With only my second flight for my spark, I only wanted to go straight up and then back down. Had good IMU and compass, 15 Satellites, fully charged up, 5.4ghz wireless good, crystalsky 5.5 took it up to 300ft, then lost connection. Aircraft took off away from me at full speed, directly into the sunlight, lost sight of it, hit RTH, didn't work, hit again on the screen didn't work. Last ditch effort, held the joystick in down position to at least try to bring it down before it hits something or somebody, Eventually, I saw my spark off in the distance the controller regained connection I was able to bring the AC down but RTH didn't function.  Made it back with less than 8% battery. Isn't the AC supposed to enter RTH if it loses connection with the controller? I'm absolutely terrified to take it up again. This is such BS. It should never happen, but apparently, it happens all the time from what I've read here. DJI when are going to fix this "FLY AWAY PROBLEM"?

Disappointment is beyond belief,

PACO

Do you know if the Home Point was updated before you took off ?  Did you hear the message from your phone/tablet ?   You should upload your logs so the guys here can investigate.   I always wait until I have GPS lock and homepoint is updated before flying and haven’t had a problem yet.   I have lost connection, but it RTH’s as expected

The app indicated in Green "Ready to Fly" GPS Mode I think. I do believe it had recorded the home point.

Same here, I’m so happy with the way my spark performs and comes back to me. The only problems I’ve ever had are user error

The real crappy part about it is that it takes off at full speed sport mode. It'd be easy to maneuver the AC if it was misbehaving but flying 30mph away it's difficult to keep it in sight unless you're in an open field.

Hey Paco,

https://dl.djicdn.com/downloads/ ... 0Manual%20V1.6-.pdf

Sorry to hear of your experience, but glad to hear that you were able to bring it back home.  If you upload your flight log from your phone to the following website and then post the resulting URL in this thread, it will help us to potentially understand what happened with your flight.

http://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/Upload/

is the mobile an ios or android device ?

The device was Android, CRYSTALSKY 5.5

Fly always are difficult to prevent if the drone is out of control. If you checked all the boxes them there's nothing else you can do.

As the saying goes "The hardware is only as good as the software that drives it" and in this case... the software is" KA PUTZ", Molding cheese, toe jam, that stuff that collects in the corner of your mouth while on oxycodone.
Sorry but someone has to say it.

Paco572 Posted at 2018-4-23 16:04
As the saying goes "The hardware is only as good as the software that drives it" and in this case... the software is" KA PUTZ", Molding cheese, toe jam, that stuff that collects in the corner of your mouth while on oxycodone.
Sorry but someone has to say it.

i've had the same situation before too. it waaaas a pretty scary moment

Paco572 Posted at 2018-4-23 16:04
As the saying goes "The hardware is only as good as the software that drives it" and in this case... the software is" KA PUTZ", Molding cheese, toe jam, that stuff that collects in the corner of your mouth while on oxycodone.
Sorry but someone has to say it.

Paco, sorry for the accident. Please contact our support and provide the flight records to them to locate the problem: http://www.dji.com/support Any problem, please contact us.

davidmartingraf Posted at 2018-4-23 15:56
Fly always are difficult to prevent if the drone is out of control. If you checked all the boxes them there's nothing else you can do.

i agree. fly aways is the terror of drone users

It would be nice to see your flight logs to know if the drone possibly went into ATTI mode and if that was the case it would have flown with the wind.  Did you check to see if your frequencies were clear before you flew?  

Lost connection with the video but the controller/controls remained in connection?  Did the drone go into ATTI mode so that it lost GPS hover stabilization?  

You did right to get on the sticks and work the problem like a pilot.  RTH is a a fail safe that can be helpful when all else has failed.  RTH can't work if the drone has lost GPS and is in ATTI mode, encounters strong winds, or has its homepoint set as being miles away (some random previous take off point).

You likely lost video feed due to pointing the antennas straight up so that only the tips are facing the drone.  You get a very bad signal that way.  Use the sides of the remote controller's antennas to face the drone straight above you.

Paco572 Posted at 2018-4-23 12:29
The app indicated in Green "Ready to Fly" GPS Mode I think. I do believe it had recorded the home point.

You can check on your Flight Records via the mobile device you were using. It will show "Home Point recorded", with the message to check it on the home screen, this prior to taking off.

that's was scary.. will wait for the flight log to see the main reason of that behaviour..

natnatroswell Posted at 2018-4-23 20:32
i agree. fly aways is the terror of drone users

Most people rarely experience fly aways but when they do it's either usually product malfunction or pilot error.

Paco572 Posted at 2018-4-23 16:04
As the saying goes "The hardware is only as good as the software that drives it" and in this case... the software is" KA PUTZ", Molding cheese, toe jam, that stuff that collects in the corner of your mouth while on oxycodone.
Sorry but someone has to say it.

Paco, I really do suggest you try uploading your logs from this flight so that you (and this community, including myself) can learn more about what happened.  You mentioned before that you are scared to send it back up in the air after this experience.

I would hate for you to give up on it so soon without understanding what may have happened in this case.  Maybe if we can identify what happened from your logs, we can help DJI to fix something that is broken or we can help provide you guidance on how to prevent it from happening in the future.

