The RTH unexpectedly forced my Mavic 3 to go to my "max altitude" when pressing RTH rather than the "auto RTH altitude" which was a problem because it went 200 feet higher than I wanted and wouldn't allow me to descend which was necessary as I was flying directly into the wind (had I flown lower, I would have extended my battery life).
During this second flight of my Mavic 3, I became concerned I might not have enough power to fully return to home and so I pressed "RTH" with the thoughts the algorithm would do a better job conserving battery power than my manual flight.  As background, I was flying at 365 feet and my Auto RTH altitude was set to 170 feet and "Max Altitude" was set to 387 feet.  Much to my surprise (and disappointment), when pressing RTH, the Mavic 3 ascended up to the maximum flight altitude of 387 feet rather than staying at the the current 365 feet. I tried pulling down the left stick and it would not descend, but instead stayed at the maximum altitude.  Eventually, I had to kill the RTH and take over manually to descend.

Also, the annoying green lens flair appeared as well, but that's a whole other concern.

Me too, higher but not max altitude. But your max altitude was just 22 feet over your current one. See this topic: https://forum.dji.com/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=252957

If your aircraft was flying home towards that low sun, then that is the reason why it went up. It sees the setting sun as an obstacle and tries to climb above it.

Geebax Posted at 11-21 21:20
If your aircraft was flying home towards that low sun, then that is the reason why it went up. It sees the setting sun as an obstacle and tries to climb above it.

Thanks Geebax!  I'm not sure if you're serious or being humorous.  The sun is about 92 million miles beyond the RTH location and so I'm not sure why the drone would think it needs to fly above it.  If you're saying the sun fools the sensors because it can't see anything, that's quite interesting (it would be helpful to know if this is a known limitation of RTH).

He is serious, it has been noted that flying 'into the sun' can cause OA problems with other drones.

Hi,

if you upload your flightlog than its easy to check if the OA is the cause of climbing.
OA false readings shows a climb line wich increase height in steps.

cheers
JJB

fansa735d795 Posted at 11-22 04:02
Thanks Geebax!  I'm not sure if you're serious or being humorous.  The sun is about 92 million miles beyond the RTH location and so I'm not sure why the drone would think it needs to fly above it.  If you're saying the sun fools the sensors because it can't see anything, that's quite interesting (it would be helpful to know if this is a known limitation of RTH).

Yeah sometimes flying straight into the sun your drone may suddenly stop and force you into a different route.

RTH is for emergencies only, and as i understand this was not an emergency. With this i am not saying that the drone shouldn t behave better yhan it did. Anyway next time use RTH only in an emergency and as a last resort. And returning to home thinking that the algorithm will do it better than your hands is not an emergency.

RTH is not just for emergencies.  It's the best way to have the drone point directly back to the home point.