I was flying over a riverfilming boats and my PV2+ was having trouble keeping up with the boats. Idecided to switch to ATTI mode and run a speed test. I thought that in ATTImode it would maintain altitude but not position. I started at 40 feet above thewater and at about 40 mph the altitude started to drop rather quickly so l letoff the forward motion to allow the phantom to recover height. That was a faras I got before I started to endeavor on my first under water documentary. A cautionary tale: the phantom can lose altitude and it will not automatically recover it. On the bright side, I now know it will go faster in ATTI mode.

Good to know. Never considered the loss of altitude while in ATTI. Definitely something to stay focused on, especially over water! Haha. Thanks for sharing.

On a curious note, what kind of damage, if any, did the drone receive.
Thanks

ATTI is supposed to maintain altitude and orientation. I've never seen it lose altitude unless the battery was getting low.

1nsp3ct0r Posted at 2014-9-21 10:50
On a curious note, what kind of damage, if any, did the drone receive.
Thanks

It hit the water and I could not recover it. Total loss.

kgarrison@gmail Posted at 2014-9-21 14:04
ATTI is supposed to maintain altitude and orientation. I've never seen it lose altitude unless the b ...

My understanding is that the phantom loses lift due to forward motion and needs additional upward trust.

This is normal behavior if you go full forward in ATTI and do it long enough to reach it's max speed... it WILL start to lose altitude.

In ATTI mode you have the ability to go much faster than the Phantom can handle AND keep it's altitude at the same time... you can apply additional thrust but you will still have to back off on the forward stick a bit and find the "happy medium" ... The speed at which the Phantom is flying as fast as it can without dropping... that does take a bit of practice though...

it would be good if the FW will limit the forward speed in ATTI mode, so the craft will get enough lift to maintain altitude.

And in full manual mode, there can be no limit at all, all depends on the control of pilots,

I wonder how many Phantoms have been claimed by water.

If you fly over water it may pay to invest in one of these systems. It could easily be mounted to one of the skids: http://youtu.be/A4yDcOgcqzs

I like the idea of the floater, but then again after a water experience how much good will it do to the drone. Guess it is ready for replacement anyway

You can save it is as long as you know what to do. I'll write up a post to explain how to do it. I have saved millions of dollars of electronics after fires and floods over the past 20 years. But time is not on your side. I have somewhat, have it in the data tab for noobs.