Hey all,

I have come across a strange behaviour of the drone when landing.

As we know the landing precision of the M3P ist not really precise. It mostly fails to hit the home point (in my case a landing pad) by one or two meters. So after initiating RTH when the drone is eventually hovering above the home point I still have to correct its position manually. It seems like obstacle avoidance prevents accepting my stick commands. Sometimes it would make huge leaps and sometimes it wouldn't respond at all when moving the sticks. This is when the drone is less than 1 meter above the ground.

Deactivating OA would be a bit inconvenient if that is an option but I haven't tried that yet. I have been flying the drone for like 9 months but it’s always been like that.  Takes a minute sometimes to get it right.

I think I can deal with it but your experiences on how to smoothly maneuver it to the right spot are welcome.

I do RTH, once its 50m above cancel RTH then I switch to sports mode in which OA gets disabled & land it manually.
in my case too its off by 2-3m from home point.

I could copy and paste the reply from Ranjan  #2. as that's exactly my experience, and what I do

Ranjan Posted at 4-3 06:24
I do RTH, once its 50m above cancel RTH then I switch to sports mode in which OA gets disabled & land it manually.
in my case too its off by 2-3m from home point.

me too

Stand up so that the sensors don't pick you up. If you have obstacle avoidance set, they react to you and the drone wants to avoid you.

Blériot53 Posted at 4-3 07:10
me too

Well, I also do it that way, cancel RTH when it is above the HP.
I do not expect it to hit it precisely but I do expect it to react to my commands accordingly.
What I didn't do is switch into sports mode. How could I have missed that?!
Can't wait to check it out.
Thank you.

Sport mode is unnecessary and dangerous. Instead, just turn OA off in the settings. Much more safe. And easier to control.

Mobilehomer Posted at 4-3 07:28
Sport mode is unnecessary and dangerous. Instead, just turn OA off in the settings. Much more safe. And easier to control.

Yep, this would have been my next attempt.
Actually I wanted to avoid going in and out of the menu but I'll give it a try.
I guess either way it's OK. Will see how I get along with it.

Outpost6E Posted at 4-3 07:39
Yep, this would have been my next attempt.
Actually I wanted to avoid going in and out of the menu but I'll give it a try.
I guess either way it's OK. Will see how I get along with it.

Just stand to the side of the drone.

Mirek_62 Posted at 4-3 07:41
Just stand to the side of the drone.

I always do. Minimum 3 meters.

Outpost6E Posted at 4-3 07:24
Well, I also do it that way, cancel RTH when it is above the HP.
I do not expect it to hit it precisely but I do expect it to react to my commands accordingly.
What I didn't do is switch into sports mode. How could I have missed that?!

By the way, I've started hand-catching the drone if the landing surface is anything but flat and smooth.
Switching to Sport mode helps this manoeuvre too as it disables obstacle sensing below and behind the drone.

I also started hand-starting and hand-catching a while ago, especially since I use the drone most often in the mountains without appropriate surface. Requires just a little practice and is the most convenient way for me.

Is obstacle avoidance on during the landing phase of an RTH?      
With the likes of the M2P/Z it is switched off during the landing phase, that seems wise to me and it would seem odd if DJI had decided to change that.
I have yet to find mention, in the manual, of whether OA is on or off during the landing phase of an RTH.