So I finally got to carry out the maiden flight this evening.

In a word.... gobsmacked (British way of saying awestruck!). What a fantastic piece of kit! Super stable, super responsive. Have started in "beginner mode" and will advance slowly :-)

I had one issue... RTH didn't seem to work. When I pressed the icon on the screen it just wanted to land where it was. At first I thought I'd accidently pressed the "land" icon, but after a few more tries, it was definitely wanting to land wherever it was and made no attempt to "come home".

I changed the setting to make it come to where I was instead of where it took off.... no difference.

Is there a setting I'm missing or does anyone have any tips? I do have "smart RTH" activated... could that make a difference?

Anyway, aside from that I am so impressed by this machine after "flying" other quadcopters. And the camera is super (the X3). It was dusk and the photos I took were really nice... it kept the ISO down to 209 and reduced shutter speed to 1/5 .... no blur whatsover, and minimal noise. Really impressed.

Learned a couple of things... a 2011 MacBook Air, even with an i7 chip, does not cut 4K! had to export to 1080p to get the video working. Changing to and from travel mode on tarmac is not a good idea. Flying this machine will attract an audience....

You were probably flying fairly close to where you took off.  There is a minimum distance you need to be away from the homepoint before RTH works. Get her up to about 100 feet altitude and fly out away from yourself a couple hundred feet.  Then try RTH.

Take a look at the RTH section in the User Guide ->Click here to view the Inspire 1 User Guide


Lands immediately if within 20 meter radius of Home Point:

On the RTH function did you hear "The home point has been updated. Please check it on the map" when you took off? If you didn't hear that then your craft didn't record the home point (the area it took off from). On the RTH always you make sure you have the RTH elevation set higher than anything in your surrounding area. Since the Inspire 1 doesn't have  obstacle avoidance built in you have to manually set the elevation for RTH. Always make sure you have it set at a proper altitude so you can get your craft back safely.
On a side note, I never used the RTH function on the Inspire. Mostly because I was extremely cautious about where and how I flew. It is a good idea to make sure it works in case of an emergency but I "personally" wouldn't bring the craft home like that each time I flew it.  

As far as the MacBook goes I agree. That isn't nearly enough horsepower to render 4K video. I purchased a 15 MacBook Pro loaded with the fastest drives, graphics card, etc... to render video and edit photos. It costs a lot but if you are serious about video editing it is almost an absolute necessity.

Yes, you have to be careful where you enter and exit travel mode. If possible the craft needs to be on a very smooth surface for a easy transition to and from travel mode. And I agree that this craft attracts a lot of attention. Just be careful once you put it in the air not to get distracted by any questions onlookers might have. Once the craft was in the air my full and complete attention was directed at the craft and flying safely. I would answer any questions "after" the craft was back safely on the ground.

Enjoy the Inspire 1. It is truly a great craft to fly.

Some very good replies here for you , just want to add a couple of points.  Make sure you always Hear the "Home Point Recoirded" announcement at the beginning of flight , this way you know it has been stored and also you will be able to hear other warnings as well.  Keep in mind that RTH does not move as fast as manually flying the aircraft home .  Make sure your RTH height is set to clear any obstacles in the flying area but not much higher than that, when RTH is engaged you are ususally out a- ways and low on battery , by going to excessive altitude is just  a waste of power when you may need it to make it home safe.  If you enable "Smart RTH"  then the system will calculate how much battery is remaining to still make it back safely : keep in mind this does not take into account headwind, so dont rely on that calculation if you are downwind quite a ways out.  

As you have leaned , and DJI Daroga pointed out , when within 20 meters and RTH is pressed it will just land, keep in mind if just ouside of this parameter  that the Aircraft will climb first and at this time you will have no control of the ascent , just be aware of this and dont be below something that  the aircraft can hit , the best way to cancel the RTH quickly is to press the button on the transmitter ( home button ) and cancel the RTH sequence.  

Dont make a habit of using the RTH, learn to use the compass  and GPS if slightly out of visual  range

****For travel  mode - be sure you are on a hard level surface when engaging and disengaging, the AC uses the VPS sensor under the AC to raise and lower the Gear .  the Gear itself needs a smooth hard surfact for it to work properly .  

Also since you are new to this , before you do ANY UPDATES, please read my tips page, it may save you hours of grief in the future .  Two tips I will give right now .  NEVER UPDATE THE AIRCRAFT WITH THE TRANSMITTER ON, IT CAN CORRUPT THE VIDEO MODULE   and always update the Aircraft FIRST, EVEN IF THE gO APP SAYS THERE IS AN UPDATE FOR THE RC, IF THERE IS ONE FOR THE AIRCRAFT YOU MUST DO IT THE AIRCRAFT FIRST.  failure to do so can lock the AC in travel mode and you will have to do a rollback procedure to get out of the mess.  



Have fun -

donnie

Hi all

Thanks very much for your replies... they all make sense! As I was in beginner mode, and limited to 30M, I was probably less than 20M when i hit the RTH button. Glad there was a cancel option and I could manually steer it away from puddles!

Can't wait for my next practice tomorrow!

Salty777 Posted at 2016-11-23 10:11
Hi all

Thanks very much for your replies... they all make sense! As I was in beginner mode, and lim ...

Here is my tips page for updating. Read it please. You dont have to update if your system is working fine, keep that in the back of your noodle.  

http://forum.dji.com/thread-72851-1-1.html
donnie

Can you someone clarify the rational for "not" using RTH regularly when wanting to bring the aircraft back?  I use this frequently and curious if there is a potential issue I am overlooking.

Once I have the aircraft in site and almost directly overhead, then I switch RTH off and land it manually from that point.

sharif0 Posted at 2016-11-24 15:22
Can you someone clarify the rational for "not" using RTH regularly when wanting to bring the aircraf ...

Just not good practice to use the feature  in case of emergency .  It is always best to fly the aircraft as well, that way you are monitoring the entire flight in case something went wrong .  

Makes you a better pilot as well in my opinion.  You are flying the aircraft rather than it flying you ....know what I mean.

donnie