So after seeing lots of fly away stories lately I thought I would post this...

Just had my 97th flight... a lot to some a mere drop to others!

Decided to have a sunny afternoon light wind flight from the back garden. I live in an estate with quite a few houses around me here in the south of the UK.

Just like a lot of these other stories my Spark was at about 15 meters high no more than 20 meters away from me clear of the roof tops and hoovering as perfect as ever when I got a warning that the spark unexpectically entered ATTI mode.

The drone immediately started to drift to the South sideways away from me...  

Here’s where my story is different, I didn’t panic I didnt let it worry me in the slightest I simply took control and used my experience of actually flying the drone to turn it around and fly it back to me and land in th garden.

Now just like a lot of other stories like these I have flown here lots of times with no problems. This was one of those freak little hiccups that can happen due to environmental conditions and may I say even the occasional software hiccup.

Moral of the story...

1, keep calm and fly
2, don’t bash the home button as if it’s lost GPS it doesn’t know where home is.
3, why we should always be line of sight to the drone, screw the drone code but purely so you can stay in control.

Enjoy your sparks and look after them and they will do what there supposed to do!

nice story! good job!
i hope everybody have something to takeaway from this story!

Can you tell us why it went to ATTI Mode ?

Did you do PreFlight Checks / GPS Satellite Lock / Compass / Sensors / Props etc ?

I think the Spark must have had 2 GPS Modules + 2 Compass like the Mavic, as a Backup if one fails, this is a Starter Drone and many Beginners are using this Drone.

Euro 699 is not a cheap price for a Spark Drone Combo, but many times this is the Problem of Monopoly.


Beginners with less experience will Normally Panic, I would Panic too !

DMX_MT Posted at 2018-5-15 10:22
Can you tell us why it went to ATTI Mode ?

Did you do PreFlight Checks / Compass / Sensors / Props etc ?

I’ve stopped calibrating the compass...

After seeing lots of different views on here it doesn’t make sense to calibrate every time you fly as if you calibrate next to a problem you calibrate a problem if that makes sense.

I selected a 5.8ghz channel I haven’t really used before after seeing some interference warnings. All I can imagine it was is the WiFi interference from the property’s around my house etc.

No real reason in all my flights I’ve had a couple where just bringing it home turning it off and on and choosing a new WiFi channel is all it needs

Good advice and good attitude. The big problem of the others who have lost their Spark is that they do not know what the ATTI mode is and what measures they have to take when this happens.

DMX_MT Posted at 2018-5-15 10:22
Can you tell us why it went to ATTI Mode ?

Did you do PreFlight Checks / GPS Satellite Lock / Compass / Sensors / Props etc ?

GPS was good with 11 Sats

NedUK Posted at 2018-5-15 10:27
I’ve stopped calibrating the compass...

After seeing lots of different views on here it doesn’t make sense to calibrate every time you fly as if you calibrate next to a problem you calibrate a problem if that makes sense.

Do you think, 5.8GHz Wifi is used in UK Homes ? Do you think it was Interference ?

I think it is because the 5.8GHz Wifi in CE MODE is really 'C R A B' in Europe, and the Power is really Poor which give you Mediocre Distance.

I would prefer 2.4GHz Spark <-----> Remote.

2.412 – 2.462 GHz (unobstructed, free of interference) <----- Long Wave
FCC: 1.2 mi (2 km); CE: 0.3 mi (500 m)

5.745 – 5.825 GHz (unobstructed, free of interference) <----- Short Wave
FCC: 1.2 mi (2 km); CE: 0.18 mi (300 m)

Great work on the sticks to manually get back home.

DMX_MT Posted at 2018-5-15 10:35
Do you think, 5.8GHz Wifi is used in UK Homes ? Do you think it was Interference ?

I think it is because the 5.8GHz Wifi in CE MODE is really 'C R A B' in Europe, and the Power is really Poor which give you Mediocre Distance.

If I’m only planning on a little flight close to myself I tend to use 5.8 I think the signal is better closer to you..

