules!

The newest fw reportedly messes up the VPS - which may be involved in the auto takeoff and landing to some degree.

Personally, I never use either. If you are doing training you should also do them with the sticks - it's really easy.

I have VPS off on my bird - it's really only for indoor use and even then....probably more trouble than it is work.

Sorry to say, if one does it and the other does not the machine may be defective (the VPS setup, etc.).

The only thing you can do is try various options like a complete machine reset on the bad machine - a couple IMU calibrations on a very level surface, etc.

Also, try the auto-takeoff's with the VPS turned off.

DJI is swamped. Realistically, if the unit turns out to be defective you may have more luck through your dealer, amazon or credit card company, etc. if you want to return it (and perhaps then just buy another).

No reason you have to wait on hold for hours.

Once the government gets the drones they will use them for whatever they want...  They will come up with reasons we all agree on why they should have them and once they do it will be used for whatever they want to use it for..  If the people disagree or not..  No one sees the big picture on anything these days, everyone is what I classify as here and now children..  Worried about here and now and not tomorrow..

quinnow1 Posted at 2015-6-17 07:22
That is a response one would expect from someone that clearly does not know his/her facts and inste ...

Our police here have been using quads for about a year now. (not DJI's). They use them for traffic crash analysis as they can often get better information on how an incident happened from above than they can at ground level. As recreational users we've done more damage to the reputation of drones by flying irresponsibly than any law enforcement or emergency response agency has ever managed to do.  IMHO it's better for the rest of us to get more news stories out there with headlines like LOST CHILD FOUND BY QUAD than RECKLESS PILOT CRASHES DRONE INTO BUILDING. Keep up the good work quinnow1.
Sorry to hear about your loss, hope you get it back sooner than later. You might want to avoid the latest firmware update if you're using the auto launch command as it seems to cause problems with VFS for a number of people.

With all the cameras surrounding us at all times, a quad in the sky should be the least of your concerns. If they wanted that view, they used to have to get a police helicopter out which costs a fortune and then you are dealing with cameras that can zoom and have infrared and all the other goodies. A Phantom or Inspire class quad can give an overall picture, not a detailed look at what is going on. I think it is very important for fire departments and anyone else that needs a bird's eye view of a situation to be properly trained to fly these things to keep everyone safe...and budgets down.

Lol. Someone who flies a drone that can video in 4k complaining that our civil  liberties are on the decline. That's pretty ironic.

vu.q.le@outlook Posted at 2015-6-17 06:52
If you are working for the police, I hope you crash often. You're helping them to spy on people.

Remember that if they ever want to use a drone to find one of your lost kids. Truly moronic statement by you

stevetimman@yah Posted at 2015-6-18 05:00
Lol. Someone who flies a drone that can video in 4k complaining that our civil  liberties are on the ...

Who's to say the Vu.q.le is even a drone flyer? Probably just a paranoid forum lurker.

vu.q.le@outlook Posted at 2015-6-18 06:47
My kids are smart enough not to get lost. Not as dumb as your kids.....Don't start with the persona ...

You see where i am from? We don't have the same isues you think you do. Put your tinfoil hat on. This forum is not the place for this type of discussion.

vu.q.le@outlook Posted at 2015-6-18 06:47
My kids are smart enough not to get lost. Not as dumb as your kids.....Don't start with the persona ...

You should re-read Rigworker's post.  He suggested you would like the drone if it helped you find a lost child.  You launched the first personal attack by calling his kids dumb.

Rigworker Posted at 2015-6-19 02:36
You see where i am from? We don't have the same isues you think you do. Put your tinfoil hat on. T ...

I agree 100% with you, Rigworker.

You guys are comical to read lol, they are spying on us to the point they don't need drones to spy on us, there is a root kit in each mobile device we carry, all they do is push a button and they use it against you.
The small towns would use them because they don't have a budget to such things and a drone is the best way to deploy and assess the situation. Get the cucumber out of your head and think straight, we are beyond the point is a surveillance state, we reached that point ten years ago while you were sleeping under the bush comfy blanket.

