I'd genuinely like to know what circumstances could genuinely be considered a Flyaway situation caused by pilot error.

(Context: I'm planning on buying a Mini 2 and am trying to weigh up the cost/benefit of DJI Care Refresh and am concerned that the Flyaway cover isn't really worth anything.)

DJI drones have automatic emergency RTH if the battery runs low or if the aircraft loses connection with the controller.

In most failure scenarios this should mean that the drone cannot be lost due to a flyway, surely.

If the drone did lose connection and continued to fly off into the distance, surely this would be a software failure in that the RTH did not kick in?

I can see that in strong wind if the pilot has ignored strong wind warnings and battery remaining etc it may not be possible to get the aircraft back to a safe spot to land, but does that constitute a flyaway? I wouldn't have thought so, even if the aircraft is unrecoverable. Or am I wrong - would an unrecoverable aircraft in this situation be considered a Flyaway? (Though I'm sure Care Refresh wouldn't cover it anyway as it was due to the pilot ignoring warnings).

So, if a flyaway were due to a failure of the aircraft it should surely be covered under the warranty - Flyaway cover not required.

If it were due to the pilot ignoring warnings, or other pilot error, Care Refresh would t cover the flyaway anyway (or would it?).

The cost for a Flyaway replacement can't actually be far off the cost of a brand new aircraft anyway (without controller etc, when factoring in the Care Refresh cost).

I'm curious to know what situations would be covered by this that wouldn't be covered by the warranty which should cover any loss due to a failure of the product (at least under UK consumer law).

-N.O.T.

Before flying off somewhere, you need to set your HOME point. Otherwise the aircraft will think you're still in the last location where it was set. In most cases, it will set it automatically but not always.
For example, if I fly at the local AMA field and set RTH there - then a few days later fly at my house (maybe 10 miles away) and don't set the HOME point, if I press RTH, it will want to go back to the AMA field. Not good.

Mr. Strat Posted at 11-19 20:19
Before flying off somewhere, you need to set your HOME point. Otherwise the aircraft will think you're still in the last location where it was set. In most cases, it will set it automatically but not always.
For example, if I fly at the local AMA field and set RTH there - then a few days later fly at my house (maybe 10 miles away) and don't set the HOME point, if I press RTH, it will want to go back to the AMA field. Not good.

I understand that, but would that be considered a Flyaway?

1. You know where the drone went if you have lost control.
2. You can cancel the return to home as soon as you realise what's happening (and can reset the RTH home point (to the controller position, for example) via the app).
3. As this is pilot error, would the Flyaway protection cover it?

Also, does the RTH point not update as soon as the aircraft fix is strong enough, so the RTH point would not be where you flew previously, but somewhere hopefully closer to your most recent take of point - assuming a GPS fix could be achieved there.

-N.O.T.