2.4 gives more distance but I find I have more info signal problems...

I think it probably just had a gps glitch a few seconds of not being able to connect, honestly not worried just done another flight and all was fine

NedUK Posted at 2018-5-15 11:39
If I’m only planning on a little flight close to myself I tend to use 5.8 I think the signal is better closer to you..

2.4 gives more distance but I find I have more info signal problems...

You are right, in Urban Areas sometimes 5.8GHz is better as the Channels are less busy.

I just really wish there was a way to force the drone into ATTI mode to allow for more practice.

The automatic RTH feature is great for when you loose signal (or the battery gets far too low? I'm on the fence on that one), but I think the manual RTH button so prominent on the control was a bad idea. It should never be relied upon. It's always easier, faster and safer to just fly it home.

MarkMN Posted at 2018-5-15 12:22
I just really wish there was a way to force the drone into ATTI mode to allow for more practice.

The automatic RTH feature is great for when you loose signal (or the battery gets far too low? I'm on the fence on that one), but I think the manual RTH button so prominent on the control was a bad idea. It should never be relied upon. It's always easier, faster and safer to just fly it home.

Try wrapping tinfoil on it.. Mind the wents though

Nice work! I have had one incident like this as well, but flew it back to me without incident just as you did. I have experience with non-stabilized RC planes and helis, which definitely helped. It also regained GPS mode after maybe 30sec or 1min, so I didn't have to fly it all the way back in ATTI.

Most of the time you get to keep the video feed while in ATTI, and even if that drops, you still get the heading and position on the map in the app, so you can attempt to fly back with those aids if you can't see it. (I could still see it, but had a little trouble figuring out exact orientation at first.)

DMX_MT Posted at 2018-5-15 11:47
You are right, in Urban Areas sometimes 5.8GHz is better as the Channels are less busy.

Not sometimes, in urban areas the 5.8 always is better. The 300m ranger is not that bad. At this distance in most cases you will not see your drone anymore.

Firehawk989 Posted at 2018-5-15 12:52
Nice work! I have had one incident like this as well, but flew it back to me without incident just as you did. I have experience with non-stabilized RC planes and helis, which definitely helped. It also regained GPS mode after maybe 30sec or 1min, so I didn't have to fly it all the way back in ATTI.

Most of the time you get to keep the video feed while in ATTI, and even if that drops, you still get the heading and position on the map in the app, so you can attempt to fly back with those aids if you can't see it. (I could still see it, but had a little trouble figuring out exact orientation at first.)

There is no reason why you should lose your video feed at all in ATTI mode since it only means that the drone has lost GPS.

The only reason you would lose video feed is lack of signal to the spark from the handset at which point if the conditions are right it will auto RTH

Thanks for your sharing. I believe that you will have a good skill of flight in the future.

Thanks for sharing. One question ~

Will the PAUSE BUTTON work if the AC is in ATTI Mode?

SparkChog Posted at 2018-5-15 22:14
Thanks for sharing. One question ~

Will the PAUSE BUTTON work if the AC is in ATTI Mode?

That's a good question....I'd like to know the answer to that as well.

JimFandango Posted at 2018-5-15 23:28
That's a good question....I'd like to know the answer to that as well.

GPS Mode - Spark - will Hold Position - when Connected to Satellites via Coordinates

ATTI - Spark - will NOT Hold Position but will hold Altitude - as the Satellites Connection will be Low or Lost. It will Drift away with Wind. Altitude calculated via the Barometer

When in ATTI Pause will not work, as the Drone cannot hold Position. This will result in a Drift, which many call it Fly Away. Practically its not a 'REAL' Fly Away, because the Controller many times will still be connected and the Drone could be Manually Controlled. Its 'Flys Aways' as the Force by Wind Currents will be Pushing It Away.