Willie Wonka Posted at 2015-6-19 04:09
You guys are comical to read lol, they are spying on us to the point they don't need drones to spy o ...

I was giggling reading this thread myself. But seriously...
You bunch of meanie pants, poopie-heads need to calm down and eat some fruit or kraft dinner or something.

vu.q.le@outlook Posted at 2015-6-18 06:47
My kids are smart enough not to get lost. Not as dumb as your kids.....Don't start with the persona ...

vu.q.le.  If you think your rights laws in the US are bad then don't come to the UK.  We have the Human Rights Act which as you will have probably heard is absolutely a nightmare.  I think you guys in the US have more common sense.  Please don't attack the guys and girls who work hard to protect you all.  Whether they are Police, Fire or Ambulance.  Without them where would you be.   If technology helps them to do their job then embrace it don't attack it.....

I apologize for actually replying to the original posters question but that's what I'm doing.

My question in reply is, why are you using auto-takeoff and/or landing?  Why not simply start the P3, lift to about 4 feet of so, hover about  20 seconds or so and fly where you want.

Willie Wonka Posted at 2015-6-19 04:09
You guys are comical to read lol, they are spying on us to the point they don't need drones to spy o ...

Maybe you should get a tinfoil suit as well as a tinfoil hat ;-)

Rigworker Posted at 2015-6-19 06:23
Maybe you should get a tinfoil suit as well as a tinfoil hat ;-)

Lol I have a tinfoil house and tinfoil around my phantom and I wonder why it is not getting any satellites and I only can fly it in attitude mode lol

quinnow1;

I had this EXACT same issue today with my P3P. Checked everything out, (GPS, compass, etc), and let my neighbor "slide" the auto take-off on the Pilot app. The P3P promptly went up to the prescribed hovering position of about 5 ft, sat there for about 4 or 5 sec, then WHOOM!, straight sideways into the boathouse, then skittered upside-down on the ground. Snapped the little Gimbal arm clean off, and of course ripped the ribbon cable right off too. This all happened when I had the controller in-hand, with not a touch to the sticks or anything!

Color-me-SAD!  I guess it's another trip to California Repair Center for my drone.

PS: sad to read all of the off-topic crap in this thread

knupla2 Posted at 2015-6-19 06:02
I apologize for actually replying to the original posters question but that's what I'm doing.

My qu ...

I was doing both...kicking the tires on all features. Just so happened the auto take-off did not agree so well with the second drone.

vu.q.le@outlook Posted at 2015-6-19 07:58
I apologize. Although I disagree with some of you, this is not the place to discuss politics. I like ...

Welcome back! There are some things you wrote that I agree with, but we obviously agree that this isn't the place to discuss them.

I appreciate your apology.

kleenax Posted at 2015-6-19 09:41
quinnow1;

I had this EXACT same issue today with my P3P. Checked everything out, (GPS, compass, et ...

Were you fortunate enough to have the "flight" (such as it was) recorded via your Pilot app? Between that and whatever you can salvage from the appropriate .txt files on your device may provide DJI with some clues as to what went wrong.

kleenax Posted at 2015-6-19 09:41
quinnow1;

I had this EXACT same issue today with my P3P. Checked everything out, (GPS, compass, et ...

Makes me wonder if anyone else had any issue like this. Good luck with your repairs. I hope they back their product. I had two of them and the other works without a single issue.

vu.q.le@outlook Posted at 2015-6-17 06:52
If you are working for the police, I hope you crash often. You're helping them to spy on people.

Sometimes is better to remain quiet and let people think you are ignorant, rather than speaking up and confirming it!

headkumquat Posted at 2015-6-18 01:21
Our police here have been using quads for about a year now. (not DJI's). They use them for traffic ...

I am a retired cop and did traffic accident reconstruction for 10 years. I would have given my left nut for a quad in those days.