Many people (including myself) have had "flyaway" experiences early in our drone flying days.  I'm really glad that I didn't give up when I had my experience because I wouldn't have had the opportunity to really enjoy this hobby in the long run like I have.  In my particular case, I just put the drone into a bad situation that I shouldn't have done and because of it, it dropped into ATTI mode and I wasn't prepared to be able to fly it in that condition.  I've learned a lot since then due to many of the fantastic people in this forum.

Best of luck!

I went over my video and it looks like I was usung the DJI goggles. How do I get the logs from it.

I have uploaded the last 5 flights because I don't know which one was the flyway. Up to DJI now to respond.

I discovered a hardware problem with the RC controller, the USB port is loose and at first wouldn't connect to the goggles, had to wiggle the port on the RC to get a picture. Could this be the cause of my flyaway?

what my friend did is he always backs up his drone with an extra gps tracker just in case

ashleygray Posted at 2018-4-24 18:50
what my friend did is he always backs up his drone with an extra gps tracker just in case

may i ask what kind of tracker he used?

davidmartingraf Posted at 2018-4-24 06:33
Most people rarely experience fly aways but when they do it's either usually product malfunction or pilot error.

that's right. or even the strong wind which is very difficult to fight at ease.

Ryan Olivas Posted at 2018-4-24 21:12
may i ask what kind of tracker he used?

my friend is still away. imma come back to you whenever i've got a chance to ask him

ashleygray Posted at 2018-4-26 18:31
my friend is still away. imma come back to you whenever i've got a chance to ask him

Okay i can patiently wait

Paco572 Posted at 2018-4-24 10:43
I went over my video and it looks like I was usung the DJI goggles. How do I get the logs from it.

Paco, i share your fear of a fly-away. I think as new users we have to take some time to learn a lot about how to fly these aircraft to understand what sometimes goes wrong in certain situations.
It seems though that if you were flying using goggles, perhaps you were taking on a bit too much new technology all in one go (not being sure of your experience level). I hope you can quickly regain confidence in your spark though and get back out there asap.

Duncdude Posted at 2018-4-30 04:13
Paco, i share your fear of a fly-away. I think as new users we have to take some time to learn a lot about how to fly these aircraft to understand what sometimes goes wrong in certain situations.
It seems though that if you were flying using goggles, perhaps you were taking on a bit too much new technology all in one go (not being sure of your experience level). I hope you can quickly regain confidence in your spark though and get back out there asap.

I agree. you can't just dive right in into technology without user-experience.

Duncdude Posted at 2018-4-30 04:13
Paco, i share your fear of a fly-away. I think as new users we have to take some time to learn a lot about how to fly these aircraft to understand what sometimes goes wrong in certain situations.
It seems though that if you were flying using goggles, perhaps you were taking on a bit too much new technology all in one go (not being sure of your experience level). I hope you can quickly regain confidence in your spark though and get back out there asap.

Yes, I agree. As a beginner pilot too!

natnatroswell Posted at 2018-4-30 20:45
I agree. you can't just dive right in into technology without user-experience.

exactly, its very to important to have a little experience

Ryan Olivas Posted at 2018-4-29 20:56
Okay i can patiently wait

t'was called trackimo @ryan

davidmartingraf Posted at 2018-4-24 06:33
Most people rarely experience fly aways but when they do it's either usually product malfunction or pilot error.

Well no stuffing, what else is there

Ryan Olivas Posted at 2018-5-1 20:55
exactly, its very to important to have a little experience

Its basically like practicing. In order to be good at something, all you need is a little practice.

natnatroswell Posted at 2018-5-2 20:23
Its basically like practicing. In order to be good at something, all you need is a little practice.

practicing to avoid flyaways? lol

Ryan Olivas Posted at 2018-5-3 21:16
practicing to avoid flyaways? lol

Practicing to control the drone so it isn't lost when ATTI mode hands full control back to the pilot.  "AAAGH,...my aircraft is only attitude stabilized.  Its the apocalypse!"

The first radio control aircraft is subject to crashes and being lost due to the beginner pilot finding limits and improving his skills.  All experience pilots that still have their first aircraft can show people all the glue and tape now holding it together.  

Though drone newbies are known to promptly try to fly across the Atlantic to test the range.  Spectacular photos?  So, glue and tape can't fix their aircraft.

Gunship9 Posted at 2018-5-3 21:50
Practicing to control the drone so it isn't lost when ATTI mode hands full control back to the pilot.  "AAAGH,...my aircraft is only attitude stabilized.  Its the apocalypse!"

The first radio control aircraft is subject to crashes and being lost due to the beginner pilot finding limits and improving his skills.  All experience pilots that still have their first aircraft can show people all the glue and tape now holding it together.  

I agree. It's one way of being an experienced pilot

Ryan Olivas Posted at 2018-5-3 21:16
practicing to avoid flyaways? lol

there's a great chance that you might prevent flyaways by having alot of experience in flying.

Gunship9 Posted at 2018-5-3 21:50
Practicing to control the drone so it isn't lost when ATTI mode hands full control back to the pilot.  "AAAGH,...my aircraft is only attitude stabilized.  Its the apocalypse!"

The first radio control aircraft is subject to crashes and being lost due to the beginner pilot finding limits and improving his skills.  All experience pilots that still have their first aircraft can show people all the glue and tape now holding it together.  

well, drone newbies are more likely to experience drone-crash since they focus more on 'flying' rather than reading the 'manual'.