DMX_MT Posted at 2018-5-16 00:58
GPS Mode - Spark - will Hold Position - when Connected to Satellites via Coordinates

ATTI - Spark - will NOT Hold Position - as the Satellites Connection will be Low or Lost. It will Drift away with Wind

I understand that the Spark won't hold position in ATTI mode, but I wouldn't have thought the pause button uses GPS to use in its braking calculations because of the +/-5m or so horizontal resolution of the GPS. I was wondering, while in ATTI mode, which of the two options the Spark does:

1)  Knowing that it won't hold position while stationary, the Spark ignores the pause button input; or
2)  The Spark accepts the pause button input and uses some internal calculation based on pitch to estimate its speed and attempt to brake, following which it will drift with the wind.

JimFandango Posted at 2018-5-16 01:10
I understand that the Spark won't hold position in ATTI mode, but I wouldn't have thought the pause button uses GPS to use in its braking calculations because of the +/-5m or so horizontal resolution of the GPS. I was wondering, while in ATTI mode, which of the two options the Spark does:

1)  Knowing that it won't hold position while stationary, the Spark ignores the pause button input; or

Hey Jim,

From the Video you can see that even with No Wind, if he pushes it, it will not Brake, and will drift away.

Its hard to tell if it is 1 or 2. I tell you why.

1) This is Most Probably how it works, but cannot Guarantee, only DJI Engineers can tell you about this, as we don't have any Documents Stating this Fact, but I think that how it works. Just like you said.

2) When in ATTI Mode it uses some Sensors + Barometer to determine the Height, I really doubt if it can calculate the Exact Speed, as there won't be GPS to make Distance Calculations, or some form of Laser Readings to Calculate Distance / Time Taken from Point A to Point B, correct me if I am wrong. If it calculated speed I dont know how it is done, maybe some form of Complex Accelerometers ?

In reality as far as I know, the Drone doesnt have Brakes. Just like a Ship or Boat. For a Ship to brake they usually think far before arriving and the engine rotation / motors will turn in reverse mode to cause the Braking.

The Drone just like the Boat, cannot Brake in the Air, as there is no Friction like when you brake a Car, Tyre with Tarmac Road. The Drone brakes in ATTI mode if you control it with reducing power and tilting backwards. Just like a Helicopter.

Imagine you have a Boat and I go to push it, it will still drift as the Sea is not a Solid Medium, just like Air, you cannot Grip or Grab the Air.

The GPS acts like an ANCHOR on a Boat -

Anchor - Holds the Boat in Position as it will have a Heavy Iron Anchor at the Bottom with a Chain Connected to the Boat. Still the Boat has no Brakes.

GPS - Holds the Drone in Position with Co-ordinates, if there is a force, by hand / wind etc.. if will force itself back to where it was Idle. Its like a Virtual Anchor done thanks to Co-ordinates of the Last Idle Point that the Drone Stopped. Its a bit complicated but when you see the Flight Logs you see that every Second is recorded as each Second there are lots of Computer Calculations being made inside the Drone. This is a Complicated Piece of Equipment.

If there was the Ability of having the Pause Button it would be GREAT, something could be done maybe a Bottom Camera which takes Images of the Ground Below it, and when the drone is in ATTI mode in Pause or Hover Mode, it will see that it is drifting (Change of Bottom Camera Images just like how a CCTV has Motion Detection) and will refer to the Pictures taken from the Bottom Camera to re adjust the position. This would be a problem on the Sea / Water though. Or Maybe a Field with Grass as the Background wont have so much different Textures. I know I am maybe saying a Stupidty. But just an idea.... Things start from little stupidities or mistakes eg. The Laser Hair Removal, where a Scientist burn his hand once and hair didn't grow again and left a patch.

JimFandango Posted at 2018-5-16 01:10
I understand that the Spark won't hold position in ATTI mode, but I wouldn't have thought the pause button uses GPS to use in its braking calculations because of the +/-5m or so horizontal resolution of the GPS. I was wondering, while in ATTI mode, which of the two options the Spark does:

1)  Knowing that it won't hold position while stationary, the Spark ignores the pause button input; or

Sorry for my long answer, but I am a Very Complicated Person, but I liked your questions as it is an interesting topic to debate.

nice sharing

Couldn't agree more